The Teen Titans were originally the sidekicks who formed a junior Justice League. Originally made up of Robin, Kid Flash & Aqualad, Wonder Girl joined the next adventure & Speedy would occasionally show up to help out. Eventually some non-sidekicks also joined the team. The original book ran to issue 43 before being canceled, then came a brief revival in the `70s from #44 - 53.
In 1980 The New Teen Titans started with some returning heroes & some new heroes in a very popular run.
The Return Of The Teen Titans Showcase #59
Can Bob Haney's `hip' dialogue be considered a nit because it's particularly painful to read in this early story. (Later stories don't seem quite as stilted.)
The final caption reads, "Don't miss the only team of teen super-heroes!"
Excuse me, Mr. Haney, but what about the Legion of Super-Heroes?
Monster Bait Teen Titans #11 Reprinted in DC Super-Stars #1
When the monster appears the Titans in a rubber raft start paddling to get away & don't seem to be making much headway until Aqualad comes up from below to use his super-swimming.
What's interesting is that Wonder Girl & Kid Flash are two of the paddlers & with her superstrength & his superspeed should have been able to get that raft moving quite quickly.
Willie's doing a bad job of hiding that portfolio he's stealing. The professor should have been able to see the corner sticking out from behind him.
The lamprey monster is quite a fast & flexible beastie, but when it's blown up we see it's filled with frogmen & the only clue to it's construction is ribbing & a covering skin. No sign of a motor to move it quickly & no sign of any controls to move the head around.
Skis Of Death! Teen Titans #24 Reprinted in DC Super-Stars #1
I have the original issue & the reprint which made for an interesting comparison.
A lot of the colors are different. The reprint gives Wonder Girl long sleeves, which makes sense given this story is set on a ski resort in winter.
One interesting difference is the first page. Because of the indicia at the bottom the art of the first page is shorter than the other pages. The reprint extends the page to fit. Panel 2 (which went across the page had lines added to fill out the space (the lower parts of people's bodies).
Page 4, Panel 3. In the original Dick says, "Eddie, Roy, and I'll use the ski-lodge's rendezvous at Golden Gulch!"
The reprint says, "Eddie, Roy, and I'll use the ski-lodge's `copter! Rendezvous at Golden Gulch!"
Eddie Tallbow's skiing students have disappeared in a freak snow storm. To find them Dick has Eddie take the copter up & blow away the new snow so they can follow the tracks below.
Yeah, right, sure...
There is really no reason why Eddie, or anyone who's seen her, couldn't know that Donna Troy is Wonder Girl. She wears no mask, no glasses & has the same hairstyle. Possibly Eddie is just being polite not to mention it, but there is no excuse why the villain of the piece shouldn't realize it.
Should medicine man's heap bad stilted dialogue be considered nit?
At end Robin asks medicine man how he created a snowstorm & the medicine man says it a secret, then the last panel shows him holding a book about making snow. Was he holding this book the whole time & the Titans just never noticed???
In the original the book is titled "How To Make Snow With Silver Dioxide" in the reprint it's titled "How To Make Snow With Silver Iodide".
NANJAO. The book is by B. Haney. LOL.
The final caption reads, "Don't miss the only team of teen super-heroes!"
Excuse me, Mr. Haney, but what about the Legion of Super-Heroes? - KAM
Not to mention the X-Men, who if I'm not mistaken, were still a group of teenagers when the Titans debuted.
Monster Bait
I dunno, is it just me or does this strike anyone else as being somewhat close to being a rather suggestive pun?
Excelsior!
Course the X-Men were led by that old geezer in the chair. ;-)
I hadn't thought that pun until you mentioned it.
Course the X-Men were led by that old geezer in the chair. ;-) - KAM
'Cept when he "died"...
Excelsior!
The Man Who Toppled The Titans Teen Titans #44
2 years have passed since the Teen Titans have broken up 4 years ago. ;-) (Yeah, yeah 4 years is real time not comic time.) A few months after this in a The Batman Family letter column Robin will be said to be 19 years old, which means he was 17 when they broke up & yet, I believe he started college 2 real years before that. (In One Bullet Too Many he said he was draft age. Was that 16 or 18 in 1969?)
Wonder Girl & Robin have been captured by Dr. Light. He's trying to get the secrets of the JLA satellite out of them. As Robin is being tortured Wonder Girl says, "Don't tell him anything, Robin! The Justice League trusted us with the secrets of their satellite HQ! We can't betray them!"
Nice going, Wonder Chick*! You just confirmed that you do know the JLA's secrets. D'Oh!
* Hey, they called her that several times in previous stories.
