Review: Teen Titans Vol. 4- Light and Dark
Quick Summary
Pros: The main storyline is exciting and decently compelling. Some character moments are well-written and emotional. The artwork looks good throughout.
Cons: Occasional lapses in logic introduce confusion in the volume’s narrative. Some rapid pacing dilutes the impact of certain events. Some character moments are not as well-written and damage the progress of specific characters.
Overall: This is a decently entertaining volume with its fair share of ups and downs. For the most part, the main storyline is full of action and does a good job in getting readers excited. However, problems from logical consistency and pacing chip away at this story and leave it at a lower quality level than it could have been. There are still enough positives here to satisfy those who are already fans of the series but there may not be enough to bring in new readers.
Story
Teen Titans Vol. 4: Light and Dark, by Scott Lobdell, is a volume with occasional highs and occasional lows that ends up being a decent volume overall. It centers around the Teen Titans’ battle against Trigon. The battle and the events surrounding it are compelling and contain plenty of exciting action. In addition, new twists and freshly introduced mysteries give readers reason to come back to the series. However, some strange gaps in logic and some erratic pacing make it hard to become fully invested in the narrative. This is still a decent volume but it ends up just being average, instead of something more.
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The majority of Light and Dark focuses on the Titans battle against Trigon. For the most part, this battle is pretty compelling and consistently exciting. Lobdell keeps the action fresh by continually presenting fresh threats for the Teen Titans to overcome, first from Trigon, next from his sons, and finally from each other. This creates a situation that grabs one’s attention and holds it throughout.
In addition, the overall battle against Trigon presents a number of interesting opportunities for future stories in a number of interesting ways. Red Robin’s fall from grace and the team’s newfound distrust of him presents a new complication in everyone’s relationship. Plus, Raven’s secret betrayal has plenty of potential, and was revealed in a particularly exciting manner.
Outside of the Trigon battle, the rest of the volume consists of small ups and downs that make for a pretty average read. In some places, characters are written well and their friendships are given a chance to shine; such is the case for Tim’s dismay over Damian’s death or the team’s interactions by the pool. However, in other places, characters are written rather poorly, such as the new relationship between Wonder Girl and Superboy or Solstice’s inability to give a reason for kissing Red Robin in the previous volume.
However, the biggest problems in Light and Dark come from occasional lapses in logic. Sometimes these problems are small, like when Psimon goes from being unconscious on one page to awake on the next, while others are more significant, like how the Teen Titans all seem to know specific information about Trigon and Raven, despite never meeting them. Either way, these problems distract from the story and can easily cause some confusion in the reading process. There were a number of occasions when I found myself rereading previous pages to look for an explanation that was never given.
In addition, the volume’s erratic pacing is problematic as well. Watching the Titans go from fighting against Raven to instantly trusting her feels inauthentic to their character, especially since their distrust of former enemies had been well established through Superboy’s story. The volume takes this even further when Red Robin suggests that Raven will one day lead the Teen Titans. The pacing of Raven’s story, and a few others, is definitely something that will harm readers’ perception of this volume as a whole.
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Art
The artwork in Light and Dark fairs slightly better than the story. Pencils from Eddy Barrows and inks from Eber Ferreira give the volume plenty of detail and fill it with a level of polish that fans are sure to appreciate. This is especially noticeable in the volume’s numerous two-page spreads, which do a great job in highlighting the epic fight against Trigon and his forces. Though there are a few small problems with the art, mostly in terms of structure, these can easily be overlooked in the face of how good everything else appears. Overall, this is a visually pleasing book that is sure to please fans of the series and/or characters.
Continuity
Teen Titans Vol. 4: Light and Dark continues the story from Teen Titans Vol. 3: Death of the Family (Review).
The story here continues in Teen Titans Vol. 5: The Trial of Kid Flash (Review).
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- The beginning of this volume sees Red Robin spend some time reacting to what happened to Damian Wayne in Batman Incorporated Vol. 2: Gotham’s Most Wanted.
- Red Robin also mentions Damian’s time training with Dick Grayson. This began in Batman & Robin Vol. 1: Batman Reborn.
- Superboy mentions his first meeting with Superman and his fight against H’el, which are detailed in either Superman: H’el on Earth (Review) or Superboy Vol. 3: Lost (Review).
- Beast Boy’s appearance in this volume directly continues his story from the very end of The Ravagers Vol. 2: Heavenly Destruction (Review).
- Raven’s time with the Phantom Stranger is briefly mentioned. This story is told in issue #1 of The Phantom Stranger, which is collected in The Phantom Stranger Vol. 1: A Stranger Among Us (Review).
- Kid Flash references meeting the Flash and Vibe recently. He met the Flash in issue #21 of The Flash, which is collected in The Flash Vol. 4: Reverse. He met Vibe at the beginning of Justice League of America’s Vibe Vol. 1: Breach.