Teen Titans #1

Teen Titans

Written by Geoff Johns
Penciled by Mike McKone
Inked by Marlo Alquiza
Colored by Jeromy Cox
Lettered by Comicraft
Associated Editor Tom Palmer Jr.
Editor Eddie Berganza

Apparently there are three covers of this issue, two of them by Mike McKone. But my digital copy only includes one McKone cover and the Michael Turner variant. And I'm not passionate enough about this series to track down that missing McKone cover. The one I do have here isn't particularly impressive. In fact, it looks downright sloppy. Uninspiring faces, some weird anatomy (look at Bart's hands!) and a rather boring, static image. (Is a little monkey the best animal Beast Boy can turn into?) The three hands in the foreground are allegedly the various villains this team will be fighting, but I'm not going to worry about figuring out who they are. Well, enough of that. Let's look at what should have been the only cover for this issue.

This is kind of iconic. Yes, it is the team just standing around in a pose, but they look awesome. A tiger is infinitely better than a small, chubby monkey. And the anatomy and faces are right on the money. Yes, Starfire's butt is a bit awkward, but everything else about this cover is magnificent. As a Young Justice fan, I'm happy to see Robin, Superboy, Wonder Girl and Imp ... er, Kid Flash, all look a little bit older. They're no longer the 14- and 15-year-olds of Young Justice. They're now 16- and 17-year-old of the Teen Titans. Wonder Girl has a new costume, finally shedding her goggles once and for all. Superboy, who looks like he's gained 30 pounds of muscle, has gone with the "non-costume" look, reminiscent of the Smallville TV series. And yes, Bart is wearing his Kid Flash uniform, even though he's not technically Kid Flash yet. (Raven doesn't appear in this issue, either.) But Michael Turner has drawn an amazing Bart Allen here. He looks older, stronger, confident and, dare I say it, sexy. I wish Turner had been the regular artist on this series. That would have made this transition a lot more palatable.

Our story begins in Smallville, where we learn that Superboy is now living with Jonathan and Martha Kent under the name of Conner Kent. He's enrolled at Smallville High School, sporting a short, conservative haircut, as well as some glasses to preserve a secret identity. But after hearing his fellow classmates discuss the mundanity of homecoming parades, band practice, baseball games and cow tipping, Superboy decides he's had enough. He takes off his outer shirt, revealing the black Superman shirt underneath, and goes for a quick fly.

Superboy carves out a giant S in a cornfield, and Superman suddenly appears, asking if the S is for Superboy or skipping class. Superboy says it stands for sanity, which he feels he'll lose if he's confined to life at Smallville High. Surprisingly, Superman agrees with Superboy, telling him he needs some unique after-school activities. Which is why he's delivering Victor Stone's invitation for Superboy to join the Teen Titans. Superboy reminds Superman about the last time all the sidekicks got together and two people died, including Teen Titan founding member Donna Troy, and now Wonder Girl hates him for it. Superboy is also concerned about having the Justice League constantly looking over his shoulder. Superman assures him the JLA will not interfere with the Teen Titans. And the plan is for Superboy to go to the Titans on Friday after school, and be back in Smallville Sunday night. Superboy says he'll think about it, and Superman tells him to go back to class.

In Gotham, Robin is battling Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, while talking to Batman about the same offer. Robin is also hesitant on the idea. He wonders what Nightwing thinks about, then asks Batman if he feels he needs more training or mentoring. Batman simply says he thinks Robin needs to see his friends, which makes Robin think.

In Keystone City, Wally and Jay are arguing about this offer in Jay's home. Wally is worried about Bart starting at Keystone City High, but Jay points out the Teen Titans will only meet on the weekends, and it'll be great for him and Joan to take the weekends off. But Wally, another founding member of the original Teen Titans, is also shaken by Donna's death. Although he doesn't blame Bart for it, he still thinks Bart isn't serious enough about being a superhero. He even coldly says that Impulse will never grow into the role of the Flash.

Bart comes downstairs at this, asking Wally what he was saying. Jay tells Bart to go finish his homework, and Bart says he wants to take an Xbox break. Jay points out he's had four Xbox breaks, and he asks Bart how his paper's going. Bart says it's good, spouting off a random fact about King Tut inheriting the throne at age 9 from Akhenaten and ruling until he was 17. Bart adds that it was probably cool to have a kid as a king, but Wally is shocked that Bart knows all this. Bart says he read his history book yesterday in just a few seconds, which surprises Wally even more that he's still able to remember something he read at super speed a day ago. Bart responds with a simple answer that stuns both Wally and Jay: "I remember everything I read. Don't you?"

Jay then send Bart back upstairs to finish his paper, then turns to Wally to talk about Bart's potential. Apparently no other speedster can remember everything they read. Wally eventually says he's fine with Bart joining the Teen Titans if he wants to, but he admits that he really doesn't believe in Bart. And the poor kid had been hiding at the top of the stairs, listening to Wally repeatedly berate him.

