shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 4, 2018 15:47:19 GMT -5
Teen Titans #34 (August 1971)  "The Demon of Dog Island" Script: Bob Haney Pencils: George Tuska Inks: Nick Cardy Colors: ? Letters: John Costanza grade: A- The Titans are now fully enmeshed in the horror genre, and MAN is it good! Colorful teens investigating the supernatural -- there's a tendency to expect Scooby-Doo, but Haney takes this far more seriously and proves he really can write more mature fare. In the letters page, editor Murray Boltinoff makes the following promise about this new new direction for the team:  Social relevance alienated long-time readers, but he and Haney are still committed to targeting a more mature audience with this new approach. And thus the story within is actually surprisingly solid horror fare. The atmosphere is rich from page one, the confusing in medias res entrance leaving us disoriented and vulnerable as the story begins  The title page absolutely comes alive with atmospheric gothic imagery  And the story delivers so many well-earned twists that it's positively dizzying. First, the sweet old lady that even wins the reader over with her charm and humor proves to be the real monster  But even if you saw that coming, you probably didn't call the fact that even she doesn't know she is the monster trying to consume the soul of poor Donna Troy  Nor that she would be given a tragic backstory making you yearn for her reunion with her lover's ghost who has been trying to redeem her soul for three hundred years. It's positively stunning writing for any horror comic of the time period, let alone a Haney Teen Titans offering. Oh, and the mindless villagers with pitchforks -- they were right. The action is solid, the mood so richly atmospheric, and the plot dense and ever evolving. It's a GREAT story. My only regret is that the art doesn't keep up in the second half. That final page should have had me on the verge of tears. Important Details:- Robin is now back full-time (though this is never explained in-story), and Boltinoff makes it abundantly clear in the letters page that he doesn't know why Giordano had been phasing him out in the first place. - Boltinoff promises that he is "looking into" getting costumes for Mal and Lilith. - Absolutely no mention of Mr. Jupiter in this story, nor any suggestion these guys are anything other than teens who double as superheroes. Certainly no suggestion of vows, nor allegiance to any kind of organization when they make their entrance.  - Lilith can now sense the people around her and (while this was suggested before, it was never outright stated) read minds. Minor Details:- No indication why Kid Flash is not in this story (though Mal does note his absence). I assume it's because he was appearing in Flash #208 in the same month, as well as Flash #207 before it. - No Gnarrk! in this story. Unfortunately, he IS coming back... - Both Wonder Girl and Robin indicate that they do not believe in witchcraft until it is exposed in this issue, but they told us just last issue that Lilith was a practicing witch (which, oddly enough, never comes up here). |
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Post by tarkintino on Aug 4, 2018 15:54:39 GMT -5
The costume-less Teen Titans were a surprising twist, but the Gothic Horror period here is even stranger. I guess they had to do something with this low-selling book and Dark Shadows was popular. But, man, it's an uneasy combination. That's just it--gothic horror had become mainstream thanks to Dan Curtis' soap opera, and other productions, such as his 1968 TV special, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde. Over at Marvel, they were launching new horror titles (like the less than subtle Tower of Shadows), all trying to jump on the Dark Shadows bandwagon. The problem for both DC & Marvel was that by 1969, Dark Shadows was on the beginning of a downslide, finally being cancelled in April of 1971, so any titles trying to capitalize (primarily) from DS would lose the public's chief point of interest in the sub-genre, hence the reason horror did not keep the Teen Titans afloat (a bizarre creative marriage to begin with), nor did it generate any long-running titles at Marvel, save for Tomb of Dracula, which did not take many cues from the Dan Curtis style of horror. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 4, 2018 16:04:10 GMT -5
