REVIEW: Teen Titans Academy #6

Teen Titans Academy #6 is too short, too preachy and ultimately too forgettable. Despite being a comic boasting, the Titans name it lacks the star power of the iconic line-up of heroes associated with the brand, such as Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, Cyborg or the wonderful Kid Flash. As a spin-off series, it is understandable the book would have a revolving roster, but not a single recognizable Titan is here, making it very hard to stay invested. The new Titans we follow in this book are a band of misfits best described as oversensitive zoomers, not even four pages in, and they are already whining about their teammates being insensitive to the talking gorilla.

Their designs are a mess, and none of them save for Tress, who has super-powered hair and green skin, looks even remotely heroic. Their appearances are a mess of tropes that lack focus in their overall design made literal by the character Stitch, who combines Deadpool’s fourth-wall-breaking and meta humor with a truly terrible design because he is made of stitched together mismatched fabric.

The story goes, our Titan rejects are on holiday being lead to a secluded vacation spot by their leader, Summer. Summer used to frequent this little hideaway when she was a kid along with her parents and goes on to explain that the nearby town is friendly and a safe haven for meta-humans. Would you be surprised if I told you when they arrived in town, they were attacked by an angry mob that contradicts Summer’s story? I didn’t think so. It turns out Gorilla Grodd, who I’m assuming has the speed force due to the lightning bolt insignia on his chest, has been controlling the townsfolk and been scaring any outsiders from the town away. He’s been building an army in secret and plans to conquer the world. I can forgive the silly plot of a telepathic primate planning world conquest, but I can’t look past the utterly boring and unlikeable heroes.

To this book’s credit, the art is really nice, lovely even the artist on this should be very proud of their work; it’s the only thing remotely worthwhile in this title. I would seldom suggest destroying a comic book, but cutting this comic up to use as a poster seems like a better use of its great art than carrying the lousy narrative.

“I liked the art, but the characters and story are trash.”

Final Score: 1.5/5

Writer: Tim Sheridan
Artist: Rafa Sandoval
Publisher: DC Comics