Warning: Spoilers for World’s Finest: Teen Titans #2 ahead!
Summary
- Garth, aka Aqualad, shows compassion and empathy beyond his Teen Titan teammates, using his outsider experiences to save their lives in a touching way.
- Garth’s struggles with being an outcast among the Atlanteans and the mockery he faces as Aquaman’s sidekick resonate with a young psychic girl, allowing him to help her control her powers.
- While facing the girl’s fears, Garth’s empathy and emotional depth shine through, making him the one who can truly understand and reach her, setting him apart from his fellow Teen Titans.
It’s not easy being the teen sidekick to one of DC’s most mocked superheroes, but Garth proves that, even in his Aqualad days, his experiences as an outsider have given him compassion and empathy beyond most of his Teen Titan teammates. He shows his true power by saving the Titans’ lives in the most touching way.
Mark Waid, Emanuela Lupacchino, Jordie Bellaire, and Steve Wands’ World’s Finest: Teen Titans #2 launches the Titans into a search for the missing Dalisay Flores, a girl who fled when her psychic powers erupted completely out of her control. Wonder Girl, Speedy, and Aqualad track her down to an abandoned house, but the trio are swiftly overcome by illusions. When an ally alerts the Titans that the illusions are actually Dalisay’s projected fears — rejection, bullying, ugliness — only Garth has the emotional maturity to navigate the psychic assault and calm Dalisay down.
Garth reveals his secret to coping with the scorn of two worlds: “One day, in all that name-calling, I asked myself whose voice was loudest. It was mine.” It’s this constant struggle to affirm his sense of self-worth that allows Garth to identify so keenly with Dalisay’s weaponized psychic rejection and ultimately to help her control her powers.
Aquaman and Aqualad Are the Butt of the Joke
Aquaman and his family’s perceived uselessness on land has long been a running joke for DC. Given that breathing underwater and communicating with fish aren’t terribly useful powers on land, there have been several soft Aquaman reboots that have tried to recontextualize the family’s looks and powers (such as Aquaman’s infamous hook-handed appearance in the ’90s). Things are even worse for Aqualad, however: being born with purple eyes has made Garth an outcast among the Atlanteans, leading to the teen hero being shunned by his people below the surface and mocked by those above.
When told that the illusions confronting him are not real, Garth has the presence of mind to accept the reality of Dalisay’s fears and emotions instead of trying to reject them — which in turn allows him to walk through and reach her unscathed. The bitterest twist in all of this is that Garth is shown to be struggling more or less alone despite being amidst his friends and teammates: Donna’s enthusiasm for the world around her leads her to run roughshod over Garth’s own preferences, while Speedy is quick with the fish jokes and put-downs.
Aqualad Saves the Day with Empathy
Despite this, both Wonder Girl and Speedy are completely undone when confronting Dalisay’s fears; it’s only Garth who possesses the empathy and compassion required to reach through Dalisay’s pain, because it’s one they both share. Aqualad may be the butt of the joke for many, but he possesses a strength of character and emotional depth that the other Teen Titans are still struggling to learn, and in this regard he stands foremost amongst them.
World’s Finest: Teen Titans #2 is now available from DC Comics.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
