Cyborg (a.k.a Vic Stone) Appreciation REDUX!!!!!!

[mathew101281]

I have a question for Cyborg fans. Do you think separating Cyborg from his Titans connection has essentially sabotaged the character? Isn't the primary reason that Cyborg has any popularity(to the extent that he has popularity) do to the fact that he is one of the Titans?

[LoneNecromancer]

I have a question for Cyborg fans. Do you think separating Cyborg from his Titans connection has essentially sabotaged the character? Isn't the primary reason that Cyborg has any popularity(to the extent that he has popularity) do to the fact that he is one of the Titans?

I don't know many Cyborg fans who don't like the idea of him being promoted to a Justice League founder. They seem more concerned that not enough has been done with him as a result of that change.

The ones against it seem to be those who chiefly prefer a classic JL or Teen Titans line-up rather than those specifically concerned with the character.

[TrooperCameron]

I have a question for Cyborg fans. Do you think separating Cyborg from his Titans connection has essentially sabotaged the character? Isn't the primary reason that Cyborg has any popularity(to the extent that he has popularity) do to the fact that he is one of the Titans?

I prefer Cyborg to be part of the big dogs. If he wasnt he would not have been in Justice League War which is kick starting the new DC animated universe, which could help with his populartiy.

[Robotman]

Sure I enjoyed Cyborg as a Titan but why on earth would I not want a character I love to be promoted to a freakin Justice League founder?!? It's like the highest honor you can bestow on a superhero.
Plus they were clearly running out of ideas for Cyborg as a Teen Titan. After Johns made him team mentor there was pretty much nothing else for him to do. Most of the New Teen Titans have been allowed to grow up. Why can't Vic?

[Jabare]

I have a question for Cyborg fans. Do you think separating Cyborg from his Titans connection has essentially sabotaged the character? Isn't the primary reason that Cyborg has any popularity(to the extent that he has popularity) do to the fact that he is one of the Titans?

sabotaged? Heavens no.

The best/greatest Teen Titans run will always be New Teen Titans by Wolfman and Perez, after that run ended it was all downhill for the Teen Titans. Back in the day the Teen Titans rivaled the Justice League, The Avengers and X-men. Those days are long behind. If you still consider this incarnation of Cyborg the same as the old one, (I'm 50/50 on that this is a new universe so personally I don't hold the characters to be the same) this is just a natural progression.



(anyone got the scan from New Teen Titans 5, with Robin and Cyborg vs Batman and Changeling vs Zatanna, thought I had it but can't seem to find it)

The original Teen Titans/Legacy characters were always mean to grow up and replace the Justice League, only Wally was allowed to do so for a short time. But for years the Teen Titans wallowed and mediocrity in the comics, and Cyborg was incredibly backgrounded in the comics for years. For Cyborg fans this is great. For once he is front and center we just want more development, which he is getting its just taking a long time, but it is happening for those following his progression like myself.

Plus Warner Brothers Executives have been in love with Cyborg for years:

The Super Powers Team Galactic guardians intro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsG7HHcO2zU

Here are DC heads gushing over Cyborg, skip to 3 minutes if you don't want the intro. Mark Waid makes some insightful points:

basically Cyborgs a character DC and WB were high on for a while one because he wasn't a token character unlike a lot of the other non-white male characters created at the time. And he was pretty original at the time. He was created in 1980, so he actually predates the likes of Megaman and Robocop etc.


DC and WB have actually been inserting Cyborg into Justice League toy lines for a few years, way before the New 52.

Here a Fisher Price DC animated cartoon created a few years back featuring Cyborg, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Superman and Batman to promote a new Fisher Price toy line

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDSj5ZvlbuU

So this was a long time coming. Also Cyborg's shown to be pretty popular in multi media with kids. According to two studies I've read he trends well with a younger audience probably thanks to his Teen Titans and Justice League appearances.


Cyborg to the Justice League is long overdue. Finally time for him to grow up and join the big leagues. The best days of the Teen Titans are long behind DC, time to move on and let him grow as a character. He's the only former Teen Titan that wasn't "sabotaged"/screwed by the New 52. Half the former team doesn't exist or has been handled haphazardly so far.

