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 !