The "New" Teen Titans Part Three Robin the original Side Kick

What can I say about Dick Grayson aka Robin The Boy Wonder that has not already been said.

Some say he is the original Side Kick or Junior partner of an Adult Crime fighter.  In many ways he is, many of the later "junior" partners of Heroes owe their existence to the template of the Boy Wonder. Although the character has been around since the 1940's surprisingly Robin or the Original Robin has stayed very true to his beginnings.

Orphaned as a young child and "adopted" by a millionaire playboy, who was also Orphaned by an act of crime too , Dick Grayson became and still is one of the most loved and sometimes under rated heroes of the DC Universe.

Here is my updated version of Detective Comics 38# feature the debut of The By Wonder.

For years he was the light relief to the Darkness of his mentor and partner The BAT-MAN. However, it was not until the late 1950's and early 1960's did Robin start to spread his wings and have adventures on his own. Young teen readers of the DC Publications could identify in Robin. He was not a super powered hero, or had any real special powers at all. All he had was his brains, acrobatic abilities learnt from his Circus parents, and sense of doing good. This added to the training in both body and mind from his guardian gave Dick Grayson every thing he needed to succeed.

When in 1964  Robin teamed up with Aqua lad and Kid Flash it became obvious that he was the less powerful member of the trio, but instead of letting his powers do the talking, he used the gifts learnt at the side of the Worlds Greatest Detective to show his team mates that some times brain power is better than super powers.

When the group again teamed up with the Addition of Wonder Girl the Teen Titans were born. Some called them The Junior Justice League, but unlike the JLA, the TT adventures were basically grounded in helping the younger members of the population. Some of their early adventure now seem dated, as they reflected the time they were written.

Even as the membership of the Teen Titans grew, and the line up changed, the one thing that stayed the same was Robin was always team leader. Even if at times this caused up set with other members who felt they could do a better job, sense in the end won through as Robin proved he was the Man or Teen for the JOB.

When the TT finally disbanded in the 1970's mainly due the corr members all deciding that they wanted to go out into the world and discover who they were.   As Most of the original TT's  ( and a lot of the later additions to the TT's) all had one thing in common, they were either Orphans or did not have contact with the real parents. Their mentors and guardians had been crime fighters, so they had joined the "family" business, and as a result had spent more time as heroes than as themselves. They all knew how to be  Robin, Kid Flash, Speedy and Wonder Girl, but did not completely understand who or how Dick Grayson, Wally West, Roy Harper and Donna Troy fitted into the real world.. This break from the Hero Business gave Dick a chance to go to college, Roy to learn more about The Queen Empire, Wally to try to reconnect with his family and Donna to start her own business as a photographer. The TT was more than just a group of crime fighters, they were a family, and this bond would continue into the coming years.  As for Aqualad aka Garth, his future had always been assured as at that time  his adopted father Aquaman had plans for him to be his heir as King of Atlantis, or be a future protector of his legacy.

Here are the Original Teen Titans in their other identities saying goodbye to each other as they plan to move on to the next stage of their life.

Good Bye to The "original"  Teen Titans and Hello to Wally, Donna, Dick, Roy & Garth.

Although Garth seldomly  needed to wear civilian attire, I depicted him as he would be when not in his super Hero roll as Aqualad.

Next Time I will discuss how as Robin's leadership of the "New" TT's his relationship with The Dark Knight started to show cracks and strains.

Until Then ENJOY !

THE "NEW" TEEN TITANS part Two The Mystery that was RAVEN

The first member of the New look Titan's was a brand new character, the likes of which had never been seen before.

Her look was unique, her full origin was not revealed for months and her powers too were different. Her name was simply Raven.

RAVEN 

All readers knew about Raven was she was a young Girl that had gathered heroes around her to help fight a Demon from another dimension who threaten not just her existence but every one on Earth.
The true nature of the Demon would later be reviled as her Father, and although she tried to be more a pacifist  than an aggressor, the other Titan's soon found out that hidden inside her was a Demonic version of herself that was and could be worse than that she was fighting against. The other Titans at times did not trust her very much as it would be revealed that she very much used her powers to both emotionally, physically and ALSO manipulate them...... and in the case of Wally West, did cause him to fall in love with her. Although she was unable to really allow herself the ability to love in case  by allowing herself to be open to too much emotion allowed her inner demons to emerge.

