There’s something about giant freaking robots that punch one another that will always work. It’s exciting to see these behemoths move and fight, learning how these larger-than-life machines move and fight. There’s also something about giant robots that lends themselves to creating drama, whether that drama is a group of individuals who have to learn to work as a team or a power struggle to find who is worthy of taking the helm of these goliaths. However, it’s possible to lean too far into this angle, detracting from what makes these stories capture the imagination in the first place. Focusing TOO much on the struggle can detract from other avenues to explore, especially when focusing on a relatively small group of characters. While there’s a lot to like in “We Ride Titans” #3, something about the issue fails to land the emotional catharsis. There’s some impressive art, but elements of the story fail to connect.
Written by Tres DeanCover by Sebastian Piriz
Illustrated by Sebastian Piriz
Colored by Dee Cunniffe
Lettered by Jim CampbellKit’s tenure as a Titan rider gets off to a bad start as a mysterious mech attacks New Hyperion. Plus: waffles.
It may be due to how they are serializing Tres Dean’s script that “We Ride Titans” #3 fails to have a significant impact. While the major themes of the series are all there, it seems like it’s another issue of treading the same ground established in the first two issues. Kit struggles to impress her father, Dej continues to prove that he has the goods but lacks the self-control to be a pilot, and their father continues to push them to their breaking point. While there are some tense scenes in the issue overall, it lacks the emotional weight that worked in the second issue. In many ways, it feels like the first three issues are a game where we’re just watching the same argument occur with different configurations of the pieces. While this might work in another serialized medium, waiting a month in between issues lacks the impact that this type of conflict might create in a weekly series. You almost have to go and check out the previous two issues to be reminded of each character’s role in the familial conflict and how that impacts the story at large. This may work better in the trade printing of the comic, quickly going from issue to issue and seeing how the siblings’ insecurities build on one another. It might even make the scene where Dej jumps in to help Kit out of the situation have more weight, but as it stands now, it lacks a certain impact. Perhaps it’s just the limited scope of the series at the moment. While you don’t necessarily want to overwhelm your audience with too many characters because things are currently so small, you have to play the same tune in different arrangements.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t elements of the script that don’t work. While the familiar conflict in “We Ride Titans” #3 is starting to feel a bit stale, Tres Dean does an admirable job showing the importance of the Titan program for the world at large through the character of Ash. Ash regards Kit as a hero, a person who makes selfless sacrifices to keep the city safe. At the moment, it’s pretty impactful. You can see Kit internalizing the words of this admirer and pushing past the familial drama. It’s impactful and well written, but it certainly helps to highlight some of the problems with the cyclical family drama of these Titan pilots. Maybe that’s the point of the series, that as the family drama continues to build, we’re setting up another defecation. While not explicitly stated, it seems pretty clear who the mysterious villain is (or, at the very least, who he’s related to.) Maybe the undercutting of the scene is the point that as one sibling rises in favor, the other is pushed to the brink. The problem with that, though, is that it continues to highlight the issue of the series overall.
Despite the issues of the script, some striking visuals make “We Ride Titans” #3 rank up there with some of the greats of the mecha genre. Sebastian Piriz does a remarkable job of showing you how the mech works in the way that the action panels are composed in the opening action sequence. We get cutaways to the interior of the mech that lines up perfectly with the action, showing both Kit’s view of the fight and the mysterious pilotless mecha. You get a real sense of the weight and power of these machines as they slam into the ground and one another. There’s also something about how strikingly low-tech the pilot chair of the Nexus looks. While other series feature slick suits and user interfaces, there’s something blue-collar and gearhead about the designs of the Titans. Even the control room isn’t too flashy, with a series of monitors and readouts. It’s also helpful that Dee Cunnifee’s coloring makes the mechs feel grimy and low-tech in a world that otherwise feels somewhat futuristic. There’s a nice contrast between the gearhead tech of the Titans and Nexus vs. the sheen of the skyscrapers Kit and her family occupy.
Continued belowThese colors also provide a fantastic contrast when you go to the grimier parts of the world, like Dej’s apartment of the little diner, where they get waffles. While their home is this bright shining beacon of futurism, it’s by no means a perfect or idealistic world. “We Ride Titans” #3 continues to do some compelling worldbuilding in subtle ways. Honestly, the art is the star throughout the issue, moving seamlessly between fighting behemoths to quiet character moments. It just seems that the script isn’t necessarily living up to the excellent art.
Again, it’s possible that this series will work better when compiled into a trade, giving you the ability to watch as these shifting family conflicts impact one another and impact the story overall. Waiting month to month, however, loses some of that power. “We Ride Titans” #3 certainly shows a lot of potential. It just seems to be struggling in the execution. Hopefully, the world will continue to expand in subsequent issues, introducing more characters and building more relationships. Unfortunately, just following the family’s complicated dynamics leaves something to be desired.
Final Verdict: 6.0 – “We Ride Titans” #3 features some impressive art from Sebastian Piriz, but sufferers from a script that seems to be spinning its wheels as it looks for the next family fight.
