Titans: Beast World - Waller Rising #1
Sebastien Cabrera
Recap
BATWING, VIXEN, VAL-ZOD SUPERMAN, AND BLACK MANTA MUST STOP DR. HATE! The Kingdom, a mystical and metaphysical realm, sits at the nexus of the Parliaments. A formidable new adversary, Dr. Hate, emerges with intentions to corrupt both the Kingdom and the Parliament of the Red in the pursuit of chaos. Batwing, Vixen, Val-Zod Superman, and Black Manta are thrust together in a desperate fight for survival. They must learn to cooperate to thwart Dr. Hate’s destructive plans before The Wicked Entity can devastate this unique plane, which represents a collective consciousness. This consciousness unifies the Red, Green, Rot, Clear, Melt, Metal, and Grey into a harmonious realm of peace. In their struggle against Dr. Hate, these heroes and villains also face the task of unraveling how Amanda Waller’s rise is entwined with the ongoing crisis. The saga features guest appearances from Nubia, Dr. Mist, Red Tornado, Dead Eye, and more!
Review
Having looked at the lineup for DC’s Beast World event, and still being so early into it, it’s already safe to say that while the last issue of Beast World, Titans: Beast World #1, was absolutely essential in terms of plot, the same can’t really be said for Waller Rising. To get a random group of heroes together across such a vast universe is always an exciting concept when executed properly and everything makes sense, but Chuck Brown’s writing feels forced and is like a scramble for order up until the last few pages of the comic where the entire mess unravels and the reader is exposed to the necessary points to understand the rest of the event.
Brown’s contribution to the event, while rocky, does have a couple key points that uplift it. Following the namesake, this comic is very Amanda Waller heavy, and if you’ve been keeping up with Dawn of DC as a whole, it would’ve crossed your mind by now why Waller has been lurking around the shadows for some time now, especially in the Titans and Green Arrow titles. The woman notorious for her larger-than-life desire for power is back scheming, this time clashing with her own nephew, introduced here as Deadeye, a metahuman tracker with psychic capabilities. His problems with his aunt will eventually lead to Waller’s demise.
Besides a new team forming and Waller being addressed as one of the event’s main antagonists, there’s not much to help uplift this issue of Beast World.
Even the villain of the week, Dr. Hate, doesn’t live up to the excitement, or any excitement for that matter. He eventually falls under Waller’s control; a god-like being under a high ranking government official’s supervision. It’s underwhelming not because of the destruction the character is capable of, but also, for a reverse Dr. Fate, his existence merely mocks the great character.
While multiple villains may span across the DC Universe during this event, locking one up such as Dr. Hate was a huge mistake, in terms of the plot.
There is a lot of room to come back from this issue as the end of this chapter sees the formation of a brand new team of superheroes that will most likely make an appearance again before the event comes to a conclusion.
Final Thoughts
There's a variety of exciting books coming out for the Beast World story but Waller Rising isn't one of them. Besides a few developing plot moments that will carry the story forward, the comic isn't as memorable in terms of actions and villains.
Titans: Beast World Tour– Waller Rising #1: Assembly
- Writing - 5/105/10
- Storyline - 6/106/10
- Art - 8/108/10
- Color - 7/107/10
- Cover Art - 8/108/10
I think you’re way off base on this. The story is filled with action and intrigue and accomplishes a lot for a one-shot. It sets the basis for establishing a new team of all-black heroes (which you casually gloss over), and the complexity and combination of how they come together, past relationships, incompatible personalities, and questionable ties leaves a lot of room for a different take on this issue. I’d love to have seen this stretched out over a few more issues, but one will do until we see what’s next for “The Network”.