"Titans (2023 Ongoing)" Series Talkback (Spoilers)

[wonderfly]

The Justice League is no more, and the Titans must rise!

Titans #1

Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Nicola Scott

Synopsis: The Dark Crisis is over, and the Justice League is no more. Now, a new team must rise and protect the Earth…Titans, go! The Teen Titans are ready to grow up. Each member joined as a much younger hero, certain that one day they’d be invited to join the Justice League. But the time has come for them not to join the League…but to replace it! Are the no-longer-teen heroes ready for the big leagues? Danger lurks around every corner as heroes and villains alike challenge the new team before they’ve even begun. Will the DCU ever be the same? Find out in this landmark first issue brought you by the all-star creative team of Tom Taylor (NIGHTWING, DCEASED) and Nicola Scott (WONDER WOMAN HISTORIA, EARTH 2)!

Discuss this comic below!

 

[wonderfly]

The start of a new writer/new storyline, as part of the "All In" DC Publishing initiative!

Titans #16

Writer: John Layman
Artist: Pete Woods

Synopsis: A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN! After the events of Absolute Power, the team looks towards the future and their place in it. Will their failure to control Amanda Waller mean lasting consequences for the hero community?

Discuss this comic below!

 

[wonderfly]

The News Team's Magmaster12 has a new review up on the front page of AnimeSuperhero.com:

"Review: “Titans” Comic Series (2023-2024): A Missed Opportunity For Something Fresh"​

"The past 20 years have been rough for fans of the Titans, DC’s younger heroes (sometimes “Teen Titans”, sometimes just “Titans”). The mid 2000s run (starting in 2003) was a tonal mess between trying to be like the famous cartoon and telling dark stories like Wendy and Marvin from Super Friends being brutally attacked by the Wonder Dog. Then the New 52 happened, and the main lineup completely disappeared except for Beast Boy and Raven, who were practically different characters. DC Rebirth did bring promise to the team by bringing back the original lineup, only for the run to be cut short by an event. The Titans then turned into a team run by Damian Wayne, who turned the team into a black ops unit that was imprisoning criminals with no due process.

Needless to say, it’s been tough to be a Titans fan, however with the announcement of Tom Taylor’s run in 2023, there was an interesting premise on the horizon (as there was no Justice League book being published at the same time). A Titans team that is Earth’s last line of defense while the Justice League is on a break, this is an interesting premise, as it allows not only for the Titans to get the spotlight as Earth’s heroes, but having to put up with the spotlight involving the Justice League’s rogues gallery.

However, that’s not what happens. Instead, it falls into the same pattern all Titans books have come to for the last 20 years – Raven becoming evil and having to take on Trigon. It is a shame, because I think this could have worked. Trigon has always been in his own corner of the DC Universe with very few links to other pantheons. He has never even met Darkseid outside of a certain DC movie. Now we do see Amanda Waller interact with Trigon in a sort of “Deal with the Devil” type situation, however it is dropped an issue later as the focus shifts onto the Absolute Power event. Instead, it is yet another disappointing storyline involving Raven turning evil, which got old back in the 90’s when it made her change her outfit to electrical tape."

Read the full review here.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

Tom Taylor’s Titans run felt like an afterthought to Nightwing. Even though that book also lost its focus, it at least tried to go in a new direction. Titans felt like stories we have seen before. Out of control Beast Boy powers have been done before in both the cartoon and Wolfman run. Raven going evil has been done again and again, going back to her first appearances. Even Raven having brothers has been done before in the Judd Winick run and the new 52 series.

The dark winged queen saga is resolved because of Beast Boy and Raven’s love. This ship has become such a plot point because of the 2003 cartoon. How often does Beast Boy express interest in the Marv Wolfman run? The run was over 15 years, and they are together only in the issues where she becomes evil and plants a seed of Trigon that brainwashes him. In any Wolfman issue where his mind is under his own control, he is seen flirting with Starfire and Wonder Girl.

Jericho seems to be Wolfman’s preferred match for Raven, but he hasn’t been in many Titans comics since the late 2000s. It was Jericho who fused with her in the great Wolfman/Perez Trigon saga. Because of the dark things he saw with his possession powers, this set him on a path to madness and villainy. In the story where Raven is being seduced by the psychic vampire Eric Forrester, Jericho was the Titan who came to her rescue. She didn’t really need Jericho help though, because when Eric tried to become close to her, her soul-self killed him.

This makes me doubt she could ever really be with someone like Beast Boy in a physical way. Ironically love could cause her dark side to surface. This story seems to take the opposite approach with Beast Boy’s relationship with Raven being enough for her to overcome her dark side. I suppose that’s a good upbeat love conquers all ending for a run, but their comic equivalents don’t have the same chemistry as in the cartoon, so it falls flat.

