REVIEW: ‘Teen Titans Academy,’ Issue #8

Titans Tower is haunted! Is this a new threat? Or one that the Titans have faced before? And on the day they’re hosting prospective new students and their parents, nonetheless. What else could go wrong? Teen Titans Academy #8 is published by DC Comics and written by Tim Sheridan, with art by Mike Norton, colors by HI-FI, letters by Rob Leigh, cover by Rafa Sandoval and Alejandro Sánchez, and variant cover by Philip Tang and Sebastien Cheng.

There’s only a bit of ghost mystery to this ostensibly spooky issue, but Sheridan makes it fun against the backdrop of what’s really the main plot. Namely, that of the senior Titans questioning amongst themselves about what they’re doing with the academy. They’ve taken in so many students, and are poised to take in more. Are they ready, and have they done a good job so far? Teen Titans Academy covers every aspect of the nascent school that it can, and Sheridan does a great job of balancing the character work. He implores us through the characters to question this whole operation that we’ve come to love so much. And this becomes all the more important with the other longstanding question of this series.

The question of Red X’s exact identity significantly deepens in this issue. But the mystery was never simply “Who is Red X?” but rather, why is Red X hellbent on sabotaging the Titans? There’s clearly a lot of animus they carry in the words that Sheridan poignantly writes for them. Red X sincerely believes that it’s imperative to dismantle the Titans organization for the good of the students there now. Like with virtually every other character introduced in this series, Sheridan takes great care to get readers to see where Red X is coming from, even while still withholding the details that were only previously hinted at, and it’s emotionally effective. It’ll be very interesting to read where the story goes from here.

The art by Norton is excellent. It’s similar to the style set by the series’ primary artist Sandoval but still distinct. Norton is particularly very good at distinguishing characters from one another with their particular facial features. The coloring by HI-FI is also good at distinguishing all the skin tones among the characters, especially characters of color like Summer and Alinta. There’s a brightness of color and form to this issue, focusing more on the Titans in their restful state than focusing on battles. It’s an overall delight to look at.

Leigh’s lettering remains great, never distracting even when there’s a lot of dialogue spoken. All the artwork by Norton is clear and readers are able to immerse themselves easily.

Teen Titans Academy #8 is a contemplative issue that sees the Titans question their way of doing things. Sheridan continues to write a great story while balancing all the various characters, imploring the readers to think more deeply, and Norton’s artwork and Leigh’s lettering make this even more of a delight to read. Eight issues in, we’re still only at the start of Teen Titans Academy, and it’ll be very exciting to see what happens next.

Teen Titans Academy #8 is available wherever comics are sold.