Comics Review: The New Teen Titans Volume 1

This material little needs my review.  I found this at B&N looking for something to read during my vacation and couldn’t believe my luck.  It’s a nice thick trade printed on a soft pulp, like the Huntress volume I’d found a month ago.  It’s sturdy enough to read over and over and only cost $20, compared with over $30 for trades with newer (and not as good) material.

 

The volume contains the inaugural issues of the Marv Wolfman and George Perez run relaunching the Teen Titans.  This group had originated in the 60’s as a vehicle for the kid sidekicks of the various adult heroes.  Except for Superboy, because he wasn’t a sidekick and a contemporary appearance with Superman would have disrupted the space-time continuum.  Also, Superboy was hanging out with his far future friends, the Legion of Superheroes, and having fun in outer space.  The original Teen Titians (previous review) were kind of losers by comparison.

That’s how the editors at DC saw the Titans when Wolfman approached them about restarting the title as he writes in the forward.  He had a great plan for the new team.  He gave them all issues, especially with their parents, and set them up with clashing personalities.  They’d band together, in spite of their differences, because they were superhero peers who could relate to one another.  Obviously, Wolfman’s best move was recruiting Perez to draw the comic.  His exceptional artwork must have made the concept a much easier sell.  The editors not only approved the new title, but promoted it with a special introductory insert comic (included in the volume).

 

Disappointingly, Wolfman didn’t mention the real reason the New Teen Titans came into being: Marvel’s All-New All Different X-Men.  Marvel’s initial crack at a teen superteam in the 60’s didn’t go over well.  It was relaunched in the 70’s with a more international and edgy cast.  When Chris Claremont and John Bryne later took over, the X-Men became a hit.  Claremont emphasized the group’s outsider mutant status with the general population and internal group friction from its widely different personalities.  DC wasn’t about to let Marvel upstage them in superheroes for long. 

 

Somehow the Avengers and the Justice League with their experienced heroes and adult problems weren’t as relatable.  The X-Men and Titans were not the same group, but had some things in common.  For both groups, their personal lives and romances took a prominent role.  Their conflicts usually weren’t with a random villain of the month, but took the form of months-long slowly developing and escalating confrontations.  The X-Men had their Phoenix Saga.  The Titans would have their Judas Contract.  It was a winning formula for Marvel and DC.  Both titles were the best sellers of the 80’s.  There was even a rare inter-company crossover comic featuring both teams.  (I never read it, but saw a Youtube video about it.  It was pretty great.) 

All that would be in the future.  This volume shows how the new Teen Titans came together.  Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, and Changeling/Beast Boy were established characters.  Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg were new characters introduced with some mystery.  H.I.V.E, the Citadel, the Fearsome Five, Trigon, and, perhaps most importantly, Deathstroke the Terminator would start their long-running feuds with the Titans.  There’s even a fight with the Justice League.  Since Superman isn’t with them, the fight isn’t an instant wipeout.  There is even an issue just showing the group at rest in their daily lives.  Given the size of the cast, some members are highlighted more than others, but everyone gets some spotlight.    

 

This book is no decompressed quick read.  It is dense with verbiage and action.  The battle with Trigon is exhausting for the Titans and the reader.  The artwork is finely detailed to accommodate the packed storytelling.  It is also gorgeous artwork.  The women especially are impossibly beautiful.  

If I fault anything, it’s that Raven is not shown unhooded enough.  Little wonder Kid Flash falls for her so easily.                

Dick Grayson is awesome.

Your obligatory superhero headquarters diagram.  Of course, there’s a jet hanger, a copter pad, and a sub pen.  It’s located in New York City.  You can see the Fearsome Five flying by the World Trade Center on their way to attack the Titans Tower.  Later versions would move the group to San Francisco.   

 

So, do I recommend this more than the Teen Titans Go cartoon or the Young Justice cartoon?  Ye . . . Well . . .  Okay, it depends on what your mood is what you might enjoy more.  If you want a superhero comic book, this will scratch that itch and then some.  I’ll gladly buy any more volumes of this series I come across.