The Titans are back. It’s been over a dozen years since DC has published an ongoing series featuring the original lineup of the Teen Titans – Dick Grayson, Donna Troy, Roy Harper, Garth, and Wally West – and the New 52 relaunch seemed to erase their tenure as a team completely. The recent Titans Hunt mini-series started the work of restoring the original Teen Titans, but an integral piece was missing until Wally West returned from oblivion in the pages of DC Universe: Rebirth #1. Now that he’s back, the gang’s together again in Titans: Rebirth #1, and if this issue is any indication, the team is going to play an integral role in uncovering the mysteries that came out of DCU: Rebirth.
It’s honestly kind of amazing that the Titans are becoming so important, considering it seems for years like DC just didn’t know what to do with those characters, to the point that Dan Didio famously wanted to kill off Nightwing during Infinite Crisis because he thought the character was “redundant.” Nothing speaks more to the legacy of the DC Universe than this team, though, so it makes sense, if the mission of the Rebirth initiative is to restore legacy to the DCU, that the Titans should play a major part in that.
Titans: Rebirth #1 picks up where Wally left off when we last saw him in The Flash: Rebirth #1. He’s off to reconnect with his old friends – the four remaining original Titans, plus Lilith Clay, another classic Titans character – and writer Dan Abnett executes the reunions really nicely. Each character, due to the nature of how the characters’ memories of Wally are restored, gets a moment to shine alongside their returned friend. Not a lot happens beyond those moments in this issue, but the emotional weight of what does happen more than makes up for that. The issue also works as a continuation of Titans Hunt (also penned by Abnett), while still being very accessible for those who haven’t read that series.
Self-professed Wally West fan Brett Booth is the artist on this book and the forthcoming ongoing series. I’ll be totally honest and say that I’m not a huge fan of Booth’s art, but he does a fine job on this issue. It’s interesting, visually, to see how Wally’s memories have changed even from the DCU: Rebirth one-shot to now. In that book, the Titans he remembers are the pre-New 52 versions; in fact, everything he remembers is from the pre-New 52 timeline. Now, though, when he’s remembering the Titans (pun 100% intended), he’s seeing their New 52 costumes. Even his memory of the Kid Flash costume – a suit he wore in the Flash: Rebirth one-shot but not in this book except in flashback – is different, with a chin-strap and circle around the chest lightning bolt that were never there before. Whether the changes to that costume were done on purpose or if it was just Booth taking artistic license, it left an impression.
Overall, Titans: Rebirth #1 was a solid set-up for the upcoming Titans ongoing. This old Titans fan is thrilled that these characters are all back together again, and doubly-thrilled at the central role they’re being placed in in the DCU. I’m looking forward to seeing what Abnett, Booth, and co. have in store for them.
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