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 Teen Titans
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The Teen Titans, briefly known as simply The
Titans, is a DC Comics superhero team that first appeared in The Brave and the
Bold #54 (July 1964).
As the group's name suggests, its membership is
usually composed of teenaged superheroes. In its early adventures, the team is a
junior Justice League of sorts, featuring Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad, the
sidekicks of Leaguers Batman, The Flash, and Aquaman, respectively. The team has
branched out to include Wonder Woman's protégé Wonder Girl and characters not
connected with adult heroes, notably Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven.
The Teen Titans comics stumbled to find an audience
in their early days, but became one of DC's most beloved franchises in the 1980s
when writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez began work on the series The
New Teen Titans. Since then, the characters have maintained at least moderate
popularity and have been adapted into an animated series that aired from 2003
until 2006.
****
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance The Brave & the Bold Vol. 1, #54
(original team)
Teen Titans Vol. 3, #1
(current team)
Created by Robert Haney
Bruno Premiani
Team status Active
Base(s) of operations Titans Tower:
New York City (1980–91, 1999–02)
San Francisco (2003–Present)
Other:
Solar Tower, Metropolis (1997–98), USS Argus, Earth
Orbit (1994–95), Titans Liberty Island Base, New Jersey (1991–94), Gabriel's
Horn, Farmingdale, Long Island (1976), Titans' Lair, Gotham City (1966–76)
****
Silver
Age
Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad first teamed together
in The Brave and the Bold #54 (July 1964), with Wonder Girl joining in Showcase
#59. Despite Wonder Girl's history as a teenaged version of Wonder Woman, an
editorial error presented her as a separate entity, a sidekick to the adult
character (this was finally addressed fully in the 1980s). The Showcase #59
appearance was the first usage of the term "Teen Titans", and it portrays the
characters as a junior Justice League, joining together as had their mentors:
Batman, Flash, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman. The Teen Titans were popular enough to
be awarded their own series with issue #1, cover-dated February 1966. The early
issues were noted for Nick Cardy's luminant artwork and Bob Haney's un-hip teen
slang.[citation needed]
The series's original premise was the Teen Titans
helped teens, answering calls from around the world. Their first stories
included saving a town from a band of teen rockers turned criminals, helping a
teenager's burgler brother reform, investigating international teen tension at
the Japanese Olympics, and vindicating a teenager who claims interdimensional
aliens were infiltrating his high school. [citation needed] Green Arrow's
sidekick Speedy also soon joined, but future inductees would be created from
scratch, notably Lilith Clay and Mal Duncan, or exising heroes such as Hawk and
Dove, a duo of teenaged superpowered brothers, and Beast Boy of the Doom Patrol
were added to the team.
The series's tone shifted from the freewheeling fun
of the 1960s to the darker side of the modern world, particularly the Vietnam
War and its related protests. One storyline beginning in issue #25 (February
1970) saw the Titans deal with the accidental death of a peace activist, leading
them to reconsider their methods. As a result, the Teen Titans briefly abandon
their identities to work as unpowered civilians, but the change brought howls of
protest from fans. [citation needed] The theme of teenagers learning to take on
adult roles and responsibilities was common throughout the series. The series'
popularity flagged during the early 1970s and went on hiatus as of issue #43
(February 1973).
