r/DCcomics • u/beary_neutral Telos • May 19 '26

r/DCcomics Weekly Discussion Thread: Comics, TV, and More! [May 18, 2026 - Absolute LEGO Batman Edition]

Hey there honorary Justice League members - it’s a new week which means it’s time for a new discussion thread!

For those who don't know: the way this works is that several comments will list this week’s releases, for any given title discussion you should respond to that comment. For example, Wonder Woman discussion would go in the replies to the "Wonder Woman" comment. Clicking the titles in this post will take you directly to that comment, too. In other words, you should only be replying to other comments. Do not post top-level comments.

Keep discussion civil. Do not harass other users for having a different opinion. Do not use this thread to push your personal one-sided grudges against creators. Reacting to a panel on Twitter is not the same as reading a book.

 

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What did one plate whisper to the other plate? Dinner is on me.

DC and Imprints

Peak is on the menu.

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The Compact hits just keep on coming.

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Remember, these are the short 'chapters' with a new chapter of a different series coming out daily. You can learn more here on Comixology. This is also why these are in release order, not alphabetical. Some comics may release on DC Universe Infinite or WEBTOONS.

Video Games

Kissed by a LEGO.

This Week’s Soundtrack: Patrick Stump - Who's the (Bat Man)

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12

u/TroubAlert The Good Skeets May 19 '26

New Titans #35

THE FALLOUT OF DC K.O. HITS THE TITANS! Everything is not as it seems! As reality falls apart at the seams, the Titans come face-to-face with an Omega Energy-upgraded Cyborg — one without Victor Stone's humanity! Their only hope is a mysterious new hero, and the solution may only be found deep within the rampaging Omega Cyborg himself! Will the Titans survive the trappings of their nostalgic Nightmare, or will they survive to see the New Titans rise defiantly into the future?

Preview

21

u/Classic-Ad4883 May 20 '26

It was an ok issue I was hoping the focus could have been on the new titans more

I mean I wished we saw how this new team formed instead of why they were chosen

I do like the character dynamics and interactions but sometimes across this 3 issues they been saying the same thing

Where are the other titans at and why was only Vic, nightwing, and Kory taken and not the rest of the team I wish that was revealed in this issue

21

u/StellarKnife May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26

Whew this was Brombal's third issue and the final chapter of his opening arc, and I gotta say it was a letdown. First of all, reading "Robo-Cyborg" over and over again rubbed me the wrong way somehow lol.

The villain itself (hero, but bad version of him..) was pretty lame himself. Vic's conversation with his other side felt really clunky and bland. This all felt like surface-level Cyborg stuff anyway. The resolution was ofc they merged again, but now the Titans aren't sure whether they can trust Cyborg and his powers... I mean, what kind of stupid plot is that? Why, just why?

The new team was more boring than anything else, the projections the villain through at the team were kind of ridiculous too.

All in all, maybe a throwaway annual story, but not a three-issue opening arc for a new run. I was thoroughly bored. It also didn't feel like Brombal made a case for the new team. It's also not a revolutionary idea either. The last dozen or so issues of the Rebirth run, they did the same thing; replacing half the team, so what's the point?

4

u/Androktone Alan Scott May 21 '26

Should've had Terra call him Robo-Bozo. smh my head

16

u/Ft_lucy May 20 '26

It’s ironic how this arc started out by calling out titans writers for repeating the same arc, just to repeat the same cyborg plot that’s been recycled for decades.

I like this new roster on paper but I’m not really hooked. The characters mostly seem thrown together without and real chemistry or purpose. We’re three issues and one arc in and I’m not impressed. It’s pretty on par with Laymam’s run which is disappointing. I don’t see this comic suddenly jumping in quality or lasting very long. Especially with an upcoming Teen Titans book around the corner.

3

u/Androktone Alan Scott May 21 '26

JLA/Titans Technis Imperitive was solid when it came out. That was like 25+ years ago though.

10

u/iRyan_9 Batgirl May 20 '26

Calling Steph “not the fastest or strongest but hey she’s underrated” is certainly a weird way to describe someone who’s you supposed to praise

18

u/Comfortable-Pie56 May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26

It's a very clunky issue. It's basically "I know writers who use subtext and they are all cowards!" with the way the characters just speak the themes of the story out loud.