Mal Duncan, a powerless member of the team**, had been dissed by Dr. Light as not being a true Titan so Mal gets an exo-skeleton used by a Robin villain & then gets Guardian's costume to put over it.
Okay, Robin keeping the exo-skeleton among his trophies at Titan HQ I can swallow, but why on Earth would any of the Titans have Guardian's costume???
Guardian was a WWII hero who worked with the Newsboy Legion. When Jack Kirby revived the Newsboy Legion when he worked on Jimmy Olsen he revived, or created a clone of, the original Guardian. I suppose it's possible the revived Guardian could have been killed, but still why would any member of the Titans have his costume?
** Mal joined at an odd phase of the Titans. In issue 25 the Titans felt responsible for the death of a Noble Prize Winner, so they vowed to give up their powers & costumes & started working for Mr. Jupiter who would send them on missions around the world. Mal was asked to join because he was a brave fighter & stayed with the team after TPTB came to their senses about this strange experiment. (I think it ended around issue 31).
You Can't Say No To The Angel Of Death (Or Can You?) Teen Titans #45
Speedy says to Mal, "You're using someone else's powers".
No, he's using someone else's exo-skeleton that magnifies his strength.
The previous issue was written by Paul Levitz & Bob Rozakis. This issue where Mal gives up the exo-skeleton & Guardian outfit and gains a magical horn that evens the odds was written by Rozakis alone.
I think it's safe to say that the whole Guardian thing was Paul's idea & that Rozakis didn't care for it.
Not that having Mal battle the Angel of Death and gain a magical horn from Gabriel was any better, but at least it's original.
The Fiddler's Concert Of Crime! Teen Titans #46
In issue 45 when Gabriel gave Mal his horn he said, "When the odds are against you -- and only then -- blow it and you will be the equal of your opponents!" Well this issue is the start of Mal blowing it whenever. Arrives at the scene & blows it before he even knows what the odds are. (Frankly when the horn disappears in #49 I think Gabriel just got ticked with Mal blowing it all the time and took it back.)
Also the horn has some funny ways of making Mal an 'equal'. Here he does use it to counter the Fiddler's mind control music, okay, but when it come to dealing with a mind-controlled mob it just blows some of them away, but allows others to kick the snot out of him.
In issue 45 when Mal defeated Azreal, the Angel of Death, he angrily stated, "Lose one fight -- to anybody -- and you die!"
I should think getting the snot kicked out of you by a mob would constitute losing a fight.
The Joker's Daughter's face is flesh-colored all through the issue.
Page 8, Panel 5. Gabriel's hair & beard suddenly become real long unlike last issue.
The big surprise twist is when Peter McCarthy & the Flyers turn out to also be The Woodworkers.
So despite both groups being bestsellers no one ever recognized the similarity of voices or the way they played their instruments???
Trouble--Which Rhymes With Double! Teen Titans #47
The Joker's Daughter is having mental flashes of crimes before they occur.
This sudden bout of psychic ability is never explained although we are supposed to believe that it is possible because the person planning the crimes is her daddy Two-Face.
Not really an explanation since Two-Face has never shown psychic abilities.
Okayyy, Mal is rushing up to do battle with Darklight & thinks she will use blackness in her attack so he blows his horn to make him equal, but he gets defeated by a flash of light.
1. Since he's never fought her before can he really say the odds are against him?
2. Since the horn is supposed to make him the equal of his opponent it shouldn't matter what he thinks his opponent is going to attack with. (Heck, next issue he goes up against the growing Sizematic & doesn't realize the shrinking Sizematic is around and it equalizes him for both.)
Daddy's Little Crimefighter! Teen Titans #48
Bumblebee defeats Mal.
Guess that old Angel of Death was just blowing smoke when he said, "Lose one fight -- to anybody -- and you die!"
Duela explains to her dad that she became a crimefighter to show that not everyone with the Dent name is a crook.
Yeahhhhhh, nothing like fighting crime under a secret identity to show the world that your family isn't completely crooked.
(Actually I think she used this explanation in The Batman Family first, so this nit should probably go there, but what the heck.)
The Coast-To-Coast Calamities! Teen Titans #50
Last issue Duela Dent's real face & hair looked nothing like her Joker's Daughter/Harlequin face, but this issue it does.
A plane spins itself into the ground. However the hole it leaves is too small to include the wings, but they are not seen lying on the ground above.
Titans East! Titans West! And Never(?) The Teens Shall Meet! Teen Titans #51
Caption reads, "and if you're wondering how & why they've banded banded together".
So they're extra banded together? ;-)
Okay, in the previous issue when Beast Boy turned into an animal it would be the normal color, except for it's head which stayed green. This issue when Beast Boy turns into an animal the whole animal is green.