[Robotman]

People talk as if Cyborg was having such a great career before the New 52 "ruined him". As Jabare said the character had been religated to the background since the Titans early 80s glory days. Sure his charcter progress has been slow but the recent Justice League arc has shown that New 52 Cyborg has a lot of potential.
Nightwing is never going to replace Batman. Roy isn't going to replace Ollie. Barry is back so Wally will have to be co-Flash or Kid Flash. Beast Boy will probably always remain a smart alek kid because it's a big part of his character. His name is Beast BOY after all. Changling is a good name but it's less recognizable and marketable. Cyborg isn't a legacy or an offshoot so he had the opportunity to grow and take his spot on the Justice League. He was never a sidekick so there was no mentor to impeed his growth.

[Jabare]

People talk as if Cyborg was having such a great career before the New 52 "ruined him". As Jabare said the character had been religated to the background since the Titans early 80s glory days. Sure his charcter progress has been slow but the recent Justice League arc has shown that New 52 Cyborg has a lot of potential.
Nightwing is never going to replace Batman. Roy isn't going to replace Ollie. Barry is back so Wally will have to be co-Flash or Kid Flash. Beast Boy will probably always remain a smart alek kid because it's a big part of his character. His name is Beast BOY after all. Changling is a good name but it's less recognizable and marketable. Cyborg isn't a legacy or an offshoot so he had the opportunity to grow and take his spot on the Justice League. He was never a sidekick so there was no mentor to impeed his growth.

yeah. I have no idea what they are doing with Roy in the New 52, especially when I look at Green Arrow.

DC really disappointed me with Dick Grayson I use to be a huge Dick Grayson fan, I guess I still am. I own every issue of the previous Nightwing run as well as all of the original New Teen Titan comics (plus Games). His progression was really great till about the mid 90s when DC started tanking him than tried to kill him off. But than Morrison really revitalized the character imo, leading to Tomasi's entertaining Nightwing run, Battle for the Cowl than Batman and Robin etc. Really just some great Batman comics, but than Flashpoint happened and Dick's back to being written as mediocre Nightwing no longer getting the A-list love its really disheartening.

And you can go down the list of Titans. Donna Troy doesn't exist anymore. Wally....well look his days were numbered as soon as DC brought Barry back. I don't know what's going on with Raven. You already touched on Beast Boy. And everyone else might as well not exist or is just off in limbo till DC re-introduces them.

I'm of the mindset DC should move away from Teen Titans focus on another team like Doom Patrol or the Outsiders, stop trying to recapture that lightning in the bottle. Take some chances with a new approach.


At least for Cyborg he's in a position where he can grow and develop as a character, and as his own man not a teen hero or sidekick. Technically Dick Grayson could too, but DC doesn't want to let him. Even at the end of Forever Evil its still Bruce telling Dick what to do and sending him on a mission. The character's been around for 70+ years let him grow up and make his own decisions already sheesh. This stuff drives me crazy especially since Dick had been written so well from 2008 to 2011, but now its like we got the 2004 Nightwing all over again.

[titanfan]

I have a question for Cyborg fans. Do you think separating Cyborg from his Titans connection has essentially sabotaged the character? Isn't the primary reason that Cyborg has any popularity(to the extent that he has popularity) do to the fact that he is one of the Titans?

Yes, he gained in popularity because he was a member of one of the most popular teams in the DCU. But I don't think his popularity was solely attached to the Titans.
Like others have said, he was perfectly fine as a standalone character as well. There are some characters who I feel play best with other characters, but I'm not sure Cyborg was one of them. In the pre-52, once Cyborg became "ok" with his Cybernetic self, it seems they didn't know what to do with him. His long term sub plot was basically done with and he just kind of wandered around in the background as a supporting player.

In the new 52, all of the characters who had history with other characters basically lost something. I'll miss his banter with Changeling, but I'm looking forward to his new relationships with the JLAers. I'm not sure I want to see him angst too long in his "I'm not human anymore!" since I was already there for decades of it, but I'm sure Johns will keep it fresh.

Of all the Wolfman/Perez Teen Titans, Cyborg was the big winner.

[SmokeMonster]

Can someone direct me to some good Cyborg comics? My only exposure to Cyborg has been through Johns's Justice League, which I've enjoyed.

Anyways, here are some ideas for what I'd like to see in a Cyborg solo comic:

-Vic getting a part-time job and/or going to college in an effort to retain/regain some of his humanity; dealing with rent, etc (Where does he live...? The watchtower?)

-Vic trying to get a 'regular' girlfriend? Maybe after some failed attempts, he turns to online dating and leaves the Cyborg part out of his profile. Or maybe he uses his abilities to learn more (or...everything) about a girl he meets, which gets him into some trouble later. Or maybe this happens automatically/constantly, and he tries to focus to block certain things out in an effort to learn about people in an organic way. I don't know. I feel there's something there, especially with this connected social media age we live in.

