JLA/Titans #1 (December 1998)

Like many of DC's most popular superhero teams, the Teen Titans has a long and storied history. In real-world publication, God knows what in-universe anymore. The team has gone through many changes, and quite a lot of heroes have called themselves members over the years. Many have gone on to become popular stalwarts of the DC Universe, while others have fallen into obscurity. 

In 1998, the DCU was without a Titans team. The second volume of the series had been canceled, but there was always a need for a place for teenage superheroes in the DCU to belong. So, Devin Grayson and Phil Jiminez provided the world with a three-issue story that would not only set the stage for the rebirth of the Teen Titans, but also feature them clashing with the Justice League. This is JLA/Titans #1!

The cover is a Phil Jiminez piece, and it's really good. It depicts the Teen Titans clashing with the JLA. Tells you what to expect in this miniseries, really.

"One of Ours"
Writer: Devin Grayson
Penciler: Phil Jiminez
Inker: Andy Lanning
Colorist: Jason Wright
Letterer: Comicraft
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Executive Editor: Mike Carlin

The story begins with Starfire flying her way through space. However, she's not doing it for pleasure. The Tamaranian princess is fleeing for her life. 

What exactly has gotten the Titans' resident warrior princess all freaked out? Well, she is being pursued by a large silver sphere. As she tries to blast and evade it, we see her thoughts about her time in the New Teen Titans, glimpses of battles with the likes of Baron Sebastian Blood, Deathstroke, Trigon. The group had gone through its fair share of good times and hard times, but the Titans always came through. After all, the Titans were a family first and foremost.  

On Earth, Garfield Logan, aka Beast Boy/Changeling, is thinking the same thing. With him is Antonia "Toni" Monetti, aka Argent. Like Logan, she was a former Teen Titan, from the 90s-era Titans. She was part of a group of half-alien superhuman teenagers. 

Logan laments that there are no more Teen Titans, and thanks to that, both he and Toni are now alone and feeling rather directionless. Argent recalls that Garfield traveled with his best friend Victor "Cyborg" Stone in space for a while. He did while reminding her that Vic now went by Cyberion. And he returned to Earth because his friend started acting really weird. But before Garfield can elaborate, the two hear an alarm. It turns out the two have a pair of guests.

Meet Prysm and Fringe, two of Argent's ex-teammates in the 90s-era Titans. Last time she saw them, they had decided to stay in space with the H'San Natall, the alien race that fathered them and Argent. They came to Earth to give a warning. Something wrecked half of the H'San Natall's empire, and it's coming to Earth. As they speak, Starfire is captured by the silver orb. And former Titan Lilith Clay, aka Omen, senses a disaster with her precognitive powers.

On the JLA's Moon-based Watchtower, members of the JLA are making some upgrades to the Watchtower's power core with some New Genesis tech provided by JLA members Big Barda and Orion. Among the JLA members there are the Wally West Flash and the Kyle Rayner Green Lantern. Kyle is still weirded out by the events of DC One Million, so Wally goes to visit the Hall of Heroes, the place where fallen JLA members are immortalized...like Wally's uncle Barry Allen and Hal Jordan, Kyle's predecessor as Green Lantern. 

The Martian Manhunter telepathically hears Omen crying out about danger, and an explosion hits. 

Thankfully for the JLA, this wasn't caused by Orion eating baked beans. Again.😬 The explosion knocks out all the electronics on the Watchtower. Wally spots the silver orb outside.

"J'onn, this is why you never order appliances on Temu!"

Orion and Green Lantern go check it out. The Martian Manhunter senses that the sphere is not a living being. Meanwhile, Starfire finds herself back on Tamaran with her family...and her children. But something seems off.

Starfire points out this can't be real, as everyone else looks washed out. But seriously, Tamaran was destroyed, she has no children, and her parents are dead. Yeah, her homeworld got blowed up real good in New Titans #128 (December 1995). 

A computer hears this and updates its files accordingly. On Earth, Barbara "Oracle" Gordon's computers go bananas. And it's not just hers. Electronics all over the planet are going crazy. Back in space, Orion and Green Lantern see the orb sending out objects all over the Earth. Superman in Metropolis and Zauriel in San Francisco report that panic is erupting thanks to said electronic devices going crazy. In Gotham, the Helena Bertinelli Huntress and Tim Drake Robin are working to keep things calm when a strange machine appears before Robin.

"...did the Martian Manhunter order an appliance on Temu again?" 

The machine scans Robin, then leaves. The robot was after someone, and Tim was not the target. Another probe captures Green Lantern. Two more manage to get inside the Watchtower. One captures Atom and another goes after the Flash. 

In New York City, a probe appears before Sarah Charles, Victor Stone's ex-girlfriend and his grandparents. However, it leaves, presumably looking for Cyborg himself. A S.T.A.R. Labs space station reports something coming from Mars's orbit. And it's big.

In Themyscira, it's learned a probe captured Donna Troy. In Boston, Wonder Woman reports that natural disasters and extreme weather is erupting. Another probe gets the second Terra in Markovia. Beast Boy, Argent, Prysm, and Fringe are captured next. Wally West seemingly fights off his probe...and ends up greeted by his (at the time) late uncle Barry. Yeah, he got caught, too.

The League tells Orion to follow the probes, but not to fire on them. They want to know where these things are going. Orion points out these things are converging on a point on the East Coast of North America. He also spots a golden light following them. Steel also spots something, the source of all the disasters on Earth. Some big technological thing is trying to eat the Moon!

Atlantis is also being affected, and it's revealed the probes got Tempest. In Arizona, Arsenal is captured. Same with Red Star, Pantha, and Baby Wildebeest in Russia. Off of Manhattan Island, Batman calls for all JLA members who are on Earth to gather on his position. Plastic Man appears, revealing he found what Batman sent him to find.