(And since later stories feature the all-green look it's possible that last issue was the nit, but that's the earliest Beast Boy story I have so I'm using it as the baseline since I can't check his earlier appearances.)
Page 14. Harlequin's face is flesh-colored instead of white.
When Titans Clash! Teen Titans #52
Page 6, Panel 1. Kid Flash's face is white.
Page 8, Panel 7. Lilith's hair is colored... um... greenish-brown?
Okayyyyy, the villain of this three-part story was the Batman villain, Mr. Esper. He figured out a way to tap into Lilith's mental powers so he could create bizarre disasters on both coasts & create a Captain Calamity to claim credit & lead a gang of thieves. Once Calamity & the gang was captured he let Calamity fade away, but knowing that the Titans would eventually track him down he took on the identity of Captain Calamity & created a fake Mr. Esper for the Titans to 'catch'. The problem is that the fake Mr. Esper is shown just before the Titans arrive, but he is plotting & planning like the real Mr. Esper would. So why would a mental projection of Mr. Esper be plotting & planning if there is no audience (besides the reader) for him to rave in front of?
In The Beginning... Teen Titans #53
Well, not exactly. The parts of this story set in the past is actually set between The Brave And The Bold #54 (the first team-up of Robin, Aqualad & Kid Flash) & The Brave And The Bold #60 (the first story to use the name Teen Titans). I suppose Obi-Wan Rozakis would say the title is true "from a certain point of view".
Man, my copy has a weird coloring problem. Throughout the issue the color has parts where it's really dark & parts where it's really light. As if the ink wasn't spread evenly on the printing plate.
Okayyyyy, in the past all the sidekicks, Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Speedy, & Wonder Girl, discover that their mentors are committing crimes. They meet up in Metropolis to try & find Superman to stop their mentors, but then Robin suggests that he might be affected too so they go out to stop the adult heroes. They capture Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, & Aquaman & head to the JLA HQ while Kid Flash & Aqualad go after Green Arrow. In the JLA HQ they discover the Antithesis an energy being which followed the JLA back from deep space & which absorbs energy from the heroes committing crimes and he fades away when his last pawn, Green Arrow, is stopped.
Now isn't it just convenient that the only Justice Leaguers that Antithesis was able to use had teen sidekicks? Especially since these Leaguers, with the possible exception of Wonder Woman, are not likely to have gone on a space mission. Usually space missions for the JLA would involve Superman and/or Green Lantern, I'm not sure if Hawkman would have been a JLAer at this point, but if so his spaceship would have been helpful in transporting the JLA through space.
Back in the present, Page 17, Panel 1. The colorist gave Harlequin blonde hair & a flesh-colored face.
Speedy says, "We stiffled Aqualad".
Stifled, actually.
Showcase Presents Teen Titans Volume 1
This reprints the earliest Teen Titans stories up to Teen Titans #18.
One cute thing about the cover is that they took the cover of TT #16, removed the story title from the giant book, and replaced it with the cover of TT #17.
The Thousand-And-One Dooms Of Mr. Twister The Brave And The Bold #54
Well, maybe a handful of dooms, but not 1,001.
Batman, Flash & Aquaman’s comments about teenagers seem out of character for them.
Jacob Stikk agreed to sell the land that became Hatton Corners at the price of one passenger pigeon feather a year to him & his descendants till the end of time, although “when Jacob died, that strange ‘rent’ died with him -- and was all but forgotten”, until in the present Brom Stikk claimed to be Jacob’s last living descendent.
I suppose it’s a good thing that Brom decided to use his magical powers rather than hiring a lawyer, because that would be one doozy of a case.
Jacob’s mental state at the time of the contract would certainly be brought up.
The fact that the rent stopped after his death would indicate that there were no descendants or that they had either declined to accept any more feathers or come to some other agreement with the town, so that Brom would have no legitimate claim.
Brom Stikk... well, no wonder he would rather be called Mr. Twister.
Where is Hatton Corners supposed to be?
The flashback to the past shows people wearing clothes appropriate to the 1700s which would indicate the east coast. However a map shows ocean to the south & east of Hatton Corners, & the coastline looks more California-ish. If it’s supposed to be the tip of Western Florida then they seem to have forgotten about the Florida Keys.
Page 10, Panels 5 & 6. Grungy nitpicking time. Features on the map change location.
Mr. Twister kidnaps the town’s teenagers and takes them to Goat Island. Aqualad discovers that the underside of the island has eroded to a thin stalk and uses some whales to break the island of the perch and carry it to the coast.
