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The New Teen Titans (Collected Editions) #10
New Teen Titans Vol. 10
Writer Marv Wolfman (CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS) and artist George P�rez (FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS, Avengers) present a group of young heroes: Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Cyborg, Changeling, Raven and Starfire, ready to save the world!
In this new collection of the very popular 1980s series, Lilith ascends to godhood and takes up residence on Olympus, home of the Greek gods of myth. Then, the team investigates a 50-year-old cold-case murder, and Starfire is called home to the planet Tamaran, where she is to wed a member of the military--but instead plans to free her people from the forces that oppress them. And the team helps Superman fight his way out of the clutches of Brainiac!
Collects NEW TEEN TITANS #10-15 and ANNUAL #1.
In this new collection of the very popular 1980s series, Lilith ascends to godhood and takes up residence on Olympus, home of the Greek gods of myth. Then, the team investigates a 50-year-old cold-case murder, and Starfire is called home to the planet Tamaran, where she is to wed a member of the military--but instead plans to free her people from the forces that oppress them. And the team helps Superman fight his way out of the clutches of Brainiac!
Collects NEW TEEN TITANS #10-15 and ANNUAL #1.
216 pages, Paperback
First published March 12, 2019
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107 people want to read
About the author
Marv Wolfman
2,315 books308 followersMarvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
July 20, 2019
A bunch of smaller stories after learning Lillith's origins. First up, we meet Kole's parents. This is one majorly messed up story, but I dug it. Then we get a ghost story. The annual has a not very good story featuring a new team of aliens and Superman, sort of. Last up was the Crisis crossovers and a return to Tamaran which I really enjoyed. I love being able to read these stories that have never been collected before. Hopefully DC will keep publishing these for Wolfman's entire run.
April 4, 2019
The team goes under relationship drama and how it affects their lives it shows me how much the team has matured over the years and how well it’s able to translate in multiple genres. Here we have a sci-fi story, a mystery, and a space epic. And with all that the team is tested on how they interact with each other as well as their loved ones. There other books in this series that I like more, this is still good for the character growth.
December 21, 2020
There is an episode of the 2018 series Titans(based on the comic book series “The New Teen Titans” from the 1980s) that is some of the best TV-viewing I have encountered in years. It is certainly phenomenal for a superhero show but great in general.
The episode is about the origin story of Hawk and Dove, a costumed hero duo that was unknown to me prior to their introduction on the TV show. What makes them interesting is that they are not supers. They are regular human beings: no powers, no fancy gadgets, not even billions in the bank like Bruce Wayne. They are middle-income folk who decide to don costumes and fight crime.
It’s what brought them to that decision, though, that makes this episode fascinating. Without giving spoilers, the episode deals with many issues but primarily the aftermath of sexual molestation of a young boy by an older man. It also deftly handles the feelings of grief brought on by the death of loved ones in a freak tragic accident, one in which nobody was really at fault.
It’s certainly not anything I expected, nor is it anything I have ever seen dealt with seriously or in depth in the pages of a comic book. It’s handled with maturity and sensitivity and an understanding that perhaps only those who have experienced these traumas first-hand could articulate.
When creators Marv Wolfman and George Perez launched “The New Teen Titans”, I’m fairly sure that they intended to simply tell good superhero stories, ones that would draw in readers month to month. Not that their sole motivation was to make money, but comic book writers are like any popular writers: they want to make a name for themselves, but they also need to make a living.
They succeeded. “Titans” was an immensely popular title for DC Comics. In some ways, it was a departure for DC’s other big-name titles like “Batman”, “Superman”, “Wonder Woman”, et al. in that these were kid-heroes, and they knew it. Much of the humor and the conflict within the stories month to month was that they were always looked at as either “sidekicks” or simply the “B-list” heroes, the ones nobody really called unless the grown-ups weren’t around. There was a lot of inferiority complexes and/or resentment of the adult superheroes.