Out in space, Orion finds that the mechanical monster trying to eat the Moon is actually composed of parts of various ships it likely encountered in the past. An enraged Orion fires on the hulk with his Astro-harness, and it causes the disasters on Earth to get worse. Nice work, Orion. 

Supergirl (the Linda Danvers/Matrix incarnation) is captured in Leesburg, and Cameron Chase reports the same's been done to Damage. As Barda and J'onn stop Orion, Max Mercury calls in, revealing that Impulse has been taken, as well as Rose Wilson. Max notes that as Bart was taken, he said that this was just like something called the "Omegadro-". 

Elsewhere, the holographic Barry Allen tries to talk to Wally, but like with Starfire before him, he knows something is very off. He starts to vibrate at superhuman speed, and he is free of the illusion. And there's something else waiting for him. Or someone.

Nightwing spots Batman leaping down towards him...to give him a hug. He then grins at the confused Bludhaven-based vigilante, only for the former original Robin to realize "Yeah, you ain't Bats, I'm out."

He finds Beast Boy on a film set, with members of the Doom Patrol and in his original purple appearance. Yeah, when he debuted originally, Beast Boy was purple. He turned green later on. With the help of a Tibetan mental technique, Dick gets himself and Garfield back into reality. The two, alongside Wally and Raven, find the missing Titans.

“Man, this hotel sucks!"

Nightwing looks over the people trapped, including the likes of Herald, Flamebird, and Bumblebee. Back on Earth, the JLA gather, and discuss what to do next. Batman points out that they are on Titans Island, the former location of the old Teen Titans HQ. More ex-Titans vanish. Mirage. Risk. Joto. Jarras Minion. Captain Marvel Jr./CM3. Batman reveals he found the missing Titans. They're under the island, hostages of the being who is currently trying to eat the moon. Back underground, the four try to figure out who is responsible for this. But Garfield Logan knows who it is. And it's someone they did not expect...

Yes, the kidnapper...is Victor Stone, the former Cyborg himself. That big mechanical mess is him...what's presumably left of him, anyway.

This is a really fun story, and one that I think is one of DC's more underrated works. One of the reasons I love this story is that it's a celebration of the history of the Teen Titans up to that point in time. I admit, I chuckled a bit when Nightwing instantly realized that he was in an illusory world when Batman smiled at him. 

You can't really tell a story like this with modern DC, as a story like this needs a long history and canon to draw from, and the current DC Universe really doesn't have a solid backstory or history anymore. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 1999 trade paperback JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! 

The New Teen Titans #8 (June 1981)

The superhero life is one that is full of adventure and danger. But even superheroes have downtime, time to relax, time to heal both in mind and body. After all, if anyone deserves to have some nice downtime every now and often, it's the superhero. The New Teen Titans were no exception. These young heroes may have lives full of action, but even they had quiet moments, times where their stories could concentrate on their character growth. And one of the most famous of those times was the comic we are looking at today: New Teen Titans #8.

I wanted to look at this comic as I thought it would be nice to review one that was less about action and more about character development and enjoying a bit of time as just regular civilians. Also, it has been a while since a DC comic graced this blog. So, let's look at New Teen Titans #8!

The cover is a George Perez piece. And naturally, it's pretty epic. It depicts members of the titular group going about their day, engaging in various activities. I am amused by the stars with the heads of the Titans members on them at the top. 

"A Day in the Lives..."
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Romeo Tanghal
Colorist: Adrienne Roy
Letterer: Ben Oda
Editor: Len Wein
Executive Editor: Joe Orlando

The story begins with Starfire flying over the city. The alien princess is enjoying the warm weather, as it reminds her of the tropical climate of her homeworld of Tamaran. She's not just flying around for the heck of it. She's on her way to meet her friend and fellow Titan Donna "Wonder Girl" Troy for lunch. As she lands, she thinks on the concept of the secret identity. It's kind of hilarious that Starfire expresses confusion over the concept considering that Donna doesn't wear a mask or do anything to really hide her identity.

Anyway, Donna herself is hard at work. 

"Don't strangle the model, Donna. Remember last time?"

Donna Troy works as a photographer, and she's doing some photos for a Golden Jeans advertisement. One of the models is having a bit of trouble, and it's giving the Amazon a headache. The head of the jeans company is infuriated with Donna's photos, as he thinks they're making a model he likes look bad. A man named Carl tries to tell the jeans company man that the model is not right for the job, and Donna knows what she's doing when it comes to photography. But before a potential fight can break out, Starfire arrives.

"Who is this Annoying Orange? Everyone says I look like it."

The head of Golden Jeans, goes all a-gaga for the orange-skinned beauty. 

Donna and Kory leave. The two head to a restaurant, where a man calls out to her. Donna introduces Kory to him. His name is Terry Long. At Titans Tower, Dick Grayson heads out. He has duties at the old circus he used to work at, not to mention Gotham. Raven decides to use her soul-self to explore Manhattan University. Her being in the place called Azarath for many years has left her ill-prepared to deal with the outside world. Attending the university would be potentially a good way to help her learn and maybe even make some new friends outside of the Titans. Thing is, in the superhero tradition, a hostage situation has broken out on this day at the university. 

"By the way, what point are we making here?"

Raven easily takes care of the wannabe-revolutionaries, saves the hostages, and takes care of the bombs. However, her soul-self has been out of her body too long, and she starts to seemingly lose it.

Raven learned the hard way to never eat Starfire's cooking.

Yeah, her mind is undergoing the Dave Bowman treatment.