The costume-less Teen Titans were a surprising twist, but the Gothic Horror period here is even stranger. I guess they had to do something with this low-selling book and Dark Shadows was popular. But, man, it's an uneasy combination. That's just it--gothic horror had become mainstream thanks to Dan Curtis' soap opera, and other productions, such as his 1968 TV special, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde. Over at Marvel, they were launching new horror titles (like the less than subtle Tower of Shadows), all trying to jump on the Dark Shadows bandwagon. The problem for both DC & Marvel was that by 1969, Dark Shadows was on the beginning of a downslide, finally being cancelled in April of 1971, so any titles trying to capitalize (primarily) from DS would lose the public's chief point of interest in the sub-genre, hence the reason horror did not keep the Teen Titans afloat (a bizarre creative marriage to begin with), nor did it generate any long-running titles at Marvel, save for Tomb of Dracula, which did not take many cues from the Dan Curtis style of horror. The horror resurgence of this time period owed to more than just Dark Shadows, and it continued to sell comic books long after Dark Shadows was cancelled. Prince Hal and I discuss this a bit on the previous page. That the Titans didn't survive this rebranding likely owes more to it being an unusual pairing coming on the heels of so many jostling reinventions for the team than Dark Shadows' cancellation. Horror fandoms were only getting started at this point, and people were buying horror titles such as Vampirella and Tomb of Dracula like they were going out of style. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 4, 2018 17:01:18 GMT -5
World's Finest Comics #205 (September 1971)  "The Computer That Captured a Town!" Script: Steve Skeates Pencils: Dick Dillin Inks: Joe Giella Colors: ? Letters: ? Grade: B+ A shockingly progressive script, Steve Skeates writing, and a plot that at no point calls for the Titans to be in costume nor to use their powers. It sure seems like this was a script Skeates turned in for the Teen Titans title that got recycled into a Superman team-up for World's Finest when Boltinoff was hired on as editor to take the Titans in a new direction. Heck, considering just HOW shocking this script is, I wonder if perhaps this is the very reason Skeates was kicked off the title and a change of direction was decided upon. Thinking more about it, that leviathan that comes out of nowhere late in the story may indicate that this script was originally intended for Teen Titans #32, as Cardy seemed to be drawing the covers first, Skeates writing scripts to marginally align with them after the fact:  #32 was Skeates' final issue. The concept of the story is that Mr. Jupiter sends the Titans to learn about small midwest towns, and they get trapped in one where everyone is mind-controlled by an alien computer (protected by a holographic leviathan) that forces them to give in to old intolerences. This is illustrated with disturbing vividness, particularly in the form of racism towards Mal:    Frankly, it's difficult to read. While I salute the intent, were I a publisher of general market comics only recently targeted to young adolescents, even I might have made the call to bury this story in another magazine. And yet, it's not exactly buried. The Titans feature prominently on the cover and (in fact) this marks Mal's first ever cover appearance, likely the first ever cover appearance of a black DC superhero (I know some will point out that Secret Six, Jimmy Olsen's Newsboy Legion, and New Gods all sported black characters on their covers at times prior to this, but these books weren't firmly grounded in the superhero genre, nor were those characters clearly portrayed as heroes). Adding to this, I love that Superman knows who Mal is. The Teen Titans covers may have been hiding him from the casual browser, but within the DCU, Mal is apparently a known member of the team.  In the end, it isn't a particularly good story (plots involving computers fallen from space that take over the brains of an entire town seldom are), but it's shocking, memorable, and ambitious in its intentions. Important Details:- First ever cover appearance for Mal. |
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Post by tarkintino on Aug 4, 2018 23:46:03 GMT -5
This suggests there was a company-wide directive regarding teen heroes, instead of such radical changes being random and/or coincidental. If there is one thing I have learned about DC during this era, it's that nothing happened company-wide except go-go checks and cover price increases. Certainly, there were forces at the company pushing back hard against any attempts to be socially progressive (as in the case of the infamous Teen Titans #20), so it's less an issue of radical change being "random" and more an issue of radical change being a battleground upon which opposing forces at DC continually struggled. And Neal Adams was a respected voice at DC who could get away with things that other socially progressive creators could