The New Teen Titans #1 (August 1984)

The Teen Titans. First appearing in The Brave and the Bold #54 (July 1964), the original group were essentially a Junior Justice League, comprised of the teenage sidekicks of adult superheroes: The Dick Grayson Robin, the Wally West Kid Flash, Donna Troy Wonder Girl, and the Garth Aqualad. The original Speedy, Roy Harper, is considered an original, event though technically, he isn't.

The incarnation we're going to focus on is considered iconic, THE Teen Titans roster. In 1980, Marv Wolfman and George Perez debuted this new roster, with a teaser in DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980). Wolfman and Perez sought to create a more character-driven title than many other comics at the time, and it was a huge hit. I have heard that the book helped save DC Comics from bankruptcy. This incarnation has been revisited many times, being the basis of two Teen Titans animated series, and one of the new Titans, Cyborg, was revamped to be a founding member of the Justice League in the New 52 debacle.

This incarnation of the New Teen Titans would make their first proper appearance in, well, The New Teen Titans #1 (November 1980), so you may wonder "Wait, so why did they get another #1 issue four years later?" Well, there's a reason for that. You see, in the early 80s, DC decided to try out a new initiative called "hardcover/softcover". The New Teen Titans, alongside Legion of Super-Heroes and Batman and the Outsiders were the three titles that were used in this initiative. Basically, stories were first published in higher-quality paper that was released to comic book shops, and a year later, those stories would be reprinted in standard format that would go to newsstands. Good thing there was no Internet as we knew it at the time, the spoilers would have been flying.

And with all of that out of the way, let's take a look at The New Teen Titans #1!

The cover is pretty cool. I get vibes of the original NTT #1 cover in it with the character composition and positioning, but there's a nice twist to it with Raven taking up the background and Jericho cowering in the corner. Since she's really the focus of this storyline, it gives the idea that something big is brewing, and Raven is in the center of it. She dominates the cover despite being in the background, if that makes any sense. I love it.

"Shadows in the Dark!"
Writer: Marv Wolfman (alongside George Perez)
Artist: George Perez
Letterer: Todd Klein
Colorist: Adrienne Roy

Our story begins with the Titans looking for Jericho, who is hiding behind a tree. It's a training exercise, and the Titans (Starfire, Beast Boy, Nightwing, Cyborg, and the Donna Troy Wonder Girl) have to find him.

Beast Boy finds Jericho, who is able to make eye contact with him. When Jericho can make eye contact with someone, he can possess them. However, his form of possession is unique. When he possesses someone, the victim does remain conscious, just not in control of their bodies. This allows Beast Boy to warn Nightwing that Jericho's in control when he seemingly attacks him. Starfire is able to get the possessed Beast Boy to back off with a starbolt.

Cyborg and Wonder Girl work together to trap Jericho, using a blast of white noise and her lasso. Jericho jumps from Beast Boy to Starfire. The possessed alien princess blasts Wonder Girl and Beast Boy, then takes to the air.

Cyborg grumbled that Jericho is able to make the others look like such a joke, that the Campfire Girls could beat them up. In a small funny moment, Donna Troy asweres Dick's inquiry if everyone is alright with saying that her rear is black-and-blue, and the ever-flirtatious Beast Boy asks if he can rub in the ointment. Nightwing reminds the other Titans that they can't make eye contact with Jericho. Cyborg volunteers to take on the Jericho-possessed Starfire.

Starfire tries to blast the ex-athlete, but he's able to avoid her starbolt and blast her with some electricity from his finger. Jericho tries to leap to Cyborg's body, but finds...a complication.

Cyborg's human eye is closed, and Jericho's powers don't allow him to possess anything robotic. Cyborg smacks Jericho, and Nightwing is able to tackle the mute metahuman, covering his eyes. Donna binds them up with her lasso. Nightwing considers it a win for the team. Another member of the team shows up.

Raven wants some help. Badly. However, Jericho doesn't hear her and thinks her arrival is part of the training exercise. He tries to possess her, but it doesn't end well. Raven teleports away, leaving Jericho dazed.

The other Titans run over to check on him. Jericho freaks out and starts signing rapidly. Yeah, Jericho is a rather unique character in comics. He cannot speak, so he uses sign language. He's one of the only characters in comics that I know of that uses sign language. He explains he felt a great evil inside of Raven, and wonders why no one tried to help her. Nightwing explains that the others tried, but she always pulled away...and Starfire points out that perhaps they haven't tried hard enough to help her.

The Titans Tower's internal computer systems have found Raven in her room, but she isn't responding to her summons. Donna Troy surmises that perhaps the reason why Raven's pulled away from the others is that she doesn't know how to talk to the others about her issues. Dick decides that the group has to help her, whether she wants it or not. Kory reminds him that if they screw up, it will unleash the demon Trigon, who the Titans have faced in the past.