Notable Silver Age appearances
The Brave and the Bold #54, 60
Showcase #59
The Teen Titans #1–43
Silver
Age members
Founding members
Robin (Dick Grayson) (The Brave and the Bold #54)
(later Nightwing)
Kid Flash (Wally West) (TBATB #54) (later the
Flash)
Aqualad (Garth) (TBATB #54) (later Tempest)
Wonder Girl (Donna Troy) (TBATB #60) (later Troia)
Speedy (Roy Harper) (TT #4) (revealed to be a
founding member in Teen Titans #53) (later Arsenal)
Later members
Hawk (The Teen Titans #21)
Dove (The Teen Titans #21)
Lilith Clay (The Teen Titans #25) (later Omen)
Mal Duncan (The Teen Titans #26) (later The
Guardian, Hornblower, Herald and Vox)
Honorary members
Aquagirl (The Teen Titans #30)
Gnaark (The Teen Titans #32)
Loren Jupiter
Silver Age Teen Titans graphic novels
Graphic novels by DC collecting the most well-known
adventures of this era:
Title Material collected
Showcase Presents Teen Titans Volume one The Brave
and the Bold #54 & #60, Showcase #59, and Teen Titans vol. 1 #1–18
1970s
revival
A few years after its cancellation, the series
resumed with issue #44 (November 1976) but struggled to find focus, moving
through a number of storylines in rapid succession. Notable among these are
stories involving the mysterious Joker's Daughter and Teen Titans West, a team
consisting of a number of other teen heroes. The revival was short-lived, and
the series was canceled as of #53 (February 1978). Tellingly, in the last issue
the heroes realized that, now in their early 20s, they had simply outgrown the
"Teen" Titans. In the last panel, without speaking, they sadly go their separate
ways.
Notable 1970s appearances
The Teen Titans #44–53
New
1970s Members
Joker's Daughter (Teen Titans #48)
Bumblebee
(Note: Mal Duncan has two separate heroic
identities during this run; first as the Guardian and later as the Hornblower.
After Crisis on Infinite Earths, those identities were retconned away, and he
was established as having always been the Herald.)
Titans West members:
Lilith Clay
Hawk
Dove
"John" Gnaark
Bat-Girl
Golden Eagle
Beast Boy/Changeling
(Note: After Crisis on Infinite Earths, Bumblebee
and Mal Duncan/Herald were said to have been a part of the Titans West at some
point, and the character of Bat-Girl was replaced with Flamebird.)
New
Teen Titans (1980–1996)
The New Teen Titans #1 (November 1980) introduces a
team of new Titans, anchored by founding members Robin, Wonder Girl, and Kid
Flash. It re-introduces the Doom Patrol's Beast Boy as Changeling and introduces
the machine man Cyborg, the alien Starfire, and the dark empath Raven. Raven, an
expert manipulator, forms the group to fight her demonic father Trigon, and the
team remains together thereafter as a group of young adult heroes.
The villains' motivations are often complex,
following trends that were coming to a head at that time towards greater depth
in comics , particularly in the case of Deathstroke the Terminator, a mercenary
who takes a contract to kill the Titans, in order to fulfill a job his son is
unable to complete. This leads to the Titans' most complex adventure, in which a
psychopathic girl named Terra infiltrates the Titans in order to destroy them.
This story also features Dick Grayson, the original Robin, adopting the identity
of Nightwing. New Teen Titans also regularly features the Monitor as a
background character.
Other notable New Teen Titans stories include "A
Day in the Life...", featured a day in the team members’ personal lives. "Who is
Donna Troy?" depicts Robin investigating Wonder Girl's true identity (#38), and
"We are Gathered Here Today..." tells the story of Wonder Girl's wedding,
noteworthy for being the rare superhero wedding in which a fight didn't break
out (#50).
Tales of the New Teen Titans, a four-part limited
series by Wolfman and Perez, was published in 1982, detailing the back stories
of Cyborg, Raven, Starfire, and Changeling.
New Teen Titans fans experienced some title and
numbering confusion when DC moved some of its more popular books from the
newsstand to the direct distribution market (comic book specialty stores) in
1984. New Teen Titans became Tales of the Teen Titans for a year (not to be
confused with the earlier limited series), while a new series named The New Teen
Titans launched with a new #1. The former book began reprinting the latter's
stories for the newsstand a year later, and ran until issue #91, but the direct
market series printed only new stories.