We then start an interlude. A man and his young grandson are heading to a toy store, where they notice a free toy giveaway. The man is a Jeremy Thornton, and it turns out he was invited to collect a free puppet. The toy store is hoping that if he and other prominent citizens spread the word about the store, it'll get more customers. Unknown to Thornton and his young grandson, they are being watched...and they are very pleased with the Thorntons accepting the free puppet. Yeah, this totally is not going to lead to something horrible.

We next go to the corner of 11th Avenue and 44th Street. It's a poverty-stricken area, and it's also where Cyborg of the Teen Titans lives. Here, Beast Boy tries to convince Cyborg to move to somewhere better. After all, he's inherited a nice little nest egg. He could even move into the Tower itself if he wanted to. Thing is, since his father Silas died, Victor Stone has been doing some thinking. He hated his dad for a long time for giving him his cybernetic implants, even though Silas did it to save his life. But the two managed to reconcile, so Victor has made peace with it. He's trying to figure out what to do with himself. They get a call for Beast Boy.

It's Vernon Questor, the business manager for Dayton Industries. Dayton is the company that Beast Boy's stepfather Steve Dayton (Mento of the Doom Patrol) runs. He informs the two Titans that two board members of the company have been shot in two days. He suspects foul play as it's way too obvious that it is.

Beast Boy heads home, but not before scaring off some carjackers by becoming a rhino. Cyborg goes to visit his former girlfriend Marcy Reynolds. She had not seen him since the accident that resulted in him becoming Cyborg. The reunion is not a happy one, as Marcy is disturbed by his cybernetics, and he tells him her parents didn't want her seeing him again. 

A depressed Victor heads to the park, where he thinks about how his time with the Titans had made him forget how different he was. He's not sure what to do with himself, as he can't spend his whole life being a superhero, but he can't go back to being an athlete either. He gets conked on the head with a baseball, and a kid asks for it back. He gives it back, causing the kid to see his shiny cybernetics. He worries the kid will freak out, but it turns out the kid finds it pretty cool. Because he's got such an arm himself.

"I wanted a gold arm, but got stuck with the pink one." 

The kid was part of a special school for kids who have prosthetics themselves. The school helps them adjust to them and live normal lives. Cyborg also meets their teacher, the lovely Sarah Simms. The kids want Cyborg to play some ball with them, and he happily agrees. 

Meanwhile, back in Titans Tower, Raven is going on a trip. And not the fun kind of trip. She finds her soul-self traveling through various domains and dimensions, seeing monsters, searing heat, freezing cold, being pounded by sand from a giant hourglass.

In Blue Valley, Nebraska, Wally West (aka Kid Flash) is discussing his plans for the future with his father. He wants to go to college, but he also enjoys the superhero gig. His father suggests that he can do both. Wally agrees that it is possible, but he isn't sure if he should do both. After all, he never asked to get superpowers. After cleaning his costume, his mother tells him that she does worry about him being a superhero, but she's also seen an upside: It's matured him. It's allowed him to grow into a upstanding young man. The family sits down to dinner, and Wally's dad invites him to cut the turkey. After all, it's traditionally done by the man of the house.

Back in Titans Tower, Raven has a bit of a revelation about the horrors she is experiencing. She realizes that these demons are actually her own inner demons, seeking to keep her mind and soul separate. They represent her own fears and anxieties.

Armed with this new insight, she pushes on and fully unites her body and soul. Raven feels proud and stronger now. 

"I AM RAVEN, HEAR ME CAW!"

Elsewhere, Donna is doing an impromptu photoshoot with Starfire as the subject. The alien princess asks how Donna and Terry met, as the Amazon never mentioned him before. Terry explains that they met about a year earlier, not long after his divorce. And he's aware of her being an alien. Considering that she has bright orange skin, solid green eyes, and makes no effort to hide any of it, I think anyone with half a brain would notice she's not from Earth.

Starfire notices the birds in the sky and gets inspired to take flight. She enjoys being in the air and reflects on how much she loves living on Earth. She spots a wild horse and carriage on the rampage in the park and is able to stop it. She decides to go visit Dick Grayson in Gotham. 

That night, Jeremy Thornton tucks his grandson into bed. He retires to another room, where he plans to finish up some reports and then take a bath. He hears a noise and thinks it's his grandson, but it's actually something much more surprisingly deadly. The puppet shoots the man, and evil laughter erupts from it.

I really enjoyed this comic. What's fun about it is that it's a character-focused comic. I did wish we got to see some development for Dick and Garfield, though. Dick basically just cameoed, and Garfield's scenes were there just to interact with Cyborg and set up a storyline. But still, the characters that actually managed to get some focus here get glimpses into their character. Raven's struggles with her powers, Wally's struggles with balancing superhero life with the civilian life, Donna's dealing with her civilian job, and Victor's finding kinship with a group of kids with prosthetics themselves. My favorite scene had to be Cyborg's meeting the class. That was very heartwarming. There's a wonderful balance of character and action in this comic. 

If you've read this blog, you may know exactly what I think of George Perez's art. I don't think I really need to go into it much further here. Yes, it's not as evolved as his later work in Avengers, but it's still a joy to look at. 

If you really want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2014 trade paperback The New Teen Titans Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!

Tales of the Teen Titans #50 (February 1985)

The tribute to George Perez continues! The legendary artist has worked with many a team in his time, but probably the one that he's arguably the most famous for is The New Teen Titans. It's an incarnation of the team of young heroes that has survived the test of time, having been adapted to animation and live-action TV.