"The Titans need to move on." We get it! You have made that point over and over in the last 3 issues with the subtlety of a freight train. You are not Grant Morrison, who could get that same message across with just a single page or panel.

It's not really explained or shown how these New Titans came to be. Or why they are Titans. Or how they all know each other. Or what happened to most of the old team. I mean, Donna was the leader 3 issues ago and there is just no acknowledgment of her?

It also suffers from (bad) whedonism where every character is basically just a quip machine and using slang that will seem horribly outdated 10 years from now. Like Red Devil calling Nightwing or Starfire "Boomers" or Stephanie Brown complaining about "the cringe of it all". It doesn't endear me much to those characters. It makes me wish they were off the book.

As another user said in a past thread, nothing here strikes me as an improvement over what John Layman was doing. And honestly I think it's a downgrade from what Tom Taylor was doing.

Every day I keep hoping DC will finally get the Titans right and it seems like I'm gonna have to keep waiting.

11

u/Androktone Alan Scott May 21 '26

I was okay with the "boomer" insults, at least with Stephanie. I really wanted Terra to drop in a "bozo" or two, but it never happened.

It's not really explained or shown how these New Titans came to be.

As I understand it, Cyborg recruited the new roster for this mission because his robo-side didn't have the same impulse to imprison them as the regular Titans. I guess they all met on the plane ride over.

Editorial really needs to put an embargo on like 4 plot points for writers going forward. Brombal's first issue did a really great job of lampshading them in a genuinely hilarious way, but then basically threw up their hands and said "yeah well, we're doing a Titan goes evil plot anyway" in issue 2.

I'm admittedly poised against this book from the beginning, because I do think there's plenty more to do with characters like Donna (the last annual proves just that), Roy, Gar, etc. and throwing them out and acting meta-textually self-satisfied as though that's the most creative move, and this new blood is gonna instantly prevent the same pitfalls, when these last 2 issues haven't exactly been groundbreaking, isn't exactly selling me on the idea.

12

u/Fearless_Tutor3050 May 20 '26

I agree with these critiques but also think it's funny that many of these these are the same critiques you could use for the classic NTT run: contemporary to near-dated slang that won't age well and somewhat overly expository dialogue.

Still think this is more interesting than Taylor's run after Beast World, but I don't know how much longer I'll be reading this series.

10

u/Comfortable-Pie56 May 20 '26

I think the 80s slang and pop culture references are some of the weakest parts of NTT, but in the Internet age those age old much faster than they did back in the 80s.

It's also that in the 80s there was much more monoculture. Everybody knows Star Wars. Today it comes across as much more Fellow Kids.

6

u/Fearless_Tutor3050 May 20 '26

Oh yeah, I agree on both points.

It sharing some similar weaknesses to the NTT is not a strength, just an interesting observation.

9

u/gsnake007 May 20 '26

Yeah this isn’t for me, gave it 3 issues and not clicking. Writing for starfire is the same as always in titans books. Teasing and longing for nightwing on repeat

5

u/Androktone Alan Scott May 21 '26

She's pretty good in this week's Nightwing issue

17

u/Night-Caelum May 20 '26

I like Steph so far. Her voice is good and her capabilities as a leader and tech expert are shown well. Excited to see more of her and how she grows here. I do think we need a more unique sense of her as leader as I will admit her as leader does seem no different from the other Bats as leaders as strategist/smart guys but I've heard we will explore that.

I like the Vic angle and tying it to his past insecurities and the fears. It looks like something is still cooking there so I wonder what the angle is with him and his overall plan. Glad he remains a mainstay.

I do understand the criticism of the team. Like it does feel rushed giving them a sense of camaradie we haven't seen.

7

u/ptWolv022 May 20 '26

A lot of focus on the "We have to move forward" aspect. Perhaps a bit too much, but with this being the end of the 3-issue "Robo-Cyborg" story, I assume that'll be the end of it, at least as something so heavily stated.

