Titans Together! Teen Titans Appreciation

[Atlanta96]

There are actually tons of good options. Bryan Q. Miller (pre-FP Batgirl, Adventures of Supergirl), Brenden Fletcher (Batgirl of Burnside, Gotham Academy), Greg Weisman (YJ TV show, Starbrand and Nightmask), Hope Larson (the new Batgirl writer), Kelly Thompsom (Jem & the Holograms, A-Force), Marguerite Bennet (DC Bombshells, A-force) just to name a few. I think even PAD might be willing to write YJ again. It's not like he's writing many books at Marvel right now.

The thing with most of those writers is that they write comics aimed primarily at female readers. I'm not criticizing that, but I think Teen Titans should be accessible for both genders, and only Greg Weisman has shown he's capable of doing that so far. I'm not against an all female teen hero series, like DC Superhero Girls. But Teen Titans should be for everyone.

[Godlike13]

Im really surprised they didn't recruit Bryan Q. Miller to do TT given the roster is clearly shooting for the same roster of the animated movie. Maybe they couldn't get him though. Fletcher would have been a good choice IMO, not so because of his work on Batgirl (which i did enjoy), but more because his work on Gotham Academy.

[Frontier]

There are actually tons of good options. Bryan Q. Miller (pre-FP Batgirl, Adventures of Supergirl), Brenden Fletcher (Batgirl of Burnside, Gotham Academy), Greg Weisman (YJ TV show, Starbrand and Nightmask), Hope Larson (the new Batgirl writer), Kelly Thompsom (Jem & the Holograms, A-Force), Marguerite Bennet (DC Bombshells, A-force) just to name a few. I think even PAD might be willing to write YJ again. It's not like he's writing many books at Marvel right now.

Hey, if Johns can get Rucka back, reconcile DC with Tony Isabella and Gerry Conway, maybe he can get PAD back .

[Factor]

Fletcher's Batgirl run started off very promising, but ran off the rails in the last 10 months getting boggled down in technobabble and tech-jargon. And eventually, the storyline got overly focused on social media to the detriment of both plot and characterization. Most of the dialogue was very forced and unnatural. I am not eager to see Fletcher take on another DC book anytime soon given how his Batgirl run lost focus and fell apart in the end.

All the others you mentioned are good choices. It would be nice to see Marguerite Bennett do more work for DC. I'm ecstatic that Greg Rucka is back on Wonder Woman, but I so would have liked to see what Bennett had planned. I'd love to see her get another shot at a DC book.

Miller, Weisman and Larson are all also good calls. Great list!

I agree that Batgirl lost a bit of its focus in the end, but I think a lot of it was due to editorial interference. Rading these last issues, it was pretty clear the creative team still had a lot of stuff planned (like a new BoP line-up) but had to wrap up their run before Rebirth.
As I really like Fletcher's other books (Gotham Academy and Black Canary), I think he'd be a pretty good choice.
I was also disappointed Bennet didn't get to write WW. I was really curious about what would be her take. Of course I'm happy about Rucka, but it would've been nice to see a fresher take as well. Maybe in the future as a Sensation Comics relaunch?

The thing with most of those writers is that they write comics aimed primarily at female readers. I'm not criticizing that, but I think Teen Titans should be accessible for both genders, and only Greg Weisman has shown he's capable of doing that so far. I'm not against an all female teen hero series, like DC Superhero Girls. But Teen Titans should be for everyone.

Uhm not really. Bryan Miller wrote Smallville and the comic book continuation. And the female writers I mentioned are good writers. Good writers can write any gender well, no need to have an all-female line-up because they wouldn't be able to write men. LOL.

[Factor]

Im really surprised they didn't recruit Bryan Q. Miller to do TT given the roster is clearly shooting for the same roster of the animated movie. Maybe they couldn't get him though. Fletcher would have been a good choice IMO, not so because of his work on Batgirl (which i did enjoy), but more because his work on Gotham Academy.

Yeah, maybe Miller was busy? It's really the only reason I can think of. The new TT direction is taking so much from the animated movie, having as the writer is almost too logical.
I still have no idea why they chose Percy instead. I hope he does better than in his GA run, but I'm honestly not very hopeful.

[Rakiduam]

http://www.newsarama.com/29477-wally...f-rebirth.html

Here's a new interview from Abnett. He's so passionate about the book and all of the characters, and pretty much confirms that Titans will be a major story along with the big guns like Justice League.

He seems to really understand each character because he doesn't hesitate to state that there are some problems with their recent characterizarions. Not only does he plan to give in-story reasons as to why that is, but he plans to fix it as well.

Ok I'm convinced, I'm going to pass. Abnett doesn't get the characters and Titan Hunt was to boring to endure bad characterization on top of it.

Mostly hoping whatever "fix" he does, stays in Titans and doesn't bleed to other books.