This incarnation of the Titans has visited my blog before, in my review of The New Teen Titans #1 (August 1984), which was the first issue of their book published under DC's "hardcover/softcover" initiative. That book's title would eventually be changed to Tales of the Teen Titans with issue number 41 (April 1984). There was a miniseries of the same title that preceded it. Lasting four issues long, it elaborated on the backstories of Cyborg, Raven, Changeling (as Beast Boy was called at the time), and Starfire.

This issue is a rather significant one because...it's a wedding issue! Yup, one of the Titans, one Donna Troy, the heroine of many origins. Seriously, her origins have been rewritten so many times it's ridiculous. At the time in the comics, she was in a relationship with a previously-divorced teacher named Terry Long, who was nearly twice her age. Yeah, I can certainly see why the character was disliked by some fans. Donna may have been an adult, and she was not one of his students, but yeah. It is a bit iffy to me.

Despite that, the wedding of Donna Troy is considered one of the crown jewels in a rather excellent run of comics. But does it deserve the praise? Let's find out as I take a look at Tales of the Teen Titans #50!

The cover is awesome. It's a Perez piece, so you know I'll love it. You have Donna and Terry right in the center in their wedding clothes. Fun fact, George Perez's wife Carol designed the wedding dress Donna Troy wears in the comic. Behind them stand their bridesmaids and groomsmen. In the background stand Donna's friends, family, and Titans teammates.

"We are Gathered Here Today..."
Writers: Marv Wolfman, George Perez
Penciller: George Perez
Inkers: Mike DeCarlo, Dick Giordano
Colorist: Adrienne Roy
Letterer: John Costanza
Editors: Marv Wolfman, George Perez
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story beings on the Temple of Athena on Themyscira. You may know it as the home of the Amazons. A group of Amazons are wondering why Queen Hippolyte has asked for a private audience with Athena herself...which is incredibly unusual. Considering what's going on in this story, you'd think Hippolyte would be running around the island, hooting that one of her daughters is getting married.

The scene shifts to the home of Steve Dayton, the fifth richest man in the DCU. He's also known as Mento of the Doom Patrol. He's also the adoptive father of one Garfield "Changeling" Logan, who is helping plan the party.

There's a lot to do, and it's clear the green kid is struggling with the proverbial weight of it all. Mento's butler Questor is watching this, and is puzzled by the appearance of a clown. Changeling explains it's because there will be a bunch of little kids at the wedding, and the clown will be entertaining them. Poor Garfield is going bugnuts with all the people getting on him about everything from the cake to the dance floor. Questor steps in to help out so the former and future Beast Boy can take a break.

Elsewhere, Adeline Kane, the ex-wife of Slade "Deathstroke" Wilson is greeting the new day. She goes to wake up her son Joe, aka Jericho, but hears nothing from his room. She realizes that he's upstairs in his attic studio. Turns out, the mute superhero was up all night preparing a little gift for Donna and Terry.

Adeline is impressed by the painting, and pleads with him to let her arrange a gallery show for his work. She feels the world needs to see his talent, but he refuses, feeling he's not ready to exhibit his art yet.

We next go to a place. A place of nowhere but darkness and gloom. This is where Raven is right now. She is struggling with the evil influence of her father Trigon. She's likely not going to be attending the wedding.

Another Titan is having an issue with coming to the wedding: One Victor Stone, aka Cyborg. Yes DC, he was a Titan. Vic and his galpal Sarah Simms are on their way, but Cyborg is feeling like a freak. I don't know why, as his best friend is GREEN, a teammate of his is ORANGE, and they don't hide that. Also, he remarks that he could blow the secret identities of all the Titans. Again, teammates who are GREEN and ORANGE and DO NOT HIDE IT. Cyborg is a dope.

Questor comes by and notices Changeling's tux for the wedding.

Yeah, he knows he can only get away with that tux because it's the 80s. Questor then goes to check on Steve Dayton, who is brooding in his office...and has a bottle of some alcoholic drink on his desk. But he didn't touch it. He's been having some issues, likely because of that helmet he uses as Mento. Despite this, he vows to be there for Garfield, as he really needs this, after that whole thing with Terra.

Next, we shift to Kory Anders/Koriand'r, aka "Starfire". She's hanging out with some of the bridesmaids. Among them is fellow Titan Lilith, aka Omen. As for the blushing bride? Well, Donna Troy is talking to her mentor Wonder Woman as she gets ready. She has some jitters about walking the aisle, but Diana assures her she's doing the right thing, and they'll be happy. The girls get visited by Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing. He's going to walk her down the aisle. Dick and Donna talk for a bit. Dick tells her that Terry is a lucky man to have a woman like her. Donna tells her she loves him (in the familial way, family was a big thing with the Titans), and they share a hug.

And with that, let's get this wedding properly started. The ceremony goes off without a hitch. Nice work, Garfield. Donna Troy walks the aisle, and vows are said.

I think Perez himself appears in that ring of people. Donna Troy and Terry Long share their first kiss as a married couple. Later on, Terry and Donna share their first dance. The party afterwards is a way for us to catch up with some past Titans members. Both the Guardian and Bumblebee had retired from superheroics after their marriage, and Guardian sold his first book. Lilith senses something strange. So does Questor the butler. He checks out door that is oddly unlocked, but nothing is there.

On a balcony, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson do some talking. In the Batman books at the time, the supervillainess Nocturna had adopted Jason Todd, the then-Robin, and the Dark Knight can't do anything about it. Dick then wonders something. If Bruce wanted to adopt Jason...why didn't Bruce adopt Dick? Bruce admits that he wonders that himself. He then figures his youth back then and obsession with his career as the Batman at the time prevented him from considering it, and then before he knew it, Dick had grown up.