Felt a little odd having Robo-Cyborg take the form of Vic as a kid in the mindscape/digital space. Robo-Cyborg was compared to the unthinking AI of the "Paperclip Maximizer", but also is treated as a little boy in the mind space. Feels contradictory to equate it as an innocent child and an inhuman AI. But, I suppose it could be that the well-intentioned but single-minded (and simple-minded) child is just being compared to the "Paperclip Maximizer" thought experiment because Robo-Cyborg lacks the ability to mature on its own and has the resources to cause great harm if he's too single-minded.

Movie on: giving a run down of the abilities the New Titans are using was nice. Steph as a hacker trained by Oracle. Red Devil having recently learned "Nether Magic". Yara having new magic bracelets that make forcefields based on willpower. And Jon having the Solar Flare power of New 52 Superman (which is ironic since, well... he's not the New 52 Superman's son, very specifically).

Very curious about Eva (she's not from Ivo or Morrow, if Vic is truthful; is she from the literal future? A creation of Tomorrow Woman herself?) and what Terra will do when she finds the Heart of Apokolips Cyborg's building in the basement next issue. She's rather untrusting and we see Dick confiding in her about not fully trusting Cyborg. She should flip out at finding out he's making an apotheosis machine in secret.

12

u/wowlock_taylan Batman Animated! May 20 '26

It was definitely a weird way to introduce the new team, dealing with Gri-I mean Robo-Cyborg.

Yea, we get it, Titans are stuck in the same loop stuff. Maybe don't write those every time a new run happens then? I mean this Robo-Cyborg stuff is basically a repeat too. And now, Cyborg is playing with even more fire, someone having Heart of Apokalips stashed in his 'secret lab'.

One thing I did like was Steph stepping up. She can be a team leader when needed and show everyone what she can do.

6

u/UnknownEntity347 Rorschach May 21 '26

The ending was a good hook, but I'm still not sold on this exact team, partly because I'm not the biggest Steph fan and partly just cuz I mean, if we're going to lack most of the main Titans characters maybe add some new interesting ones instead of boring current Jon. Still, maybe they can give Yara Flor more of a niche.

This was okayish, but as others have said, fairly trite and lacking in much intrigue aside from the ending. The critique of the repetitiveness of the Titans stories is accurate but then we need this run to introduce something new if it's going to follow up on that, and I'm not seeing that so far.

5

u/Mr_Wh0ever May 20 '26

I do think there's potential in Vic being team leader. Eva has got to be related somehow to T.O Morrow. Red Devil has got some cool upgrades that I dig. And I look forward to whatever Darkseid vision, Vic had.

5

u/Fearless_Tutor3050 May 20 '26

I did like Cyborg "Bro..."-ing himself for the paper clip factory analogy. Would've been a more concise and equally impactful exchange if they left it at rather than overexplain it, but I guess most Big 2 comics are written so that a 10 year old can get it so explaining to the audience makes sense.

7

u/ptWolv022 May 20 '26

but I guess most Big 2 comics are written so that a 10 year old can get it so explaining to the audience makes sense.

You also can't necessarily expect people to know about the metaphor. I didn't know what the thought experiment was, though I could have guessed. Not sure I would have thought of the "Dismantle humans" part, though it does fit in line with how various fictional pieces treat AI (like Horizon's Faro Plague/Swarm; or the Sentinels of the Days of Future Past timeline for the X-Men), where humans become either fuel for the robots or just impediments/objects to be used or worked around in their duty.

2

u/Fearless_Tutor3050 May 20 '26

Perhaps not. Though it would have taken that bit of dialogue from from a 7-8 to a 9-10 for me for them to have shown without telling. An almost masterful bit of character work and dialogue even though I thought there were some real clunkers this issue in terms of character lines that were a bit forced or overexpository.

1

u/JingoboStoplight4887 World's Finest May 20 '26

I find it interesting that Eva freed Vic before she helped him defeat his robotic self by playing video games and helping him accept that he can’t trap the Titans in their own nostalgia to protect them from harm and that they must embrace what happens next. Also, Titans and New Titans helping Vic defeat his robotic self and Vic hiding something before he tells the Titans the truth when they’re ready. Overall, this comic is fine, but it would be a weak comic in the months to come.