Originally Posted by
Badou
I don't think the writer matters. I think that is just how DC views the property and characters. Once Dick's generation became adults they outgrew what the Titans were, but they are still stuck in the same place because the JL will always operate above them. They will never be on equal footing. The JL will always be more involved in bigger stories and those stories will eventually shape what the Titans direction is, especially because the Titans are filled with legacy characters of the JL and aren't independent. So they are between a rock and a hard place. Being too old to identify with the core concept of the Titans, which is being young heroes, but then stuck below the JL characters that diminish their relevance. So they get squeezed out. It is why DC is willing to erase, kill off, or change their history to something more useful to them. Such as moving Cyborg to the JL or deage some others to make them stay in that young hero group indefinitely.
The core identity of the Titans is being young heroes. Young heroes learning and growing together. That is their legacy, but after the original Titans grow up and you have Tim's generation after them, and now even Damian's generation after Tim's, what do you do with all these characters? Can these adult Titans really work when they are no longer part of that core identity of what the Titans are? You can't say they are "young heroes" anymore when they are old enough to get married and are having kids of their own. They should be past trying to find their own path at this point. This wasn't an issue back in the New Teen Titans days because they were still the youngest gen of heroes back then, but now they are not.
So what DC has been trying to do and failing for decades is figuring out what to do with these older Titans. DC will never have them properly join the Justice League, since they view having characters like Bruce and Dick on the same team as being redundant, but then if the adult Titans operate as their own team they default into being Justice League Jr because of how the JL is more important. It's a no win situation.
Then you have the route of the adult Titans playing babysitter or teacher to the younger Titans, but then that goes against what the core identity of what the Titans were originally. Dick's generation didn't have older Titans telling them what to do. They were young heroes on their own. Readers disliked it when the JL bossed around Dick's gen, so why should the new Titans take orders from older characters instead of being on their own? It's why the Titans Academy or trying to turn them into the X-Men concept won't work because it fundamentally changes what the Titans were originally.
The X-Men were from the start young heroes in a school setting being lead by an adult. Then as the young heroes grew they became the adults and teachers themselves to the younger X-Men. It's a very well constructed concept. Then the X-Men are also completely independent and don't need the Avengers or Spider-man to function, but the Titans are sidekicks to the JL and characters like Batman or Flash are essential. So the Titans can never be truly independent in that way. I really just don't know what the answer is because I've never seen an idea that worked for these adult Titans.