Also it would be later known that she had originally sort the help of the Justice League, but Zantana their resident magical Mistress of the Dark and Mystic Arts had sensed the evil in her and therefore the JLA refused to help Raven. So  she  made a collection of Teen Heroes as her second choice. Easier to manipulate possibly ? but it turned out to be the best choice.

Here is my version of Raven

At first even her full look was not revealed. What did she look like under her strange hooded cloak ? was she human ? how old was she.

These questions were answered when Raven removed her hood to show she was a beautiful 18 year old young girl . Human looking but with a mystery about  her. Her speech was also different and precise.  Referring to her team mates by her proper names. It was not Dick, Wally, Gar, Vic, Kory and Donna. It was Richard, Wallace, Garfield, Victor, Koriand'r and Donna.

To sum Raven up she was the Daughter of an earth woman and the demonic entity called  Trigon, Raven constantly had to fight  to keep her evil side in check. However, the young empathic mystic sometimes fell to the dark side, but valiantly found her own inner light – usually at the expense of her own happiness. She could heal the sick and dying by taking the pain into herself, but there was always a price to pay when she used her powers. The negative energy and pain would sometimes allow her "Darker" part to emerge.

Under the Hood was a Beautiful if not scary young girl.

Here is another look at the Darker side of Raven.

DADDIES LITTLE DEMON COMPLETE WITH HIS EYES !

Next Time, an Original Titan who would lead the new team.

Until then  ENJOY !

THE "NEW" Teen Titans part One. New Look, New Line Up and a New Direction.

When the decision was made to re launch the Teen Titans Comic, no one would have known how successful this would be. 

In DC Comics Presents, issue 26 # cover date October 1980, a secondary story told the Tale of a Mysterious Woman Called Raven who gathers together former members of the old Teen Titans along with some new unknown heroes. At the end of the story it was revealed that Raven had shown her new team mates future events where  they  needed them to join together to fight a dangerous demon who planned to over throw the Earth. This sneaky peak was all the fans needed to see and excite them.... The Teen Titans where BACK !

AN ACROBATIC DETECTIVE trained by the Best,  THE FASTEST TEENAGER ON EARTH, A GIRL ADOPTED And trained as an AMAZON WARRIOR, A SHAPE CHANGING MIRACLE, AN ALIEN PRINCESS, A HALF MAN HALF ROBOT AND A  MAGICAL MYSTERY GIRL with Daddy Issues. These where the "New" Teen Titans. What was there NOT to like ?

When The First Issue of The "New" Teen Titans hit the newsstands a month after their first adventure in DC Comics Presents 26 # it was an over night success.

Side Kicks no longer Here come The NEW TEEN TITANS

Way back in 1964 a story appeared in the DC Comic Brave and the Bold.

This story featured a team up of the Teenaged side kicks or partners of three of DC's major players. Bat-man, Aquaman and  The Flash.

The readers liked the idea of the Teenagers ganging together to form their own version of The Justice League, so the following year Robin, Kid Flash & Aqualad .

They would meet up again soon with the addition of Wonder Girl, who at the time had been included in the team as Wonder Woman's Adopted sister. (which was a mistake, but look at my previous Teen Titans Blog pages  from a 2012 - 2013 WHICH TRIES TO SORT OUT WHO , WHAT AND WHY of Donna Troy ) Also Speedy partner of The Green Arrow also helped out.

But in 1966 Teen Titans 1# hit the comic racks. and the rest was history so they say.


The Line up of the first issue would be Robin the Boy Wonder, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Wonder Girl. Soon Speedy would join the team at the same time as Aqualad left to return to his duties under the Sea.

Here is a re work of one of my previous pictures.

