Review by Ian Keogh

Tom Taylor’s Titans series kicks off in a world where the Justice League has just disbanded. First as the Teen Titans, then as the Titans the cover stars have always been the heroes in training, the junior group, and the time has now arrived to step up and grab the ring. At least that’s what Nightwing believes.

Out of the Shadows features an almost perfect opening chapter for a new series. 24 pages of utterly gorgeous, lush art from Nicola Scott provides a faultless opening gambit, while Taylor smoothly introduces eight superheroes and shows what they can do. Additionally there’s a viable threat along with government interference that captivates to the extent that you’ll forget how the chapter opens until Taylor and Scott circle around to it again on the final page. A reader can pick this up knowing nothing at all about the Titans, understand the basics and be gripped by what’s set in motion.

We continue with a murder mystery, someone deliberately provoking major ecological disasters, and the re-emergence of an old threat in a bright white suit as a new religion. Sharper readers will assume a connection between two of those items, but they’re complicated by the involvement of someone who’s been a member of the Titans in the past. Key to the success of the Titans in their better earlier incarnations has been the group dynamics between different personalities, and Taylor’s on top of that as well, allowing for the inevitability of some cast members in a large group taking a back seat.

There’s one controversial aspect. For some the Titans making a meaningful difference to a real world problem will top the delights, but others may see that as trivialising solutions to ecological disaster. It’s a point of view, but there’ll be readers of Out of the Shadows not even aware of how important Borneo is to the global ecological picture, and how little some people care about that when there’s money to be made. Now they are at least aware.

The ecological themes continue into Titans: Beast World, but sadly without the magnificence of Scott.