At Gateway City High School, we learn that Cassie Sandsmark's secret identity as Wonder Girl has been exposed. This is causing major problems for the school, fearing they're now a target for any number of super villains. The principal calls Cassie and her mom into her office, saying she wants to expel Cassie for these public safety threats and "preaching paganism" in the halls. When the principal says Cassie isn't normal, the teen loses her temper and destroys the principal's desk before storming out.

Cassie retreats to the girls bathroom, where she sees an odd vision of Ares' helmet in the mirror. Starfire flies in through the window, telling her it's only natural for authority figures to fear younger heroes. She says she's come to deliver the invitation to join the Teen Titans since Wonder Woman refused and told Starfire to stay away from Cassie. But Starfire tells Cassie she believes she can make her own decisions. She also speaks of how much she misses Donna and doesn't want Wonder Girl to be forgotten. Cassie thinks about this for a moment, then asks, "When can we leave?" So the two fly out the window to the Teen Titans new headquarters in San Francisco.

Starfire shows Cassie the gardens, including some flowers she saved from her home planet Tamaran before it was destroyed. A talking lizard starts flirting with them, and Starfire introduces Gar Logan, the Titans' Changeling. He turns into his human form and says he's gone back to being called Beast Boy. He continues flirting with the girls and turns into a dog as they approach the main entrance, complete with a massive statue of the original Teen Titans. Beast Boy explains that Cyborg designed the facility, but the city of San Francisco and a few Silicon Valley investors financed it ... in exchange for a few favors. (Unclear yet if he's referring to Optitron from Graduation Day.)

Starfire tells Cassie that she, Cyborg and Beast Boy want to create a place where young heroes feel accepted, to have a place to train, get away from the world on weekends and, most importantly, experience freedom. Impulse suddenly arrives and gives Cassie a big hug. Superboy is right behind him, and Robin steps out from the corner he'd been hiding in. Cassie shoves Bart off her, and all the former Young Justice members stare at each other awkwardly for a moment.

Cyborg addresses everyone over the intercom, telling them to get settled in their rooms and that training begins tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. Beast Boy turns into a robin to lead Robin around, and Bart tries to strike up a conversation with Tim, asking him if he's wearing a new cape. Robin also growls at Impulse, prompting him to ask, "What's with everyone?"

We skip forward to 3 a.m. Superboy can't sleep, so he goes wandering around, finding Robin checking his emails on a laptop. Superboy asks Robin why they came here, and Robin admits he's been asking himself the same question. Superboy says it feels like everyone's trying to shove the weight of the world on their shoulders, but he also feels that none of them came here because their mentors told them to. They came because they're friends. Robin agrees with that assessment.

Their bonding moment is interrupted by an odd alert on Robin's laptop. The message, from someone named Snapdragon, says "With Superboy?" Robin unwisely opens the attachment from an unknown sender, revealing a detailed readout of Superboy's DNA. He is 50% Kryptonian, with Superman being the "donor." Superboy is also 50% human, with the donor being Lex Luthor.




Allegedly, one of the main reasons DC canceled Young Justice was because of their new animated show, Teen Titans, which premiered around the same time this issue came out. The corporate theory was that kids who saw the show on TV would be disappointed and confused to not see any Teen Titans comics books on the shelves. But I'm not sure this comic solved that problem. If you were introduced to Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven on that show, wouldn't you be confused to pick up a comic book also called Teen Titans but had those characters in their 20s and hardly involved in the story at all?

This comic was 30 pages long and generally did a good job of showing where the last four remaining Young Justice member are in their life. Robin's pretty constant, but Superboy and Wonder Girl are going through some major changes. And so is Bart, although his change is ironically happening at a slower pace than the others. They spent a bit of time talking about Graduation Day, even though they were barely involved in it. And I am very disappointed that nobody even breathed one word about their time as Young Justice. But overall, I am mildly intrigued by this set up. For the most part.

I'll just come right out and say it: I'm not happy with anything happening to Bart. I don't like how Mike McKone draws him — he looks like a 12-year-old. And I don't like how Geoff Johns writes him. He always insists on having Wally be an unreasonably massive jerk toward Bart. And now he's turning this goofy, lovable, impulsive kid into an obnoxious know-it-all. I mean, it's neat and all that he can remember everything he reads, but is that going to be used for anything interesting? Or enjoyable?

As for the continuity, I'd have to assume that this issue took place after most of the events of Blitz, but before the very last few pages of The Flash #200. I think Flash defeated Zoom, went to Jay's house to whine about Bart joining the Teen Titans, then made his deal with Spectre to have the world forget the Flash. Kind of an odd turn of events, but that's the best I can come up with. I'm surprised that Johns didn't take the chance to reference his other series. One funny thing with this issue was Bart's line: "I remember everything I read. Don't you?" I imagined myself asking this question of Johns. "Don't you remember what happened in Young Justice? Or Impulse? Or did you even read those comics?" I'm not asking for much. Just an acknowledgement that those previous stories did happen.

Next time, we'll cover the one and only comic Bart Allen appeared in with the publication date of October 2003 — Teen Titans #2.