Issue #1 of the direct market New Teen Titans
created controversy when Dick Grayson and Starfire were depicted in bed
together, although it had been established for some time that they were a
monogamous couple. Pérez left the series after New Teen Titans vol. 2 #5, and
the series began to flounder (Wolfman reportedly suffered from writer's block,
and other writers contributed from time to time). José Luis Garcia Lopez
followed Pérez as artist, and Eduardo Barreto contributed a lengthy run. Pérez
returned with issue #50, the series again being renamed, this time to The New
Titans: the characters were no longer teenagers. Issue #50 tells a new origin
story for Wonder Girl, her link to Wonder Woman having been severed due to
retcons in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Pérez remained through issue #61.
The series introduced a number of characters and
puts others through radical changes. Though The New Titans ran for another 7
years, the group which appears in the final issue, #130 (February 1996), bears
little resemblance to the one that anchored DC's line-up in the early 1980s.
New
Teen Titans and the Uncanny X-Men
The brainchild of writer Marv Wolfman and artist
George Pérez, New Teen Titans is widely thought of as DC's answer to the
increasingly popular Uncanny X-Men from Marvel Comics: Both series depict young
heroes from disparate backgrounds whose internal conflicts are as integral to
the series as is their combat against villains. Both books were instrumental in
moving mainstream comics in a more character-driven direction.[citation needed]
New Teen Titans also uses long story arcs, and the characters are sometimes
involved in galactic and interdimensional conflicts. Much as Uncanny X-Men made
a star out of artist John Byrne, The New Teen Titans did the same for Pérez. The
two teams actually met in the 1982 crossover one-shot entitled
"Apokolips...Now".
Notable New Teen Titans appearances
DC Comics Presents #26
The New Teen Titans vol. 1, #1–40
Tales of the Teen Titans #41–59, Annuals #1–3
The New Teen Titans vol. 2, #1–49
The New Titans #50–130, Annuals #1–11
Secret Origins Annual #3 (relates the team's
post-Crisis origin[s])
Marvel and DC Present The Uncanny X-Men and The New
Teen Titans #1, (1982), "Apokolips...Now"
New Teen Titans graphic novels
Graphic novels by DC collecting the most well-known
adventures of this era:
Title Material collected
DC Archives: The New Teen Titans Volume one DC
Comics Presents #26
The New Teen Titans vol. 1 #1–8
DC Archives: The New Teen Titans Volume two The New
Teen Titans vol. 1 #9–16
Best of DC (Blue Ribbon Digest) #18.
The Judas Contract The New Teen Titans vol. 1
#39–40
Tales of the Teen Titans #41–44
Annual #3
The Terror of Trigon The New Teen Titans vol. 2
#1–5
Who is Donna Troy? The New Teen Titans vol. 1 #38
Tales of the Teen Titans #50
The New Titans #50–55
Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files 2003.
New members in The 'New Teen Titans
Cyborg (DC Comics Presents #26)
Starfire (DC Comics Presents #26)
Raven (DC Comics Presents #26)
Terra (TNTT vol. 1, #30)
Jericho (Tales of the Teen Titans vol. 1, #44)
Kole (TNTT vol. 2, #9)
Danny Chase (later Phantasm) (New Teen Titans vol.
2 Annual #3)
New members in The New Titans
Phantasm (The New Titans #73)
Pantha (TNT #74)
Red Star (TNT #77)
Impulse (TNT #0) (later Kid Flash)
Damage (TNT #0)
Green Lantern V (Kyle Rayner) (TNT #116)
Supergirl (TNT #121)
Rose Wilson (TNT #122)
Minion (TNT #123)
Baby Wildebeest
Team
Titans
Team Titans is another Titans spin-off. The series
ran from 1992 to 1994 in 28 issues and two annuals. The members, most of whom
hail from an alternate future, are almost all erased from existence during the
1994 Zero Hour storyline, and the series was cancelled.
Team Titans Members
Killowat
Mirage (TNT #79)
Terra (TNT #79)
Redwing
Dagon
Prestor Jon
Battalion
Mirage, Terra, and Deathwing survive; it is
established that they are from the current timeline after all. Mirage and Terra
join the main Titans team, and Deathwing is enthralled by an evil aspect of
Raven and turned against the Titans.
