titans
Publication date: 2007-06-02
Series: Kastor’s Korner
Welcome back to another edition of Demanded Characters. This week we will
expand this column to really make it Demanded Characters by not looking at
one character but a whole team. From the start this team has been the
young eyes of the DCU. This will be part one of a month long look at the
junior JLA. I will be examining some of the heroes and villains so well
known by both die hard readers and the casual fan. The Titans are known
for voicing frustration about not being respected, rushing in, and in some
cases growing up to be well respected members of the DCU.
In the last poll it looks like most are in agreement as to how we should
get a Plastic Man.
Read the last article
It is very clear that Mattel is trying to get us certain line ups in the
DCU. Mattel has to look outside the JLA to expand this line and give fans a
complete DCU. I know that 2008 has been dominated by the JLA and the
Batman and Superman universes, but I think 2009 should be about the other
teams as well, such as the JSA, the Titans, and the Legion of Doom. The
Satellite era JLA is what is dominating the DCUC right now, and I think
with Cyborg in Wave 4, Mattel should take the opportunity to start a whole
new team: The Titans. No matter the name of the team, when Dick Grayson is
in the lead all the old Titans seem to come to help. Most recently we have
seen the old team recalled and put back in to action sharing the name
Titans with the younger Teen Titans.
Who are the Titans?
The Beginning:
The Titans were born in 1964. They were a group of side kicks who came
together because they had something in common. When they were with their
mentors they were kids, but when they were together as a group they were
heroes. The 5 founding members Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Aqualad, and
Speedy all got the chance to show the world they were more then just a
distraction for the villains. They went on little adventures that were fun
tales of superheroes and science, but never really felt like a top tier
group.
The 70’s and 80’s were a big time for the Titans. This era gave birth to
storylines and characters that still are a major part of the Titan books
today. Marv Wolfman and George Perez came on to the book and changed the
way the world looked at the Titans. The Perez era seems to be inspiration
for the Teen Titans cartoon, and some of the current story lines in comics
today.
Titans were a group of people who found themselves coming together to
form a family. Above all these were people who cared for each other
and tried to help each other as they were growing up to become their
own persons.
Marv Wolfman ( Titans Writer) Interview by titanstower.com
The most recognized group to call themselves the Titans seems to come from
the Perez/Wolfman era. An influx of new characters joined the team. We
got to see Robin and Kid Flash grow up, a Princess, the daughter of a
demon, and a little green man join the team, as well as villains infiltrate
the team. The old guards Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Wonder Girl, and
Speedy were the core, but we got new characters too: Cyborg, Starfire,
Terra, Jericho, Raven, Beast Boy, and many others.
Think of the costumes we could get from this group: a classic Robin or 1st
appearance Nightwing, a few versions of Donna Troy, and the rest of the
original Titans. Characters like Beast Boy and Starfire are easy
characters to make that could give us modern variants with little to no
retooling.
The Titan characters of this era are both classic and important to
completing the DCU, and without many of them the line would be lacking. We
know the Cyborg coming in Wave 4 has been inspired by these designs, and
look at what characters we would get by getting this era.
Conclusion
I know this is an era that I want to have in my collection. It matches up
nicely with the JLA we are getting and it allows us to get a wider variety
of characters from the DCU. I think that the Titans before this time were
a group of side kicks who really hung out to get way from their mentors,
but this era was more about moving out on your own. We saw the graduation
of Robin to Nightwing and Kid Flash to the Flash. Characters that we had
never seen before became major forces in the DCU thanks to their time on
the Titans.
Not only did we get heroes from this period but we got villains. Trigon,
Deathstroke, and Terra are some of the most loved characters from the 80’s.
While they may be villains they give the Titans their own Rogues gallery to
fight, allowing them to be separate from the JLA. The story of the Titans
against the HIVE and Terra infiltration and betrayal of the Titans was
great story telling. So much so that that story line ran through the Teen
Titans cartoon.
I know most will say that the costumes and characters in some cases are
dated, but I think this would truly embrace the Classics name, and allowing
for a wider range of characters in the line. Who doesn’t want a Wilson
family reunion in plastic?
So the question is would we like to see Mattel build the Perez/Wolfman era
Titans?
Additional Links:
Vote in this poll
More pictures can be found at Titanstower.com