Jericho offers to speak to her, and Donna convinces Dick to let him, as Raven seemed more comfortable around him. As he leaves, Cyborg notes that he got a brief look at Raven's face...and it had changed.

Jericho goes over to Raven's room. Raven herself is shrouded in darkness, the only light in the room coming from a single candle. Despite this light, Raven's face is still shrouded.

Something bad is going to happen, and Raven knows she can't stop it. This scene really shows her powerlessness to stop it. She is scared, and she fears no one can help her. A dark destiny is ahead for her, and she must play it out. Despite this, the half-demon appears to the Titans. She tells them that she is leaving the Titans tomorrow. The others are shocked, and plead with her to let them help her. Raven refuses, saying that there are "forces churning within her".

The scene then switches to Tamaran, Starfire's homeworld. Her parents, the King and Queen of the world, announce that thanks to the events of the Omega Men's book, Tamaran is now a free world. As such, they have sent a ship to Earth. The reason? Starfire can finally come home.

That night, in Titans Tower, Beast Boy sees Cyborg looking at some old photos of Raven. And he discovers something shocking.

Page 14, panels 4-6

Raven's facial features were changing, and it wasn't just because she was growing up. Her face appeared to be getting more...crone-like, wicked. Like something dark was slowly overcoming her. This sequence is really cool. You see, Marv Wolfman had noticed how George Perez's artwork had evolved and decided to use that as a plot point. It's a really clever idea, and it's used to great effect here, really helping reinforce the idea that Raven has changed.

In Jericho's room, the young metahuman is trying to relax by playing some "Classical Gas" by Mason Williams on his guitar, but his thoughts fly to Raven. He worries about her being alone against whatever demons are haunting her, and decides to go to her room. Knowing she needs help, Joseph Wilson tries to help her the only way he knows how: by using his metahuman power to enter her body. And what he finds...is a horrorshow, a mental Grand Guignol.

Man, I bet every horror director on Earth would have killed just to be able to film a movie in Raven's brain. I mean, look at this! Stalagmites made from the skulls of some bizarre creature, and spires made of twisted screaming bodies. Lightning is crashing, and thunder is roaring. Welcome to Raven's mind, Joe Wilson. Welcome to Hell.

In Raven's body, Jericho pushes ahead, wanting to find out why Raven is so anguished and scared. A pair of hands grab at him from the ground of corpses. The hands belong to Arella, Raven's mother. She looks half-dessicated. Zombie!Arella screams that she sacrificed herself for Raven, and she needs to run...but then recognizes Jericho in Raven's body. A voice blasts away Raven's "body", and grants Jericho a view ofthe source.

Yup, Trigon the Terrible himself! He's back, and he wants the world under his red-skinned grip. He tortures Jericho, but Raven is able to save him. Raven's scream echoes throughout the Tower, waking up the other Titans.

The panel there with Dick Grayson and Starfire in bed together, from what I understand, did create some controversy at the time. It was rather unusual for characters in mainstream comics to be depicted in a manner that clearly indicated they were in a sexual relationship, despite the fact that the comic did establish in earlier issues that Dick and Star were an item. Interesting how things change, huh?

Anyway, the Titans find Jericho sprawled out on the bed and Raven missing. The mute metahuman freaks out and signs "Father" over and over again. Dick starts to admonish Joey for entering Raven's mind, but Cyborg points out that Jericho was trying to help...which was more than what the other Titans were doing. Beast Boy surmises that Trigon may already have Raven under his power...and the Titans nearly died the last time he fought them.

Evil laughter erupts throughout the Tower, from everywhere at once. Starfire recognizes the laughter. It's Trigon, mocking the Titans. The story ends with Beast Boy joking about wondering how he was going to spend his summer vacation.

This comics is awesome. It's creepy, kooky, and a great way to set up what could be considered the greatest Teen Titans storyline ever. George Perez shows why he is a GOD among comic book artists with this issue. His depiction of the growing Trigon hell inside of Raven's soul is a thing to behold. Really sells the evil that is Trigon. The training exercise in the beginning brings some humor to the issues, and helps show the characters a bit, like Dick's leadership skills, and Beast Boy's lecherousness. It's a well-written issue that hints at the horrors ahead. The Terror of Trigon is a great story, and I highly recommend it.

Next time, we join the Squadron Supreme as their mini-series, and their Utopia, draws to an end...

Ready Player One Trailer, My Thoughts

In 2011, Ernest Cline wrote the dystopian science fiction novel Ready Player One. The book told the tale of a teenage boy named Wade Watts living in a future ravaged by global warming and an energy crisis. To escape the roughness of his world, he and many others spend their time in the OASIS, a virtual reality world where one can be whatever they wanted.