Other Team Titans characters
Anvil
Aurora
Axe
Backbeat
Bongo
Brass
Crystal
Deathwing (formerly Nightwing 2001)
Droom
Enforcer
Fusion
Hellebore
Hero X
Judge
Lazarium
Monsieur Poniard
Señorita Navaja
Silent Vapor
Silver Shield
Sunburst
Volt
Wonder Boy
Teen
Titans (1996–1998)
A new Teen Titans series written by Dan Jurgens
began later that year with a new #1 issue (October 1996). Atom, who had become a
teenager following the events of Zero Hour, leads the brand-new team, with
Arsenal becoming a mentor about halfway through the 24-issue run, which ended in
September 1998.
New members in the Teen Titans, vol.2 (1996) series
Atom (Ray Palmer) (Teen Titans vol. 2, #1)
Argent (Teen Titans vol. 2, #1)
Risk (Teen Titans vol. 2, #1)
Joto (Teen Titans vol. 2, #1)
Prysm (Teen Titans vol. 2, #1)
Captain Marvel, Jr. (CM3) (Teen Titans vol. 2, #17)
Fringe (Teen Titans vol. 2, #17)
Notable appearances
Teen Titans (2nd series), #1–24, Annual #1, 1999
Robin/Argent Double-Shot #1
Superboy/Risk Double-Shot #1
Supergirl/Prysm Double-Shot #1
Impulse/Atom Double-Shot #1
Dark Nemesis #1
The Titans (1999–2002)
The team is revived in a 3-issue limited series,
JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative, featuring nearly every character who had
been a Titan and showcasing the return of Cyborg. This limited series leads into
The Titans written by Devin Grayson, starting with Titans Secret Files #1 (March
1999).
This incarnation of the team consists of a mix of
former original Titans, including Nightwing, Troia, Arsenal, Tempest, and the
Flash (Wally West), from the original team; Starfire, Cyborg, and Changeling,
from the New Teen Titans; Damage from the New Titans (the 1994 series); and
Argent from the Teen Titans (the 1996 series). This version of the team lasted
until issue #50 (2002).
The West Coast branch of the team - Titans L.A. -
appears once, in the pages of Titans Secret Files #2.
Between the end of Teen Titans and the beginning
The Titans, the next generation of young heroes - Superboy, Robin, Impulse,
Wonder Girl, Secret and Arrowette - formed their own team in Young Justice, a
series similar to the original Teen Titans.
Both series were concluded with the three-issue
limited series Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day, which lead into new Teen
Titans and Outsiders series.
New members in The Titans (1999) series
Jesse Quick (The Titans #1)
Titans L.A. members
Beast Boy
Flamebird
Terra
Captain Marvel, Jr. (CM3)
Bumblebee
Herald
Hero Cruz
Bushido
Notable appearances
JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative #1–3 (also a
graphic novel of the same name).
The Titans #1–50
Titans Secret Files # 1 & 2 (the lead story of #1
also included in the aforementioned Technis Imperative collection)
Titans/Legion of Super Heroes: Universe Ablaze #1–4
Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #1–3
(collected later in prestige format and in The Death and Return of Donna Troy
graphic novel; see below)
Teen
Titans (2003–present)
Writer Geoff Johns’ Teen Titans series began in
2003, again featuring a mix of previous and new members, most of whom had been
part of Young Justice.
The series’ original lineup mirrors and also
inverts the lineup of Marv Wolfman's New Teen Titans series: Veteran members
Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy return, joined by younger heroes Robin,
Superboy, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash. Raven re-joins the team in issue #12, and
the new Speedy joins the team in Green Arrow #46, first appearing in the Titans
book in issue #21. During the “Insiders” crossover with The Outsiders (issues
#24–25), Superboy comes under Lex Luthor's control and attacks the team,
afterwards taking a leave of absence that ends during Infinite Crisis.
