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Quote1 And that's what we are-- not just a team, but a family. One day we might be the Justice League-- But for today, we're Teen Titans. Quote2
ā€”Red Robinsrc

The Teen Titans are an organization of young vigilantes banded together to fight crime. Beginning as a group of sidekicks looking to distinguish themselves from their mentors, they would go on to expand into a worldwide establishment.

History

Origins

The Teen Titans are a team of young super-heroes who are the former sidekicks of older, and more experienced heroes. They first came together when Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash responded to an emergency taking place in the hamlet village known as Hatton Corners. There they fought a mysterious villain calling himself Mister Twister. After defeating Mister Twister and robbing him of his elemental powers, the three young heroes decided to band together as the Teen Titans.[2] This decision was supported by their respective mentors, Batman, Aquaman and the Flash.

Their first actual mission as the Teen Titans also yielded the team's first recruit ā€“ Wonder Girl. Donna Troy was a young heroine raised on Paradise Island under the tutelage of her mentor Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman's mother, Queen Hippolyta. Another charter member was the archer, Roy Harper, more commonly known as Speedy. Though present since the team's inception, Speedy did not regularly attend team meetings or partake in all of the team's endeavors. The team's first adventure brought them to the town of Midville, where they fought against Jake Trask ā€“ the Separated Man, who had been terrorizing the town's "Teen Government for a Day" Project.[3] Subsequent adventures brought them into conflict with a band of criminals impersonating a pop band named, "the Flips" [4] as well as a giant robot known as, "El Conquistadore".[5] After unveiling the mystery behind the so-called "Beast-God of Xochatan", the Titans established their first headquarters ā€“ Titans Lair.[6] The Lair had once been an underground facility that served as a records storage warehouse for Wayne Enterprises. The team prospered and went on to encounter several strange villains such as car-club hot-rodder, Ding Dong Daddy and Carnaby Street fashion designer, the Mad Mod. The Teen Titans then tried to help Richard (Dick) reform Bruce Wayne's new ward and found themselves on a mission to capture a criminal organization that hijacked oil operations in Gotham.[7]

In time, the Teen Titans met a millionaire industrialist named Loren Jupiter.[8] Jupiter was putting together a training program designed to help young heroes work within a team dynamic. The Titans agreed to work under Jupiter's tutelage and met several more heroes who would eventually become part of the team. While pursuing criminals linked to the NG3 organization (secretly backed by aliens from Dimension X), the Titans met the heroes Hawk and Dove who had likewise been on the trail of NG3 leader "The Fat Man". Hawk and Dove would soon become close allies as well as team members. Also at this time, the orphan empath Lilith Clay joined Loren Jupiter's organization as well as the amateur boxer Mal Duncan. One of the more bizarre heroes to join the Teen Titans was the time-lost cave boy Gnarrk. Gnarrk formed an empathic bond with Lilith Clay and the two later became lovers.

New Teen Titans

When a being known as Raven sends out a distress call for Robin (Dick Grayson), Kid Flash (Wally West), Wonder Girl (Donna Troy), Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire, the teens band together as the New Teen Titans to fight Trigon, Raven's demon father.

After defeating Trigon, the teens banded together as the official second Teen Titans team.

Team Titans

The Team Titans hailed from a near-distant alternate future where they functioned as an analog to the modern day Teen Titans. When a villain known as Lord Chaos became the supreme monarch of the future, the Titans discovered that the only way to stop him was to travel backwards in time and prevent the circumstances which led to his birth. They discovered that Lord Chaos was the son of Donna Troy and her husband Terry Long. Donna Troy, naturally refused to take any course of action that would lead to her child's death, and elected instead to excise her own powers, so that the child would not inherit any superhuman abilities of his own. With the exception of Mirage and Terra, the future timeline of the Team Titans was erased from existence following the events of "Zero Hour".

New Titans

Following Zero Hour, Nightwing stepped down as team leader, and the role was given to Arsenal. He agreed that the Titans would work for the United States Government in exchange for having their pending lawsuits thrown out. While they retained a satellite base, they also took up residence in the Titans Liberty Island Base in New Jersey with a roster of Changeling, Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner, Damage, Impulse, Mirage, Terra, Supergirl, and Minion. The team disbanded when Sarge Steel cut their government funding.

It was also during Zero Hour that long-time Justice League member, the Atom, was regressed in age to the physical age of seventeen. This chronal alteration would soon after draw the Atom into the Teen Titans legacy.