The original Teen Titans

Allowed their  own series in 1965 this began a  teen-oriented set of adventures with a trip to South America as members of the Peace Corps. Future issues would see them tackle such one-shot baddies as Ding-Dong Daddy , the Scorcher, and Captain Tiger while addressing the issues which affected teens the most. Wherever teens were in trouble or misunderstandings existed between adults and their offspring, the Teen Titans were there to bridge the generation gap. With a core membership of Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Wonder Girl, the Titans would be joined on special occasions by Speedy before he would eventually take Aqualad’s place on the team. This added a romantic element between Donna Troy aka Wonder Girl and Roy  Harper aka Speedy.
In essence this was a group of kids all of whom were in some way orphans, who gathered together and made their own family.

With the end of the Sixties approaching the Titans also underwent a change in direction with issue #25. Gone were the super-hero costumes and included were new members of the team, Mal (one of DC's first "Black Super Heroes"  and the strange Lilith, as well as a wealthy benefactor in the form of Mr. Jupiter. The Titans tackled social issues as never before, choosing not to use their powers and attempting to solve problems as ordinary citizens. Non powered super heroes had already been tried with Wonder Woman so having the Teen Titans out of costume was a concept, which was not meet by much joy by the readers. This was followed by a period in which they returned to their super-powered ways while still being mentored by Mr. Jupiter, an era noted for its shift towards supernatural and mystery stories. Again with the lifting of certain restraints of the American Comics Code Authority, certain stories involving Supernatural elements were again allowed to be published.

After the cancellation of the Teen Titans in 1972, the members of the team continued to appear in their respective regular titles. When the series was revived in 1976 it was revealed that the Titans had broken up and that only Mal continued to be involved with the team as the caretaker of their original headquarters. A plan by Dr. Light to use the Titans as pawns in his revenge against the Justice League brought the team back together, and the reunited Titans continued to operate out of their original headquarters until they moved to the disco Gabriel’s Horn on Long Island.

During the Titans’ brief revival new members the Joker’s Daughter and Bumblebee would join the team, and an older member, Mal, would receive a power upgrade in his new identity as the Guardian before becoming the Hornblower. With their new headquarters and new roster, the Titans were joined by Titans West, a California based branch of the group, including The Original BAT-GIRL and Beast Boy who had been rejected membership of the Teen Titans years before as they felt his was too young.

Now at double their usual size and with a branch on the west coast, the team appeared to be at the strongest point in its history.

The Final Line up of the First Wave of the Teen Titans.

This line up was the unification of both West and East Coast teams.  The original idea was there would be two teams on different coasts of America, but this was never to be.  After the first Crisis this team would be slightly altered, but again look at my previous Teen Titans Blogged pages from 2012 - 2013.

Unfortunately, low sales resulted in the cancellation of the title in 1977, but not before the team’s origin could be told for the first time in its final issue. The Titans would make one last appearance in the decade in 1979 in the Brave and the Bold #149 before being revived for a second time in 1980.

And this is were we go next time.

So until then ENJOY !

30,000 VISITORS and a Big Thank You From Andy's Bedroom.

Another mile stone reached with over 30 thousand visitor to my Dawgs site.

Here is a little thank you from Woody , Buzz and Jessie.  Plus a band new Bullseye  too.

Thanks for the support over the years,



Best Wishes



Noel and my Dawg Buddy x x x x

KARA ZOR - EL the Supergirl of Fashion part Twelve. UP UP and Away !

After looking at the cousin of the Man of Steel here is a round up and look at Super Girl from Action Comics 252 # in 1959 up until her "New" rebirth in the DC Universe of today

Although there may be a few looks that I did not cover in this quest to show The Maid of Might in all her glory, I hope you all have enjoyed my look at one of the most powerful Ladies in the DC Universe.


Next time a new direct featuring a look at a classic super hero group.


Until then


ENJOY !

COMING SOON ........... LITTLE HEROES ALL GROWN UP

After I wrap up you look at Supergirl, its back to look at some teenagers who I Blogged about a few Years Ago.  Don't Worry, its not old stuff..... Its a fresh look at them as they enter their Glory Years.

Here is a few Clues.

Until Next Time  



ENJOY !