The new series saw the team’s relocation from the
east to the west coast, its headquarters located in San Francisco instead of the
traditional New York City location. The new Titans Tower also has a memorial
hall with statues of the fallen Titans.
Notable appearances
Teen Titans vol. 3, #1 through current issue (still
in publication as of this writing)
Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files 2003
Teen Titans/Legion Special
Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files 2005
Teen Titans Annual #1 2006
Green Arrow #46
Supergirl #2
Robin #146–147
New members in the Teen Titans (2003) new series
Robin (Tim Drake) (Teen Titans vol. 3, #1)
Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandmark) (Teen Titans vol. 3,
#1)
Superboy (Kon-El/Conner Kent) (Teen Titans vol. 3,
#1)
Speedy (Mia Dearden) (Green Arrow vol. 2, #46)
One
Year Later: The new Teen Titans
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
In the "One Year Later" jump after Infinite Crisis,
Robin has returned to the Teen Titans after a year of travel with Batman and
Nightwing. Feeling abandoned by Robin following the death of Superboy, Wonder
Girl has quit the team and has been working alone, fighting the Brotherhood of
Evil. Starfire is missing in action, never having returned from her journey into
space. Raven and Beast Boy have split up: Raven's whereabouts are unknown,
though she is rumored to be in Russia; and Beast Boy has left the Titans to join
the new Doom Patrol. Joining him in the Doom Patrol are former Titans Bumblebee
and Herald (renamed Vox). Speedy is said to be currently on an island with
Connor Hawke. Kid Flash, who had aged into adulthood and lost his powers, is
"kind of retired", according to Robin; however, he has now become the DCU's new
Flash. Cyborg has been damaged and inactive since his return from space, but
16-year-old genius fraternal twins Wendy and Marvin, have repaired him and given
him new capabilities. New members Kid Devil and Rose Wilson (as Ravager), the
latter of who was accepted at the request of Nightwing.
During the lost year, at least 24[1] new members
joined the team, all of them short-term. Without proper leadership or the
feeling of family the Titans normally provides, none of the new members could
get along and work together. In issue #38, the Titans found a scrapbook left
behind by Raven that included photos of the OYL members. Original members were:
Argent
Beast Boy
Captain Marvel, Jr.
Flamebird
Joker’s Daughter
Hot Spot
Mirage
Ravager
Red Star
Speedy
Brand new members were:
Aquagirl
Bombshell
Hawk and Dove
Kid Devil
Little Barda
Mas y Menos
Miss Martian
Molecule
Offspring
Osiris
Power Boy
Riddler's Daughter
Talon
Young Frankenstein
Zatara
A memorial to Superboy has been erected outside
Titans Tower. Unknown to the other Titans, Robin secretly has been attempting to
re-clone Superboy, with nearly 100 failed attempts. This was until Wonder Girl
found the lab, where she and Robin shared an awkward kiss.
Spoiler warning: Promotional information about
upcoming comic book storylines follow. Details and publication status subject to
change prior to publication.
There are also two active teams of Titans. The main
Teen Titans team is still located on the west coast and Titans East is on the
east coast. Geoff Johns referred to Titans East as juvenile delinquents who will
be causing trouble, and described one character as who he believes will be the
first white trash superhero.[2]
Spoilers end here.
New members "One Year Later"
Ravager (Rose Wilson)
Kid Devil
Trade paperbacks
Note: Issues 27 and 28, pencilled by controversial
artist Rob Liefeld, were not collected in any of the trade paperbacks. DC Comics
has not stated a reason for this.
Title Material collected Story
A Kid's Game Teen Titans Vol. 3 #1–7
Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files 2003. Cyborg,
Starfire and Beast Boy put the new team together, as a way to help the ex-Young
Justice members.
