Teen Titans #1

By Will Pfiefer, Kenneth Rocafort & Dan Brown

The Teen Titans have been rebooted, just under three years after the birth of the New 52. They claim that this series is going into completely new directions, and with an all-new creative team, it very well could. For now, the series seems to be similar to its recent predecessor, but it is just starting, and only time will tell whether this series looks to make good on its promise.

Kenneth Rocafort (Superman, Red Hood and the Outlaws) uses unconventional panel placements as just one of the aspects to set himself apart from other artists. His character designs and overall art style have been highly regarded during his previous work on other series and they continue to impress in this issue. Most notably in the splash pages, Rocafort’s art is bold and energetic. His high quality, dynamic art goes hand-in-hand with the Titans and their new efforts to modernize and make the series more relatable to youthful readers. Dan Brown’s colors heighten Rocafort’s initial art. The massive amount of coloring detail on each page brings the art to a whole new level. Even staring at one panel long enough brings to light just the amount of time and effort that went into each image. This series, as long as the art team remains, will always be a visual treat.

The team is great, featuring returning members Beast Boy and Bunker, and they have varying personalities, something needed in a series with a lot of characters. Based on the cover and the ads leading up to this, the new Teen Titans looked to be very socially focused, with modern technology and how much access we have to each other on the internet. There were only a few aspects seen this issue that weren’t enough of a cause to justify all the promotion of “modernization”.

As is the case with many premiere issues, this is still only the beginning. Whatever negatives or drawbacks this issue contains they can all be fixed in just a few future installments. For now, Teen Titans remains youthful and energetic, mostly thanks to its cast and new artistic direction. The story, although simple and unfulfilling, has introduced just enough mysteries and cliffhangers to create interest for readers. Teen Titans #1 is a must-have for die-hard Titans fans, though new readers will find this issue a little underwhelming.