Changeling and Jillian are dancing, and having some fun doing it. The green-skinned Titan is thrilled. Nothing has gone wrong at the wedding, and he's naturally feeling pretty proud of himself. Cyborg wants to talk to him. The former athlete has noticed that no one has made any remarks about how he looks, and he wants to know what Garfield did. Well, Beast Boy had his stepfather Mento use his helmet to send out mental impressions to everyone who looks at him. As a result, they see only Vic Stone. Cyborg...takes it well.

Again, Garfield doesn't hide his green skin, Starfire doesn't hide her orange skin. Why is he so worried about people seeing him?! Starfire ends up quite popular with the guys at the party. A couple of women talk about it, finding it disgusting. One of them remarks that she did talk to the Tamaranean, and she was really nice. It's crazy.

We get a cameo of the original Hawk and Dove, and Dick Grayson runs into Duela Dent, aka Joker's Daughter and Harlequin. Perez drew her as middle-aged. Her Harlequin days are, in her own words, "fifty pounds ago". Dick tells her he realized something a while back: She was far too old to be the daughter of the Batman villain Two-Face, like she claimed. But then again, she claimed she was the daughter of various other Batman villains, too. Dick wants to know the truth, but she teases him by walking away and saying that maybe she'll tell him one day. I get the feeling Marv Wolfman had intended to do something with this in the future, but never got around to it.

In the pool, Charley Parker and Bette Kane are discussing reforming Titans West with Aqualad and Tula. However, the two Atlanteans have responsibilities to Atlantis that must take priority at the moment. Speedy is considering it, but Bumblebee, Guardian, and Kid Flash are all retired. Maybe the idea of a West Coast-based Titans team isn't meant to be...

Elsewhere in the mansion, Changeling is brooding. He feels like a royal screwup. He's lost a lot in his young life, and it makes him feel like he's ruins everything he touches. Cyborg comes by...to apologize. Yeah, he was hurt by what Garfield did, but he gets that the green-skinned animorph meant well. He just wanted Donna's wedding to run smooth, and Vic does think Garfield did a great job with it. The two are able to reconcile. But enough drama! Let's ROCK!

Jericho, Mal Duncan, and Dick Grayson cut some tunes for the audience. FREEBIRD! PLAY FREEBIRD! Wonder Woman approaches Donna Troy, and tells her there's something she and Terry have to see. They follow the Amazing Amazon to a room in the mansion, the same room Questor noticed earlier. Donna is nervous about it being a supervillain attacking. Makes sense. Quite a few supervillains would attack a wedding. However, it's not a supervillain. Well, not at the time, anyway.

Yup. Queen Hippolyta came to give her regards to Donna. You see, the Queen of the Amazons can't step foot off the island or else she'll lose her immortality. So, she asked Athena if she could witness her daughter's wedding, and Athena was like, "Okay, that's cool. Tell her the other gods wish her well, too." I think they've mellowed out a bit with age.

The ceremony continues on. We get the cutting of the cake and the tossing of the bouquet and garter. But even the most fun of parties have to end. As the sun goes down, the guests are leaving. Drinks have been drunk, cake has been eaten, and a good time was had. The Titans give Garfield a little gift for all the hard work he did to make the wedding a spectacular event.

Terry's brother Barry is talking to their sister, and he admits something: He's a bit envious of his brother. Both of the Long brothers had marriages that ended in divorce, but it seemed that Terry managed to find the most wonderful new lady to marry. He wonders if he'll himself ever be that lucky.

As for the newlyweds? Well, they're going to spend their honeymoon in Greece. And they're going to head there in style: On Steve Dayton's private jet. Being friends with a kid who was the adopted son of one of the richest men in the DCU has its perks. Both Terry and Donna had decided to get out of their wedding togs and into something more comfortable.

Wonder Girl indeed. The two make a toast to their love, to peace, to wisdom, and to unity. Donna Troy was so happy to see everyone there at her wedding...except for Raven. She wished the empath was there. Terry tells her a tale of a student he had about three years earlier. Like Raven, she had troubles. She needed help, but was too shy to ask for it. She would get the help she needed, but she had to gather up the courage to ask. The Titans can't help Raven unless she asks for it.

With that, the story ends with Donna and Terry enjoying their honeymoon as the plane flies into the sunset.

I will admit, I was a bit bothered by the age gap between Donna and Terry...mainly because Donna herself says she's nineteen in the comic. Yeah, technically, Donna Troy is legally an adult, but it's still a bit...creepy to me. I'm sorry, I can't come up with a better word for it.

Otherwise that, it's actually really good. I like that the wedding went off without a hitch, and the drama of the story was character stuff. Speaking of character stuff, I thought it was rather odd that Cyborg was worried about people seeing him even though one of his teammates is green, another orange, and they make no attempt to hide that. I get that Cyborg still feels like a freak because of his cybernetics, but it did feel kind of silly. I'm surprised that most of the Titans don't operate publicly already, considering who they are.

You could tell Wolfman and Perez saw an opportunity to weave some potential new story threads with the attempt to reform Titans West and the whole mystery regarding the identity of the Joker's Daughter. Shame those never panned out as far as I know. I would have loved to have seen those plot seeds come to fruition.

This story has moments that are funny, dramatic, and rather heartwarming. Some consider this story one of the crown jewels of Marv and George's work on the Teen Titans, and I can see why. Despite my reservations with Donna and Terry's relationship, I can see they truly loved each other.

Next time, we're going to rejoin the heroes of the Marvel Universe as they continue their adventures on Battleworld. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you enjoyed it, spread it around! And if you want to give my blog some additional support, please drop a tip in my Digital Tip Jar! See you next time!

Titans Trailer, My Thoughts

In April 2017, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Digital Networks announced that they were creating a streaming service called "DC Universe". This streaming service would broadcast some of the media content focusing on DC's characters over the years, including Batman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, Teen Titans, and the Superman quadrilogy starring the late Christopher Reeve.