Raven and Deathstroke reappear.
Impulse becomes Kid Flash.
Family Lost Teen Titans Vol. 3 #8–12
Teen Titans #1/2. The Titans confront the new
Brother Blood, Deathstroke and Ravager (the ex-Titan Rose Wilson), to free
Raven.
Cyborg files Jericho away as a computer file.
Beast Boys and Girls Beast Boy #1–4 (1999 limited
series)
Teen Titans Vol. 3 #13–15 All children in San
Francisco get infected by Sakutia, the same illness that turned Gar into Beast
Boy, while he loses his powers.
The Future is Now Teen Titans Vol. 3 #16–23
Teen Titans/Legion Special #1 The Titans go to the
31st century to help Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes.
In the returning voyage, the team get stuck 10
years in the future and meet the older versions of themselves.
Once back to the present, they face off (with the
help of former Titans) against the now dangerous Dr. Light.
The Insiders Teen Titans Vol. 3 #24–26
Outsiders #24–25, 28 Superboy gets brainwashed by
Lex Luthor, and Indigo from The Outsiders reveals herself as Braniac 8.
Indigo gets killed by her lover, Shift.
Superboy leaves the team after overcoming Luthor's
programming.
Nightwing leaves the Outsiders and declares that
he's quitting life as a team player.
Captain Marvel Jr. joins the Outsiders.
The Death and Return of Donna Troy Titans/Young
Justice: Graduation Day #1–3
Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files 2005
The Return of Donna Troy #1–4
Life and Death Teen Titans Vol. 3 #29–33
Teen Titans Annual #1
Robin #146–147. The Titans deal with Brother Blood,
who now leads the undead "New Titans West".
Later, amidst the chaos of Infinite Crisis,
Superboy dukes it out with Superboy Prime.
In
other media
The team's first animated appearance was in Teen
Titans segments of the 1967 Filmation series The Superman/Aquaman Hour of
Adventure, featuring Speedy, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, and Aqualad.
From 2003 until 2006, a Teen Titans animated series
aired, with stories that emulate the Wolfman/Perez era and an art style
influenced by anime. Briefly airing on Kids WB, Teen Titans premiered and
currently airs on Cartoon Network.
The main characters are Robin, Starfire, Cyborg,
Raven, and Beast Boy. Many other Titans comic book characters appear, including
Aqualad, Speedy, Deathstroke (named Slade), Wildebeest, and Terra. Other
characters have been specifically created for the show, including Más Y Menos,
Mumbo, Mother Mae-Eye, and Cinderblock.
Although popular, the decision to use a
manga-influenced style rather than the Bruce Timm style used in the DC animated
series Justice League Unlimited, disappointed some fans. Other fans were more
accepting, noting that many episodes are based on beloved storylines like "The
Judas Contract" and "The Terror of Trigon". While the series' storylines are
sometimes serious, they are often humorous, accentuated by anime-influenced
visual effects.
Despite high ratings, the series was cancelled
after five seasons, with the final episode airing January 16, 2006. A
direct-to-DVD movie, Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, is in the works.
Two video games were made based on the show.
At Comic-Con 2006, a "Judas Contract" animated
movie was announced. Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, creators of The New Teen
Titans will be working on the direct-to-DVD movie. It is known now that the
movie's animation will be done in the DCAU style instead of the Teen Titans
series one.
In the TV series Smallville, an episode showed the
future Teen Titans member, Cyborg. And since certain future Justice League
members have appeared, it's possible that other Teen Titans may appear.
Awards
The various series and characters have received a
good deal of recognition over the years. The story "Then & Now" from Teen Titans
(1996 series) issues 12–15, was a top votegetter for the Comics Buyer's Guide
Fan Award for Favorite Story for 1998.
****
References
^ Newsarama.Com: Teen Titans: One Year - Different
^ Newsarama.Com: Wwla - Dcu: One Year Greater Panel
****
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