Titan's Children

Titan's Children 001

 Main article: Titan's Children

A small contingent of Psions were captured and enslaved by an alien race known as the H'San Natall. It was the H'San Natall's intention to seed the planet Earth with various sleeper agents whose bodies would be genetically modified to harness great power and fight against Earth's superhuman populace. The H'San Natall enslaved a number of Psions and put them to work bringing their plans to fruition from a laboratory on the moon of Titan. For sixteen years, the Psions monitored the progress of eight genetically altered humans, one of whom, Audrey Spears, was raised in a virtual reality chamber on Titan. Audrey, and three other of her fellow seeds escaped Titan with the help of the (now teenaged) hero known as the Atom. Kidnapping a Psion scientist named Dorek, they returned to the world of their birth and became the second group of young heroes to call themselves the Teen Titans.[9]

This group of Titans consisted of five initial members:

  • The Atom (Ray Palmer): Former Justice League member with the ability to shrink to subatomic size; now regressed to a teenager
  • Argent (Toni Monetti): Spoiled Jersey Girl who could generate blasts of silver plasma and form simple geometric shapes.
  • Joto (Isaiah Crockett): Whiz kid who could generate concentrated thermal energy from his hands and use that energy to absorb information from objects.
  • Prysm (Audrey Spears): Raised on Titan, Prysm could absorb and refract ultraviolet radiation for a variety of effects.
  • Risk (Cody Driscoll): The ultimate risk-taker, Cody possessed superhuman strength, stamina and endurance.

The Titans initially lived at the Solar Tower in Metropolis where they were chaperoned by billionaire philanthropist Loren Jupiter, reformed criminal Neil Richards and the mysterious Omen.

Their first mission as a team pitted them against Pylon and his organization, the The Veil. Pylon's goal was to study and eradicate all alien lifeforms from the planet Earth, regardless as to whether or not they posed a viable threat. He had managed to capture the alien savage known as Fringe, as well as Supergirl. The Teen Titans teamed up with Nightwing, Robin, and Captain Marvel, Jr. to rescue them. Through this, the Titans learned that Fringe was an experiment of the H'San Natall as well.[10]

A few weeks following this mission, the Titans moved out of the Solar Tower and relocated to a state-of-the-art apartment above Knock Out Video in downtown Metropolis.[11]

Soon after, the Titans encountered their first super-villain, Dark Nemesis. Dark Nemesis had been hired by Pylon to capture the Titans so that he could study their powers. The villains baited the Titans into a trap at the Mall of the Universe in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Titans lost their first battle against Dark Nemesis and they were captured and imprisoned inside containment cubes designed to negate their powers. The Atom, however, succeeded in freeing them, and the Titans fought back, ultimately defeating their adversaries.[12]

This event immediately led the Titans on a journey to the lost world of Skartaris to rescue their missing teammate, Prysm. During this adventure, the Titans teamed up with Warlord Travis Morgan and his wife Queen Tara against the forces of the evil sorceress, Motalla. They succeeded in rescuing Prysm as well as Warlord's daughter, Jennifer Morgan.[13] On their way home from Skartaris, the Titans made an impromptu stop at Lost Junction, Canada, where they were forced to contend with a community of cannibals.[14]

Titans

The Titans is made up of ex-members of the Teen Titans who have passed the maximum age limit to be able to join the Teen Titans. Dick Grayson was a Teen Titan member as Robin, Wally West as Kid Flash, Roy Harper as Speedy. The other members have remained with the same identity from childhood to adulthood.

Donna Troy funeral

Donna Troy's funeral

Graduation Day

 Main article: Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day

The Titans and Young Justice are offered corporate sponsorship by Optitron as a tax write-off, but Nightwing angrily refuses and they're attacked by an android outside.[15] Both teams are left hospitalized and doubting themselves, but they're forced to go after a rogue Superman Robot the android releases and Omen is killed.[16] They take down this robot but Donna Troy is killed in combat, and both teams disband over the tragedy feeling that it's not worth having to see their loved ones keep getting killed.[17] Arsenal and Nightwing go on to accept Optitron's sponsorship and form the Outsiders as a team they can lead without emotional attachments.[18]

A Kid's Game

 Main article: Teen Titans: A Kid's Game

Beast Boy, Cyborg and Starfire decide to mentor the next generation by establishing a new weekends-only Titans Tower in San Francisco and sending invitations to Impulse, Robin, Superboy and Wonder Girl.[19] Deathstroke kills his friend Wintergreen and then ambushes the Titans on Alcatraz island, where he kneecaps Impulse and tells him that kids shouldn't wear costumes.[20] The team are shown statues of dead Titans to understand the risks they take, and Deathstroke reveals that he is actually possessed by his son Jericho who was believed dead.[21] Jericho battles them while Wonder Girl receives her own magic lasso from Ares and Impulse spends a relative year in the library becoming Kid Flash.[22] Raven appears through a portal then vanishes again when Jericho possesses her, and the Titans are able to relax the next day with Superboy and Wonder Girl sharing a first kiss.[23] The Justice League arrive to check on the Titans and they battle over a misunderstanding, until Nightwing arrives to explain that they need to trust the younger generation.[24] Deathstroke swears revenge but the Titans relax more happily well-adjusted in their lives once this first weekend is over.[25]