... where to begin?
So why has the above water part of the island not eroded?
How has it remained stable enough for people to walk on?
How can the whales support its weight?
Mr. Twister tries to flood the town so Aqualad commands a Narwhal to use its tusk to dig a hole so the water can flow down into natural underground channels.
What’s the natural range of a narwhal?
How strong is that tusk?
The Astounding Separated Man The Brave And The Bold #60
With this issue the sidekicks are now called the Teen Titans and Wonder Girl has joined them.
Apparently Bob Haney and/or the editor of The Brave & The Bold thought Wonder Girl was Wonder Woman’s sidekick because of various stories featuring them together, although she was the teenage version of Wonder Woman up till this story (& the teaming up with Wonder Woman was done via time travel).
I do wonder why Supergirl never became a member of the Teen Titans though? You’d think she’d be a natural for membership.
NANJAO. The Separated Man of the title is actually the second Separated Man. The first one captured by non-superheroes years earlier in an unpublished story.
The Separated Man’s eye can produce flaming tears.
No explanation for this is given.
Professor Holmes, the first Separated Man, took a vial of the serum that turned him into the Separated Man with him to prison.
Yeahhhhh, riiiiiiight, surrrrrrrrrrre... I can see prison officials allowing that.
As Professor Holmes is about to go back to prison, Robin says, “Your escape won’t add to your sentence, professor -- considering your only purpose was to defeat the Separated Man!”
Yeahhhhh, riiiiiiight, surrrrrrrrrrre...
The Beast-God Of Xochatan! Teen Titans #1
The cover is missing the issue number.
The cover shows Wonder Girl & Robin fighting the bird menace, & Aqualad wrapped up in the coils of the serpent. In the actual story Wonder Girl fights the bird alone, while the serpent wraps up Robin & Aqualad has to free him.
Outside of explaining to readers what the Peace Corps is, having the Teen Titans join it seems rather pointless. Their job is just to protect the actual workers from the problems in Xochatan.
Also it seems rather irresponsible of the Titans to not notify their elders of this. Batman finds out about it by seeing a newspaper headline, Flash sees it on a marquee reader, Wonder Woman & Aquaman find out through some kind of news thing.
Page 5, Panel 1. That sure likes like a guy carving out the news about the Titans joining the Peace Corps. What happened to the rule that men are not supposed to set foot on Paradise Island?
NAN just an unintentionally funny thing. One of the characters in the story is Juan Valdez. Everytime his name is said I keep wanting to make jokes about coffee. ;-)
Wonder Girl has super-ears?
The Million-year-old Teen-ager Teen Titans #2
Penny sends a message to the Titans for help telling them that she’s from “Smedleyville, U.S.A.”.
Good thing there was only one Smedleyville in the US or the Titans might have had trouble finding it. (Although in issue 8 we find there is a town called Smedlyville. Hmmm...)
Garn & Akkuru were buried in a combination of clay & a glacier and preserved for an estimated million years.
Yeahhhhh, riiiiiiight, surrrrrrrrrrre...
Wonder Girl is having trouble keeping a grip on a tree trunk so she quickly ties her hair around it.
Yeahhhhh, riiiiiiight, surrrrrrrrrrre...
That Garn is so naive. At the end of the story he just wants to be a normal 20th century teenager. I should imagine all manner of anthropologists would want to talk to & examine him to find out what life was like for him & his people a “million” years ago.
The Revolt At Harrison High Teen Titans #3
NANJAO. The Titans are called to Washington DC to the President’s Commission On Education & Kid Flash says they are all top students. Interestingly enough half the team (Wonder Girl & Aqualad) don’t go to US schools.
The commission on education asks the Titans to help them with the problems of school dropouts in particular the town of Harrison has a high number. The Titans go there & at one point Kid Flash stops a car from hitting a school bus.
Soooooooooo what excuses did Dick (Robin) Grayson & Wally (Kid Flash) West use to miss school in their respective home towns?
NNAN, but Wonder Girl is knocked unconscious by a jolt of electricity. Wonder Woman had a resistance to electricity, then again Wonder Woman was a clay carving magically transformed into a human, Wonder Girl’s origin... keeps changing.
The Secret Olympic Heroes Teen Titans #4
The cover is missing the issue number & price. The scan of the original cover shows they were white on a colored background.
The Perilous Capers Of The Terrible Teen Teen Titans #5
Robin reads a letter from Speedy mentioning his helping the Titans out in the previous issue.
Problem is the story in issue 4 was set 2 years earlier, so why is he just getting around to sending them a letter?