not. Probably--but Adams continuing the "growing up" of sidekicks was a major move that could and did alter titles edited by others, so one would assume there must have been a bit of approval from the higher-ups, otherwise there would have been an out of control train of conflicting continuity (hence, how the serious Batman was now seen no matter what title he appeared in). Even in 1970, brand identity (long before the term was coined) was important, and if DC thought some of their characters were like 1964 Titans in one title, but preaching social politics or on drugs in another, even they would have sensed a rather large problem at a time when they were trying to match the story/character maturity of their chief competitor. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 5, 2018 0:23:32 GMT -5
Probably--but Adams continuing the "growing up" of sidekicks was a major move that could and did alter titles edited by others, so one would assume there must have been a bit of approval from the higher-ups No disagreement here. Adams was able to get approval that others could not get. Wolfman and Wein nearly lost their careers trying something far less ambitious than what Adams was pushing, but the powers that be liked and listened to him. What do you base that assumption upon? Everything I've seen in this thread supports the idea that different editorial offices rarely had any concern for how characters were being treated across offices. Sure, DC got them to all agree Batman had a new chest symbol. Beyond that, I'm not seeing it. |
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Post by tarkintino on Aug 5, 2018 0:59:50 GMT -5
That's just it--gothic horror had become mainstream thanks to Dan Curtis' soap opera, and other productions, such as his 1968 TV special, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde. Over at Marvel, they were launching new horror titles (like the less than subtle Tower of Shadows), all trying to jump on the Dark Shadows bandwagon. The problem for both DC & Marvel was that by 1969, Dark Shadows was on the beginning of a downslide, finally being cancelled in April of 1971, so any titles trying to capitalize (primarily) from DS would lose the public's chief point of interest in the sub-genre, hence the reason horror did not keep the Teen Titans afloat (a bizarre creative marriage to begin with), nor did it generate any long-running titles at Marvel, save for Tomb of Dracula, which did not take many cues from the Dan Curtis style of horror. The horror resurgence of this time period owed to more than just Dark Shadows, and it continued to sell comic books long after Dark Shadows was cancelled. Prince Hal and I discuss this a bit on the previous page. That the Titans didn't survive this rebranding likely owes more to it being an unusual pairing coming on the heels of so many jostling reinventions for the team than Dark Shadows' cancellation. Horror fandoms were only getting started at this point, and people were buying horror titles such as Vampirella and Tomb of Dracula like they were going out of style. You mentioned Warren (Vampirella), but I pointed out that Marvel did not generate many long running horror (or specifically gothic) horror titles, with the exception of ToD, and arguably Werewolf By Night to a lesser degree (43 issues). In that decade, their Frankenstein, Son of Satan, and anthology titles (Supernatural Thrillers, Chamber of Darkness, etc.) all had failed, short runs, along with never being able to launch Morbius into his own monthly (despite his well-known superhero connections acting as a hook), a similar fate to their short-lived magazines such as Dracula Lives!, Haunt of Horror, Monsters Unleashed, etc.
Regarding the horror resurgence in other media, if we're talking about 1971 (the period of the most recent TT reviews), it was in a thin, transitional period in terms of influence and popularity; I already mentioned the decline of Dark Shadows that year, but one of the biggest horror producers--Hammer Studios, was suffering--badly--from diminishing returns as their kind of horror was no longer in fashion (even after going so far with two poorly received present day-set updates of their Dracula series by ape-ing AIP's Count Yorga - Vampire film from 1970). This was a period before a true resurgence with the phenomenal successes of The Night Stalker TV movie (1972) or The Exorcist (1973) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) on the big screen. Even AIP's moderately successful breakout Blacula was still a year away. On TV in this window of time, horror was not so much hit and largely miss, with the most prolific of the crop--Rod Serling's Night Gallery--already taking a dive in the ratings as it entered its second season on NBC.