Family Lost

 Main article: Teen Titans: Family Lost

The Titans get involved when Rose Wilson's foster parents are killed by Wade LaFarge, although they assume this was a ploy by Deathstroke to get his daughter back.[26] Alcatraz Island reopens in San Francisco, and the Titans are tasked with escorting metahuman prisoners. While they're dealing with Gizmo and Mammoth, Deathstroke hunts Raven with Rose at his side as Ravager.[27] While Robin is taking them on a joyride in the stolen Batmobile, they receive empathic cries for help from Raven.[28] The new Brother Blood intends to marry her, and they infiltrate the Church of Blood to stop him.[29] This Blood is a Trigon-worshipper, and they wake Raven to stop his apocalyptic prophecy.[30] Blood is defeated and sent to a Hell-like dimension. Raven releases Jericho, but Cyborg is able to trap him on a floppy disk. Beast Boy convinces Raven to trust her friends and rejoin the team.[31]

Beast Boys and Girls

 Main article: Teen Titans: Beast Boys and Girls

The Titans enjoy a weekend off. Superboy travels to Gotham when Robin doesn't show, and finds that Stephanie Brown has replaced him. Beast Boy is cured of his Sakutia, but the virus begins infecting school children.[32] While Doctor Rovin tries to fix Beast Boy, the Titans round up transformed children. Samuel Register is brought in as an expert to help, but reveals himself as a villain called the Zookeeper who is responsible for the disease spreading.[33] Beast Boy infects himself with the disease again to stop Zookeeper, giving up his chance to be normal. Raven decides to pursue a normal life, and Robin returns following War Games.[34]

Superboy and the Legion

 Main article: Teen Titans: The Future is Now

The Teen Titans' next adventure brought them one-thousand years into Earth's future. They teamed up with the Legion of Super-Heroes to battle a five-hundred member strong army of the Fatal Five. The Fatal Five-Hundred (as they were called) were made up of one-hundred versions of the team, all of whom hailed from alternate dimensions. During the battle, Superboy used the Persuader's Atomic Axe to open a rift, sending all of the dimensional counterparts back to their dimension of origin. As a result, however, the Legion likewise were lost to infinity.[35]

Titans Tomorrow

While attempting to return to home, the Titans were sidetracked to an alternate timeline some ten years into the future of their normal timeline. Here they met older versions of themselves who had since adopted the legacies of their heroic for-bearers. Unlike the real Teen Titans, however, these "Titans of Tomorrow" had abandoned their previous ideals of heroism and adopted a might makes right attitude towards crime-fighting. Robin, in particular, was disgusted when he discovered that his older self was murdering criminals with a handgun while donning the name and costume of Batman. The Teen Titans met with a renegade group of former Titans from this timeline who referred to themselves as Titans East. The members of Titans East still maintained a sense of virtue and helped the time-lost Titans return to their own era by way of a Cosmic Treadmill.[36]

Identity Crisis

 Main article: Identity Crisis

During this time, the Teen Titans accepted several new members into their ranks. The first was Mia Dearden, who had only recently taken up the mantle of Speedy, a name previously used by veteran Titan Roy Harper. They also recruited Dawn Granger, the second hero to uphold the name of Dove. Complimenting Dove was her sister Holly who assumed the role of Hawk. Hawk and Dove began their short tenure with the team during a massive battle in Philadelphia against another old Titans foe Doctor Light.

