Teen Titans #43: Fear Leads to Hate, Hate Leads to Anger, Anger Leads to Your Teammates Waling on You

Writer Robbie Thompson, building off Adam Glass’s playbook, seems bound and determined to exploit Damian Wayne’s inherent contradictions as a character to their utmost extremes. (Okay, maybe he hasn’t sold his soul yet to protect Gotham, but give him time.*) In Thompson’s hands, Damian has seemingly given up on trying to follow any semblance of his father’s example, and is instead following in his evil mother Talia’s footsteps instead. Eye for an eye? Forget it. This is kill before they can kill you.

One of the most compelling things about Damian is how he has, from his very inception, walked the line between his parents’ worlds. Some writers have leaned him more toward the light, and others the dark. Thompson clearly favors the latter, which is a great boon for readers, as it creates a terrific dynamic between Damian the rest of the Titans. Tensions have always been high as one by one, the Titans have realized Robin might not be as good of a dude as they originally thought, but as of this issue, they’ve officially skyrocketed into the stratosphere. Brother Blood’s murderer may or may not have been among them the whole time, nobody’s happy about it, and readers couldn’t be sitting prettier for it.

Thompson’s transition as lead writer, taking over from Adam Glass, hasn’t quite been seamless. The previous arc, which the two of them co-wrote, fell short of expectations and buckled under the weight of a long-running subplot. So there was every reason to believe that all the great development that had happened under Glass’s stewardship might have fallen by the wayside, but Thompson has proven more than up to the task. It’s clear he understands these characters and their dynamics, and knows where he wants to take them. The murder of Brother Blood is as compelling place as any to start.

Jesus Merino, Julio Ferreira, and Marcelo Maiolo are a stellar art combo. There’s an appropriate amount of light and dark – heavier emphasis on the darks, as is befitting the mood of the tale. Merino in particular brings a heavyweight line style that brings to mind the best artists of the ’00s. And as a bonus, his teenagers actually look like teenagers! Not miniature adults! A lot of artists can’t pull that off, for whatever reason. Ferreira’s inks complement the pencils flawlessly, wrapping the whole package in one gorgeous page after another.

*See the immortal Batman #666!