Titans Appreciation 2022

[Badou]

I think they can still count as young adults.

I don't think Donna having a family makes her any less worthy of being a Titan.

It isn't about not being worthy, but more about not fitting into what I think the core concept is anymore. It is a bit like a Dick or Jason now being too old to be Bruce's sidekick. They can still do things with Bruce and team up, but they kind of don't fit with what the core idea of a "sidekick" is because of their age.

See my thing is if we leave the Titans to the younger gen where do the OGs go?

Not opposed to them being branched out but you don't see Wonder Woman in Infinifty Inc or Hal Jordan with the Outsiders. They go to places where they work.

It's their team and the Titans and Teen Titans aren't supposed to be the same thing and have operated at the same time anyway. Not like one existing excludes the other.

Ideally they would get absorbed into the other superhero teams. Like the many Justice League teams, the JLA, and so on. Or they can create new teams. I've just never really liked any Titans series where it focused on the heroes as adults. It just feels awkward to me. It is like when Marvel tries to launch a new New Mutants book, but none of the mutants are "new" anymore so it is a little weird.

[Drako]

I think the core concept of the Titans is young heroes learning to be heroes on their own and then navigating all the life and social challenges that come along with that. Once you start having characters be in their 20s, and even having kids of their own, they are a bit too old to really be Titans anymore I think. They are veteran heroes by then and should move on to other teams and leave the Titans franchise to the younger generations. It is one of the reasons why I didn't think the Titans Academy concept would work. Because having these older heroes as authority figures over the younger Titans ruins what the classic Titans teams were about. Which were young heroes being independent.

Dick was 19 during at the start of the New Teen Titans.
Not much of a difference from 19 to "in their 20s".

[Leancarp900]

It isn't about not being worthy, but more about not fitting into what I think the core concept is anymore. It is a bit like a Dick or Jason now being too old to be Bruce's sidekick. They can still do things with Bruce and team up, but they kind of don't fit with what the core idea of a "sidekick" is because of their age.



Ideally they would get absorbed into the other superhero teams. Like the many Justice League teams, the JLA, and so on. Or they can create new teams. I've just never really liked any Titans series where it focused on the heroes as adults. It just feels awkward to me. It is like when Marvel tries to launch a new New Mutants book, but none of the mutants are "new" anymore so it is a little weird.

I've said it before but I don't think taking the Titans characters away from the Titans franchise will actually help either the characters nor the franchise, if simply for no other reason other than branding. What differences Beast Boy from Vixen or Animal Man? What differences Raven from Enchantress or Zatanna? What differences Starfire from the thousands of aliens in DC? Easy: they are Titans. It's what makes them special (and they are what makes the franchise special at the same time). It's not like Roy or Cyborg being in the JL helped either character either (quite the opposite imo) and none of them can probably hold a solo. It's probably better to find a new niche And direction for the adult Titans franchise.

Asking these questions is to me a bit like asking why doesn't Cyclops leave the X-Men. It's not very realistic to expect that

[Aahz]

Even My Hero Academia only really focuses on a handful of Class A usually.

My Hero Academia has also with Deku a clear main protagonist. Who gets the most of the focus. And I think especially in the beginning the other characters got only focus during the fights and competions.

[Badou]

Dick was 19 during at the start of the New Teen Titans.
Not much of a difference from 19 to "in their 20s".

I think a 18/19 year old is very different to someone who is like 25 or even pushing 30 like they are now. Back in the NTT era they were still the youngest heroes at DC too. They didn't have all these generations below them. So they operated in a very different space in what their role was back then to what their role is now.

I've said it before but I don't think taking the Titans characters away from the Titans franchise will actually help either the characters nor the franchise, if simply for no other reason other than branding. What differences Beast Boy from Vixen or Animal Man? What differences Raven from Enchantress or Zatanna? What differences Starfire from the thousands of aliens in DC? Easy: they are Titans. It's what makes them special (and they are what makes the franchise special at the same time). It's not like Roy or Cyborg being in the JL helped either character either (quite the opposite imo) and none of them can probably hold a solo. It's probably better to find a new niche And direction for the adult Titans franchise.

Asking these questions is to me a bit like asking why doesn't Cyclops leave the X-Men. It's not very realistic to expect that

They are pushing 30 years of trying to find this new niche for the adult Titans and haven't found it yet though. I'm just at the point where I think an adult Titans team is a broken concept. Also I think it is a mistake to look at a character like Cyborg and his time on the JL and call it a mistake. The character had never been more relevant than when he was on the JL. He got pushed into being on one of DC's headline books with one of their biggest writers, he was involved in big events, was involved in different JL books, he got his own solo book, he got to be in a major live action movie, and so on. Since going back to the Titans he hasn't gotten any of that again. Sure you can criticize the quality of those individual things but Cyborg as a character had never been bigger. The real mistake was pushing the character to the JL but erasing his history to do it. It would have been better if he got all that promotion while his Titans history was still there. I'm sure Raven fans would love for her character to be on a Justice League Dark book as part of its main cast, Starfire fans would probably enjoy her headlining a Justice League Odyssey book again or maybe being a Green Lantern for a while, and of course Wally being Flash on the JL was a major era for his character. Now obviously not every Titans character is going to find success but it isn't like them hanging around the Titans franchise has helped them a lot either.

[Rac7d*]

I think they can still count as young adults.

I don't think Donna having a family makes her any less worthy of being a Titan.

No they are not young adults Wally is married has a house a wife and two soon to be three kids. He’s is not a young adult just an adult. He shouldn’t have to go backwards for the titans who have not been able to go forward.

