The first major challenge Gardner Fox presents for his Justice League in Brave In The Bold #28 (1960) is the conqueror, Starro. Throughout the decades, Starro would return, even reincarnating as the innocent "Jarro" in Scott Snyder's No Justice (2018). After the Justice League disbanded, it makes sense to christen the Titans with their own Starro story. Incidentally, following a terrible accident in the galaxy, Starro becomes the Titan's only hope in saving the world.

"Get Off The Damn Moon"

In direct continuation of Tom Taylor's Titans #5, Brother Eternity live streams his first expedition on Saturn's moon. Yes, dear reader, Tom Taylor unsubtly set his Titans story on the actual moon of Titan. For those not keeping up with Titans, Brother Blood rebrands as Brother Eternity and the Church of Eternity. Basically, he becomes a "totally legit" televangelist urging people to leave the planet. Weirder than that, Tempest joins the Church of Eternity over rejoining his friends on the team. Unsurprisingly, Nightwing and the others soon discover most of this is due to the influence of mysterious alien parasites. In response, the Titans don't move on Brother Eternity immediately, but instead "veg out" in leisure wear and watch television.

While the Titans relax, Brother Eternity guides his "Forevernauts" to an alien temple on Titan. With the rest of the world watching this farce, Brother Eternity unlocks the temple with ancient Tamaranean, which finally gets Starfire's attention. However, by the time the Titans mobilize to save the astronauts, it is too late. Instead, the Titans face down a cosmic horror known as a "Necrostar." According to Tameranean texts, the Necrostar is an immortal being similar to Starro. Although, it isn't clear how the Necrostar fits into Brother Eternity's overall plan besides using it's spores to kill Wally. That aside, the Necrostar represents a tangible impending doom for the planet forcing all earth's heroes to gather.

The Cycle of Triumph and Despair

One of the things Beast World comments on is the typical problem resolution in comic book universes. As a point of criticism, Taylor points out that the cycle starts with despair, then hope, then inspiration, and lastly ultimate triumph. Writers have milked melodrama from this so-called "pattern of heroics" for years. In fact, X-Men, Invincible, Fantastic Four, or Superman stories have extremely similar set ups facing The Phoenix Force, Sequids, Galactus, Anti-Life, Black Mercy, The Omega Titans, or even Starro. On the other hand, Tom Taylor's Titans mostly attempts to be about breaking traditions. In this case, there is little time to contend with world-ending mind control and destruction, before it feels like The Justice League takes the wheel like usual. During the Titan's big moment to step up, Batman negatively belittles their new solutions and attitudes.

Due to the scale and urgency of the problem, Beast Boy fast tracks the idea of using Starro to fight the Necrostar. Of course, in lieu of teaming up with another villain, Beast Boy takes the colossal risk on himself. So, after expanding his brain mass as a whale, Beast Boy ambitiously transforms himself into a Starro! As foreshadowed in Titans #5, Garfield spreads himself too thin when controlling swarms and hints a Starro hivemind could break him indefinitely. In spite of this, the "Garro" transformation is incredibly powerful and easily becomes a top five Beast Boy feat. With Cyborg's help, Garro is able to imprison the Necrostar and close the typical "pattern of heroics." At least, until a third party uses the predictable pattern against them as an opportunity to make their move.

Another New Knightmare

The tone of the story fluctuates between sequences of high action, humor, and often horror. Three big snapshots represent the best moments of Beast World. Firstly, the demonic aesthetic of the Forevernauts on Saturn's moon harkens back to sci-fi horror films like Aliens (1986) or Ghosts of Mars (2001). The gaseous environment is eerie, but elements like not needing space suits like the astronauts slightly breaks immersion. Additionally, the full page panels of Garfield and Raven's heartfelt last moments of shared pain and the grotesque Akira (1988)-like transformation that follows are fantastic. The illustrations aren't that complex, but readers will immediately translate the pain and sacrifice of Beast Boy's big moment. Third, the kaiju battle sequence between the Justice League, Garro, and the Necrostar is epic. As juvenile as the jokes Beast Boy makes about "being inside" of people or calling himself "Garro" are, the action remains oddly satisfying.

Recommended If...

• You've read and enjoyed Lazarus Planet or DC's Knight Terrors events.
• Keeping up with Tom Taylor's Titans.
• You've ever wanted to see Beast Boy transform into a cosmic starfish.

Overall

Two things can be true at once. Beast Boy's big moment was awesome, decently set up, and well illustrated. Ivan Reis' illustrations and Brad Anderson's colors make the book a pleasing page-turner. Still, the main villains have silly names like Necrostar, Brother Eternity, and Dr. Hate. By the way, Brother Eternity dresses like a cross between the Kentucky Fried Chicken Colonel and Gerard Way, so taking his televangelist act to a full-on shuttle launch is fairly unrealistic. On a negative note, Beast World's use of the Titans cast is bland and the twist felt forced. The plot feels like a consequence pulled out of a hat, rather than a natural conclusion. Overall, the Titan's first real event is on a rough, but potentially workable path. In many ways it feels very similar to DCeased, so this could have pull with certain demographics of readers.

Score: 7/10

DISCLAIMER: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purposes of this review