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Post by Icctrombone on Jan 16, 2019 7:08:13 GMT -5
I'm not sure anything that happens in the pages of the New Teen Titans, New Titans, and The Titans actually matters later on.
But any given stretch of issues can tell you about the time it was written, give you an overview of the pop culture landscape - comic specific and beyond - and tell you something about the psychology of it's creators. And I've read very little Titans between the Judas Contract and Young Justice (I freaking love Young Justice!) there might be some interest in the increasing desperation as the book fades from popularity post-Crisis. It matters to the collector/reader. I'm guessing that Galactus had encountered the FF about 10 times but I most enjoy #119-122, 210-213 and 242-244. It matters if the story is well done. As for the NTT, there were some decent bits after Perez left but they have been fading ever since. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 16, 2019 9:38:25 GMT -5
I'm not sure anything that happens in the pages of the New Teen Titans, New Titans, and The Titans actually matters later on. Eh, I don't think superhero comics ever matter at all, really. And from a continuity and worldbuilding standpoint, 98% of superhero books are future-irrelevant. Do we remember the seventh time Iron Man fought the Mandarin? But any given stretch of issues can tell you about the time it was written, give you an overview of the pop culture landscape - comic specific and beyond - and tell you something about the psychology of it's creators. And I've read very little Titans between the Judas Contract and Young Justice (I freaking love Young Justice!) there might be some interest in the increasing desperation as the book fades from popularity post-Crisis. I read a bit, off and on and there was some fine artistic effort there; but, Marv Wolfman was pretty much repeating ideas. I did find his attempt ad rehabilitating Jason Todd interesting, in light of how everyone else seemed to go out of their way to make the character unlikeable. he had Robin teaming with the group, for a few issues and had him mature a bit. I suspect, had he been able to handle the character on a regular basis, the vote would have been decidedly in favor of Jason Lives! The attempt to reconcile Wonder Girl, in light of post-Crisis Wonder Woman, was a mess, though it was nice to see Perez back. I hated the name Troia, though, and the costume was way too busy. I still preferred the red bodysuit. |
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Post by shaxper on Jan 16, 2019 20:23:06 GMT -5
Teen Titans #48 (June 1977)  "Daddy's Little Crimefighter!" Script: Bob Rozakis Pencils: Jose Delbo Inks: Vince Colletta Colors: Jerry Serpe Letters: Milt Snapinn (uncredited) grade: C Well it certainly didn't take long for Rozakis' pet character to completely usurp the focus of this title. It isn't particularly worthwhile, and the unexplained new costume and codename (both arguably even more terrible than her previous choices) aside:  Harlequin doesn't really do much to deserve the center-stage attention she receives here beyond helping Wonder Girl to finally put Speedy in his place...   Of course, now that Harlequin got her time in the spotlight, Rozakis has a new pet character all lined up to take center stage next time around:  So she sewed that costume, flying mechanism, hypnotic buzz sound, and honey glue gun all on her own over the course of a week or so? And just to prove a point to Mal?? I sincerely hope this all gets explained next issue. In the meantime, Rozakis is so busy showing how much butt Bumblebee kicks (please note: she takes down four Titans, including Mal twice):  that he kinda' sorta' forgets this little thing about Mal that was introduced in TT #45 and repeated in every issue prior to this one:  ...ummmm, oops? Meanwhile, Duela Dent's explanation for why she assumed the mantle of The Joker's Daughter finally gets explained, even if it makes no damn sense:  And why maintain the Joker look/theme in her new Harlequin identity once she has managed to (temporarily) reform Two Face by the close of the story? And, for what it's worth, the idea that she might not actually be Two Face's daughter is left open by Rozakis (whether intentionally or accidentally) when she explains her backstory to him, and he is initially confused:  He ultimately "remembers," but in a crazed, confused sort of way. Kind of seems like "Duela" might have been gaslighting an unstable maniac, here. And, by the way, the panels that follow remind us that Two Face's origin was just told in a recent issue of DC Super Stars. I pulled out that issue and checked -- absolutely no mention of Gilda nor a baby in that origin story. So the final little twist Marv Wolfman adds to the story of Duela Dent many years from now truly can work with what happens here:  IMPORTANT DETAILS:- Origin of The Joker's Daughter revealed - Joker's Daughter becomes Harlequin - 1st appearance of Bumblebee MINOR DETAILS:- LOVED this panel:  - Rozakis continues to push that inter-title continuity, as well as reminds us that the Titans are a mere Junior Justice League that normally shouldn't be left to tackle A list villains on their own:  - Ummm...what happened to the SIX villains working for Two-Face at the close of last issue? Never mentioned again. - The letter column is full of complaints about Mal being downgraded from Guardian to horn-toter. In closing, Rozakis gets to spend a bunch of time on two characters he created that he clearly likes more than we do. The Titans are kinda' there too. |
