SOME NEW MEMBERS FOR THE TEEN TITANS ......part four GNARRK

The Teen Titans ranks had grown over a short space of time,

The Full membership of the Titans during the Late 1960's

 however when  the Group disbanded and  split up for a short while after the death they did not prevent (as detailed in Lilith's Story) this looked like the end for the Teen Titans.

Robin had been forced to return to Gotham City to become a full time partner of The Bat-Man. a decision made by Caped Crusader as he was disappointed in his  young ward. Garth  was still away on personal business in Atlantis helping Aqua-man.

The other Titans remained together, now under the care of Mr Jupiter, they were persuaded to give up their costumed identities and work for him and his organisation.  Even though still together, they were no longer the Teen Titans.  Mr Jupiter had an idea to help train them to be a force for good but not to relay on or hide behind their costume identities. .... (This idea did not last too long, and the Grey and white Jumpsuits were soon replaced by the colourful clothes of the Titans..... falling sales of a Comic Book will sometimes lead to quick changes.  You really could not have a Comic called The Teen Titans, when the subjects where just ordinary Teens in boring Jumpsuits ! )  So this story line was fazed out and the Titans got SUPER again.

Robin also returned and the Teen Titans returned to a normal more Super Hero Look.  But now they had a sponsor and financier in Mr Jupiter who would continue to guide the young heroes. Bat-Man still not happy with how the Titans had operated, no longer would support them and their expenses via the Wayne Foundation.






Although the Team had 9 members, not all of them were part of the Team.  Aqua Lad spent most of his time beneath the Ocean dealing with Atlantis Affairs and Hawk & Dove would spend time away from the team dealing with situations closer to their home.  This would cause a strain on Dove's romantic attachment to Lilith.   Lilith kind nature and Dove's overall demeanour had meant that they were extremely attracted to one another. These two love birds meant that Wonder Girl and her Beau Speedy were no longer the only two Titans to be in a relationship.  BUT remember this was the late 1960's early 1970's and both pairs relationships would not be shown as anything more than Boy Friend - Girl Friend.   Holding hands and a peck on the cheek was as far as these kids went.  It would only be  with the return of a new group of Teen Titans in the 1980's when relationships would be allowed to develop further.

Lilith and Don Hall's (DOVE) relationship would suffer as a result of them spending time apart, but soon Lilith would find a new person in which she would find love. He would be older than her, well he was a few million years older than her.

Mal had been accidentally transported back in time by an invention developed by Mt Jupiter's organisation.   Mal was now trapped in prehistoric times when man was no more than a  Neanderthal cave dwelling race of people.

With the aid of Kid Flash, Mal was returned to the present day, but  unintentionally they picked up a hitch hiker....... A Caveman (or Cave Teenager to be correct )

THE TEEN AGED CAVE BOY !

On arrive in the 20th Century , the Cave Boy nearly trashing Mr Jupiter's office and laboratory only the intervention of Lilith could calm the confused Cave Teen.   Mr Jupiter was unable to return the wild boy back to his own time, so decided that the challenge of "Domesticating" the cave boy would be a good task for the Titans.

The Titans nicknamed him GNARRK as this was the phrase the Cave Teen kept on repeating to his captors . Lilith established a Psychic Bond with Gnarrk and discovered that beneath the rugged exterior lay a wonderful, but frightened Beautiful mind. 

Along with the help of Wonder Girl, Lilith gave Gnarrk a shave and a haircut, revealing a strikingly handsome young man. As the weeks went on Lilith began to educate Gnarrk in the ways of the modern world, and soon Gnarrk's transformation was complete.  Although Lilith knew when she first met him he was intelligent, now he was able to show this himself through is own communication skills. 

More He - Man than Cave Man

Even though Gnarrk looked like a normal teen ager, OK he was a modern day cave man, he was still Innocent of many things. He was stronger and faster than the average man, after all he was of a
Neanderthal back ground,  a race that predated Homo Sapiens .... and sometimes he had difficulties dealing with new situations, but with Lilith's help he would continue to evolve.