Five years previously, OASIS's co-creator, James Halliday had passed away, and his final will and testament was a massive hunt: An Easter Egg that when found, would grant the giver superuser power over the OASIS and a massive fortune. When Watts finds one of the keys to the egg, it leads to an epic quest, using Halliday's obsession with 1980s pop culture to find the other keys.

The book has been highly praised, and won several awards. And now...it's betting adapted to film, helmed by, appropriately enough, Steven Spielberg. And here's the trailer.

The trailer begins with Wade Watts introducing himself, while walking through the Stacks, the large improvised skyscrapers made from trailers. It looks...very much like I imagined it, all ramshackle and slapdash. Yeah, if the world looked like this, I'd want to spend all my time in a virtual reality, too.

Oh boy, the city is doing that Doctor Strange warping thing. Is the Doc on a bender?

Hey, Wade's got the DeLorean with the KITT scanner in it, just like in the book! Awesome!
I wonder what that music is in the club scene. Is that New Order? Sounds like them.

I'm guessing the girl is Art3mis.

Let the hunt begin! Gunters, grab your gear, and stock up your inventory with all your healing potions!

Aw yeah, Van Halen!

Hey, is that Sofia Boutella? Man, she's getting everywhere these days. Good for her.

Hmm, it seems they'll be playing with the plot a bit. Makes sense, they probably did have to change some things for the film adaptation. It looks like in this version, the "gunters" (The people who hunt for Halliday's Easter Egg, the term is a corruption of "egg hunters") are an actual rebellion that are fighting to get the egg from the megacorp Innovative Online Industries (IOI). Maybe in this version, the IOI have a more tyrannical grip on the world. A corporatocracy. This is the GOP's wet dream.

Oh man, that final battle looks like it'll be AWESOME. I imagine the makers must've had to shell out a TON of money for the licensing. Seriously, look at all these characters! I saw Overwatch's Tracer, Street Fighter's Chun-Li, a freakin' GUNDAM, Chucky from Child's Play, and people have pointed out other hidden cameos, like the Mach 5 from Speed Racer and the Batman '66 Batmobile. King Kong, THE IRON GIANT. Man, this is so cool.

I loved the book, so I am excited for the movie. I can't wait to see what they do with this.

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Announcement, My Thoughts

Mega Man is not the only Capcom franchise celebrating a big anniversary this year. Alongside the Blue Bomber, the World Warriors will be celebrating the big 3-0. And for that celebration, they are releasing a game collection! Let's check out the trailer!

The trailer begins with footage of people playing Street Fighter II in arcades, and a voice-over talking about how revolutionary the game was. And indeed, it was. Street Fighter II was the game that revolutionized the fighting genre, and gave rise to other fighting games like King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, and Art of Fighting.

I love that metal remix of Ryu's theme.

The list of games in this collection is not surprising: The very first Street Fighter, the various versions of II and III, and the three Alpha games. It is kind of sad that the three Street Fighter EX games aren't included here, but I imagine that was because they were co-developed by Capcom and another game company called Arika, and it led to some kind of rights issues. Speaking of EX, I have heard a fourth is in development...

I think the collection also has some neat features. My favorite one is the sprite viewer. Sprite art has always fascinated me, so this feature is a great way to see the artistic efforts they put in into rendering the characters and their attacks. I also like the music viewer. Hopefully, it can be a way to listen to some tunes on your console of choice. I also like the timeline feature, as it is a brilliant way to educate gamers about the history of the series. And concept art is always great.

Some of the games do have online play. It's a shame not all of them do, but I can imagine the games that got online play were the ones that were considered the most popular in sales, so it does make some sort of sense.

This is a fantastic gift for gamers. This could allow gamers who are new to the SF franchise to learn about the history of the series that created a fighting game boom, and I'm sure veterans would appreciate having all these games in one place.

And speaking of gaming compilations...I want Super Mario All-Stars brought to the Switch. Don't just slap it in a cartridge like they did with the Wii 25th Anniversary port. Bring in a ton of special features with it.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Teaser Trailer

It has been known for a while that an animated film focusing on the Miles Morales Spider-Man was in development, with Jamaican-American actor Shameik Moore of Netflix's The Get Down fame voicing the title character. And finally, a trailer is out. And here it is.

I have to say, I like the look of the footage. From what I understand, it was a mixture of CGI and hand-drawn techniques, and it looks very seamless and beautiful.

We see a hooded figure walking towards a gravestone. It doesn't reveal the name, except for a couple of letters. The figure turns around, revealing a black Spider-Man mask. Yup, it's Miles Morales, and he senses some big-time trouble. Which means we can assume that the grave is of the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker. When Miles was originally introduced in the Ultimate line of Marvel Comics, Peter was dead. Because of his popularity, he was brought over to the main MU, where he shares the name with the original Spidey. Confusing, I know.