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Post by spoon on Jan 16, 2019 20:48:04 GMT -5
I also bought an issue of the Silver Age series - Teen Titans #25. #25-27 make up arguably the most quality (though controversial) stretch of the original run. Great purchase! I bought it because #25 was the best combo of cool cover, low price, and acceptable condition among the Teen Titans issues at my LCS. I was surprised by how many issues of Teen Titans the shop had, and a bunch were under $10. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 17, 2019 12:39:10 GMT -5
I'm still on record as liking Duela Dent; but, I didn't read this story until I was in college and found this whole run of the book. Prior to that, I had #45, one part of the Titans West story, and the final issue, before picking up the new series, on a relatively regular basis. It doesn't work as well, in context with previous titans issues; but, I didn't have as much of a problem with it, as a random issue. It's hokey, as all of this era is. The tank was out of gas. i just wish they would have gone whole hog looney and gone out with more of a bang.
Harlequin could have been a really great trickster character and was a bitter better, in that line, in Batman Family.
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Post by shaxper on Jan 17, 2019 17:53:10 GMT -5
I'm still on record as liking Duela Dent; but, I didn't read this story until I was in college and found this whole run of the book. Prior to that, I had #45, one part of the Titans West story, and the final issue, before picking up the new series, on a relatively regular basis. It doesn't work as well, in context with previous titans issues; but, I didn't have as much of a problem with it, as a random issue. It's hokey, as all of this era is. The tank was out of gas. i just wish they would have gone whole hog looney and gone out with more of a bang. Harlequin could have been a really great trickster character and was a bitter better, in that line, in Batman Family. It's less that I have a problem with Duela Dent and more that I have a problem with her usurping the title without really earning it. She doesn't do anything wrong, but she doesn't bring much to the Titans either. |
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Post by tarkintino on Jan 17, 2019 23:12:58 GMT -5
Teen Titans #48 (June 1977) "Daddy's Little Crimefighter!" Script: Bob Rozakis Pencils: Jose Delbo Inks: Vince Colletta Colors: Jerry Serpe Letters: Milt Snapinn (uncredited) grade: C I guess that's a comment on the overall revival title, and why it quickly failed. Yeah, I've never understood the fascination with this character. Knock-offs are rarely worth the attention they did not earn. Yeah, that was overkill. Its the same hitting-the-audience-over-the-head approach TV series would use to instantly sell a new character as great and/or had to be accepted by series stars. It usually ends up having the opposite manner. ...that said, about her building all of her tech and costumes...well, Peter Parker took no time at all creating his costume, web-shooters, web'fluid, etc.... Well, he is Marginalized Mal, so thing like past events and continuity mean little when writing him. It makes one wonder if Rozakis ever just stepped back and read his own scripts a few times, just to see of it made sense.... By now (then), readers should have been used to Mal being mishandled in one way or another. ART: Jose Delbo's art was downright amateurish and crude. |
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Post by shaxper on Jan 17, 2019 23:28:58 GMT -5
ART: Jose Delbo's art was downright amateurish and crude. I can't say it particularly bugged me, and I liked how he softened up Duela's face and made it look less severe and contorted than Novick and Brown had.  Of course, then he did this...  I keep thinking he modelled it on Phyllis Diller:  |
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Post by tarkintino on Jan 17, 2019 23:49:11 GMT -5
ART: Jose Delbo's art was downright amateurish and crude. I can't say it particularly bugged me, and I liked how he softened up Duela's face and made it look less severe and contorted than Novick and Brown had. Of course, then he did this... I keep thinking he modelled it on Phyllis Diller: Diller! HAahaha! |
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Post by MDG on Jan 18, 2019 7:07:27 GMT -5
Delbo's not a favorite, but I think it's Coletta here that's the icing on the cake ( or, more accurately, the final nail in the coffin). There was a real dearth of decent inking at DC around this time.
