Jump to content

Teen Titans

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 67.40.194.227 (talk) at 04:02, 26 January 2005 (Added some clarifacation). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Teen Titans (also The New Teen Titans, The New Titans, and The Titans) is a team of comic book superheroes in the DC Comics universe. As the group's name suggests, its membership has usually been composed of teenagers.

Silver Age

The Teen Titans first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #54 (July 1964), portrayed as a junior Justice League consisting of Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad, joining together as had their mentors (respectively, Batman, The Flash and Aquaman). They were soon joined by Wonder Girl, whose existence as a teenaged version of Wonder Woman had previously been established, but this character was new and separate from the adult character, and their link was not immediately clear. (The mystery of Wonder Girl's background would linger in the series until finally resolved in the 1980s.)

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 their artwork by Nick Cardy. While Green Arrow's ward Speedy would naturally join, the series later introduced entirely new teenaged heroes, notably Lilith and The Hawk and the Dove.

The series' tone was often torn between the freewheeling excitement of the 1960s, and its darker side as keyed by the Vietnam War and the protests thereof. One memorable storyline beginning with #25 (February 1970) put the Titans in the middle of the accidental death of a peace activist, leading them to reconsider their means and goals, and leading to the temporary departure of Robin. The theme of teenagers learning to take on adult responsibilities was a common theme of the series.

The series' popularity flagged heading into the 1970s, and it went on hiatus as of #43 (February 1973).

Notable Silver Age appearances

Silver Age members

First appearance with the team is noted.

Founding members

Later members

1970s revival

A few years later, the series was revived resuming with #44 (November 1976), but struggled to find focus, moving through a number of storylines in rapid succession. Notable among these were the mysterious Joker's Daughter, as well as the Teen Titans West, consisting of a number of other teen heroes from around the DC Universe. The revival was short-lived, and the series was cancelled as of #53 (February 1978).

Notable 1970s appearances

  • The Teen Titans #44-53

New 1970s members

The New Teen Titans/The New Titans era

The Titans were again revived with a new series. Previewed in DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980), The New Teen Titans #1 (November 1980) introduced a team of new Titans, anchored by previous members Robin, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash, as well as the Changeling (formerly Beast Boy), it introduced the man-machine Cyborg, the alien Starfire, and the dark empath Raven. Raven, an expert manipulator, formed the group to fight her demonic father Trigon, and the team remained together thereafter as a group of young adult heroes.

The brainchild of writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez, it has been widely speculated that the book was DC's answer to the increasingly popular X-Men from Marvel Comics, and indeed both books involved a group of young adult heroes from disparate backgrounds whose internal conflicts were as much a part of the book as their combat against villains. In any event, both books were instrumental in moving mainstream comics in a more character-driven direction. The title also borrowed the use of long story arcs and having the characters swept up in Galactic battles and interdimensional conflicts. Much as X-Men made a fan favorite out of John Byrne, The New Teen Titans did the same for Pérez.

Even the villains' motivations could be complex, as in the case of Deathstroke the Terminator, a mercenary who took a contract on the Titans to fulfill a job his son was unable to complete. This led to the Titans' most complex adventure, in which a psychopathic girl named Terra infiltrated the Titans in order to destroy them. This story also included the original Robin, Dick Grayson, adopting the identity Nightwing. The series also made regular feature of The Monitor as a background character.

In 1982 there was a four part mini series by Wolfman and Perez that detailed the back stories of the Cyborg, Raven, Starfire and Changelling. The series got some controversy in 1983 as although it had been established for some time that Dick Grayson and Starfire were a regular couple they were suddenly shown in bed together.

Other notable stories included "A Day in the Life..." which featured the personal lives of the team on one day. There was also the story "Who is Donna Troy?" where Robin investigated Wonder Girl's true identity (#38), and "We are Gathered Here Today...", the story Wonder Girl's marriage (#50 and noteworthy for being a rare superhero wedding where a fight didn't break out).

The series underwent some numbering confusion when DC moved some of its more popular books to from the newsstand to the direct distribution market (to comic book specialty stores) in 1984. The New Teen Titans became Tales of the Teen Titans for a year, while a new book named The New Teen Titans was launched with a new #1. The former book began reprinting the latter's stories for the newsstand a year later, and ran to #91, but the new stories were in the direct market book.

