I really liked that run and The Judas Contract was my favorite. The interaction between Deathstroke and Gar before and after the traition was somehow really good (let's not forget that Gar 'died' because of the shot Slade gave him and he was saved by the amazons and then he considered Slade a friend lol)
What I find hilarious about this run is that Beast Boy and Raven's future interst in each other was kind foretold even if there might not have been any plans to pair Raven and Beast Boy back then.
"Excellent!" I cried. "Elementary," said he
Who is Donna Troy? is my number 1.
"It's too bad she won't live! But then again, who does? - Gaff Blade Runner
"In a short time, this will be a long time ago." - Werner Slow West
"One of the biggest problems in the industry is apathy right now." - Dan Didio Co-Publisher of I Wonder Why That Is Comics
I loved the entire series but if I had to choose, it would be the 2nd battle with Trigon.
Cyborg showing how Raven's face had changed over the series and then seeing her ascend down with the red face and four eyes just like her father made my jaw hit the ground.
Also, I loved having Kid Flash and Lilith be a part of the story. Full of action, heart, excellent story content, and of course, George Perez's art. And on Baxter paper.
I think the first Blackfire arc is my favorite. it's the one I re-read the most.
I also love the second Brotherhood of Evil arc (the one where Terra joins), Who is Donna Troy? (her only good origin, should never have been messed with), and of course the Judas Contract and Terror of Trigon. But the whole run is great. Dated, and not quite up to the standards of its competition (the X-Men), but still one of DC's all time greats.
I also wish they didn't delete her origin as the daughter of Thia right after they wrote it.
The first seven issues (along with the DCCP preview) were like an introduction to the team, the seven members and their worlds. But I think the issue that really made me fall in love with the comic was 8 (A Day in the Lives). From 8 thru 20 were my favourite stories. After that was Brother Blood, which I strongly disliked. So I'd say 8 - 20--but I don't know what storyline that is. I know the return of the Doom Patrol was featured in there and there was development of the Victor/Garfield friendship. I also liked the Judas Contract and the Blackfire story--but the earlier issues are the ones that I treasured the most.
I wanted a relevant story about cults. There were a lot of teens being pulled into cults at that time--heck, when I was at university I was nearly seduced into a cult by two cute young women--so it was a subject that Wolfman & Perez could have done a lot with. I felt that by making Brother Blood a comic book villain, with the outrageouse costume--as well as actually involving magic in the story--it made it impossible to expose actual cults as horrible con games through this story.
Now, I might have got ahead of the story (which took time to get set up) and just assumed that it should be a relevant story about cults, and maybe that was never the intention of Wolfman & Perez--but that was the expectation I had in the back of my mind when I was reading those comics, so that's why it didn't work for me. And it brought me up short--I was enjoying every issue of TNTT and then these issues put me in a funk.
But I can see how someone else, who didn't have those expectations, could have read the plotline as a pure Marvel-style action adventure and enjoyed the whole affair. That wasn't me.
I see what you're getting at (and agree with you about cults). It would be like inserting an over-the-top mustache-twirler into "Runaways," and distracting from the real point of the story.
I suppose one of the reasons I liked BB was that he helped even out some dissonance I had about TNTT. They had pretty much become the hottest thing at DC by that point, and I was loving the comic.
Yet at the same time, something in my then-mid-teen skull was grumbling, "but these folks are three sidekicks, a dead-team mascot, and three newbies; how is it that they're a bigger a deal than The JL?" (yeah, I know it sounds stupid, but I was deeply indoctrinated into DC's traditional pecking order, and in some ways, probably still am) I was able to look on Brother Blood as a threat probably worthy of any member of the JL, and the Titans having such a long and difficult time dealing with him, constantly being outmaneuvered by him, sort of gave me a view of TNTT's that fit with my expectations of where they fit in the world, without making the TNTT members look incompetent.
I like the Brother Blood stories a lot, but I think they should have had him not wear the so-obviously-evil costume when engaging with the public. This obvious supervillain being able to make people believe he was peaceful just makes the populace look really dumb. He should have just worn white robes or something like his animated counterpart, without a mask, and engaged the public that way. And then wear his creepy skull costume for the ceremonies and superhero fights.
Raven saying that one picture she saw of him, in full costume and glaring menacingly out at the viewer, had "something evil about it" is hysterical. No ****.