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

Teen Titans #3

The third issue of the Teen Titans was released in May/June of 1996. Titled “The Revolt at Harrison High,” those who are fans of the popular TV series based of the 80s incarnation of the team will recognize the villain too.

The Commission of Education summons the Teen Titans and ask them to investigate a rash of dropouts, with a lead to an ex-student named Danny Robinson. He tells them they’re making a money by working as mechanics for a man named Ding Dong Daddy, who appeared in the Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World-esque episode of the show. The Titans drop by for a visit and while he’s not stealing anything, he’s making weaponized cars. Suspecting something, the team cooks up an idea to find out what’s really going on.

To be completely honest, this is quite a strange comic. Makes sense though, considering it’s the Silver Age.

The cover is fine, albeit kind of busy. As a mashup of what happens to the characters and since Ding Dong Daddy never actually appears inside a car, except for a robot decoy, the nitpick about the cover of #2 doesn’t apply.

There’s not much characterization here. The villain is a complete goon and the dropouts seem to change their minds rather quickly. Furthermore, the heroes were taken out in really obvious ways that weren’t fitting to their characters. For instance, Aqualad got hit by surfboards when he could have easily dodged them. On the other hand, Robin does have a radio watch he’s smart about using and quickly hatches a plan.

As said above, the story is strange. The episode of the show starring the villain was more enjoyable too. The government basically asks the team to do their job for them and it just gets weirder with a weaponized gas pump and surfboards. And the villain doesn’t even try and is just sort of there to act like a boss and fail. The villains of the previous stories tried, one even tried to shoot Wonder Girl with a shotgun.

Teen Titans #3 “The Revolt at Harrison High” – 2/5

Teen Titans #2

The second Teen Titans comic was released in March/April of 1996 with a story called “The Million Year Old Teenager.”

The Titans are hanging out in their brand new secret meeting place when they get a call on their ham radio. The caller explains about Garn, an extremely odd kid that just appeared one day, speaking very broken English. But one night, a mysterious giant appeared and destroyed a car, which caused the entire city to hunt it down. They find Garn, believe he’s connected and no one trusts him now. So the caller asks for the Titans’ help and they agree.

This comic isn’t that bad.

The cover is really good, with the team hanging on to each other, a branch and the giant Akkuru over a chasm. The only real gripe with it is that the exact same image appears in the comic itself, which usually doesn’t happen. Comic covers usually have an image that alludes and is similar to the story. Still doesn’t mean it’s a bad cover though.

Characterization in here is good too, with Robin having the brains to have a radio interception watch. But Wonder Girl is a bit strange, forgiving Robin for being a killjoy because he’s cute and telling the team that girls like being followed. Which they don’t. As for the story, it has the worst idea of preservation, with a method that would have actually fossilized them. And Wonder Girl having strong hair is just lazy writing. If she’s super strong and can fly, she could fly straight at Akkuru, pumch him to make him let go and fly everyone away.

Still though, good comic

Teen Titans #2: “The Million Year Old Teenager” – 3/5