Review by Frank Plowright

Teen Titans began as a feature about younger sidekick heroes banding together to prove themselves away from the shadow of their elder mentors, but those guys and many that joined them later are now in their twenties with nothing left to prove. Perhaps their skills can be passed on to a younger generation of youngsters with super powers. Tim Sheridan’s idea of Teen Titans Academy harkens back to an even older concept, that of the X-Men in their first incarnation, although lacking the anti-mutant subtext.

Sheridan deserves credit for the sheer number of new characters, modified versions of old characters and discarded obscurities he incorporates from the beginning. It means it takes time to know them all, and some are spotlighted more than others, not least because existing Titans are incorporated also as they’re the marquee stars. At first they’re an awkward fit as teachers, but Sheridan then revives the idea of Red X, an identity once briefly adopted by Nightwing. It’s one of several possible disruptive elements plaguing the Academy from the start, although the only one initially known to faculty.

Primary artist Rafa Sandoval has a clean and approachable style that packs in people and detail, and he’s designed the new characters to be distinctive even when wearing identical blue jumpsuits. His action scenes are consistently thrilling, featuring multiple characters well choreographed with changing viewpoints to maximise the impact. Eduardo Pansica’s approach is very similar, while most other artists only draw back-ups shorts.

There’s quite the shock after two chapters as the Suicide Squad suddenly become the focus, but that’s because knowing their activities becomes important, and there’s the mystery of why Superboy is with them. Don’t look for the answer to that here, although it does clarify something else that’s been set up.

Following that, a subsection of the students calling themselves the Bat Pack are seen working to deduce who Red X might be. Sheridan adopts different narrative styles corresponding to the characters, incorporates a significant flashback reinforcing those characters and builds to an ending where Red X is revealed, but not to readers, which is all very clever. The mood created by Steve Lieber over two chapters is noticeably different from the more overt superhero art beforehand, and suits the mystery.

Once the main continuity ends we have the ‘Teen Titans Academy Yearbook’, a mix of short strips expanding on characters who’ve otherwise been making up the numbers, and brief text pages.

Come here looking for the Teen Titans of old and you’ll probably end up disappointed at them not being the focus, but if you want a fresh idea around an old concept sometimes featuring those characters, then Sheridan and Sandoval deliver. The series continues with Exit Wounds.