In Titans #35 our story is nearing its ending. The pieces are being moved into their places for the final assault to begin. Of course it’s usually about this time a great many truths come to light.
Cover To Cover
Once again with Titans #35 we have two great covers. The main cover is an awesome depiction of the Raven we have been missing for several issues. Raven stands aloft crying out with ravens spilling out from the shadows of her cape. The Alt cover is another great shot of the team charging into battle, but is this their final charge? We’ll come back to that.
The Losing Truth: Titans #35
The first couple pages following Titans #34 do a good job setting up the situation. The Maker is dead. Steel and Lantern are captured. And Mother Blood gloats over her latest creation – Bloodboy! Loss seems inevitable.
Out on the field we have Commander Lenore and Bloodboy Vs Donna, Miss M and half Raven. Donna takes on Bloodboy and his rage, leaving Miss M and half-Raven to deal with Commander Lenore. Neither goes well despite a valiant effort.
I really love this battle in Titans #35. Bloodboy is large and vicious. This is a Beastboy ready to go toe-to-toe with Supes, Hulk or anyone else and do quite well. Donna thinks she is holding back, but when she quits, she finds it makes no difference. You gotta love the “Oh @$#%” bubble.
As for Miss M and Raven, neither is a quarter of their normal selves so of course they go down all too easy to Commander Lenore. So long ladies.
Truth in the Castle
What is is that Captain Jack Sparrow said? ““Me? I’m dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It’s the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they’re going to do something incredibly… stupid.”
Enter Travesty. With Mother Blood distracted with other matters, Travesty does the obvious to our heroes – he frees them, or at least Raven’s soul self. Wait. What?! Then Ernest sits up. Yup, the trickster’s true loyalties lay with his creator, not the Evil from another world.
The problem is soul-self Raven is broken. She has no confidence to do what must be done. A quick word of encouragement from Travesty and Steel, and Soul-self Raven vanishes. Later she’ll reach her other halves and produces a gorgeous panel of Raven, full and whole once more! Her energy radiates around her in a beautiful show of power. Then she does in one quick jolt what Donna could not. She normalizes Beast Boy.
I love the interaction between Lantern and Steel as they realize they cracked the source code and how to get the knowledge back to the JLA. Ben’s response to receiving the data is priceless as well.
The Final Truths
Although Steel and Lantern get the message back to the JLA, they are quickly leveled by Mother blood. Back to square one right? Nope. For the final truth is the Titans are back and they are coming! With a fully restored Raven leading the way, it’s time for Mother Blood’s “Oh @$#%” bubble.
There is one thing I positively hate about this issue. It is the second to last issue. That’s right. Issue #36 will be the final fight for our Titans. I have loved this title. Nightwing restoring the team only to lose his identity. Donna having to step up and become the new leader of the team. Miss M revealing herself to the team. It feels like the new team is finally becoming whole and finding purpose for the first time, and now it is ending.