The Fifth Titan Teen Titans #6
NANJAT. Wouldn’t a story called “The Fifth Titan” have been more appropriate in issue 5? ;-)
Page 16, Panel 1. Beast Boy says, “I wasn’t before messing around the Doom Patrol”.
Should probably be ‘messing around WITH’.
Page 19, Panel 2. Kid Flash’s word balloon is pointing to Aqualad. Although the confusion is understandable since both are dressed as masked acrobats. However the next panel makes it clear who is who.
The evil circus owner releases a hungry shark to get Aqualad.
So why doesn’t Aqualad just use his telepathy to stop the shark?
The Mad Mod, Merchant Of Menace! Teen Titans #7
The Titans are wondering why the government wants to see them and Kid Flash quips, “Probably wants to give us a medal for saving the Olympics!”
That story (issue 4) would have been set 2 or even 3 years earlier.
A Killer Called Honey Bun Teen Titans #8
Dr. Paxton is introducing the Titans to some exchange students, “Ahmed Al Din, from Africa, Sama Rau of India, And Hans Vernick from Europe!”
Wouldn’t it have made more sense to actually name the countries Ahmed & Hans are from rather than the continents?
Wonder Girl can make her wrist bracelets magnetic by just willing it?
Certainly helps explain that Amazon Bullets & Bracelets trick.
Of course the problem with the scene is that the guys whose hands are stuck to her bracelets are not wearing rings or anything metal.
Not sure if this is a nit or not. They are not sure if Hans is lying, but shouldn’t Wonder Girl’s lasso have the same truth telling ability as Wonder Woman’s lasso or is it completely different?
This story deals with prejudice against foreigners and yet at no point is it mentioned that half of the Teen Titans are not US citizens.
The Big Beach Rumble Teen Titans #9
The previous issue we learned Wonder Girl can make her magic bracelets magnetic or non-magnetic at will, this issue Captain Tiger traps her by using magnetic force.
So why doesn’t she try making her bracelets magnetic to repel the magnetic force?
Scramble At Wildcat! Teen Titans #10
Robin has been invited to judge a bike race, but when the race starts he’s one of the participents.
To keep his bike from falling down a gully he lassoes a cactus to pull him & the bike up.
I didn’t think cacti were that strong.
Oil well strikes oil & a gusher comes out and everyone’s happy.
Except that if they don’t cap that well all that oil will go to waste.
Monster Bait! Teen Titans #11
Speedy shows up and mentions having an adventure with them last year.
... must be an unpublished adventure since Teen Titans #4 was set 2 years earlier.
Robin, Kid Flash & Speedy don’t seem to worry that their teammates will see them unmasked. NNAN just a bit of a change from the Justice League who tended to be more cautious at this time.
One of the villains is wearing a face mask that behaves like a real face.
...she was the teenage version of Wonder Woman up till this story (& the teaming up with Wonder Woman was done via time travel).
Actually they were what DC at the time called "imaginary stories." There were usually a couple of frame panels to indicate that WW was daydreaming, or writing a fictional story, or Hyppolita was watching the adventure on her magic mirror, etc.
Okay.
An interesting examination of the situation can be found at Mike's Amazing World Of DC Comics. Part 1 & Part 2
All stories reprinted in Showcase Presents Teen Titans Volume 1
Large Trouble In Space-ville! Teen Titans #12
Plot: D.J. Deejay, the first disc jockey in space, (and with his act it’s easy to see why they wanted him off Earth) suddenly starts broadcasting peculiar messages that only Wonder Girl notices & Robin figures out they’re code. They rush to South Dakota where the Deliverer is trying to steal Mount Rushmore, but they stop him. Then they learn the next target is the Sphinx. It seems aliens wanted to steal Earth’s monuments, but their bodies couldn’t stand Earth’s atmosphere so they used DJ Deejay to send coded messages to Earth crook the Deliverer. The Titans go into space and stop them.
Yeahhhhhhhhhh...
Robin lands the Titan-Copter on Teddy Roosevelt’s mustache.
Is it big enough?
Three of the Titans are sliding down Thomas Jefferson’s nose & Aqualad says, “I hope my history teacher never “nose” about this!”
While probably just meant as a joke, why would an Atlantean history teacher care?
With her lasso wrapped around Washington’s chin, Wonder Girl lowers the monument back into place.
Yeahhhhhhhhh...
Despite all the ups & downs the Titan-Copter managed to stay parked on Teddy’s mustache.
How did the aliens contact the Deliverer in the first place & get that anti-gravity ray gun to him?
At one point the Deliverer states he hates Rock ‘n Roll so they had to contact him some other way. If they could contact him some other way, why not keep using that method?
Aqualad has trouble with a Nile crocodile.
