comic books superheroes

Teen Titans Year One

I love me some classic Teen Titans.  I love me some Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Speedy.

I love me some YEAR ONE books.  I love me some BATMAN: YEAR ONE, JLA: YEAR ONE, ROBIN: YEAR ONE, and NIGHTWING: YEAR ONE.

However, this is a case where two great tastes don’t taste great together.

When TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE came out last year, I didn’t purchase it.  I was trying to save money and I felt like I could skip this one based upon the promotional art.  I know at least one person who enjoyed it, so I tucked away in the back of my mind to read it someday.  While at the local library last week with my kids, I saw the graphic novel of TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE on the shelf.  I decided to give it a try.

The story was fun and light-hearted; the art was fresh and quirky.  However, I’m having a very difficult time accepting this as the official YEAR ONE story for the Teen Titans.  If this is just a fun comic, with no implications for the greater DC Universe… fine, I’m sure there are folks out there who loved this.  However, accepting this tale as the Teen Titans actual beginning is just unfair to these characters.  This reads more like a script for the Teen Titans cartoon than something that should be the ancestor to the Wolfman/Perez Titans.

If looking at this as official DC continuity, then the characterization of the teen heroes is WAY off.  All of them are far too socially awkward. Wally acts like Bart. Donna is way too naive. Aqualad looks freakish and acts just plain embarrassing.  In fact, I don’t think Kid Flash or Aqualad contributed a single useful thing in the entire comic.  <<insert Aquaman/Aqualad joke here>> Regardless of your opinion on Aqualad, he did contribute to the original Teen Titans adventures and wasn’t useless.

Again, if the comic was just for fun and doesn’t have any bearing on the DC Universe proper, then it’s okay.  It’s just not my type of story.

4 thoughts on “Teen Titans Year One

  1. I loved the art and the youthful feel of the story, but you’re right about the “fit.” It’s not a classic Year One story at all. Frankly, it seems to have very little to do with the DC universe as it currently stands. If they took “Year One” off of the title, it would be fine.

  2. When it came out originally I read the first issue and had the same reaction as you – so I didn’t pick up any more. Seems like I made the right choice.

  3. I loved this so much, I married it.

    I wish it was an ongoing.

    So it’s off-continuity, so what? Is that a bad thing when it comes to the Titans right now?

    Think of it as the All-Star Teen Titans or something.

    Misbranded, maybe.

  4. Your opinion is why I left the stale, rigid world of superhero comic fandom… because God forbid a comic be GOOD, and make changes, not because they don’t fit into some religiously enforced paradigm of what superhero comics SHOULD be, but because it makes a more interesting and engaging story.

    Aqualad wasn’t some statuesque Adonis of a superhero, he was actually flawed in a non-flippant or superficial manner. -Gasp!- His innate fear of, oh, everything, Donna’s naivete, and the general (and very genuine) awkwardness of puberty that just resonated in the team was completely endearing to me and actually charmed me into thinking that I could enjoy superhero comics again and not get sick and tired of the same derivative crap.

    Thanks for setting me straight, though. Some things never change.

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