COMIC: Top of the Stack - Tiny Titans #38 (Review)

Written by Art Baltazar & Franco Aureliani
Art by Art Baltazar
Cover by Art Baltazar

Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99

Youth was a big theme during the third week of March's comic book releases. Adventure Comics had the Legion Academy in its pages, the Avengers Academy title also came out, as well as the side book to Avengers Children's Crusade featuring the Young Avengers, the current young mutants book - Generation Hope and the next issue of DC's Young Justice companion book. But despite the crowd of minors, there was still the veteran of the kids pack to deal with - Tiny Titans - and in the end the pure fun the series brings distanced itself from the others.

Baltazar and Franco, the creative team for Tiny Titans continues to hit the ball out of the park when it comes to spinning tales with these characters. They have this way of telling simple stories in a fun and exciting way that appeals to both young and old readers alike. And the balance in their story design makes it so the book is a constant good read no matter which characters are in the issue, like this one where regulars like Supergirl do not show up but that does not take away from the story one bit.

This issue of Tiny Titans shifts the focus of the book from the regular cast of Tiny Titans to the water-based members of the group. Aqualad and Lagoon Boy go swimming and meet Aquagirl, her super hero team and their pets. There is also cameos by Starro, Batcow and Atlantis has to deal with a wet pants epidemic. Deliciously funny moments once again in the pages of Tiny Titans.

Baltazar continues to be stellar with his art on the book. The cover with Lagoon Boy, Aqualad and Aquagirl is cute and fun to look at and stands out on the shelf. The best thing about the Tiny Titans style is that any character that gets brought into the universe for the first time looks like they were always a part of the book and brings the energy onto the page like previous characters. Every panel flows with the story and the quality brought is so great I would not minding seeing an absolute version of Tiny Titans someday.

Tiny Titans is becoming a regular top of the stack winner lately with its last two issues and it always seems to be one of my favorite books to read month in and month out. As long as Baltazar and Franco continue to be the creative force behind the book I don't see my enjoyment of the title changing anytime soon. It is always one of the first books I mention when recommending people on titles to try out. The brilliance of this comic should not be contained to just pages and I hope that in the future DC can turn it into an animated series.