Doesn’t he have telepathy with aquatic creatures?
The Deliverer sends the Sphinx into space then plans to leave for the next assignment, except earlier he said that the aliens wanted the pyramids & the sphinx.
The Titans get launched into space from NASA.
Well, I guess if they’re sending DJ’s up, why not?
However wouldn’t it have made more sense to contact Superman or Green Lantern? (Superman shouldn’t be a problem since 1. Robin knows his secret ID & 2. Robin is friends with Jimmy Olsen who has that signal watch.)
For some reason the space capsules have see-through sides.
Since the aliens have space suits why would Earth’s atmosphere be a problem?
The TT’s Swingin’ Christmas Carol! Teen Titans #13
Page 2, Panel 1. Caption: the silent snow falls secretly
You mean nobody knows it’s happening?
Panel 1 it was said to be 2 days before Christmas, but panel 2 says the Titans wait breathlessly for Santa.
That’s a long breathless wait.
I don’t mind the recycling of A Christmas Carol, but couldn’t Bob Haney have been more inventive with names? Ebeneezer Scrounge, Bob Ratchet, Tiny Tom, Jacob Farley?
Requiem For A Titan! Teen Titans #14
Wonder Girl says, Robin! Your cape and mask... I’ve never seen you without them!”
She did in issue 11.
The Dimensional Caper! Teen Titans #16
The Titans arrive at Hillsdale High, while school is in session.
So what excuses did Dick (Robin) Grayson & Wally (Kid Flash) West use to get out of their respective schools?
Page 10, Panel 4. The caption describes Wonder Girl’s magic lasso as a “lethal lariat”.
Lethal? When did Wonder Girl ever kill with it?
The doorway to “dimension x” is on the school water tower. Pushing a certain rivet transports one to the other dimension into a duplicate of Hillsdale High & leaving the dimension puts one back on the water tower. However when the machine to create the doorway goes haywire suddenly the Titans & the aliens are popping back & forth in both schools, which are identical. No explanation for the inconsistency is given.
At the end Robin refers to the school principal/leader of the aliens as “the late Mr. Downs”. However there is no proof he is dead. When last we heard one of the aliens had said he was harmed, but that’s it.
Holy Thimbles, It’s The Mad Mod Teen Titans #17
Page 2, Panel 2. The line dividing Kid Flash’s shirt from his pants is missing.
Page 2, Panel 3. Several incomplete lines on Kid Flash’s costume. (Quite frankly this story contains Nick Cardy’s worst art in the collection.)
Page 3, Panel 4. This flashback to several hours before has the Titans getting their dress uniforms back from the cleaners.
Sadly the dress uniforms look exactly like their regular uniforms. Would have been nice if they had been more formal versions (like the tux version Robin would later wear in an issue of Batman Family.
The Titans have a couple of hours before the Royal Command Performance, so they put on their “dress uniforms” and go out (Wonder Girl, Aqualad & Kid Flash to a disco, Robin sightseeing).
Huh? Wouldn’t it make more sense to go out first, then come back & change?
No reason for why the Teen Titans have been invited to a Royal Command Performance in England is given. Must be because of an untold adventure.
The Mad Mod has some really strange ideas for hiding places.
1. He buries the royal sceptre in the ear of a giant carved chalk horse.
2. Then he tries hiding it in Loch Ness.
3. He puts it under a stone block at Stonehenge.
4. Finally he has it placed in a dummy of himself which is thrown off the cliff of Cornwall.
I kept expecting it to be some clever ploy to keep the Titans busy, but sadly no.
Page 12, Panel 4. The Mad Mod says, “Now luvs, it’s off to the ungrotty grotto where we play it innocent! Can’t arrest us for lifting the sceptre if we ain’t ‘olding it, can they? ‘ar! ‘ar!”
Well maybe if the Mad Mod hadn’t stolen the sceptre in front of everyone & even announced who he was, they couldn’t.
They never do explain what it is that the Mad Mod put in their uniforms that would drain them of their powers/abilities. He would probably make more selling that to supervillains than he would make from stealing the royal sceptre.
Eye Of The Beholder! Teen Titans #18
Some Swedish official says, “we have enlisted the aid of someone we feel that you will be able to work well with--someone your own age”.
Unlike those old geezers they usually work with.
“Titans, meet your Russian counterpart--Starfire!”
Well if Starfire were the name of a Russian superteen group instead of an individual then it might be a true counterpart.
Nit, but not a nit. Starfire is arrogant & superior, but accuses the Titans of acting that way. Of course people like that exist in real life so...