Maybe the biggest Titans ship, Nightwing and Starfire, is off limits because of Taylor’s Nightwing run featuring Batgirl/Nightwing. There isn’t even much indication of what Starfire thinks about Dick these days. At the end of Taylor’s Nightwing run, Dick says he wants to marry Barbara, so the Dick/Kory ship is officially dead. The next writer on Nightwing has also confirmed the continuation of the Batgirl romance.

 

[Magmaster12]

Forgot to mention in the review how they never concluded the storyline with Donna and Garth's children who knows if they will ever come back now that Garth is off the team. I'll probably continue reading for just a little bit more but I really wish they'd do something with Starfire already.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

Some thoughts on the first issue by the new writer:
The Titans are brought into Justice League Unlimited, but immediately ejected from the satellite by the Question, who is in charge of security. Then Wally, wearing a weird new costume which seems to have random patches of black Starboy looking cloth, quits the team, because Barry lost his speed...? Titans are back in the tower. First part of the issue seems to be trying to deal with the events of All In while coming up with a way to get the Titans into their own status quo.

Back at the tower, we’re told Tempest is dealing with events in Atlantis. Arsenal rejoins. Nightwing steps down and appoints Wonder Girl as leader. Everyone agrees with this except for Roy. Apparently Roy has some hang up about a past relationship with Donna. He also has a flashback to doing drugs but can’t bring himself to mention heroin. Not a very good portrayal of Roy. He seems to be still hung up on issues that happened in the silver age. How much of Roy’s history is still canon? If he still had a kid that died, wouldn’t he be more upset about that, compared to a break up at the beginning of his superhero career?!

 

[wonderfly]

The new storyline continues!

Titans #17

Writer: John Layman
Artist: Pete Woods

Synopsis: THE TITANS ROSTER GROWS! It's a new day in the DCU, and the future is bright! Why, then, are the Titans looking backward, reliving their most horrific and traumatic moments, again and again, stuck in an endless loop? And who's the temporal tyrant behind this time-bending torment? Here's a hint: Time will tell.

Discuss this comic below!

 

[wonderfly]

Titans #23

Writer: John Layman
Artist: Pete Woods

Synopsis: A NEW TITANS RISES! Nobody's quite sure what to make of the latest addition to the Titans' roster, but it's got Cyborg feeling increasingly like Dr. Frankenstein. But this is no collection of rusty bolts and moldy body parts he's brought to life. It's the most sophisticated artificial intelligence the world has ever known, capable of controlling every computer on the planet — or destroying them!

Discuss this comic below!

 

[wonderfly]

A new creative team started just a couple issues back. And now they're the "NEW" Titans!

New Titans #35

Writer: Tate Brombal
Artist: Vicente Cifuentes

Synopsis: The Future Is Tomorrow, Part 3

THE FALLOUT OF DC K.O. HITS THE TITANS! Everything is not as it seems! As reality falls apart at the seams, the Titans come face-to-face with an Omega Energy-upgraded Cyborg — one without Victor Stone's humanity! Their only hope is a mysterious new hero, and the solution may only be found deep within the rampaging Omega Cyborg himself! Will the Titans survive the trappings of their nostalgic Nightmare, or will they survive to see the New Titans rise defiantly into the future?

Discuss this comic below!

 

[Magmaster12]

I loved how the new creative team pointed out the main issue with the team since the Geoff Johns run: they are constantly retelling the same stories over and over again. Too bad pointing it out doesn't really change anything. I'm glad they are acknowledging the Technis Imperative again after all these years, but I'm worried it just makes Cyborg a character driven by plot over his own actions.

Also, the latest issue gave some serious sexual tension between Superboy and Red Devil guess we will wait and see how that turns out.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

I loved how the new creative team pointed out the main issue with the team since the Geoff Johns run: they are constantly retelling the same stories over and over again. Too bad pointing it out doesn't really change anything. I'm glad they are acknowledging the Technis Imperative again after all these years, but I'm worried it just makes Cyborg a character driven by plot over his own actions.

Also, the latest issue gave some serious sexual tension between Superboy and Red Devil guess we will wait and see how that turns out.

Well at least they changed up the roster and are still acknowledging continuity. I think this new run is pretty solid. I mean take Terra for example. When she was brought back again to betray them again, I was wondering… under current canon, how many times did she die? What was with the empty tomb after Zero Hour? Did she return to life? Did Kole return during Team Titans? Or it was an impostor? How does Jericho survive with constant changes to his sexuality and characterization? How many times did Raven betray them? With “everything matters” philosophy it’s hard to incorporate both New 52 and Rebirth era Titans considering how many of the stories are tied to obsolete status quos that often retold events as if for the first time.

 

[Magmaster12]

Did Kole return during Team Titans?

She is one of the many Crisis Deaths yet to be explained.