If ever there was a driver for conflict in a story, the dysfunction of a family that’s been estranged for years and unable to talk about their issues in a constructive way is one of the more reliable. Another driver can also be the giant aliens that the family has a responsibility to eviscerate with the help of their multi-story and multi-generational mecha. The latter, however, may be just for me. And while I originally wrote about the first issue of this series back in the ancient past of 2022, it’s good to see how We Ride Titans by Tres Dean, Sebastián Píriz, Dee Cunniffe, and Jim Campbell finally ends.

From where we last left off in the story, Kit was taking over the piloting of the mech Defender Nexus from her brother, Dej. Dej has been, for years now, struggling with alcohol abuse as a result of the pressures of piloting Defender Nexus as one in a generational line defending New Hyperion from the persistent kaiju threat. Dej, however, is one of the only people who can coach Kit as their father pushes her to the point where she nearly leaves the family for a second time. But with the appearance of an unknown mech in the city along with the continual alien threat, Kit has to get herself together while also making sure her brother gets the help he needs. All the while, their estranged uncle has been plotting in the background how to get revenge for a decades-old indignity.

The first issue of We Ride Titans uses its white space to great effect throughout—further establishing the distance our cast feel. But as the series progresses, we see less of this space outside of larger character moments where someone is isolating themselves or when the world fades away for a moment. The panels here get tighter, the action within slicing through the confines of the page as we begin to view relationships beginning to mend after years of fraying. Seeing the world of the characters and the emotional state mirrored in the panels helps to elevate the reading experience of the series as a whole since we feel the distance and the closure on every page. Without these spacial elements, we still witness the story unfolding between this family, but the reinforcement in the space gives each moment the weight to better cement that impact. Píriz uses the page to do more than just show the script—he enhances it.

We Ride Titans is more than mechs. It’s the weight of family outweighing the twenty-story titans that these characters pilot. It’s a showcase of the ways in which we disappoint and salvage those familial bonds despite time and distance. The creators here show us that the core of any good story in any genre is the connections characters make with one another. At the center of We Ride Titans is simply a family trying to fix the multitude of things they’ve broken over the years. And punching aliens. 

Get excited. Get big.

Drew Barth (Episode 331, 485, & 510) resides in Winter Park, FL. He received his MFA from the University of Central Florida.