Titans #5: Avatar of the Green

The Dawn of DC initiative has brought comic book fans an amazing amount of stories featuring favorite heroes of the DC universe. Titans, however, holds a special place in this universal rebranding, being that the Justice League has disbanded after Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, making room for the superhero team to now take center stage. As of issue five, the team consists of Nightwing, Starfire, Wonder Girl, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and the Flash.

Following the events of the last four issues, the team, except for Wally and Dick, are still assisting Gar on his mission to bring order to the ecosystem of Borneo. The team, without much of a fight, manage to take down the demolition team of gun-wielding mercenaries.

On the planet Mars, the Titans have built their trophy room. Dick takes Wally to the trophy room to protect him from the driving force that is supposed to kill him sometime soon. It isn’t until Wally and Dick are exchanging a few words about the safety of the intergalactic hideout, Linda, Wally’s wife, presses the button of a Qwardian Doomsday Machine, which should’ve made it explode.

The next panels then take place in New York, as Raven leads the Titans to somebody who can help with Gar’s mini-crusade to save the environment; Levi Kamei, or the newest Swamp Thing that was introduced during Ram V’s run on the character a couple years ago. Gar explains to Levi the situation in Borneo, and after transforming into the full-fledged green monster, he agrees to help with the crusade and restore the environment.

Back at the trophy room on Mars, Dick reveals all the weapons in the sanctuary have been neutralized, so Linda pressing the button that would normally activate the Doomsday Machine is ineffective. Wally tries to talk to Linda, to make sense and understand why she would try to bring about chaos to them, until the alien parasite that Aqualad gave her flies out of her mouth and before it can get inside Dick or Wally, Dick shocks it to death. Linda and Wally then share an embrace, with Linda being extremely sorry. However, the strange event leads Dick to start connecting the dots, thinking that the mind-controlling parasites have somehow gotten inside the Tempest.

At Borneo, Swamp Thing formulates a plan to restore prosperity. He instructs Starfire to fly up high and burn bright, give off light as if she was the sun. To attract insects to them area, Gar transforms into a wide variety of different creatures at once. Within a day, Borneo is full of green vegetation, transforming the area from a desolate wasteland. While the members are happy to see that Wally is still alive, having supposedly outlived what was going to kill him, Dick explains what may be going on with the Tempest and that there may be more to the Church of Eternity than they previously thought.

After noticing all that is around, Dick enjoys the beautiful sight of a healthy Borneo. Appreciating his help, the Titans invite Swamp Thing to be a part-time member of their team, to which the iconic character accepts.

The last panels end with Brother Blood keeping track of the Titans, being surprised that the Flash isn’t dead but alive and well. Being somewhat anxious, yet infuriated at this failure, he declares that it’s time for the human race to end!