Review by Ian Keogh
The church of old Titans enemy Brother Blood have reinvented their religious ideology for the 21st century, no longer sacrificing innocents, but raising funds for interplanetary exploration on the basis that climate control will inevitably render the surface of Earth uninhabitable. In a universe of superheroes and regular alien interventions, why isn’t colonisation of another planet feasible?
It all sounds eminently reasonable, if not downright responsible, but readers of Titans Vol. 1: Out of the Shadows are aware there’s considerable deception involved. It’s not long into Beast World before that’s public knowledge, and the menace evolves further into a planetary crisis involving a creature that killed half the population of Starfire’s world. Yet even that’s not the real threat. The real threat is Beast Boy, or more correctly Beast Boy’s powers transformed into a contamination plaguing humanity.
Tom Taylor sets the scene well with a creative solution to a big problem that becomes a bigger problem, and the background to everything is revealed early to be a power play by Amanda Waller, which also sits well. The unfortunate aspect of something infesting the entire DC universe, though, is that the threat first has to be established as global, and then has to be seen enough in the company of enough heroes to enforce the idea of desperation. That involves repetition, a considerable period thereof, in which heroes have to show restraint, first ensuring transformed humans aren’t harmed, and then their transformed and often extremely powerful colleagues.
The repetition stalls the plot even when artists as good as Travis Moore, Eduardo Pansica and Ivan Reis (sample art left) are involved. Lucas Meyer (sample art right) isn’t quite up to that standard, not having the ability to invest in space surrounding ongoing chaos. It means the best early chapters are those that supply the threat in microcosm, such as the attack on Titans HQ drawn by Moore.
However, Taylor still has a card to play. A threat demands a response, and it’s not only the Titans responding. The final two chapters move things sideways to what Amanda Waller’s doing alongside the poorly named Doctor Hate. The name is unimaginative even when playing on hero Doctor Fate, but the idea behind them works very well, and the final two chapters of Beast World are surprising and ultimately uplifting, Even better, Taylor completely avoids one of the most annoying, emotional button-pushing clichés of crossover stories. Waller’s plans will eventually lead to Absolute Power, but before then other consequences play out in Titans Vol. 2: The Dark-Winged Queen.
If you really like the idea of Beast World, there’s also companion volume Beast World Tour, expanding on the disaster in assorted locations.