Pérez left the book after #5 of the second series, and the series seemingly went into a tailspin (at some point Wolfman reportedly suffered from writer's block, and other writers chipped in from time to time). José Luis Garcia Lopez followed Pérez, and Eduardo Barreto contributed a lengthy run. Then Pérez returned with #50 (the book again being renamed, this time to The New Titans, the characters effectively no longer being teens) to tell another origin story for Wonder Girl (her previous link to Wonder Woman having been severed due to retcons in Crisis on Infinite Earths), resulting in her being renamed Troia. Pérez this time hung on through #61.

Following this, the book introduced a number of characters, put others through some radical changes, and though it ran for another 7 years, the group which appeared in the final issue, #130 (February 1996), bore little resemblance to the one which had anchored DC's line-up in the early 1980s.

Notable New Teen Titans appearances

  • DC Comics Presents #28
  • The New Teen Titans vol. 1, #1-40, Tales of the Teen Titans #41-58, Annuals #1-3
  • The New Teen Titans vol. 2, #1-49, The New Titans #50-130, Annuals #1-11

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)

New members in the New Titans

Later appearances

A completely unrelated group of Teen Titans began their own series later that year with a new #1 (October 1996). Led by The Atom, who had become a teenager following the events of Zero Hour, the series ended with #24 (September 1998). The entirety of this run of the title was written by Dan Jurgens.

The earlier team was revived in a 3-issue mini-series, JLA/Titans, featuring nearly everyone who had ever been a Titan. This led into The Titans #1 (March 1999), written by Devin Grayson. This incarnation of the team consisted of a veritable grab bag of former Titans, including Nightwing, Troia, Arsenal, Tempest, and the Flash (from the original lineup), Starfire, Cyborg, and Damage (from the New Teen Titans era), and Argent (from the 1996 series). This series lasted to #50 (2002).

Writer Geoff Johns launched another Teen Titans series in 2003, again featuring a mix of previous and new members, many of whom had previously been part of Young Justice. The original lineup of this version of the team was intended to mirror the lineup of Marv Wolfman's New Teen Titans series. Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven return, this time as the veteran members, whilst new versions of Robin, Superboy, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash (who, as Impulse, served very briefly with the New Titans before that series's cancellation) are portrayed as the rookies, inverting the dynamic of the earlier series.

Notable later appearances

  • Teen Titans vol. 2, #1-24, Annual #1, 1999
  • JLA/Titans #1-3
  • The Titans #1-50
  • Teen Titans vol. 3, #1-(ongoing)

New members in the Teen Titans, vol.2 (1996) series

New Members in The Titans (1999) series

New members in The Teen Titans (2003) new series

The Animated Series

In November 2003, Cartoon Network launched a series loosely based on The New Teen Titans, featuring Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven, Starfire, and for a time Terra. The series has become one of the most popular of the network's programming.

The primary villain of the first two seasons of the series is Slade. With the art displaying a heavy anime influence, the series portrays its principals as young teenagers effectively living on their own in their high-tech headquarters, eating pizza, watching TV, and not cleaning up after themselves. The theme song TEEN TITANS GO!!!! (listen) is performed by Puffy Amiyumi in both Japanese and English.

The series tends towards self-referential, even iconoclastic, humor with "villains of the week" often serving as vehicles for absurdist plots; for example, a villain brings Jump City to a standstill simply to goad Robin into taking his obnoxious daughter to the prom. However, the series also engages in a fair amount of character self-examination and teenage angst, plot devices familiar to fans of the original New Teen Titans comic book series.

Season 2 saw a multi-episode, children-friendly version of the comic book's infamous "Judas Contract" story arc. As in the print version, the earth-moving Terra befriends and joins the Teen Titans, only to betray them later. However, whereas the original comic-book Terra was an irredeemable psychopath, the new, animated Terra is apparently merely a misguided runaway who falls under a bad influence.

One quirk of the series is that it has not revealed which Robin is leading the animated Titans: Dick Grayson, Tim Drake or (improbably) Jason Todd. The animated Teen Titans Robin is never depicted completely out of costume, and is even shown sleeping in his mask in one episode. Oddly, no direct reference has ever been made to Robin's mentor, Batman. However, In 'The Apprentace' Slade tells Robin the he'll "Be like the father you never had" to which robin replys "I already have a father". The scene then cuts to the cealing, and shows some bats flying overhead.