-Former friends and family stuff (does he have any extended family? siblings, etc? What do they think of him? Similar to the relationship idea, maybe he's accidentally uncovering secrets about his loved ones that he wished he didn't know)

-Football stuff. What does his old team think of him? Maybe he gets left out of the football crowd and learns what it was like to be on the outside for once (assuming Vic was a popular guy in high school). Maybe he learns that a girl he's been hanging out with actually went to his old highschool, but he never paid attention to her back then (or now), and after realizing that he's been so focused on fitting in, he accepts his situation. Also, I would love to see Cyborg playing a round with the Metal Men, his new family.

[Robotman]

There was a decent Cyborg mini series a few years back. Besides that it's most the Wolfman and Perez Titans run and also Johns' run.

[Blackfist]

Not sure this has been mentioned but As much as I like Cyborgs upgrade, not much of a fan of getting ride of all his fleshy bits, like other aspects the Nu52, it's too 90s. Still, thank gawd he's at least streamlined.


The road to the Technis Imperative was alright

[Jabare]

Can someone direct me to some good Cyborg comics? My only exposure to Cyborg has been through Johns's Justice League, which I've enjoyed.

well outside of the current Justice League by Geoff Johns specifically 3 arcs (Origins, Throne of Atlantis, and the last one in Forever Evil)

Essential Reading:


New Teen Titans run by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Read from the beginning and you can stop after the Wildebeast Society arc.

New Teen Titans: Games also by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Very good.

Teen Titans Spotlight Cyborg, specifically Two-Face vs. Cyborg in "Teen Titans Spotlight" #13 (1987) by JMS

Tales of the Teen Titans Cyborg



Cyborg's a character thats been around for over 30 years so he's got numerous appearances and cameos in other comics.

Other Notable appearances:

Identity Crisis- Cyborg has an epic throwdown with Doctor Light

Teen Titans by Geoff Johns. This isn't a must read, its ok not great I wouldn't consider this essential reading

Flashpoint by Geoff Johns- an alternate timeline story, that ushered in the New 52, not essential either.

JLA/Titans- I didn't particularly care for this but Cyborg plays a key role in this comic,

Flashpoint: Legion of Doom- Cyborg kicks some butt in this limited series

Teen Titans and Outsiders: Death of Donna Troy and the later arc- he's in it not a key player if I recall but has a few notable moments.




I could go on and list a few more but those are the most pertinent ones that come to mind. Check out comicvine.com if you want to track down every comic Cyborg;s ever appeared in, but warning some of those listings are just brief cameos.

[Jabare]

some more pics of Ray Fisher I found online

[ed2962]

Can someone direct me to some good Cyborg comics? My only exposure to Cyborg has been through Johns's Justice League, which I've enjoyed.

Anyways, here are some ideas for what I'd like to see in a Cyborg solo comic:

-Vic getting a part-time job and/or going to college in an effort to retain/regain some of his humanity; dealing with rent, etc (Where does he live...? The watchtower?)

-Vic trying to get a 'regular' girlfriend? Maybe after some failed attempts, he turns to online dating and leaves the Cyborg part out of his profile. Or maybe he uses his abilities to learn more (or...everything) about a girl he meets, which gets him into some trouble later. Or maybe this happens automatically/constantly, and he tries to focus to block certain things out in an effort to learn about people in an organic way. I don't know. I feel there's something there, especially with this connected social media age we live in.

-Former friends and family stuff (does he have any extended family? siblings, etc? What do they think of him? Similar to the relationship idea, maybe he's accidentally uncovering secrets about his loved ones that he wished he didn't know)

-Football stuff. What does his old team think of him? Maybe he gets left out of the football crowd and learns what it was like to be on the outside for once (assuming Vic was a popular guy in high school). Maybe he learns that a girl he's been hanging out with actually went to his old highschool, but he never paid attention to her back then (or now), and after realizing that he's been so focused on fitting in, he accepts his situation. Also, I would love to see Cyborg playing a round with the Metal Men, his new family.

I think these are all good ideas. I wouldn't mind seeing Vic getting a job similar to the one he had in the old days of the Titans...working with challenged kids. Or maybe old people or underpriviledged kids. Maybe even runaways.

[ed2962]

ouch! Double post!