[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Philippe Briones
Colors: Jeromy Cox
Letters: Deron Bennett
Summary
All of these aliens worship Cyborg as their savior! It looks like we are going to Machine World to find out why. Cyborg must pass a test to prove he’s the real deal, and things don’t look good for the rest of the team. Meanwhile, Darkseid meets with a familiar cosmic threat for a potential partnership.
Positives
Philippe Briones’s art does fit pretty nicely in the context of this book. I like his character designs and his references towards past Titans and Teen Titans runs. I also appreciate the return of Blackfire. I have always liked that character, and its nice to see her have a place and a purpose again.
Negatives
This story just feels so purposeless. Joshua Williamson, the creator of this title, is abandoning it after five issues. It makes me angry to see Williamson taking very promising characters that need a story like this, devoting them to an overly complex, purposeless story, and jumping ship. We see different species of aliens that worship Starfire, Cyborg, and Azrael, but they all lack personality. They are faceless characters that only serve to guide the team to the next cosmic item which can help them escape the Ghost Sector. Blackfire’s return, while interesting, feels somewhat meaningless considering Darkseid stumbles upon her on his search for the Codex. The test, which is a fight between Azrael and Cyborg, cements the idea that all of the personal development Azrael was going through during Tynion’s Detective Comics has been thrown out the window in favor of this reductive, self-indulgent version that is only obsessed with finding his own worshipers. Finally, at the end, it is revealed that the aliens are building a Motherbox. A race of faceless aliens that have not been defined at all can recreate technology that even the New Gods cannot completely decipher. Williamson just makes this race ale to conquer some of the most complex technology in the multiverse like its nothing. Dan Abnett is very good at giving worn out or failing titles a new sense of purpose, and I hope he will do the same to this series.
Verdict
This is a story entirely absent of purpose and feeling. All I have left to say is:
One more issue ’til Abnett. One more issue ’til Abnett. One more issue ’til Abnett.