I have to say, I don't really get why Miles is wearing the hoodie, shorts, and Nikes over his costume. Miles has a nice costume, let us see it. But seeing that flip off the building was awesome, and I loved that shot that makes the city look upside-down.

We do get a brief shot of Miles chasing after the Prowler. He's clad similarly to the Hobie Brown Prowler, but considering it's Miles who is the focus of this movie, it's likely the Aaron Davis Prowler. Aaron Davis is Miles's criminal uncle. I think they'll be amalgamated for this movie.

There's a shot of the suit! Looks great, Miles!

He's got to be talking to Peter in that stinger. It does makes sense. Spider-Verse was a storyline that was about various versions and incarnations of Spider-Man facing a great threat. Dimension-hopping was a big part of that storyline, and if Miles' native version of Peter is dead, then it's certainly plausible that he's talking to another version of Peter.

I want to see this movie. It sounds like a real blast.

Bayonetta 3 Teaser, My Thoughts

Despite its short time out in the world, the Nintendo Switch has gotten itself quite a library of games behind it. And there's another one on the way. The World's Wildest Umbra Witch, Bayonetta, has a new adventure on the way! And there is a trailer for it!

The trailer begins with the light of a full moon...that is getting redder. Man, that must be one angry moon.

Bayonetta is seen...getting her butt handed to her. Must be one really powerful and highly cheesed-off being she's facing if it could deliver her a curb-stomping like that. I also noticed that her appearance here seems to be her look from the original Bayonetta game, not the second one. I wonder why that is. Maybe this game is set between the first and second one?

Whatever she's fighting, it seems to be able to destroy her bullets. Oh, dear. Hey, that purple flame thing...what is that? Is that the villain of the game?

And Bayonetta is dead. Yeah, the way her legs fell there, she's totally in pieces.

Wow. This teaser was something else. I'm guessing that our dear Bayo is in for some dire danger in this game. I heard they will also be bringing the past two games to the Switch as well, which is nice. I like this idea. They are popular games, from what I understand. It's also a way for people who have Switches who have never played the series to give it a shot. And you can play it on the go, which is even better.

Hope it turns out well.

Mega Man 30th Anniversary Trailer, My Thoughts!

Mega Man. The Blue Bomber. This year, he's turning the big 3-0. Yup, his first game came to the NES (The Famicom in Japan) in December 1987. Over the next three years, Mega Man would become one of Capcom's most beloved franchises. It would spawn sequels, a cartoon series by Ruby-Spears, and even a comic series from Archie, which I reviewed the first issue of here. It was a really good series, I miss it so much. Maybe I should do a retrospective on it or something. Anyway, for my first blog entry back from Texas (I'm an uncle! Yay!), Capcom's got something very special for the occasion. Let's take a look.

As the trailer says, we're taking a look at Mega Man through the ages. I really love the music, and I also thought the presentation was awesome, using NES sprites to take Mega Man on his journey. I think some of the art we see is from the Famicom releases, as the NES versions didn't have that artwork on them.

I do have to admit, I haven't played much of the Mega Man series, but I always did like the concept of Mega Man getting the weapons of the bosses he beats. I'm surprised that hasn't been seen in more games. I'd love to see an RPG's take on the concept.

The trailer seems to focus on the main Mega Man series. It does include dates of the various spin-offs like the X series, the Legends series, and the Battle Network series, but it does definitely focus on the main series. That makes sense. One could argue those versions of Mega Man are technically different characters.

Another thing I love about this trailer is showing how Mega Man has evolved over time, going from the 8-bit NES, 16-bit SNES, to today. I's quite fascinating to see. And it's also a bit of a reminder of how old I am, ha ha.

Mega Man reaches Wily, and makes him surrender by...absorbing the Mega Man 30th Anniversary logo. Huh. Despite this...absolute lack of doing anything by the Blue Bomber, Wily escapes. Mega transports into a hidden room, where a special surprise is waiting...

Yes, Mega Man 11 is coming next year! And I have to admit, I like the look of the game. It's been updated with a new look: 3D sprites, but with the classic platforming jump-and-shoot action. I like it. It also appears Rush will play a support role in the game. Maybe we'll get some new forms for him. I think we also got a look at one of the Robot Master weapons Mega Man will get in the game. I can imagine that weapon being rather...wasteful in some ways.

I have to admit, this was a nice surprise. This game is coming to the Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the PC next year, so there are plenty of ways to play it. Looks like ANOTHER game to add to my future Switch library... 

Off to Texas!

Hey there, faithful readers! I just want to say I'm heading off to Texas this week to meet up with some family this week! As such, I'll be away from my computer and comic book collection, so I won't be able to put up a comic review this week. I did start some work on the review, though, so I could be ahead when I got back. I apologize for the inconvenience, and I hope all of you have a wonderful week!