Since the beginning of DC’s Rebirth initiative, there’s been a meeting of characters that I’ve been very much anticipating. Both are characters who remember the DC Universe as it was before Flashpoint, and who are sure to play a big part in the future of the DCU as a result. Those characters are Wally West, newly returned to the timeline in the DCU: Rebirth one-shot, and Superman, who found himself, along with wife Lois and son Jon, in the New 52 timeline after the events of Convergence and assumed the main mantle of Man of Steel after the New 52 Kal-El died. Titans #7 gives readers that meeting, and it does not disappoint.
Writer Dan Abnett does a nice job with what is otherwise a housekeeping issue, as half of the team are literally meeting with their lawyer to go over paperwork. It could’ve been incredibly boring, but Abnett injects the proceedings with a humor and overall lightness that keeps it from falling flat. The interaction between Wally and Roy, in particular, is pretty entertaining. Also of benefit to this issue is the fact that it’s self-contained. After an initial storyline that went on and on, it was nice to get a one-and-done story from this book.
On the art side, fill-in artist Lee Weeks is a breath of fresh air. Regular series artist Brett Booth is a fine artist, but his figures are often impossibly proportioned and his storytelling difficult to follow. Weeks is a strong storyteller, and what his art lacks in flash it more than makes up for in realism. As the artist on the Lois & Clark series that previously chronicled the pre-Flashpoint Superman’s adventures in the current timeline, Weeks was a logical choice to draw this issue. It would be nice to see him work on Titans regularly even when Superman is not around.
As for the meeting between Clark and Wally, there’s not a whole lot of new information gleaned for the reader from the interaction between the two characters. Clark remembers Wally’s relationship with Linda, and sympathizes with the situation that Wally finds himself in. Mostly it was nice to see two characters with great affection for each other see each other again for the first time in a while.
Overall Titans #7 was the strongest issue of the series yet. An increased focus on character and some refreshing fill-in art made for a nice change of pace.