|
Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2023 12:32:56 GMT -5
Who needs those "adult" heroes...what total squares. Everyone knows those hip teens of justice are just as good at fighting crime as their older counterparts...so which two Titans get your pick as the grooviest? As usual, I'm going "classic era" as in pre-Crisis because I had to cut the list off somewhere (apologies to Tim, Cassie, and Conner fans). But feel free to use the "other" option to refute this or call out any other misses I may have had. And yes, late 70's Titans West got included as well. Titans Go!
|
|
|
Post by MDG on Mar 15, 2023 12:39:58 GMT -5
TBH, I only have the one...
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2023 12:43:09 GMT -5
TBH, I only have the one... Who did you go with?
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Mar 15, 2023 13:01:52 GMT -5
Robin by far, but I always liked Mal and missed him in the New Teen Titans. After that it would be either Speedy or Raven, though the latter is mostly due to how George Perez drew her and the fact that I am a "leg man."
|
|
|
Post by tarkintino on Mar 15, 2023 13:03:22 GMT -5
I picked Robin/Nightwing and Speedy. The ultimate sidekick in Dick Grayson was allowed to mature into a young adult detective with his own needs not defined by Batman, and truth be told, he was one of the better developed leaders of superhero teams; he carried a number of burdens (seen in issues that thankfully ignored any influence of the Adam West TV series) uncommon to most teenage characters of the period, with Spider-Man as an exception. Speedy took a similar path, first being nothing more than a junior Green Arrow, but the original Teen Titans comic hinted at a personality of his own, then the seismic O'Neill/Adams drug stories from Green Lantern / Green Arrow transformed Speedy into a complex young adult who was not just happy to ape his mentor and smile (so many teen sidekicks were guilty of this), but he had problems beyond any solution.
If I had a runner-up list, it would include Beast Boy/Changeling (for never feeling like he fit in--something many readers would identity with, and being a guilt-ridden survivor of his original team's sacrifice gave him more character than simply being comic relief. Next would be Starfire, as she was not just some random alien there to be "the pretty alien," but was given a deep backstory and cultural history even some original Titans members never recieved up to that point, yet for all of her family drama, her own need to fit in among humans took some of the edge off of Dick Grayson, preventing him from being as cold as his former mentor.
|
|
|
Post by MDG on Mar 15, 2023 13:42:16 GMT -5
TBH, I only have the one... Wonder Girl
|
|
|
Post by badwolf on Mar 15, 2023 13:42:50 GMT -5
Starfire & Wonder Girl (a.k.a. Wonder Chick)
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Mar 15, 2023 14:02:39 GMT -5
Speedy and Wonder Girl.
I was always ticked that Speedy wasn't included from Day One, though he did replace Aqualad and was retconned in as a charter member way later on, but as a result, always liked that he was a bit of an outsider/wise guy. (And this was in the days before the transformation of GA.)
As for WG, I liked that she liked Speedy and that she was the most powerful of the Titans, though you wouldn't often know it form the way Robin and Kid Flash hogged the action and attention.
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 15, 2023 14:51:27 GMT -5
Like MDG, I only voted for one, Changeling, and it wasn't with any great gusto.
I've traditionally hated "junior partner" characters. So that takes care of most of the first iteration of the TT. And, honestly I never read more than a handful of issues of Teen Titans until the Wolfman/Perez NTT. So Lilith, Mal, Bumblebee, etc. are pretty much meaningless to me other than as names I vaguely recognize. I rather like Hawk and Dove, but I never really saw them as Teen Titans but as more of their own thing that was occasionally grafted on.
I loved the New Teen Titans when it came out, but find it pretty much unreadable now. And I honestly don't care about any of those characters other than Changeling. And that's probably because he's the only character in the history of the various iterations of the comics that almost felt like a kid, as opposed to a character than old dudes are writing to be kids, but are actually just small adults who talk funny.
|
|
|
Post by Cei-U! on Mar 15, 2023 17:20:35 GMT -5
Like Slam, I generally loathe costumed kid sidekicks so most of the first generation of Titans were non-starters except my picks, Wonder Girl and Changeling, in both cases because of their depictions in the Wolfman-Perez reboot. I could've easily gone with Cyborg or Starfire if asked on a different day.
Cei-U! I summon the admirable adolescents!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2023 23:23:21 GMT -5
I think the classic Wolfman and Perez run of the Teen Titans blew away any prior or contemporary Justice League run period. The "teen sidekick" schtick was history, they were considerably their own thing.
Raven's curse had serious gravity, Robin fully came into his own as a man, and Cyborg (a huge favorite of mine) wasn't even based on the sidekick thing. The Judas Contract alone was completely groundbreaking.
All that said, I still thought the SA Titans were plenty fun for what they were. I also thought there were some interesting ideas on how to evolve the team in the 70's but they didn't really get there creatively, whereas again the 80's team was lightning in a bottle. I particularly liked seeing the Betty Kane Bat-Girl (my favorite) show up in Titans West.
I struggled to pick my 2, I probably like Kid Flash and Wonder Girl best from the early days, Cyborg and Raven from the 80's. Even Terra comes to mind for me, despite the tragedy of what happened, before it all went down I thought she was a fun addition to the team. The betrayal and horrible nature of it made for shocking storytelling, but I also missed her as a team member. But I feel like I have to go with Cyborg for sure (my favorite Titan ever, he gave that 80's team so much heart and soul), and I'll go Kid Flash as my #2 (also really wish Wolfman had kept him around longer).
Happy to see Mal get a vote as well!
|
|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Mar 16, 2023 5:11:10 GMT -5
I went with Kid-Flash and Changeling. KFlash, cause I always liked his look and Changeling because of his humor. Some of his jokes wouldn't fly these days, though.
|
|
|
Post by tonebone on Mar 16, 2023 6:33:35 GMT -5
I picked Robin/Nightwing and Terra.
Robin because he was presented as a flawed but heroic leader. Terra because they made me love her so much and then hate her so much.
|
|
|
Post by jester on Mar 16, 2023 11:23:46 GMT -5
I picked Robin/Nightwing and Raven. Robin because I've always enjoyed the character, and I always empathized with Raven, as I was somewhat shy and awkward when I was younger and I found myself relating to her need to keep herself guarded from others.
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Mar 16, 2023 13:13:46 GMT -5
I went with Kid-Flash and Changeling. KFlash, cause I always liked his look and Changeling because of his humor. Some of his jokes wouldn't fly these days, though. You are a man of (I'm sure) wealth and taste... One of the all-time most stylish costumes.
|
|