Titans #5 - DC

I love the Titans in all it's forms. Even the lame ones. But this series is far from that. So far I think this book has been one of the best incarnations yet. It would be nice if they could settle on an artist, but . . Judd Winick's stories, I think, have more than made up for any inconveniences there. Julian Lopez now seems to be the artist on this series. I'm not complaining though. I thought he and Bit had done a fantastic job on the books that they did for the Batman and the Outsiders series. They looked equally as impressive here. Plus Julian can draw some pretty sexy women. All I'm saying is there's a few in this cast he can pick from. I thought even Raven looked pretty hot . . for a 'goth' chick. The thing I like about Judd's stories are . . actually there's 2 things . . first of all I think he's fantastic at the team books. I think he focus' just the right amount of attention on each character and works them all into the story. You know how sometimes in team books you may not see a certain character for 2 or 3 months, well . . Judd does a good job of covering them all. I feel that if a issue focus' on a specific character . . as it does with Beast-boy and Raven this issue . . that doesn't mean that the rest of the cast aren't living their lives in the meantime. Sometimes I think team-books treat the other characters like they're on 'pause' when they aren't essential to a story. The way Judd writes it, it feels like it's more in 'real' time. You know what I mean? Also, I think he adds just the right amount of humor to his stories. The scene where Garth appears at Raven's dorm as a giant green bear, I thought was hilarious. Unfortunately, their date turns to crap as, at the end of the issue, Raven takes off into a portal with her 3 estranged brothers. I also thought the scene between Kory and Dick was touching. And inevitable. Like I said, I love the Titans in all their forms, and this one is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I'm just wondering if the artistic shift is permanent. I liked Julian on the Outsiders, but I thought Ryan Benjamin did a good job also. And I did really like Julian's interpretation of these characters. I guess we'll have to wait and see.