The point being that adding horror to the Teen Titans really made no sense at all, from a longevity standpoint. It may have been interesting for a few issues to take the group out of the usual, but DC should have moved TTT even further in the direction of Green Lantern/Green Arrow. For 1971, that would have been potent for a series starring teens/young adults, and even if it failed, the series would have ended in better critical/creative shape than its light start.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 5, 2018 1:08:42 GMT -5
The horror resurgence of this time period owed to more than just Dark Shadows, and it continued to sell comic books long after Dark Shadows was cancelled. Prince Hal and I discuss this a bit on the previous page. That the Titans didn't survive this rebranding likely owes more to it being an unusual pairing coming on the heels of so many jostling reinventions for the team than Dark Shadows' cancellation. Horror fandoms were only getting started at this point, and people were buying horror titles such as Vampirella and Tomb of Dracula like they were going out of style. You mentioned Warren (Vampirella), but I pointed out that Marvel did not generate many long running horror (or specifically gothic) horror titles, with the exception of ToD, and arguably Werewolf By Night to a lesser degree (43 issues). In that decade, their Frankenstein, Son of Satan, and anthology titles (Supernatural Thrillers, Chamber of Darkness, etc.) all had failed, short runs, along with never being able to launch Morbius into his own monthly (despite his well-known superhero connections acting as a hook), a similar fate to their short-lived magazines such as Dracula Lives!, Haunt of Horror, Monsters Unleashed, etc. Marvel's horror titles and characters largely endured thru 1975, long after Dark Shadows. It's not hard to find examples of horror works which declined around the same time Dark Shadows did, but that doesn't mean it applies to the genre as a whole. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Aug 5, 2018 7:56:31 GMT -5
One quick note about Nick Cardy and cover design. The covers of every DC comic at this time (possibly excepting Kubert's for the war books and Tarzan titles) were done from layouts by Carmine Infantino, so any shift in empasis to horror themes came from his office. Cardy was one of those artists from that generation (the ones whose careers started during the '40s) who enjoyed comics but wasn't invested in them the way the Buckler/Byrne/Perez generation was. He drew whatever script he was handed by Schiff, Kashdan, or Boltinoff (the only editors he worked for at DC in the Silver/Bronze Ages other than doing some covers for Julius Schwartz). And it would be barely a year after these Titans issues were published that Cardy finally left the industry (for reasons I'd have to look up).
Cei-U!
We now return you to your regularly scheduled review thread!
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 5, 2018 8:26:57 GMT -5
One quick note about Nick Cardy and cover design. The covers of every DC comic at this time (possibly excepting Kubert's for the war books and Tarzan titles) were done from layouts by Carmine Infantino, so any shift in empasis to horror themes came from his office. He must have gotten some serious push-back for doing that. I was totally unaware of this. Thanks, Kurt! |
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Post by Crimebuster on Aug 5, 2018 10:05:27 GMT -5
Someone probably mentioned this already, but one of the biggest factors in the horror surge at this period was the loosening of the Comics Code Authority in 1971, when it was re-written to allow the use of monsters like vampires, zombies, and werewolves, and allow more overt horror titles and themes on the covers - plus a loosening of the strict moral code they required heroic characters to have. I think much of the surge in creativity at the start of the Bronze Age can be linked to the CCA change, as a huge wave of anti-heroes and horror characters that would not have been allowed in earlier years were suddenly fair game.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 5, 2018 10:07:03 GMT -5
Someone probably mentioned this already, but one of the biggest factors in the horror surge at this period was the loosening of the Comics Code Authority in 1971, when it was re-written to allow the use of monsters like vampires, zombies, and werewolves, and allow more overt horror titles and themes on the covers - plus a loosening of the strict moral code they required heroic characters to have. I think much of the surge in creativity at the start of the Bronze Age can be linked to the CCA change, as a huge wave of anti-heroes and horror characters that would not have been allowed in earlier years were suddenly fair game. That has always been my understanding too, and yet this loosening also likely came about as a response to the rise of horror comic magazines that circumvented the code. I'm sure DC and Marvel were crying "no fair!" to anyone who would listen while Warren was stealing their readers. Another influence that often gets overlooked is the rise of re-run classic horror films on television around this time. In an age before home video, a whole new generation was rediscovering the classics and yearning for more. In my Doug Moench thread, I repeatedly discuss how Moench was always watching these rereuns circa 1970-1973 and using them as influences in his Warren scripts. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Aug 5, 2018 11:01:02 GMT -5
The point being that adding horror to the Teen Titans really made no sense at all, from a longevity standpoint. It may have been interesting for a few issues to take the group out of the usual, but DC should have moved TTT even further in the direction of Green Lantern/Green Arrow. For 1971, that would have been potent for a series starring teens/young adults, and even if it failed, the series would have ended in better critical/creative shape than its light start.