With the help of the Titans, Gnarrk or John as he was now called, obtained a job for a while. But once his true origin was discovered his employer was forced to let him go.

Gnarrk would on occasion help the Teen Titans on missions, but never was officially made one of the team.

Gnarrk and Lilith's    romance continued to grow, and eventually they left the Super Hero life behind and headed to California to build a life for themselves.

This would not be the end of Gnarrk or Lilith, but that's the end of their tale for now.

Next time we meet the Joker of the Pack ! ( or was SHE ? )



ENJOY

SOME NEW MEMBERS FOR THE TEEN TITANS part three MAL DUNCAN

The next Teen to become a Titan was not your usual Super Hero,  To tell the truth He Was Not Even a Super Hero !

Malcolm Duncan, or Mal to his friends aided the Teen Titans when they were attacked by a Street Gang of Youngsters calling themselves The HELL HAWKS. The Teen Titans at the time were NOT wearing their usual uniforms, as they were trying to fight crime without the trappings and use of their powers ( Strange story that came out of the Titans failing to save the Guy who Lilith had warned them about ...... See Lilith's story a few weeks back)


MAL DUNCAN the New Teen Titan

Anyway, the Titans were amazed by Mal's courage taking on the Gang leader, and decided that their Team could use a man of his abilities.  Mal became a Titan, but felt that as he was not a Super Hero, he really did not meet the Teen Titans measure. ( By this time the Titans had gone all Super Powers and Costumes again.........  As the Grey unpowered Super Teens did not go down well with the readers, and the Falling sales did not go down too well with the guys at DC either ! ) 


ORANGE is Mal's Colour of choice

However, when the Titans were all but defeated by Dr Light,  ( who had tracked them down to their secret Head Quarters ) Mal used a combination of items that were held in the Titans Trophy room, ie The Uniform and Shield of the Guardian ( a hero from the 1940's)  and a Strength enhancing Exoskeleton.  The combination of the items gave Mal the ability to help defeat Dr Light.


MAL the New Guardian

He took the name Guardian and enjoyed the identify for a short time.  However, Mal still felt that his place on the Titans was only due to the costume he now wore, and the Power it Gave him.

Shortly after becoming The Guardian, Mal obtains an ancient mystic Horn belonging to the Angel Gabriel.  This horn would give Mal power to defeat any foe in battle. BUT if Mal was to be defeated,  it would cost him his life.  ( Another Crazy plot line, that came and went VERY QUICKLY ! )   But for a while  Mal shed his Guardian identify and uniform, and became HORNBLOWER.

Same old Mal, but now with added HORN !

However, The Hornblower was not a big hit with the Readers of The Teen Titans, and even after running a competition to give Mal a New Look as The Hornblower, shortly after Mal would give up this crazy identity and power.



The winning New Costume Design for Mal......  NOT A GOOD LOOK !  

Soon Mal would return to the Guardian identify, after he explains that everyone knew who he was as Hornblower, and that the Guardian identity fitted his needs better.  What Mal did not tell his Team Mates was the real reason for giving up the Hornblower identity........ that being  He had lost the Horn ! 


Back to The Guardian Look Again

The main problem with the character of Mal Duncan seems to be that too many writers wanted the character to become too many different things.   Mal was originally introduced as DC "Wanted" to have a main stream Hero who was Black African - America..... , one who the readers could relate too.  What they ended up doing with the character was to keep changing him until they got him right.  One writer liked the fact that Mal was a un powered hero, another wanted him to have a power, another hated the retro Guardian identify.  The Hornblower id and power was lame, and the costume introduced for the Character was also very lame.  So when the Hornblower look and power was dropped, Mal became the Guardian again, in an updated costume that combined both the Original 40's Guardian look with the Exo Skeleton .

Mal would continue as The Guardian up until the Teen Titans disbanded a few years later.

HOWEVER, after the events of the DC Comics Crisis Re Boot in the 1980's Mal Duncan was subject to some more changes of identity.

BUT More about that at a later date.

Mal in full Guardian Uniform......  The Final Version before the 1980's CRISIS !