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Post by shaxper on Jan 18, 2019 8:52:54 GMT -5
Delbo's not a favorite, but I think it's Coletta here that's the icing on the cake ( or, more accurately, the final nail in the coffin). There was a real dearth of decent inking at DC around this time. Coletta worked fast and (Neal Adams personally told me) got his editors laid. I don't think the people who gave him work truly understood the importance of a good inker as opposed to a likable inker. |
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Post by shaxper on Jan 19, 2019 9:09:00 GMT -5
Teen Titans #49 (August 1977)  "Raid of the Rocket-Rollers" Script: Bob Rozakis Pencils: Jose Delbo Inks: Vince Colletta Colors: Jerry Serpe Letters: Milton Snapinn grade: F Arguably the single sloppiest Titans story I have yet read. "The Rocket Rollers" (a bunch of dudes on skateboards that, I guess, move fast or something?)  decide to raid Gabriel Horn, inexplicably knowing the Titans will be there (Rozakis recognizes this plot hole late in the story and explains it away at the end), the Titans immediately respond in costume even while Roy was playing with Great Frog on the stage and Duela Dent was not in make-up five seconds earlier, the skateboarders somehow pose a legitimate threat to the super-powered team and win the first battle(??), Rozakis once again runs out of space and explains away the climax and falling action of the story instead of showing them to us, Aqualad recovers from his mysterious ailment and then doesn't, and Mal takes on this horrendous new costume designed by a fan:  only to chuck it away by the end of the issue in order to become The Guardian again...or not:  Really, the only thing this story even comes close to doing right is working on character relationships. Roy is getting creepier, randomly offering back massages to Duela in front of Donna:  And Mal is mopey as ever,  but Karen Beecher is about to kick that self-imposed alienation out of him when she explains her entire reason for becoming Bumblebee was to prove the Titans didn't care about him...but they proved her wrong. Beyond this, the whole thing is a muddled mess of confusion that really doesn't warrant a lengthy discussion, as I don't want to spend more time writing about this story than Rozakis spent actually writing this story. Important Details:- Bumblebee revealed to be Karen Beecher (but we already knew this). Joins the Teen Titans - Mal gets a new costume...and then takes back an old costume...but he isn't really...?? - Mal is called "The Hornblower" for the first time, but I can't tell if it's a nickname or an official code name, and I also can't tell if he's keeping it beyond this issue. Minor Details:- Nope. Bumblebee isn't going to explain to us how she built her own weapons, but Roy sure does ask ("It must remain my secret for now"). You suck, Rozakis. - The Titans star in a sold out benefit concert where all they do is stand on stage, offering roster updates and demonstrations of their powers?  Shouldn't like every criminal in town plan in advance to do their bad stuff at exactly this time? - Mal says his horn is stolen. We did see one of the Rocket Rollers grab it, but he was no longer holding it in the very next panel. - Aquaman flipping out on the Titans and blaming them for Aqualad's illness seems totally out of place and never gets resolved,  but I'm wondering if it was supposed to be because he is currently dealing with the death of his son in his own title. No editor's box ever bothers to explain this. - When Vinnie Coletta gets your editor laid, you can be sure he'll be endorsing...  Coming to an escort service near you. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 19, 2019 11:20:37 GMT -5
Even pro wrestling never came up with anything as hideous as Mal's costume.
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Post by MWGallaher on Jan 20, 2019 12:04:17 GMT -5
Even pro wrestling never came up with anything as hideous as Mal's costume. This strikes me as some kind of favor to Dave Elyea. They'd decided to ditch the crummy horn-blowing routine and had a chance to give Dave the opportunity to be a "comics creator", knowing that the costume would never be seen again anyway. A little net searching shows that Dave is still an active comic book fan with an internet presence in other comics-related forums. He did a self-published comic in 1984 called Northern Stars, featuring superheroes in Michigan, and ran a comics store in Cheboygan that closed after a neighboring restaurant burned down. |
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Post by shaxper on Jan 20, 2019 13:02:51 GMT -5
Even pro wrestling never came up with anything as hideous as Mal's costume. This strikes me as some kind of favor to Dave Elyea. They'd decided to ditch the crummy horn-blowing routine and had a chance to give Dave the opportunity to be a "comics creator", knowing that the costume would never be seen again anyway. Yes, I definitely saw it as a bit of fan service, knowing full-well that the costume would never be seen again after this issue. And that's a very good thing. Very cool! I don't know my letter hacks very well. I certainly wasn't familiar with this one. |
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