[Aahz]

I think a 18/19 year old is very different to someone who is like 25 or even pushing 30 like they are now. Back in the NTT era they were still the youngest heroes at DC too.

Kind off, i think there were some other young heros arround, but appart from Jason Todd non were members of one the big legacies.

[king81992]

I've said it before but I don't think taking the Titans characters away from the Titans franchise will actually help either the characters nor the franchise, if simply for no other reason other than branding. What differences Beast Boy from Vixen or Animal Man? What differences Raven from Enchantress or Zatanna? What differences Starfire from the thousands of aliens in DC? Easy: they are Titans. It's what makes them special (and they are what makes the franchise special at the same time). It's not like Roy or Cyborg being in the JL helped either character either (quite the opposite imo) and none of them can probably hold a solo. It's probably better to find a new niche And direction for the adult Titans franchise.

Asking these questions is to me a bit like asking why doesn't Cyclops leave the X-Men. It's not very realistic to expect that

The difference between Beast Boy, Vixen and Animal Man are:

Beast Boy- Transforms into animals and has healing factor.

Vixen- Her abilities are mystical in nature, she takes on the traits of animals(cheetahs speed, eagle's flight, gorilla strength, etc)

Animal Man- His connection to the Red is stronger than the other two.

Differences between Raven, Zatanna and Enchantress:

Raven- Half demon and fights her destiny to be Trigon's herald. She's an empath with healing powers.

Zatanna- She casts spells by talking backwards and has a lucrative career as a stage magician/illusionist.

Enchantress- Her magical talent comes from the entity that's possessing her. Writers flip flop on if the entity is actually eldritch or an alternate personality she created.

[Leancarp900]

I think a 18/19 year old is very different to someone who is like 25 or even pushing 30 like they are now. Back in the NTT era they were still the youngest heroes at DC too. They didn't have all these generations below them. So they operated in a very different space in what their role was back then to what their role is now.



They are pushing 30 years of trying to find this new niche for the adult Titans and haven't found it yet though. I'm just at the point where I think an adult Titans team is a broken concept. Also I think it is a mistake to look at a character like Cyborg and his time on the JL and call it a mistake. The character had never been more relevant than when he was on the JL. He got pushed into being on one of DC's headline books with one of their biggest writers, he was involved in big events, was involved in different JL books, he got his own solo book, he got to be in a major live action movie, and so on. Since going back to the Titans he hasn't gotten any of that again. Sure you can criticize the quality of those individual things but Cyborg as a character had never been bigger. The real mistake was pushing the character to the JL but erasing his history to do it. It would have been better if he got all that promotion while his Titans history was still there. I'm sure Raven fans would love for her character to be on a Justice League Dark book as part of its main cast, Starfire fans would probably enjoy her headlining a Justice League Odyssey book again or maybe being a Green Lantern for a while, and of course Wally being Flash on the JL was a major era for his character. Now obviously not every Titans character is going to find success but it isn't like them hanging around the Titans franchise has helped them a lot either.

Cyborg got pushed because he is one of the only prominent black character from DC (the only other one being John Stewart but Geoff Johns was never gonna kick out Hal Jordan) and they needed one for the movie, not because DC was ever actually interested in developing him. Likewise, Wally West got development because Barry Allen was dead for 25 years. Oh wait, Barry came back? Then Wally gets erased from continuity for half a decade.

Neither of these situations seem replicable with the rest of the Titans characters. You are most likely condemning them to limbo if you nuke the franchise.

[king81992]

Cyborg got pushed because he is one of the only prominent black character from DC (the only other one being John Stewart but Geoff Johns was never gonna kick out Hal Jordan) and they needed one for the movie, not because DC was ever actually interested in developing him. Likewise, Wally West got development because Barry Allen was dead for 25 years. Oh wait, Barry came back? Then Wally gets erased from continuity for half a decade.

Neither of these situations seem replicable with the rest of the Titans characters. You are most likely condemning them to limbo if you nuke the franchise.

Franchise needs a massive retool, not nuking. There are certain story directions and tropes tied to the characters and franchise that need to die.

[Drako]

Franchise needs a massive retool, not nuking. There are certain story directions and tropes tied to the characters and franchise that need to die.

Every team book needs a retool right now. JSA are getting theirs, the Titans should get one too. There is no need to void the franchise cause "I find the adult Titans awkward" or "they are not the Justice League".

Also "they are not the Justice League" is the same stupid mindset that Didio and Bruce Timm used to have with Nightwing. "He is not Batman and he is not Robin, so their is no place for him".

[Frontier]

I don't care about ages or the Justice League, but I just want to read about the Titans characters I like in good stories.

[Drako]

I don't care about ages or the Justice League, but I just want to read about the Titans characters I like in good stories.

Me too, but i guess that is too much to ask.

[Rac7d*]

I don't care about ages or the Justice League, but I just want to read about the Titans characters I like in good stories.

And which titans characters is that, their are so many. I assume you mean the new teen titans with the core being the tv cast.
Which titans get to be here and which left out in the cold ?

[king81992]

Every team book needs a retool right now. JSA are getting theirs, the Titans should get one too. There is no need to void the franchise cause "I find the adult Titans awkward" or "they are not the Justice League".

Also "they are not the Justice League" is the same stupid mindset that Didio and Bruce Timm used to have with Nightwing. "He is not Batman and he is not Robin, so their is no place for him".

The adult 'Titans are awkward is such an odd take. The problem is writers putting them in situations where character assassination and shock value deaths are the only option.