New Titans #33: A Tunnel of Light

The Titans have had a pretty strange decade since Rebirth dragged them back into the limelight after their tyrannical near-erasure during DC’s New 52 reboot. Since then, they’ve been stuck in a state of complacency, unable to escape the shadow of their greatest era while desperately grasping at gimmicks in the name of “trying something new.” Titans Academy and the subsequent Titans relaunch under Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott are prime examples. The core team members were reduced to caricatures within the pages of their own book, with DC seemingly terrified of pushing the envelope with what was once a beloved ensemble cast.

Tate Brombal and Adriano Lucas are next in line to take their shot at the Titans, and their first issue operates as a meta-textual acknowledgment of these longstanding publishing pains. The story centers on Nightwing slowly realizing that his team is trapped in a simulation that forces them to repeat their history over and over again, with no room for growth or change. As these overlapping timelines begin to collapse into one another, creating a mounting sense of chaos as Dick struggles to free his teammates, the issue closes with the long-teased introduction of the new Titans lineup that has driven the book’s marketing since its announcement.

This issue succeeds in transforming critique into narrative, bolstered by an art team that fully understands how to utilize the nine-panel grid without falling into stiffness or monotony. There’s a genuine sense of tension and escalation as Dick pieces together the truth, and the creative team cleverly weaves in major character moments from across Titans history. Nostalgia is reframed as something unsettling, almost suffocating, without ever tipping the book fully into horror. The attention to detail is especially impressive, with constant shifts in character designs and a weaponization of prior relationship drama. Dick and Roy briefly appearing in their New 52 looks highlights both a reverence for the past and an awareness of how that past has come to define and confine these characters.

That said, while this is an exciting philosophical approach, it’s also familiar territory. There are inherent risks in launching a new run with the mission statement of “fixing the past.” Too often, these stories become trapped in self-reflection, unable to move forward because they’re too busy looking backward. Nick Spencer’s run on The Amazing Spider-Man comes to mind as a notable example. Still, the promise of a new roster and hints from future solicitations leave me cautiously optimistic about where this series might go.

However, that potential is difficult to fully grasp based on this issue alone, as it spends the bulk of its runtime within the simulation. The “New Titans” themselves appear for only a single panel, leaving the direction of the opening arc largely undefined. It’s an intriguing choice, but one that could quickly falter without careful execution. As a first issue, this doesn’t so much establish a clear future as it does dismantle the past, recalling a structure not entirely dissimilar to Avengers: Disassembled. Had this served as a final arc under the existing Titans banner before relaunching into a new #1, it might have carried more weight and offered a cleaner entry point for new readers, one that better delivers on the promise of its marketing.