Wolfman and Perez touched on something there. It opened the door for more interior exploration of why superheroes did what they did. Back in the ‘80s when these comics were first published, such self-reflection was rare in comics. Today, of course, this kind of fourth-wall-breaking and self-dissection of the genre itself can be found in nearly every superhero movie or TV show, from DC’s “Doom Patrol” to Amazon Prime’s “The Boys”. Much of it now translates into darker, edgier stuff, but Wolfman and Perez managed to do it and still keep it somewhat light and entertaining.
That was the joy and wonder of “The New Teen Titans”. While Wolfman and Perez occasionally tackled serious subjects like teenage runaways, prostitution, drug abuse, and physical abuse from parents, they would still find time for battles with supervillains threatening the city, all in bright primary and secondary Technicolor. Still, these “kids” managed to grow up some, too.
Volume 10 of “Titans” includes: Nightwing and Starfire kicking their relationship up a notch; Cyborg finding out that his girlfriend, Sarah, is in another relationship and he has no one to blame but himself; Changeling dealing with his father, Steve Dayton, dying of brain cancer; Raven, missing after the Trigon incident, but showing up in the swamps of Louisiana suffering from amnesia; Starfire’s evil sister, Blackfire, tricking Starfire into coming back to her home planet to be sold into slavery… again.
The tenth volume also includes two issues that were cross-over episodes during the Crisis on Infinite Earths mini-series.
The DC Universe TV show “Titans” is worlds different from the world imagined by Wolfman and Perez, but it’s a really well-done, smart, and exciting interpretation. It’s dark and extremely violent and it delves into subject matter that has often been taboo subjects for comic books (pedophelia and sexual abuse being two), but it’s also reflective of a world that, sadly, Wolfman and Perez never could have foreseen, mainly because none of us could.
The episode is about the origin story of Hawk and Dove, a costumed hero duo that was unknown to me prior to their introduction on the TV show. What makes them interesting is that they are not supers. They are regular human beings: no powers, no fancy gadgets, not even billions in the bank like Bruce Wayne. They are middle-income folk who decide to don costumes and fight crime.
It’s what brought them to that decision, though, that makes this episode fascinating. Without giving spoilers, the episode deals with many issues but primarily the aftermath of sexual molestation of a young boy by an older man. It also deftly handles the feelings of grief brought on by the death of loved ones in a freak tragic accident, one in which nobody was really at fault.
It’s certainly not anything I expected, nor is it anything I have ever seen dealt with seriously or in depth in the pages of a comic book. It’s handled with maturity and sensitivity and an understanding that perhaps only those who have experienced these traumas first-hand could articulate.
When creators Marv Wolfman and George Perez launched “The New Teen Titans”, I’m fairly sure that they intended to simply tell good superhero stories, ones that would draw in readers month to month. Not that their sole motivation was to make money, but comic book writers are like any popular writers: they want to make a name for themselves, but they also need to make a living.
They succeeded. “Titans” was an immensely popular title for DC Comics. In some ways, it was a departure for DC’s other big-name titles like “Batman”, “Superman”, “Wonder Woman”, et al. in that these were kid-heroes, and they knew it. Much of the humor and the conflict within the stories month to month was that they were always looked at as either “sidekicks” or simply the “B-list” heroes, the ones nobody really called unless the grown-ups weren’t around. There was a lot of inferiority complexes and/or resentment of the adult superheroes.
Wolfman and Perez touched on something there. It opened the door for more interior exploration of why superheroes did what they did. Back in the ‘80s when these comics were first published, such self-reflection was rare in comics. Today, of course, this kind of fourth-wall-breaking and self-dissection of the genre itself can be found in nearly every superhero movie or TV show, from DC’s “Doom Patrol” to Amazon Prime’s “The Boys”. Much of it now translates into darker, edgier stuff, but Wolfman and Perez managed to do it and still keep it somewhat light and entertaining.
