Titans #15 - DC Comics

TITANS No. 15, November 2024

Promising “a major death [which] will shake the DCU” in its solicitation synopsis, Tom Taylor’s narrative for Issue Fifteen of “Titans” probably disappointed the vast majority of its audience in September 2024. Sure, the twenty-two page periodical’s plot does contain poor Dick Grayson’s demise, courtesy of Batman’s former sidekick being crushed to death by a large boulder. But Nightwing’s passing is so very short lived, that its occurrence hardly has any time to impact upon the reader’s mind before the first Boy Wonder is back on his feet fighting alongside his team-mates; “My friends will not be harmed. I will not allow it.”

Furthermore, the “New York Times bestselling author” also frustratingly pens a largely dialogue-driven ending to this title’s long-running “Dark-Winged Queen” storyline, with an emotional Beast Boy spending far too much time talking to the two distinct and physically separate personalities of his beloved Raven. This conversation debatably goes on and on and on, completely killing any of the pulse-pounding pace previously established by a guest-starring Superman getting his clock absolutely cleaned by a blow from the almighty Trigon.

Mercifully, the writing for this book’s final third, which sees a sense-shattering slugfest between the powerful demon and his equally formidable daughter, at least provides some measure of a cataclysmic confrontation to keep the long-term fans slightly happy. Such a fracas would arguably make for an enthralling experience just on its own. However, Taylor doubles-down on its intensity by having the entire Titans’ roster join the conflict, and empower Rachel Roth’s hellish alter-ego with all their special abilities too.

Equally as inconsistent as this publication’s storytelling though, is arguably the artwork by Lucas Meyer. The aforementioned brutalisation of Trigon by Raven is incredibly well pencilled, and really sells the earth-shattering nature of the two giants’ clash as the very ground around them opens up in response to the strength of their strikes. Yet sadly, the same can hardly be said of the Brazilian illustrator’s sketches concerning Garfield Logan yammering on to the love of his life. These layouts, which admittedly contain some slightly humorous transformations by the green-skinned shape-shifter, persistently nullify any sense of momentum generated by the panels depicting the chaos of the frantic battle for survival surrounding them, and resultantly take any onlookers completely out of the fight.

The regular cover art of "TITANS" #15 by Lucas Meyer & Marcelo Maiolo