But when did DC or Marvel, or any comic book company make changes like this for the long run? It's an industry based on reading the pop culture tea leaves. They were always scrambling to grab on to the next big fad, and because of the lag between their creation and appearance on the newsstand, comics were often behind the crest of the fad and then stuck publishing issues after the fad. Exhibit One: Batmania. Exhibit One-A: Batman a la Jack Schiff. Exhibit Two: Disco and roller skating. Exhibit Three: Martial arts. Exhibit Four: relevance. Exhibits Five through whatever: Your choice... there are scores of them. Captain America's Weird Tales, anybody? The GL/GA pairing was made out of desperation by Schwartz when GL, a mainstay since the early 60s, was about to be cancelled. I'm not sure TT was in the same boat, but even if it were, horror was already a successful genre at DC and a safer choice as a jolt for a fringe or failing title. Plus TT, as Shax has explained, tried the relevance gig and couldn't get any traction with it. FWIW, TT lasted a few months longer than GL/GA, but each had a similar run. TT had 13 horror-style issues from 30-43 (I'm exempting 31; it was more in the relevance line); GL/GA also ran as a "relevant" comic for 13 issues, from 76-89, again with the exception of a Deadline Doom reprint issue (89). |
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Post by Farrar on Aug 5, 2018 13:28:30 GMT -5
One quick note about Nick Cardy and cover design. The covers of every DC comic at this time (possibly excepting Kubert's for the war books and Tarzan titles) were done from layouts by Carmine Infantino, so any shift in empasis to horror themes came from his office. He must have gotten some serious push-back for doing that. I was totally unaware of this. Thanks, Kurt! Cardy's take on working with Infantino on covers, from an interview that is included in the excellent Vanguard book The Art of Nick Cardy: John Coates -interviewer: Didn't Carmine Infantino provide layouts for the covers? Cardy: Some, yes. In discussing covers and layouts Carmine--I presumed--had the knowledge as to the previous issues' covers and didn't want the comic lines' covers to fall into a rut. I would come into the office to turn in work, pick up a paycheck, or for my new assignment. WE would go into his office and sit down, discuss the cover, its intent, and start to layout the design. We'd work together until it was something we both felt worked well artistically, represented the story or both. Carmine would then make rough sketches of the idea to work from. This would take about twenty minutes. I would then work from our rough idea. In some cases, i followed it pretty much as we had discussed, while at other time I'd change the cover design if I thought of a more effective scene. |
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Post by Farrar on Aug 5, 2018 13:30:10 GMT -5
I don't think he had super-strength during this period (1970 and before), though. He had way-above-average fighting skills and could communicate with sea creatures and could swim really fast, but I don't recall any instances of him using or mentioning super-strength, at least not in any of the issues I read (granted I did not read every Aquaman or TT comic back then--spotty distribution and all that jazz--but I did read a fair sample). I loved that Wonder Girl was the team's strongperson during this period, 1960s-early '70s. Maybe the issue is what constitutes "super-strength," but here's what I meant: ....[Aqualad panel in which he mentions his "sea developed muscles"]... (from Teen Titans #1) Thanks--interesting! |
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