Love him or hate him, he helped put DC Comics back on the map with his 80's series The New Teen Titans, helping put DC back on map.
Was Titans well-written?
Not really.
Was it a Marvel wolf in DC sheep's clothing?
Yes.
And that exactly what DC needed to do, at the time.
What it did was bring new and old readers to DC's comics with something sorely missing that they'd originated and had done better than anyone else.
Teen angst.
It originated in DC's Legion of Super-Heroes and took hold in the pages of Marvel's X-Men.
Now remember, at the time of The Titans debut, The Legion had been "growed up" and tried to become more adult to, in the greatest bit of irony, more resemble the latest incarnation of The X-Men.
Enter Wolfman and his version of The Titans to fill the void.
Wolfman's Titans were unlike anything at DC, at the time, mixing DC's past (Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Changeling (Beast Boy) with its hoped-for future (Cyborg, Starfire and Raven)
It's a formula that worked and is one that, for good or bad, DC is trying to recreate a third time with its title featuring, you guessed it, The Titans of "The Wolfman Era."
7. NO INTERNET
Before the internet, if you wanted to know what was going to happen in a comic you had to wait a whole month for the next issue.
A WHOLE MONTH!!!
There were no monthly solicitations for you to read through 3 months in advance. No Diamond Previews and hence no spoilers to ruin what otherwise could have been an epic-in-the-making.
Or to learn what lame hero The Thing was teaming up with in next month's Marvel Two-In-One. I swear, I'm a fan of Triton for that random reason.
Could you imagine what "The Dark Phoenix Saga" would have been if in the Age of Livejournal?
"OMG! gene gray totly lust her shit this month Im putting scans up right now"
"LOLZ! what"
"omg. she killed a bunch of ailiens and tehn she was cumn 4 us next. wolverene was going to kill her with his nives"
"seriosly? did he do it"
no. he coldnt do it. he luvd her 2 much"
"logan is a p*****. i wood have dun it. i wold have killed her. teh universe is at steak and luv is not a optoin in times of crisus like a intraglactick war. plus he has kitty pride. New but!"
"i forgot about that! dude u r so rad."
4 comments:
It's so true. I had only read a handful of DC Comics before I found a Teen Titans in an Albertsons. Dick Grayson Robin was sooooo freaking cool and dating a space princess.
Hooked.
Cyborg and Raven had me with their character designs alone.
And you're definitely right: The Internet is not good for comics as a monthly medium.
That online chat dramatization almost made me spit Dr. Pepper all over my keyboard. Thanks, D.
Mr. Sanders, you are a delight.
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