What happened to the Titans ability to work together as a team? Lost in the shuffle when Len Wein & Marv Wolfman were assigned to write this story?
Me - maybe if the Mad Mod hadn’t stolen the sceptre in front of everyone & even announced who he was
Okay looking at the scene again, I'm probably wrong. Yes, at first glance it does look like it's the Mad Mod screaming "Holy thimbles, it's the Mad Mod!" and yes it does sound like the kind of thing he would say. However a closer look at the artwork reveals that the word balloon pointer seems to be pointing at the tiny figure of Wonder Girl in the background.
Teen Titans #44
Speedy fires a Mirror Arrow which has a flat rectangular mirror as a head.
You’d think that would kill any & all aerodynamics, not to mention being a pain to pull out of his quiver.
Teen Titans #49
Speedy calls it a Boxing-Glove Arrow, but it’s drawn with a round head instead of a boxing glove.
Kole Lives!!
All stories reprinted in Showcase Presents Teen Titans Volume 2
Halfway To Holocaust! Teen Titans #22
Somehow Speedy knows that the beings from Dimension X are behind the group they captured last issue, despite no evidence.
The Origin Of Wonder Girl
This story says that the Purple Ray was invented by Paula, not Wonder Woman.
NANJAO. In then current issues of Wonder Woman, the Amazons left this dimension & Wonder Woman lost her powers. Here it's explained that Wonder Girl keeps her powers because she was not an Amazon, but gained her powers from Amazon science.
So much for the Golden Age idea that any woman can be a wonder woman by believing in themselves.
IIRC Paula was originally a Nazi who reformed.
If this Paula has the same backstory as the Golden Age Paula she shouldn't be able to go with the Amazons for the same reason that Wonder Girl couldn't go, she was human, not an Amazon.
Wonder Girl's new outfit has high heels.
TV Tropes lists big boobs as the Most Popular-Superpower, given the number of heroines who wear them 'fighting in high heels' must be the second-most popular power.
The Rock 'n' Roll Rogue! Teen Titans #23
NANJAO. The cover features Wonder Girl in her new costume saying, "Back off, tigers-- the new Wonder Girl is here!"
Her use of the phrase tigers made me wonder if this was just a common expression back then or it was an homage to Mary Jane in Spider-Man?
Okayyyyyy... Sammy Soul is an underage rich singer & his greedy cousin Irmgard wants to adopt him & his manager claims to have a contract that gives him possession of the kid.
I have trouble believing the manager could have such control over him without adoption or something similar.
NANJAO. Sammy Soul is really Sammy Murdock & the only person who really loved him was his uncle... Matt Murdock.
I wonder if he ever found out his uncle was Daredevil? ;-)
The Titans Kill A Saint? Teen Titans #25
Wow! This story is much, much worse than I thought it would be.
Admittedly part of that is because of writer Bob "What's subtly?" Kanigher & his repeatedly hammering home the point with a sledgehammer.
Page 12, Panel 3 & Page 13, Panel 1. Kid Flash's uniform has a sealed cap like the Flash's, not the open model like Kid Flash has been wearing for years.
The so-called saint, Dr. Arthur Swenson is just your typical "End your violence! Let light into your hearts!" clown typical of the era.
Speedy fires some "blunt-tipped inertia-arrows" that appear to have points on them.
So much for "blunt-tipped".
LOL! Wonder Girl is smacking, kicking & karate chopping some protesters & saying, "You cats have to learn a lesson the Amazons taught me "violence digs its own grave!"
Hit 'em harder. I don't think they heard you. ;-)
Speedy, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash & Hawk are struggling with a gunman when the gun goes off & kills Swenson, & they all feel guilty about it.
With the possible exception of Kid Flash who might have been fast enough to outrace the bullet, why feel guilty. It was the guy who pulled the gun who's responsible.
Even the JLA shows up to chew out the Titans about 'what they've done!'
Batman: "You have been endowed with powers & abilities normal teenagers only dream of, Titans--"
Flash: "Your powers entail a responsibility though--a responsibility to use them with maturity!"
Green Arrow: "But, your brash youthfulness--your lack of maturity--cannot cope with your duty!
Superman: "And today, you have violated the most sacred duty--to protect life! This reckless use of your powers requires a responsible rectification! You must be your own judge & jury!"
Batman: "Reach your decision before day's end--or we shall execute punishment ourselves!"
Gee the whole JLA is a dick.
Reckless use of powers? Huh? The Titans didn't use their powers any differently than the JLA would have. It was just random chance that the bullet hit Swenson.