Next Time we meet a Titan from Another Time !


Until Nect Time......... ENJOY !

SOME NEW MEMBERS FOR THE TEEN TITANS part two HAWK & DOVE

Before they were asked to become part of the Teen Titans, the Hall brothers,  Hank & Don had enjoyed a short successful career as the duo HANK & DOVE.  They had helped the Teen Titans on occasions, and even battled them.

Originally the Hall Brothers did not know how they obtained their Super Powers but many years into their costumed fighting careers they found out they had been granted them by two mysterious forces of the Cosmos, The Lords of Chaos and Order.

Both brother received similar powers, but would go about using  them in different, and at times conflicting manners.

Don Hall was better known as DOVE,  unlike his brother and crime fighting partner Hank or HAWK he held a more of a pacifist nature and would look for a peaceful answer to conflict. His Liberal approach to situations, with a  thoughtfulness and reasoned regard for doing the " Right Thing"  meant that at time Dove could be prone to being seen as too indecisive..... and this meant his brother believed him to be weak !

If a Victory could be found through Peaceful Ways, Dove tried his best to achieve this.

PEACE at ANY COST

HOWEVER, his Brother Hank Hall had a completely different view to life and getting the job done.


Hank Hall was better know to the world at HAWK.  He could have been called the complete opposite of his brother Dove.   He was short tempered, aggressive and had a very conservative and reactionary nature regarding solving problems.   Where Dove looked for Victory through Peaceful ways, Hawk believed it Fight First, Talk Second...... Kill or Be Killed.

Dove and Hawk came into being in the late 1960's at a time when War & Peace were a common everyday topic,   Dove appealed to the Make Love Not War ! half of society, where Hawk tended to follow the traditional view  of Attack before you get Attacked. An EYE for An EYE !

KILL or be KILLED

This balance of two good people trying to solve the problems that they came upon in very different ways, was not a new one. BUT due to the time or AGE  these characters were "born" into, today both Hawk and Dove look like A Hippie Do - gooder and a Crazy Hot Headed Vigilante.  Two heroes with one aim but two extremely difference ways of working. This differnce of opinion would cause the two to end up fighting each other at times.

Here are the Brothers Dove and Hawk together .

WAR & PEACE

Although Hawk and Dove became members of the Teen Titans, their attendance was more on a PART TIME basis. However, as time went on and the Hall brothers parted company from the Teen Titans, they would soon be part of their own group of Super Heroes on the West Coast of America.


 More of that at a later date.






Next time, a new member who came to the Titans with nothing to offer but his two fists.


ENJOY

SOME NEW MEMBERS FOR THE TEEN TITANS part one LILITH CLAY

Although the Teen Titans were not looking for new members, soon they found themselves with some additions. Most  originally started by helping them on missions..... but ended many ended up being asked to stay.

The first new member came in the form of a young girl called Lilith Clay.  At the age of 13 Lilith started to manifest strange mental powers. At first she was able to read peoples minds and later these increased and she was able to start to see premonitions of future events.

When her mind reading powers first emerged, she discovered that she had been adopted, and when she was old enough she left home in search of her TRUE parents.

It would take many years for her to find out who her real parents were, but in the mean time one of her premonitions revealed that a politician was in danger and would be killed.   The Teen Titans at that time in their civilian guise visited the Night Club Disco Lilith was working in.

She approached the Titans, but although they were surprised that Lilith knew who they were out of costume, they dismissed her plea to help save the man in danger. 

However, once the Politician had died the Teen Titans racked with guilt asked Lilith to join their Team.

Unlike the other Titans, Lilith worn no mask or costume, as she felt as she had no home she did not have a secret identify to hide.

MORE GIRL POWER

With Lilith on board, her unique skills would take the lead in future Teen Titans adventures, ensuring that her warnings would result in the Titans doing all they could to stop things happening before they happened.

With another Girl on the Team, what the Titans needed was another Boy !   BUT they got TWO  for the Price of ONE

Next Time meet the bickering brothers.

HERE IS A CLUE !

ENJOY