The Insiders

 Main article: Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders

Superboy shaves his head and goes on a rampage when Lex Luthor uses their genetic connection to brainwash him.[37] The Outsiders experience a similar betrayal when Indigo is revealed to be a descendant of Brainiac 8. Brainiac and Luthor reveal themselves as the masterminds when they send an army of Superman Robots to slaughter both teams.[38] The Titans and Outsiders work together to defeat the robots. Wonder Girl deprograms Superboy by releasing her rage through the Lasso of Lightning.[39] Superboy beats Luthor until he escapes, Starfire destroys Brainiac's ship, and Shift kills Indigo.[40] Superboy decides to take a hiatus at the Kent Farm because he is worried that he will hurt his friends again. Raven visits to assure him that although he is a clone, he does indeed have a soul.[41]

Infinite Crisis

 Main articles: Infinite Crisis and Teen Titans: Life and Death

The Teen Titans played an integral part in a planetary catastrophe that has come to be known as "Infinite Crisis". During the Battle of BlĆ¼dhaven, Superman hand-picked Robin to coordinate rescue efforts in the beleaguered city after it had been attacked by Chemo. Several times during this crisis, the Titans found themselves in pitched battle against the insane Superboy of Earth-Prime. Their fight against Superboy-Prime came at great cost, when the bloodthirsty Kryptonian brutally slaughtered several former Titans including Baby Wildebeest, Bushido and Pantha. Risk was also seriously maimed when Prime tore his arm off and would have died from substantial blood loss if not for the efforts of Raven. The Titans' greatest loss, however, was when one of their own, Superboy, sacrificed his own life to stop the machinations of Superboy-Prime's puppet master, Alexander Luthor. A special memorial to Superboy was erected in Centennial Park in Metropolis next to the one honoring Superman.[42]

One Year Later

 Main articles: One Year Later and Teen Titans: The New Teen Titans

When Cyborg awakens from his coma the Titans are down to Kid Devil, Ravager, Robin and Wendy and Marvin.[43] They ask Wonder Girl back to the team and help her track down the Brotherhood of Evil until Beast Boy arrives with the Doom Patrol.[44] Robin begins to suspect the Chief is manipulating his team into hating themselves, and they're confronted by Mallah and the Brain who has taken a cloned human body.[45] After defeating the Brotherhood, Robin helps Mento depose Chief as the Doom Patrol's leader although Beast Boy decides to stay with his family. Wonder Girl rejoins the Titans and discovers that Robin is trying to clone Superboy, leading them to share a grief-stricken kiss before she runs away crying.[46]

Titans Around the World

 Main article: Teen Titans: Titans Around the World

The Titans tried to track down Raven who had been missing ever since the Crisis. Their efforts led them halfway across the world where they had encounters with Russian super-agent Red Star and the atomic heroine Bombshell. At this time, Brother Blood returned to menace them and once again tried to claim Raven as his own. During the ensuing fight, Bombshell revealed herself as a traitor, and Miss Martian proved her loyalty to the Titans by fighting valiantly against her. When the debacle against Brother Blood concluded, the reason behind Raven's disappearance became known. Having taken the disk containing the life energy of Jericho, she used magic and Brother Blood's Pool of Blood to resurrect Jericho in a new body. Free of the evil impulses that once dominated him, Jericho returned to Titans Tower as a normal human being.[47]

Titans East

 Main article: Teen Titans: Titans East

Jericho's father Deathstroke soon learned of his son's resurrection and sought to make sure that both Rose and he had a place amongst the Titans. In order to facilitate a suitable family environment for his offspring, Deathstroke engaged in an elaborate scheme to force the Titans to accept Rose and Joey into their ranks. To this end, he recruited several super-powered individuals into a new Titans East. Titans East and the Teen Titans battled one another in a fight that brought them all the way back to New York and the original Titans Island. In the end, the Titans proved victorious, but Deathstroke managed to elude capture. Neither Rose nor Jericho learned of the true motivations behind their father's actions.

Countdown

 Main article: Countdown to Final Crisis

This was also the period when two more former Titans lost their lives through acts of violence. A rogue Monitor named Solomon assassinated Duela Dent, the Titans West member who once called herself the Joker's Daughter. It was discovered at this time that Duela was actually an anomaly from a divergent reality designated Earth-3.[48] Likewise, Bart Allen returned from the Speed Field now physically older than he was when he first entered it. After a very brief stint as the Flash, Bart was murdered by the Rogues Gallery.[49]

In the midst of unending chaos and death, two more members joined the Teen Titans. Kid Devil, former sidekick to Shadowpact member Blue Devil, joined the group shortly before the battle with Titans East. Supergirl also joined the team, but her actions following the "Amazons Attack" incident caused a rift between Wonder Girl and she and she left the team after only a few adventures. Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle began associating with the Titans, but has not officially joined the team.

The Titans later participated in a second confrontation with the Titans of Tomorrow, this time accompanied by the cosmic threat of Starro. They also crossed paths with a new team of young villains called the Terror Titans.

