I really miss seeing this grouping of Titans together. They were the biggest hit DC had seen in ages when they first hit the scene in a the 80's, and I was hoping to see them in adventures as a team for decades. Unfortunately, the characters keep getting pulled into different parts of the DCU and while the Teen Titans has remained a constant concept, it has never regained the prestige of the Wolfman/Perez years. The Young Justice animated series did a good job of utilizing all eras of the Titans, but that was cancelled before it could really influence the comics. I live in hope that the classic Titans will return again in one form or another.
Awww, yeah! These are my Titans. You could do a cover a day with them and that'd be alright by me.
ReplyDeleteWhen Wolfman and Perez left the book, I did too. I think I left when Perez did. Wolfman even admitted that he was starting to get burnt out and that some of the stories before he left were not his best. I could be wrong about that, but the whole Titans Hunt-Wildebeast-Jericho storylines were not my favorite. For a time there, the question was which Titan had turned evil this month? I'm disappointed that Terry, along with his and Donna's son died.
As much as I want to see a Titans reunion, I'd almost like to see new, untold tales of the original and New Teen Titans. I don't want to see my Titans all grown up. That's just me.
What can be said? All good things eventually come to an end. I'm not sure what happened, but Marv Wolfman's writing definitely jumped the shark quickly after the Terra/Terminator saga, and things quickly got worse when Jericho, a wonderful creation by Wolfman, was turned into a villain, for absolutely no reason in my opinion other than SALES. I still have not forgiven Wolfman for that, or for creating the character Kole (who spun crystal) just to die in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. The late '80s and early '90s were a sad period of transition for DC as the old guard of writers and artists were retiring but the new blood had not quite moved in yet. So I stopped buying comics and discovered serious graphic novels from independent publishers. This was also when I began traveling and studying overseas, and buying european graphic novels. To be honest, I never really came back. I just pop in every once in awhile. So Ross' blog is quite bittersweet for me.
ReplyDeleteHey, Ross, here's an idea for you : Aquagirl and Katniss Everdeen team up for the "Aqua Teen Hunger Games."
ReplyDeleteGroup titles have shaky histories; some were good ideas for the characters assembled, but there's been much up and down in every run of the various series. However, the Wolfman/Perez era--the third life of the Teen Titans concept--is one of the rare moments in group comics history where one can say it was the far and away the consistent best ever published.
ReplyDeleteSuch a thrilling, dramatic series.