Also, the service will have original series focusing on various characters like Swamp Thing, Harley Quinn, and the Teen Titans. And there's a trailer out for the Titans series. Let's take a look. I cannot believe I am typing this, but this trailer is a bit NSFW. I know, I can't believe it either. You have been warned.

Ah, so this series, focusing on characters that are popular with children, is going to be for mature audiences only. I cannot see how this won't be a disaster.

So, we have what I am presuming is Raven, going...somewhere. She looks like she fell into a Hot Topic.

The Flying Graysons. Yeah, this Robin is going to be Dick Grayson.

Flashback to Robin's origin. Just because. Emo music in the background. Just because.

Robin just...shot some dudes. Are the creators confusing Dick Grayson with Jason Todd?! JASON TODD is the gun-toter! And he stepped on a dude's neck. Because that is something that Dick Grayson would totally do.

And Robin cursing. This show is going to try way too hard to be "mature" and "adult", isn't it?

I've seen set photos, and Beast Boy wasn't green in them. Did they correct that?

Starfire just immolating dudes. Remember, these characters? They are popular with children. Children love these characters.

I'm all for Hawk and Dove getting exposure, but Hawk is supposed to be the brutal one, not Dove. Dove is the peaceful one. That's how it works. And I get why they're using the Hank Hall/Dawn Granger combo. While the original team was Hank and his brother Don as Dove, Hank and Dawn were the longest-lasting incarnation of the "Hawk and Dove" duo.

Raven's getting tempted...

Why do we see Robin, Hawk and Dove having proper superhero costumes, but Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven don't have those? I'm hoping it's a story reason.

Man, this trailer is making me facepalm so hard. Don't get me wrong, there can be times when the Titans' adventures can be darker, and even outright scary (Trigon, anyone?), but this...this just seems so...overboard with it. It feels like it's trying to imitate the Nolan Batman trilogy, but lack any levity. It feels so...edgy for the sake of being edgy. It's ridiculous. I wish DC well with their streaming service, but if this is a preview of their original stuff to come...they're shooting themselves in the foot.



And Starfire just immolated those dudes.

Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 (April 1985)

As the 1980s rolled on, DC Comics was nearing a big birthday. 1985 was DC's 50th Anniversary, having debuted with the title New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 (February 1935). This title, during its run, which lasted until 1947, introduced some stalwarts of the emerging DC Universe, like the Spectre, Doctor Fate, and Superboy. They need something big, something epic.

Enter Marv Wolfman and his dream story.

Growing up in the 1960s, he was a fan of the Justice League comic, especially their yearly team-ups with the Justice Society. These stories were given titles like "Crisis on Earth-One" and "Crisis on Earth-Two", etc. He wanted to see a story featuring all of DC's heroes, past, present and future, in one big epic story. He even came up with a villain for it: The Librarian. Yeah, not the most intimidating supervillain name. As Marv Wolfman himself said in introduction to the 1998 trade paperback: "What's he gonna do? Charge the heroes a nickel a day for overdue books?"

Still, the idea stuck with Wolfman, even staying with him when he became a comic book writer. Further inspired by The Prisoner, he wanted to make his epic Librarian story a limited series, but it was the 1970s, and the Big Two felt such a thing would be impossible to sell. At the time, first issues of comics sold poorly, and readers liked big numbers on their covers. But then the 1980s would roll around, and by then, Wolfman was using his Librarian concept in the New Teen Titans series, renamed "The Monitor". While writing Green Lantern, Wolfman got a fan letter who was confused about a continuity question. This inspired Wolfman to bring back his idea with "the Monitor" as a way to clean up DC's continuity to make it more inviting to new readers.

You see, at the time, DC had a full-blown multiverse. There was Earth-One, the primary setting and the focus of much of DC's books. Earth-Two, which was the home of the Justice Society and various other heroes, including elder versions of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Earth-Three, the home of the Crime Syndicate, basically an evil version of the Justice League. Earth-X, an Earth where the Axis Powers won WWII, and a resistance stood against them (Uncle Sam, Phantom Lady, Human Bomb, etc.)

See what I mean? Quite a few Earths out there. Even though they didn't all get books focused on them, those various Earths had appeared in quite a few stories, mainly thanks to the yearly "Crisis" team-ups between the JLA of Earth-One, and the JSA of Earth-Two. DC also had acquired characters from other companies, like Charlton (Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Question, Nightshade), and Fawcett Comics (The Marvel Family and Dr. Sivana). Those characters got their own earths as well. Earth-Four and Earth-S, respectively. Old-time readers had no problem tracking it, as it was old-hat to them at this point, but new readers...yeah.

CoIE was announced at a comic convention in New York City in 1981, but due to the sheer volume of continuity research, not to mention Wolfman and Perez were also working on New Teen Titans, it was held off until 1985. Yup. Keep in mind, the Internet as we know did not exist in the early 80s. Wolfman couldn't just consult a wiki or Google the character's histories. The timing was a nice bit of serendipity as DC would be celebrating their 50th Anniversary that year. What better gift for such an occasion than an epic story that involves DC's history in such a manner?

The event truly did live up to its promise. It changed everything. Even thirty years later, Crisis still reverberates and echoes throughout the DC Universe.

And with all of that out of the way, let's take a look at the first issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths #1!

This cover is AWESOME. Seriously, it's simple but very effective. You got a string of Earths in a starfield, one about to explode. You got a bunch of characters just being sent flying, various expressions on their faces. Pariah (The guy below the old Superman) is having a really bad migraine. You got Harbinger (the blonde in the red helmet and blue number), just watching this impassively. Behind her is...Zordon? Well, that makes sense. In the trade, the energy erupting from the one Earth in the cover is pink. Too much pink energy truly is dangerous.