In episode #14 "How Long is Forever," Starfire travels into the future and meets Nightwing, the superhero identity taken by both the comic book and animated Robin, Dick Grayson.

In episode #24 "Fractured," a bizarre extradimensional being who claims to be Robin's alternate-universe counterpart gives his real name, which is (and is printed on screen as) "Dick Grayson" backwards. He is a small, pudgy version of Robin, with a magic finger which can distort reality - an homage to the Silver Age Batman character Bat-Mite. Also of notable interest, a strange male singer sings the Japanese intro to this episode in a quite parodic melody.

In episode #28 "X," Beast Boy presents a whiteboard listing possible identities of a mysterious villain named Red X. One of the possibilities written on the board is "Jason Todd," the ill-fated Robin who has never existed in the DC Animated continuity. The sort of self-referential humor lends creedence to the position that the show's writers believe that their show takes place "outside" of the standard DC animated continuity, and that - for their show - such issues should be taken lightly.

Episode #31, "Haunted," [1] an uncharacteristicly serious Teen Titans episode, provided further insight into the Dick Grayson/Tim Drake controversy. In the episode, a brief flashback portrays the silhouette of two figures falling from a circus trapeze - the manner in which Dick Grayson's parents were murdered. However, it has also been pointed out that Tim Drake, the third comic-book and second animated Robin, was present in the circus audience when Grayson's parents were murdered (Batman #436). There is also another scene which shows Robin in the Batcave with Batman and Robin has his left hand on a book and his right hand up in the air. In the comics, Dick Grayson took a vow in front of a candle when he became Robin. So it seems the Dick Grayson/Tim Drake debate remains unresolved, although leaning heavily towards Grayson.

Interestingly, Teen Titans producer Glen Murakami has stated in various interviews that although he originally intended for this Robin to be Dick Grayson, the animated Teen Titans Robin actually has no secret identity. He is simply "Robin". In creating this new version of Robin, Murakami borrowed character design elements and character elements from the various Robins that have existed in comic and animated forms over the years, making this Robin a composite character. Furthermore, Murakami has mentioned that in context of a children-oriented Teen Titans animated series, the plot point of a secret identity is not relevant.

So, it would seem that the Teen Titans animated series is not part of the same fictional universe as the Batman: The Animated Series-family. However, it should be noted that references in the DC Universe animated shows Static Shock and Justice League suggests that the DC Universe animated continuity does have some incarnation of the Teen Titans. However, Justice League producer Bruce Timm has stated that there will not be a JLA/Teen Titans crossover episode any time soon.

Several references to original Teen Titans characters have included H.I.V.E., Aqualad (now the heart-throb of Starfire and Raven and member of Titans East), Speedy (Robin's rival in the Tournament of Heroes competition and part of Titans East) and Bumblebee (an ex-H.I.V.E. student and leader of Titans East who helps the team stop Brother Blood's plans and who is Cyborg's potential love interest).

There are also some original characters in the series, such as Mas y Menos (Two Spanish-speaking Titans East members who can move quickly, but only when touching each other), Cinderblock (A villain who works for Slade), Red X (A masked villan who was at one time Robin in Season 1, but it is unknown who it is now since he returned in Season 3) and Silkie (Starfire's pet).

Each character has one season where he or she is the main character in the ongoing story arc and also a main villain they face.

  • Season 1: Robin/Slade
  • Season 2: Beast Boy/Terra/Slade
  • Season 3: Cyborg/Brother Blood
  • Season 4: Raven/Trigon
  • Season 5: Starfire/Blackfire

The first four seasons have been completed, and Season Four along with the final three Season Three episodes will begin airing on January 8, 2005. See the List of Teen Titans episodes.

An affiliated comic book, Teen Titans Go, is being published by DC.

Although popular with viewers, the series remains controversial with long-time fans of the comic book who were disappointed in the decision to depict the Titans members as young teens and children, rather than as the adult (or near-adult) characters seen in the original New Teen Titans comic books (the cartoon, as a result, cannot replicate the sexual tension and later relationship seen in the comics between Starfire and Robin/Nightwing, for example). The term "kiddifying" was coined on Internet newsgroups in response to this.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Teen_Titans&oldid=9768267"