Review: TEEN TITANS ACADEMY #7
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Tim Sheridan
Artists: Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona
Colours: Alex Sinclair
Letters: Rob Leigh
Reviewed By: Derek McNeil
Summary
Teen Titans Academy #7: Gorilla Grodd vs. Gorilla Gregg! A fun, light outing to upstate New York for the students of Titans Academy becomes a nightmare when an entire town turns on them. But as Gorilla City expat Gorilla Gregg fights to save his friends, the young primate discovers, the threat leads him to his own uncle-Gorilla Grodd.
Positives
In Teen Titans Academy #7, Tim Sheridan concludes his two-part story where the students face off against Gorilla Gregg’s uncle, Gorilla Grodd. While this story started off in a light-hearted, it has now grown into a major confrontation involving the senior Titans team.
Generally, Grodd has been portrayed as a pure villain in the past, but Sheridan has added a bit of depth to the character. There is a trace of familial affection between Grodd and his nephew that humanizes him – well that’s the wrong term, considering he’s not human, but you get the idea.
And Gregg also returns this feeling for his uncle. This gives him some collected feelings, because he wants that familial connection to Grodd, but he’s morally opposed to Grodd’s agenda of world conquest.
Positives Cont.
It’s somewhat fitting that Beast Boy is the senior Titan who has a heart-to-heart with Gregg. Gar’s power to transform into animal powers makes him a bit more akin to Gregg than his teammates who have a purely human perspective. Also, Gar also has some experience with having a villainous parental figure. Gar’s adoptive is Mento, was a superhero who has stepped over the line to villainy on occasion. This makes Gar uniquely suited to be a mentor for Gregg.
Even though the original Titans were involved in the final battle with Grodd, it’s interesting that it’s the junior team that saves the day – in particular, Gregg and Summer. Although the younger students are relatively new faces, this story has shown that they are rather formidable.
Rafa Sandoval and Jordi Tarragona have done a great job with the artwork for Teen Titans Academy #7. I quite loved their depiction of the battle between the two apes. You don’t get to see many scenes like this anymore.
Negatives
There’s very little to complain about, but I did notice one little error. Gregg refers to Gar as “Mr. Changeling” instead of “Beast Boy”. Gar dropped the name Changeling and went back to his original nom de guerre. Or has Gar decided to take up this name again? Hopefully, future issues will make it clear which name he’s using.
Verdict
Teen Titans Academy #7 is another solid issue from Tim Sheridan. When I first started reading this title, I didn’t really expect to get too attached to this new crop of younger Titans, but I’ve found that they’ve grown on me. Teen Titans Academy is always a fun read, and I look forward t seeing what Sheridan has planned for the Academy’s Fall semester.
