Written by: Dan Abnett
Drawn by: Minkyu Jung and Adriano Lucas
Publisher: DC Comics
Titans Annual breaks the tradition of Annual books being a testing ground for new artists.
There’s something be said about a concise Annual that actually answers questions or poses new ones. This Annual provides exactly that! We find out more about the mysteries of Rebirth, as well as some of the characters we have spent some time with now.
Dan Abnett writes this annual himself and since he is familiar with these characters he can delve head first into the mysteries. Abnett here pays a lot of homage to two older Titans stories here “Who is Donna Troy” and JLA/Titans. But best part about it is that he is not rehashing old ground here and actually adds quite a bit to the Titans mythos in just this one annual.
Basically it’s a book that everything culminated to in the previous issues of Titans book. This is about relationships and also about differences between Titans and Justice League. How they see individual members and behave toward them. The other part of the book touches on the greater Rebirth mystery, even if it is just a tease, it is an effective tease nonetheless. There’s a plenty awesome character moments and action as well, so essentially this annual has everything it should have.
Art here is done by Minkyu Jung solely and it’s always good to see a sole artists on annuals. Usually that’s not the case as the book is broken up in multiple little stories just to showcase new talent. In essence this book does exactly that, as Jung is a newcomer to the comic scene and in this annual he certainly makes a splash! His character depictions are spot on, and every character has their characteristics intact. Nightwing is graceful in his action sequences. Aquaman is strong willed and royal, and so on…
Yung handles the action sequences with extreme ease as well with no wasted energy. Everything looks fluid and cinematic in his art, which is very important especially during the big battle pages.
Titans Annual really doesn’t feel like a filler at all, even though it does have some pacing issues. None of those issues however are enough to derail what’s a very solid annual from DC again, especially after the Superman Annual that came out earlier this year. The greater Rebirth story continues to be teased as well. That could be kind of seen as a fault as well, as some people might want some more answers at this point.
Overall, this Annual is very solid edition to the Titans story, as well as a greater Rebirth line up. If you are already picking up Titans rest assured its in the spirit of that book. Also pick it up if you want to get another piece of a Rebirth puzzle.
