Titans Vol. 1: The Return of Wally West

/ Alex Good

Titans Vol. 1: The Return of Wally West

To set the scene, this series was part of the 2016 DC Rebirth program, which was a reboot of the DC Universe. So the Teen Titans are now all grown up (or at least in their 20s) and are now just called the Titans. They’re also in a different shard of the multiverse that Wally West, formerly Kid Flash and now just the Flash (because he’s “not a kid anymore,” get it?), comes blasting into as things kick off. He reunites with his Titan pals – Nightwing (Dick Grayson), Tempest (formerly Aqualad), Omen, Arsenal, and Donna Troy. They don’t recognize him at first but somehow he makes a synaptic connection with them and before long they’re a team again.

Unfortunately, Wally’s return also triggers the reawakening of Abra Kadabra, the techno-mage adversary of the Flash who had also lost his memory and been reduced to playing children’s birthday parties as Mister Hocus Pocus. Once he remembers who he is, and the power in his magic wand, he sets out to re-disappear Wally West, over the dead bodies of the other Titans and Wally’s normie girlfriend (as stock a character in superhero comics as you can get).

It’s a nicely structured story arc but the arc itself is the usual blather that ultimately gets lost in the mystic mumbo-jumbo of Wally having to access the “speed force.” Which means he has to run really, really, really fast. But he runs so fast he blasts himself clear out of this dimension. Luckily, the power of love and friendship provides an anchor capable of drawing him back, defeating Kadabra, and saving all his buddies. There’s even a full-page group hug.

This is cheesy stuff, and I’d be inclined to write this volume of the Rebirth off completely but for the character of Kadabra. He’s drawn by Brett Booth in the manner of Gris Grimly, and driven by a very contemporary obsession with fame. “It’s true,” he explains, “I do it all for fame and adoration. You must think that’s pathetic. You probably call it narcissism, or other derogatory psychological terms. You probably think I need therapy. But you should realize I come from a far future that is sterile and cold. Nothing there is wonderful at all. I came to your time craving fame or infamy. Either is fine.”

I don’t know why he’s bothering with the magic acts. He could be a successful politician or tech oligarch in the twenty-first century with that kind of an attitude. Other villains suffer from megalomania or have a need to dominate the world or the universe. Kadabra is just doing it for the likes and the clicks. He has almost godlike powers (until, of course, he doesn’t) but all he wants to do is play at being an edgelord. Maybe he really is from our future! Certainly in 2016 he was arriving just ahead of time.

Graphicalex

17 thoughts on “Titans Vol. 1: The Return of Wally West”

  2. Did Rebirth come before or after New52? DC really went through convulsions with all of their re-sets, and they were major resets too.
    And it doesn’t seem to have helped them that much, sadly.

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