"The Summoning!" 
Writer: Marv Wolfman, Robert Greenberger
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Dick Giordano
Colorist: Anthony Tollin
Letterer: John Constanza
Editor: Marv Wolfman
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins with basically a recap of the origins of the Multiverse. When the Big Bang hit, it created a variety of worlds, similar but different, only kept apart by differing vibrational rates.

We then next see a wall of white heading towards one of these many Earths, slowly consuming it. People in a city flee the wall of white, while a figure in a green cloak watches this. He laments that there is no escape for these people. They can run, they can pray, but there is no hope. Nothing can be done to save them. There are no heroes, there is no day for them to save. There is only oblivion.

The green-cloaked man tries to save a child, but to no avail. He wonders how much longer he has to suffer for his sins. He pleads to be consumed by the wall of white, but he only vanishes.

The wall of white next reaches Earth-3, the home of the Crime Syndicate of America. They were basically an evil version of the Justice League. The costumed criminals try to stop the destruction, but it's no good. You're probably thinking, "Wait, if they're villains, why do they care if the Earth gets destroyed?". Well, as Kingpin from the 90s Spider-Man cartoon said, "There's no profit in the destruction of the planet. It is very bad for business." Johnny Quick and Owlman lament that despite their abilities allowing them to be masters of their Earth, they can't even save themselves.

This world's only hero, Alexander Luthor, witnesses Superwoman get consumed by the wall of white, and mourns her death, and the end of his world. He heads to his home, and his wife Lois. They just had a baby boy, and Lois is heartbroken that he'll die before he ever got to have a life. But there is hope. As the Crime Syndicate vainly fight to save their world, Luthor puts his son in a pod. Ultraman flies into the wall, determined to go out fighting. As the wall consumes Earth-3, Alex's pod breaches the vibrational barrier between the Earths, ensuring their son may find safety somewhere else. The wall gets Alex and Lois as they share one last kiss.

You know, it always struck me as kind of funny that in this version of the Crime Syndicate's world, there's only one superhero, Luthor. You'd think an evil Wonder Woman would be opposed by a heroic Cheetah, or an evil GL facing off against a heroic Sinestro. Heck, an evil Flash fighting a heroic version of the Rogues would've been neat.

Anyway, Alex's pod reaches Earth-1, where it ends up in the remains of the Justice League's old satellite headquarters. A mysterious being in another satellite nearby observes the pod arriving. The unseen being then summons an equally mysterious blonde woman.

He tells her that she knows her assignment, and she knows who to get. She wonders why she doesn't just get the various Earths' versions of Superman and Wonder Woman for this, as they would bring a ton of raw power. The being explains he has analyzed various powered individuals and the ones he has chosen are best for the job. He orders while he retrieves the pod from Earth-3. She obeys, but reminds the "Monitor" that she is his equal, not his slave. In an incredible sequence, she heads out, seemingly splitting into various duplicates.

The woman, Harbinger, heads towards Gorilla City. There, King Solovar is overseeing some business. After sentencing a criminal to "conversion", he finds Harbinger in his private chambers, saying he is needed. Solovar tells her he is not going anywhere without an explanation. Some gorilla guards burst in and try to blast Harbinger, but she vanishes, taking Solovar with her.

In 30th Century Metropolis, Dawnstar of the Legion of Super-Heroes flies towards Suicide Slum in answer to a telepathic call. She's suspicious about it because it's not Saturn Girl calling her. Her ability to track things (Yeah, she's a Native American character, and her power is to track things. Go figure) to find the source of the call. She examines a warehouse door and...

Yup. Off Dawnstar goes. The scene then shifts to Earth-Two in 1942. A USO Bond Rally is being held, and a woman is fussing over a stove. A beautiful redhead tells her to find some matches, and she'll see what she can do. When the woman leaves, the redhead, one Danette "Firebrand" Reilly of the All-Star Squadron, secretly uses her pyrokinetic abilities to ignite the stove. Firebrand then hears someone calling her by her hero name, and notices everyone and everything is frozen in place.

And with that, Harbinger collects Firebrand. Next, the comic takes us to a city. A Detective Karp is talking on a megaphone to some hostage-takers. One of them, with a gun to a woman's chin, scoffs at this. He retorts that if they let the woman go, they'll get shot into paste by the cops. He demands some money and a fueled chopper. But these men would get a special visitor tonight.

Yup, it's Ted Kord, the Silver Age Blue Beetle! Hurray! He swings down from his flying Bug, and beats up the hostage-takers. He does it in a very Spider-Manesque style, throwing quips and fighting with an acrobatic style. It does make sense, as Ted's creator, Steve Ditko, also co-created Spider-Man. It's a shame that DC and Marvel don't do inter-company crossovers anymore, as Peter Parker and Ted Kord having an adventure together would be awesome. Heck, you could do a two-part team-up with Peter and Ted starting a case, and then the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle and the Miles Morales Spider-Man following up on it.

Anyway, Ted deals with the criminals and saves the hostage. Harbinger appears to him and tell him that like Solovar, Dawnstar, and Firebrand before him, the Blue Beetle is needed. Beetle, figuring that she won't take no for an answer, agrees to go with her. After all, there's nothing good on TV that night.

We next go back in time: 45,000 years in the past. Harbinger speeds across an icy desert in search of Arion, the immortal sorcerer who defends ancient Atlantis before it sunk under the waves. Unbeknownst to her, a dark being, a Shadow Demon, observes her. The Demon attacks, and before she can respond...

