Best Shots review - Future State: Teen Titans #2 is visually impressive but frustratingly lacking in story

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More of a prelude to Teen Titans Academy than a story of its own

Future State: Teen Titans #2 panel excerpt
(Image credit: DC)

Dick Grayson tries tapping into his dark side as Future State: Teen Titans #2 concludes, and while the resulting battle is visually impressive, writer Tim Sheridan can't bring together its disparate plot into a fulfilling whole. With Red X on their side and Nightwing wearing Deathstroke's mask, the Titans take the fight to the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Future State: Teen Titans #2 (of 2) credits

Written by Tim Sheridan
Art by Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, and Alejandro Sanchez
Lettering by Rob Leigh
Published by DC
'Rama Rating: 5 out of 10

Frustratingly, there are some exciting elements here, but they're just sketches at this point. A book with a horror take on the H dial, Nightwing struggling with his own personal ouroboros in leading children to war and Red X shouldn't leave a dearth of plot and character, making the whole limited series seem like too much of a tease. 

This conclusion makes no attempt to answer the questions asked by its first issue, instead wallowing in its mystery as a lead into the forthcoming Teen Titans Academy title. There's an attention-capturing double spread when Red X invokes the spirits of the dead Titans, but it's not enough to satisfyingly conclude this limited series.

(Image credit: DC)

Ultimately, Future State: Teen Titans is too interested in setting up the forthcoming Teen Titans Academy than telling a complete story of its own. Art-wise, Sandoval, Tarragona, and Sanchez illustrate an attractive book. Sandoval and Tarragona's pencils and inks are fluid in action, and Sanchez adds an arresting color palette of purples to their polished work. 

There's some hard-hitting action here, and one hell of a climactic set-piece, but it does little to pay off the seeds sown in its first issue and suffers for it.

Check out the best Teen Titans stories of all time.

Oscar Maltby
Oscar Maltby

Oscar Maltby has been writing about comics since 2015. He has also written comic book scripts for the British small press and short fiction for Ahoy Comics. He resides on the South Coast of England but lives in the longbox.