Titans Together

A second team consisting of the older Titans formed shortly after the Teen Titans' battle against Starro and the Titans Tomorrow. Having distanced himself from the San Francisco team, Cyborg began recruiting young heroes into a new iteration of Titans East. Some members such as Anima had served with the roster in previous incarnations. Others, were amateur heroes like Power Boy and Little Barda who had little experience working with a team dynamic. Cyborg suspected that Power Boy was dangerous and primarily invited him to the group so he could keep an eye on him. During a training exercise on Titans Island, a mysterious assailant attacked the neophyte heroes and Power Boy was killed in the onslaught. Other recruits such as Hawk and Dove and Lagoon Boy were also greatly injured.[50] News of this incident reached the former members of the New Teen Titans and the heroes reformed the Titans to investigate the matter. They soon discovered that the threat originated with the spawn of one of their most dangerous foes ever ā€“ Trigon.[51]

Deathtrap

Titans - Deathtrap 002

Titans and Teen Titans

 Main article: Deathtrap

Shortly after the "Final Crisis" event, the Teen Titans experienced another major roster shake-up. Long-time leader Tim Drake quit the team in the wake of the apparent death of his mentor, Batman. The reigns of leadership were handed over to Wonder Girl who had an open enrollment session, in search of new members. Many of those who arrived for the membership drive involved neophyte heroes who were formerly prisoners of the Clock King and brainwashed into participating in gladiatorial combat at the Dark Side Club. After carefully analyzing all of the potential recruits, the final roster consisted of: Wonder Girl, Aquagirl, Blue Beetle, Bombshell, Kid Eternity, Miss Martian, Ravager, Static and a now-powerless Eddie Bloomberg.[52]

Immediately after its formation, the Teen Titans teamed up with their older East Coast counterparts, the Titans, in order to stop an insane Jericho from killing dozens of people in a trendy New York restaurant. This debacle also brought the Teen Titans into conflict with a new Vigilante, who had been operating in New York and Gotham City for several months. Both teams succeeded in defeating Jericho, but it was the Vigilante who dealt the villain a crippling blow by removing his eyes ā€“ the source of his powers.

In Teen Titans Vol. 3 Issue 89, Batman and the new Robin, Damian Wayne, arrive at the Tower, and Damian declares himself leader. He later botches a mission for the team when a telepathic teen named Barney is on a rampage, and Raven calms him down, only to have Damian attack him, and let him escape. In Teen Titans Vol. 3 Issue 93, the team encounters a light-powered girl named Solstice after a string of disappearances cause Mrs. Sandsmark to ask the Teen Titans for help.

Damian later left the team and was replaced by Red Robin, Tim Drake.

Paraphernalia

Equipment: Donna Troy's Golden Lasso; Lasso of Lightning; T-Phone; Utility Belt
Transportation: Sky Cycle; T-Jet; T-Sub; Wingcycle

Notes

  • Although this team was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985ā€“86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.


See Also

Recommended Reading

Links and References

Footnotes

  1. ā†‘ Teen Titans #50
  2. ā†‘ The Brave and the Bold #54
  3. ā†‘ The Brave and the Bold #60
  4. ā†‘ Showcase #59
  5. ā†‘ Teen Titans #1
  6. ā†‘ Teen Titans #2
  7. ā†‘ The Brave and the Bold #83
  8. ā†‘ Teen Titans #25
  9. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 2) #1-3
  10. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 2) #4-5
  11. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 2) #6
  12. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 2) #7-8
  13. ā†‘ Teen Titans: The Lost World of Skartaris
  14. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 2) Annual #1
  15. ā†‘ Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #1
  16. ā†‘ Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #2, see excerpt
  17. ā†‘ Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #3, see excerpt
  18. ā†‘ Outsiders: Looking for Trouble
  19. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #1
  20. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #2
  21. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #3
  22. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #4
  23. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #5
  24. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #6
  25. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #7
  26. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #Ā½
  27. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #8
  28. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #9
  29. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #10
  30. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #11
  31. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #12
  32. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #13
  33. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #14
  34. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #15
  35. ā†‘ Teen Titans/The Legion Special
  36. ā†‘ Teen Titans: The Future is Now
  37. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #24
  38. ā†‘ Outsiders (Volume 3) #24
  39. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #25
  40. ā†‘ Outsiders (Volume 3) #25
  41. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #26
  42. ā†‘ Infinite Crisis #6 and Teen Titans (Volume 3) #32-#33
  43. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #34
  44. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #35
  45. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #36
  46. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) #37
  47. ā†‘ Teen Titans: Titans Around the World
  48. ā†‘ Countdown #51
  49. ā†‘ The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #13
  50. ā†‘ Titans East Special #1
  51. ā†‘ Titans (Volume 2) #1
  52. ā†‘ Teen Titans (Volume 3) Annual 2009


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