On another note I think this is the point where Speedy decided to turn to drugs. ;-)
Mr. Jupiter says, "Your mentors have fought innumerable battles against the age-old problems that have plagued mankind! But who will combat the new problems of tomorrow--? --Who will challenge the unknown in man himself? The mystery of riots, prejudice, greed?"
How are riot, prejudice & greed new problems or an example of the unknown in man?
Wonder Girl says, "We've had a tragic example of what our super-powers can do!"
No. Not really. The guy holding the gun pulled the trigger & Dr. Swenson was unlucky enough to be in the way. It's not like the bullet bounced off your bracelet & hit him.
Nightmare In Space! Teen Titans #27
Recap of last two issues features some different dialogue.
A Mystical Realm, A World Gone Mad! Teen Titans #32
Okayyyyyyy... an accident at Mr. Jupiter's lab sends Mal back to the time of the cavemen. Kid Flash uses a cosmic treadmill to find him, but the only clue they have is Lilith senses cavemen.
That's a pretty wide span of time to find one guy. Fortunately Kid Flash is Just That GoodOMT
In Flash #125 it was explained that when Flash or Kid Flash go into the future or past they must keep up the internal vibration they had when they arrived, if that stops they return to the present. This is actually referenced by Kid Flash at the beginning of this story when Mal & KF return from the past. However when flashing back (no pun intended) it's revealed that Kid Flash was knocked unconscious for a while.
How the heck can he keep up his vibration while unconscious?
Page 19, Panel 5. Mal says, "Again, it" and while there is space for another line the rest is blank.
Less Than Human!? Teen Titans #33
Story opens with the scene that ended last issue. Of course they are different lines.
Last issue the cavemen were described as Neanderthals, but this issue Gnarrk, who seemed to be a member of the tribe, is described as a Cro-Magnon.
Okayyyyy... the alternate 1971 was presumably caused because Kid Flash accidentally caused Gnaark's death, the assumption being that he was somehow important to history. This issue they save the life of the caveman, but he ends up coming forward in time with Kid Flash & Mal, however the timeline is, apparently, restored to normal.
So if Gnarrk's existence in the past is not important to history then what changed time? (Besides the real world change of authors, that is.)
After the mishap last issue, Mr. Jupiter is not going to fool around with time travel again & has no way to send Gnarrk back.
Uh, what about the Cosmic Treadmill Kid Flash used?
Okayyyyyy... while hiding from some of the strange things of the modern world, Gnarrk saw a conversation between a racket boss councilman & his lackey. Robin hopes to use Gnarrk as a witness.
Uhhhhh... wouldn't it make more sense to get him to ID the councilman then the Titans can conduct an investigation to gather more concrete evidence?
Intruders Of The Forbidden Crypt Teen Titans #35
At this point I shouldn't be surprised at the carelessness of the Titans & the secret identities, but, yeahhhhhhh... Robin, out of costume in front of Mr. Jupiter, who in his first appearance was revealed to be a friend of Bruce Wayne's, so you'd think he'd recognize Dick Grayson which would give away who Batman is. But also talking to two Interpol agents without his mask on, but being called Robin.
A Titan Is Born
Mal is alone in Mr. Jupiter's labs while he & the rest of the current Titans are in Italy.
Alone? Jupiter's a big time businessman shouldn't there be all manner of people working for him?
At one point he comes across a stranger who claims to be a scientist invited there by Mr. Jupiter, but eventually Mal runs a check of everything he knows about this guy & the computer comes up with "Subject: Male, ex-convict with paranoid history: Believed Titans responsible for unjust imprisonment: Defeated and left in Limbo (space-time continuum Alpha 3) by Titans 1967. Warning: Dangerous, may seek revenge! Name....."
1. Somehow Mal knew the name Gargoyle despite the computer printout not showing it.
2. Wouldn't most ID cards have the name at the top?
3. In issue 14, the Gargoyle claimed he was an ex-convict unjustly convicted by the Titans, but the story may have just been fake so the Titans would start to feel doubt & suspicion about Robin. It didn't necessarily have to be true.
4. He wasn't intentionally left in Limbo, after the destruction of his ring by Robin they started to return to Earth when the Gargoyle lost his grip and was believed lost in Limbo.
5. When the heck did they learn that Limbo was space-time continuum Alpha 3?
6. 1967 isn't named in issue 14, the cover date is March-April 1968 & apparently it went on sale January 23, 1968.
The Tomb Be Their Destiny! Teen Titans #36
Flashback to last issue has some different dialogue as well as showing Robin giving Kid Flash a blood transfusion despite the same scene not showing Robin at all.
Supposedly events in last issue & here were repeating the real-life Romeo & Juliet, but no explanation for why everyone was quoting Shakespeare's version of the story was given.