Teen Titans #4

Hooray for a sports comic. Teen Titans #4 was part of the July-August release in 1966. It was titled “The Secret Olympic Heroes.”

Davey Bradley, America’s Hope for running in the Olympics runs right out of the stadium while he’s practicing and vanishes. The titans read about it in the newspaper and are called to go find him. While they accept, they get an alarm that someone is entering their secret base. It turns out to be Speedy who is performing in the Olympics as well with an archery trick. He tells them an organization bent on hate and distrust want to destroy the Olympics, which the Titans must also be on the lookout for while looking for Davey.

The story is basically a rehash of plots that have been shown dozens and dozens of times on television, but never in comics. It’s the “my parent wants me to do something because it’s their dream, but it’s not mine” tale. And Davey does end up finishing and telling his father. But it’s after he just interjects himself in the race. Sure, the hero or sidekick will often come back at the last minute in comics, but it’s never a bystander who just happens to win a race.

The pacing is also incredibly slow. Even with so much happening, it just seems to trod on and on.

On the other hand, the cover looks pretty interesting, with Speedy performing or practicing his arrow trick while the Titans are tied to the Olympic rings. It really gives one a sense of wanting to find out just what happens in this comic along with a desire to see Green Arrow’s ward.

Teen Titans #4 – “The Secret Olympic Heroes” – 25