TITANS #9

Do you know why the bee got married? He got married because he finally found his honey. And as we all know, honey is sweet, sweet is special, and special things can only be found in the following story created by Dan Abnett, Brett Booth, and published by DC Comics. It's April, 2017, and it's time for the Titans in review.

TO QUOTE Thomas Carlyle Faith: 'Not brute force but only persuasion and faith are the kings of this world'.

THE REVIEW:

Telling a story can be really difficult when it comes to conveying believability. For one thing, the writer has to present two sides of the same argument, while making sure both sides are associative by design. In addition to this, they also have to add a dose of character to the plot, while keeping in mind that the plot has to evolve in a realistic manner, despite its background being placed upon a semi-fictitious world.

Take issue 9 of the Titans for instance. Essentially it has a basic premise which is pretty easy to explain: Karen Duncan becomes confused when the Titans inform her that her medical specialist, Doctor Simon Jones, head of Meta Solutions Clinic, is in fact a member of the Fearsome Five, which are a mischievous gang of villains that quite recently attacked her husband, Mal Duncan, as well as the aforementioned Titan's team. As soon as they tell her this, however, Simon and his gang unveil their true selves, and in so doing explain to her that, yes, indeed, they were once super villains, but now they are reformed, rejuvenated, and actively trying to help the superhuman community in a medical capacity.

To back up his statement, Simon then persuades Lilith to probe their minds, collectively, as well as individually, only to find out that he's actually telling the truth. Or is he? Simon is a far stronger psychic than Lilith is, so it's quite possible that his powers are overriding hers. Plus to make matters even more confusing, Mal is terrified of Mammoth, a member of Simon's team, because he was the brute who attacked him during their previous encounter together, even though he is still happy for Karen to get Simon to manage her 'special condition'.

Feeling frustrated by these strange turn of events, both the Duncan's and the Titans head back to the Tower so they can discuss this matter further. So here, at this stage of the story, Roy takes it upon himself to make his opinions known more fully than before, as he is able to convey to his friends his side of the argument.

You see, once upon a time he was a drug addict, a really big drug addict, and from his own experience knows all too well how hard it is for a person to change the error of their ways. It took Roy many-many years to beat his addiction, so he finds it fairly difficult to believe that the Fearsome Five managed to change within a period of weeks.

Clearly Roy's story rings true for The Titans, and this makes them want to investigate Simon's clinic before Karen's follow-up appointment on the following day. So, taking matters into their own hands, Nightwing and Flash go back and covertly break into Meta Solutions, hoping that they'll be able to find a clue to what is real and what is fake!

And do they? Yes. Yes they do. But I don't want to tell you what they find for the sake of spoilers. What I can say, however, is that this story was a really great read. Dan Abnett's premise was so persuasive on the page; a part of me genuinely didn't know what to believe because it was just that convincing. I also loved Garth's gruffness (that was funny), the team up between Dick and Wally (it's about time), as well as the way the other members of the team gave the plot some well balanced sub-text (here, here). Brett Booth's artwork was equally as enjoyable, as you can clearly see by the way he illustrates this series' that he's loving every minute of it. So here's hoping for a long and prosperous reign.

THE MUSIC:

For obvious reasons, I'd like to musically match-up this issue with the Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey power ballad, 'When You Believe'. Bless 'em.

THE COMPARISON:

I'd like to compare this comic book to Judge Judy, because the both of them are really persuasive when they want to be.

Well, you know it makes sense! Case dismissed!

THE CONCLUSION:

At the very end of this issue Doctor Simon Jones speaks to a group of mysterious people via telecast. So, for the sake of a headache, can you guess who these people are out of the following eight options? Could they be...