Written by: Benjamin Percy
Art by: Khoi Pham
Published by: DC Comics
This issue is of Teen Titans is what this run of Teen Titans had lost in the previous few.
Teen Titans #14 brings back the sense of a team more than the sense of danger. A good villain is absolutely important, but it should never be a central focus. Teen Titans has always been about family and how these dysfunctional kids fit together–how they band to create something that is ultimately greater than any of them alone.
Percy manages to bring that to the forefront in this issue, especially showing Damian’s evolution. It is hard to admit that you can be wrong, but I guess I was wrong. Reception of this arc is very much dependent on what the reader thinks of Damian as a character. Percy manages to add another layer to Damian’s character, and since that was the objective of the arc, he is successful. The arc however suffers from a lackluster villain, with this issue making that abundantly clear. To supplement on that, we do get a very fun cameo through the from Emi who joins Damian to stop the villain. It does seem that this relationship could continue to grow, and it is something worth exploring.
Artist duties here fall on Khoi Pham again whose art fits sufficiently, with expressive facial features and an emotional range given to all characters involved. His representation of Beast Boy is still off a bit as it does seem like tries to age him up every time he takes over. One can tell he has favorite characters to draw, namely Kid Flash and Damian, who are more detailed and brimming with more personality on every page they are on.
Overall Teen Titans continues to be a relatively fun book, and even though it’s not in the range of Wolfman /Perez or even Geoff Johns run from 2003, it is still a very serviceable addition to the mythos of Titans. Things are moving in the right direction.
