Titans #10 - DC Comics

TITANS No. 10, June 2024

Knee-deep in demonic double dealing and the duplicity of treacherous team-mates, most bibliophiles buying Issue Ten of “Titans” must surely have enjoyed Tom Taylor’s take on Trigon manipulating his daughter from the murky shadows of his devilish domain. Indeed, Raven’s extra-dimensional daddy is arguably the star of this twenty-page show, courtesy of the Lord of Madness masterfully manipulating the naïve and grossly inexperienced Trilogy into single-handedly attacking the likes of Nightwing, Donna Troy, Starfire, Cyborg, a ‘mentally readjusted’ Beast Boy, and recently recruited Tempest.

Happily however, when the “New York Times bestselling author” does pen this publication’s big fight mid-way through the comic his writing doesn’t pull any punches either, with Rachel Roth’s diabolical alter-ego demonstrating that she is just as adept at generalship as the sorceress is casting limb-severing spells and the occasional “nonviolent response.” Absolutely merciless towards her physically mutilated brother, the Azarathian Cambion genuinely appears to make the most of her comrades' unique abilities by specifically targeting their strengths against her opponent’s few weaknesses. And only appears to make a mistake when her subsequent coldness towards the group’s well-defeated foe clearly causes a suspicious Dick Grayson’s bat-sense to start tingling.

Likewise, the Australian does a good job of bringing a little humour into “Dark Winged Queen” by having the out of favour Garfield Logan save the life of a petrified protestor, who just moments before had been angrily waving a placard in the Changeling’s direction; “George! Swallow you @#$&#$ pride and get on the damn devil horse!” Coupled with an incredibly brief cameo of Amanda Waller covertly acquiring some assassination android with which to kill the Titans, and these intriguing insights manage to maintain the momentum of certain character’s personal development, whilst simultaneously allowing Taylor is thoroughly entertain his readers with a straightforward smackdown.

Somewhat frustratingly though, Lucas Meyer appears much more at home pencilling demons and their black-hearted spawn, than he is the titular cast. The illustrator does a first-rate job imbuing all of the Hell-based antagonists with plenty of evil haughtiness, as well as jaw-droppingly large muscles when they’re armed with a magic staff. But for some reason debatably doesn’t seem able to be quite so convincing when it comes to drawing humanoid-shaped heroes.

The regular cover art of "TITANS" #10 by Chris Samnee & Matheus Lopes