Teen titans vol 4 by kami garcia

Vol 4: Robin, illustrated by Gabriel Picolo
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Picking up right where Beast Boy Loves Raven left off, the teens survive a night in the wilderness hiding from H.I.V.E., but they won’t last long on their own. Max calls her mother, Natalia, and they find a vacation rental in Georgia where they can lay low and avoid Slade. At the house, Natalia helps each teen train their individual powers for better control and to use them to their advantage. Gar decides it’s time to make up with his parents, and he calls them down to the Georgia coast to confront them about what they were doing and what they know about H.I.V.E.. Unknown to them, Damien’s adoptive brother, Dick Grayson, tracks his brother to the beach house and wants to stay and help them out, which enrages Damien. The two decide to settle it over some friendly challenges: hacking, parkour, target practice, and batarang throwing. The group also soon find out that Slade is interested in a girl in L. A., so they pack up and try to get to her before he does.

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Unlike Beast Boy Loves Raven where two stories (Raven and Beast Boy) were coming together, Robin is a straight continuation of the events that happened previously, but there is a good amount of time spent on Damien's backstory, and his hang-ups with his adoptive brother, Dick, especially how their father Bruce treats them both. This book is the necessary build-up to bigger and better parts of the story, but it was also kind of an elongated training montage for the whole team. There are parts of it that are filler as we can't skip entirely over where they are training and learning to use their powers, but I honestly could have used a little bit slower pace during these segments and more time to get to know some of the characters. We get to know Damien mostly through his backstory, but we don't spend a bunch of time with him in present-day. This puts him at a disadvantage compared to Raven and Gar, who both had their own book and an entire book together.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3

Publisher: DC Comics
Publication Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781779512246 (Paperback)

Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Graphic Fiction, Romance, Friendship, Superheroes, DC Comics