I have been a long time Titans fan ever since they made their debut in DC Comics with the seminal ‘The New Teen Titans’ run by Marv Wolfman, and George Perez. So, when I found out that Tom Taylor, and Nicola Scott were creating a new TITANS book with the original line-up envisioned by Marv, and George in 1980, I was smiling ear to ear with anticipation. It made me look back at my journey with these group of heroes growing up, even though I discovered them a bit later when they first came out. It also made me look forward to the good things that lie ahead.
The original members of ‘The New Teen Titans’ were Robin (Dick Grayson), Kid Flash (Wally West), Wonder Girl (Donna Troy), Changeling (Beast Boy), Raven, Cyborg, and Starfire. They first came out as a team in the pages of DC Comics Presents #26 before they had their own team comic debut in the pages of The New Teen Titans #1. Truth be told, I had only discovered this iteration of the Titans when I had picked up an issue of The New Teen Titans #39 entitled, ‘Crossroads’.
This was the book that introduced me to George Perez’s art. This was the book that introduced me to Marv Wolfman’s writing. Needless to say, I fell in love with the series as soon as I saw the above two page spread, and I’ve been a fan of these Titans ever since. To me, these were my Titans. This was the group that I grew up with reading. This was the group that I’ve been following ever since this team’s inception. Nowadays, these former teen heroes are now younger than me, and I have comicbook aging to thank for that. I followed this superhero team through many of its different compositions, but these seven are the ones that hold a special place in my heart. In fact, I hunted down the original run of Wolfman, and Perez on ‘The New Teen Titans’ until I had all of them.
Fast forward to this year, 2023, when the creative team of writer Tom Taylor and artist Nicola Scott are tasked with telling stories about this same team of superheroes who have all grown up into their respective legacies. This is not the first time that this particular line-up were the core of the group. However, I’m more excited to see this group together under these new creators with all due respect to Judd Winick, and the rest of the creative team at the time. This had a lot to do with my knowledge of Tom Taylor’s writing, and Nicola Scott’s artwork.
I first encountered Tom Taylor’s writing in the pages of ‘DCeased’, that alternative DC universe storyline wherein the Anti-Life Equation created a zombie apocalypse. This was groundbreaking material that he couldn’t do in the mainstream DC Universe. He had an entire universe of his own to play with, and he pulled a lot of surprises in the process. I’m sad to see his writing on that alternate universe ending (for now?) since it has been one of those collections of mini-series that I enjoyed reading. I also read his work on a brief Suicide Squad run that also pulled a lot of surprises. One in particular was with the death of one of my favorite characters, Deadshot. Clearly with those two books, Tom Taylor was willing to think outside the traditional wirter’s box to tell great stories. But, it was his run on Nightwing which led him to his writing responsibilities on TITANS. And, one of the best moves he has done even before writing the TITANS was placing their base of operations in Bludhaven. It’s a brilliant move, and I’m scratching my head as to why no one else ever even thought about that before now. In any case, Taylor’s Nightwing run set the stage for the beginning of this new incarnation of the TITANS.
On the other hand, I’ve known of Nicola Scott’s artwork since her run on ‘Birds of Prey‘ with Gail Simone as writer. However, it was during her run on ‘Earth 2’ also from DC that she really got my attention. This prompted me to check out her work in ‘Secret Six’ with Gail Simone again, and then later ‘Teen Titans’ with J.T. Krul. I’d also read her work on ‘Black Magick’ for Image Comics with Greg Rucka. With her doing the artwork, and Tom Taylor doing the writing, I see a very bright future for my beloved TITANS.
To spoil the first story arc a bit, Tom Taylor is up to his nasty storytelling again by starting with a mystery involving Wally West’s apparent death. It’s a shocker of a first arc, but something tells me that Flash/Wally won’t remain dead for long. How do I know? Call it a Nightwing hunch. Of course, I’ll find out soon enough as I read the return of TITANS in the DC Universe. With that, I’m happy to see my Titans together again. I’m a fan of these TITANS, and this new creative team will surely guide these heroes to new heights. TITANS FOREVER!
Obskura And Then Some 