The demon seemingly overtakes the duplicate of Harbinger, her eyes solid black. The scene then shifts to the then-present 1980s of Earth-Two. Harbinger comes to an insane asylum, looking for her next chosen character, one Roger Hayden, aka the second Psycho-Pirate. Hayden is suffering from a bit of an imbalance due to his addiction to absorbing emotions thanks to the Medusa Mask. He tells Harbinger to go recruit Charles Halstead, his predecessor. Harbinger reminds him Halstead is dead. Harbinger makes his Medusa Mask reappear, and makes it fly onto his face in a really cool sequence.

Back in ancient Atlantis, Arion senses some strange energy, which is causing his own power to grow. He conjures an ice bridge and encounters Harbinger demands he come with her, but Arion thinks she's trying to attack him, and he tries to fight back. This Harbinger was possessed by the Shadow Demon from earlier, hence her more aggressive nature towards Arion. Arion plunges towards the icy mists below, but the possessed Harbinger saves him, thinking it's not his time to die...yet.

In present time Earth-One Gotham, Firestorm (The Ronnie Raymond/Martin Stein version) flies towards a prison. Using his powers, he goes through the wall, and finds his quarry: Louise Lincoln, aka Killer Frost. She's imprisoned in ice because she is a body heat vampire, and despite her cryokinetic powers, being in cold places can make her dormant.

Firestorm melts the ice to free her. Frost is confused for a moment. Firestorm tries to explain why he freed her, but decides "Don't care, wanna kill you". Harbinger and Psycho-Pirate arrive, and Pirate uses his power over emotions to make Lincoln fall in love with Firestorm.

Yeah, it's played for laughs, but I can see why some would see it as rather creepy. Harbinger's boss watches this on a monitor. He thinks about how he rescued Lyla (Harbinger's real name) as a child floating lost at sea. He recalls how he raised and nurtured her over the past twenty years. He sees her as the daughter he could never have...and she's going to kill him. Yeah, he knows about one of Harbinger's duplicates being possessed by the Shadow Demon. However, he is more worried about Harbinger, as the fate of the cosmos will be in her hands.

Harbinger brings Psycho-Pirate, Killer Frost, and Firestorm back up to her boss's big golden Death Star-like satellite, where the rest of the heroes and villains she has gathered are waiting...and wanting some answers.

My tablet hates trying to scan these double-age spreads. In addition to the earlier characters, she also gathered Psimon, Cyborg, Geo-Force, Obsidian, the Earth-Two Superman, the John Stewart Green Lantern, and the Neal Emerson Dr. Polaris. Cyborg and Psimon were part of Wolfman and Perez's New Teen Titans run at the time they were making this, so I bet they could not resist bringing some elements of that into this, heh heh. In a minor funny moment, Arion inquires about Dr. Polaris's powers, thinking he's a sorcerer, but Polaris basically tells him to not touch him or else. Interestingly, John Stewart thinks about the owner of the satellite, the mysterious "Monitor". He also recalls this "Monitor" was selling weapons to various supervillains and criminals [See my review of Vigilante #6 (May 1984)], and is wondering why he's brought this ragtag group of misfits here.

The group talk amongst themselves, observed by a shadowy being. Psimon offers a truce to Cyborg and Geo-Force. Cyborg tells him to shove it. Psimon exclaims that he senses danger, and the group is about to be attacked.

A group of Shadow Demons come at the Monitor's little assemblage. Let's call them the "Harbinger Group". Green Lantern tries blasting them with his Power Ring, but has no effect. Lyla reintegrates her duplicates, feeling very weakened from having separated for so long. As such, she is unable to help. She seemingly falls asleep, but the narration hints she will wake up changed. The group of heroes and villains try to fight off the Shadow Demons, but they're not having much of an effect. Obsidian notices that the Shadow Demons can't seem to harm him in his own shadow form, and he presses his advantage.

Despite this, the Harbinger Group still can't seem to make much of a dent in the Demons, only slowing them down at best. A flash of very bright light sends them fleeing. A figure assures the heroes that this attack was not unexpected, but also unplanned for. He also tells them this attack wasn't Harbinger's fault. You see, several of the group are convinced Harbinger set them up, like E-2 Superman and Psimon. The figure dims the lights so the Harbinger Group can see again, and they get a good look at Harbinger's benefactor.

The Monitor stands revealed for the first time, and he brought this group together because they are the only hope of saving their worlds from imminent destruction.

This issue is rather enjoyable. It is mainly a set-up issue, but it does the job well. The group of heroes and villains that Harbinger brings together are a rather fascinating bunch, with a variety of superpowers. The issue also does a good job establishing how dangerous these Shadow Demons are. The Earth-2 Superman, one of, if not the, most powerful heroes in DC's canon at the time can't hurt them. Except for Obsidian, none of the gathered heroes and villains could do much good against them...and even Obsidian could only do so much.

I do have one complaint about the story, though. If the Monitor knew Lyla would eventually kill him, why did he not try to stop her? He clearly cares about her, and the issue clearly hints that she may not do it willingly, so why not at the very least warn the heroes that this would happen? I get the villains would not likely care, but the heroes would.

As for the artwork, well...it's George Perez. What can I say? It's detailed, dynamic, expressive, it's just a joy to look at. His art always makes my eyes happy. Some of the layouts and sequences are amazing to look at, and I highly recommend you get this comic to experience them yourselves. Trust me. My tablet would try to murder me if I tried scanning some of that for you here. Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 is a great start to the mini-series, quickly giving the idea that this story is going to be of epic scope, showing stakes the likes of which the heroes of the then-DC Multiverse have never encountered before. Next time, we'll take a look at the debut of the Hobgoblin...