[Blackest Knight]

Yeah, maybe Miller was busy? It's really the only reason I can think of. The new TT direction is taking so much from the animated movie, having as the writer is almost too logical.
I still have no idea why they chose Percy instead. I hope he does better than in his GA run, but I'm honestly not very hopeful.

I'm ambivalent about Ben Percy writing Teen Titans. But I love the line-up and I have been a huge fan of Jonboy Meyers' art for a long time. Plus, they finally fixed Raven's costume--YAY!

So looking forward to this book--and to Abnett & Booth's Titans as well. Can't wait to read both!!

[GreenLanternRanger]

Newsarama put up a new interview with Dan Abnett about the upcoming Titans book.

http://www.newsarama.com/29477-wally...f-rebirth.html

[Atlanta96]

Uhm not really. Bryan Miller wrote Smallville and the comic book continuation. And the female writers I mentioned are good writers. Good writers can write any gender well, no need to have an all-female line-up because they wouldn't be able to write men. LOL.

I'm not saying they can't, just that so far they haven't written anything with a Teen Titans tone. I don't know what their ideas or pitches for a TT series would be like, so I can't judge whether they'd be more appropriate than some ultra gritty mature comics writer.

[Factor]

I'm not saying they can't, just that so far they haven't written anything with a Teen Titans tone. I don't know what their ideas or pitches for a TT series would be like, so I can't judge whether they'd be more appropriate than some ultra gritty mature comics writer.

Jem & the Holograms is actually close to what Teen Titans could be. Sure, TT wouldn't have an all-female cast, but Jem is a great example of taking a concept that was extremely popular in the past and updating it for today. TT desperately needs a fresh vision like that.
Brenden Fletcher already proved he can write both genders well. Gotham Academy isn't just about Maps and Olive, the cast is pretty big and everyone has a strong voice.
Like Thompson, Bennet also wrote A-force, which is a book largely about friendship, which should be a pretty central theme in Teen Titans.

Gender shouldn't matter to good writers and I definitely think that writers that have experience writing books that have lighter tones are probably more appropriate for Teen Titans than someone with grim and gritty leanings. We all know we've had enough of that.

[Outside_85]

Im really surprised they didn't recruit Bryan Q. Miller to do TT given the roster is clearly shooting for the same roster of the animated movie. Maybe they couldn't get him though. Fletcher would have been a good choice IMO, not so because of his work on Batgirl (which i did enjoy), but more because his work on Gotham Academy.

I'd actually be a bit worried about Fletcher, despite how upbeat and charming his BG was (and how badly the character needed that), I am not sure what he'd do with TT considering BG and GA are basically 'non-powered' books... like would his revolve around Robin using gadgets to solve everything and save everyone? Or would it be like that alternate cover we had on TT where they were all sitting looking at their phones?

[Blackest Knight]

Newsarama put up a new interview with Dan Abnett about the upcoming Titans book.

http://www.newsarama.com/29477-wally...f-rebirth.html

I'll say this for Dan Abnett. He's been around for years, but I don't think his career has ever been this red hot.

I don't blame him for not sharing a lot of details in that interview. After years of hard work, it seems like he's finally in the right place at the right time. He keeps up the quality he's been turning out? He could become an even bigger name than he already is.

Plus, I think his run on Titans featuring Wally West's return is going to sell way, way better than expected.

[Atlanta96]

Jem & the Holograms is actually close to what Teen Titans could be. Sure, TT wouldn't have an all-female cast, but Jem is a great example of taking a concept that was extremely popular in the past and updating it for today. TT desperately needs a fresh vision like that.
Brenden Fletcher already proved he can write both genders well. Gotham Academy isn't just about Maps and Olive, the cast is pretty big and everyone has a strong voice.
Like Thompson, Bennet also wrote A-force, which is a book largely about friendship, which should be a pretty central theme in Teen Titans.

Gender shouldn't matter to good writers and I definitely think that writers that have experience writing books that have lighter tones are probably more appropriate for Teen Titans than someone with grim and gritty leanings. We all know we've had enough of that.

It's not a matter of gender, it's a matter of tone. Jem, Gotham Academy, and Fletcher's Batgirl, while I'm sure they're all good, aren't really similar in tone to what Teen Titans should be. If someone had written an excellent all female superhero comic that captured the best elements of previous TT runs, I'd love for that person to have a shot at writing the real TT. The series has worked best in the past as a blend of genres that covers many beats, has light and dark moments, but centers on superhero action and drama. That doesn't sound like Jem and the Holograms to me.

[Lee]

It's not a matter of gender, it's a matter of tone.

You said it was a matter of gender earlier.

[Atlanta96]

You said it was a matter of gender earlier.

It's because the writers mentioned utilize a tone meant primarily for female readers that I feel wouldn't work for Teen Titans. It had nothing to do with the gender of the protagonists. A story can have all male protagonists and still have a tone that appeals mainly to women, you see it often in manga and anime.