That was the joy and wonder of “The New Teen Titans”. While Wolfman and Perez occasionally tackled serious subjects like teenage runaways, prostitution, drug abuse, and physical abuse from parents, they would still find time for battles with supervillains threatening the city, all in bright primary and secondary Technicolor. Still, these “kids” managed to grow up some, too.
Volume 10 of “Titans” includes: Nightwing and Starfire kicking their relationship up a notch; Cyborg finding out that his girlfriend, Sarah, is in another relationship and he has no one to blame but himself; Changeling dealing with his father, Steve Dayton, dying of brain cancer; Raven, missing after the Trigon incident, but showing up in the swamps of Louisiana suffering from amnesia; Starfire’s evil sister, Blackfire, tricking Starfire into coming back to her home planet to be sold into slavery… again.
The tenth volume also includes two issues that were cross-over episodes during the Crisis on Infinite Earths mini-series.
The DC Universe TV show “Titans” is worlds different from the world imagined by Wolfman and Perez, but it’s a really well-done, smart, and exciting interpretation. It’s dark and extremely violent and it delves into subject matter that has often been taboo subjects for comic books (pedophelia and sexual abuse being two), but it’s also reflective of a world that, sadly, Wolfman and Perez never could have foreseen, mainly because none of us could.
May 26, 2019
The New Teen Titans Volume 10 found the franchise in a transitional phase after the departure of co-creator George Pérez.
After parting ways with Lilith, the Titans learned the background of new ally Kole, coming into conflict with her mad scientist parents who were certain environmental doom was imminent and were willing to take extreme measures to survive it. A child’s ghost put the team onto a fifty-year-old murder, while a flashback detailed an encounter with a bizarre alien team called the Vanguard and one of Superman’s biggest foes. Then the Titans became enmeshed in Crisis on Infinite Earths, while the winged alien now known as Azrael was gulled by the Church of Brother Blood, as Arella’s search brought her closer and closer to her daughter, Raven. After a lengthy exile, Starfire was called back to her home planet Tamaran to reunite with her parents (with Nightwing and Jericho in tow), unaware that her vengeful sister was lurking in the shadows or that she’d be expected to fulfill a duty that would rip apart the life she’d built on Earth. Meanwhile, Changeling’s adoptive father, using the helmet that gave him the powers of Mento, became unhinged and promised to be a major threat.
After the second New Teen Titans series opened with the one-two punch of the finale of the Raven saga and the impressive Olympians spectacle, most of the issues collected in Volume 10 found the book treading water, gestating plots that wouldn’t pay off until a bit further down the road. Writer Marv Wolfman was, of course, embroiled in the massive Crisis series at the time, suggesting he was stalling until the new order that the climax of Crisis ushered in for DC. There was still plenty of good characterization, as the cast navigated romantic ups and downs, family drama and other personal preoccupations. The early focus on Kole was well done (even if the environmental message of the story was delivered a bit hamfistedly), setting her up as an interesting addition to the cast and making Wolfman’s decision to kill her off not too much later in Crisis all the more puzzling. Other characters (notably fan favorite Wonder Girl) seemed to drift along without much going on.
The Crisis tie-in issue itself was disjointed, with half of it devoted to the cast’s personal issues and much of the rest of it a re-hash of the team’s involvement in the main series, with only the sequence showing Cyborg’s initial recruitment into Monitor’s strike force being of note. The ghost story and the introduction of the Vanguard felt like filler of differing degrees of success. This stretch doesn’t really kick into gear until the final two issues collected here, exploiting the building romantic drama between Starfire and Nightwing against the backdrop of her unstable home planet, while also dramatizing Mento’s emotional breakdown. Raven remained an ethereal background presence nearly a year after the climax of the first arc, but both she and Azrael loomed to feature in the return of Brother Blood.
A hodgepodge of artists featured in a relatively brief run. José Luis García-López delivered only two more issues as regular artist, but they were absolutely gorgeous, as he took a softer focus, more impressionistic approach that fit the horror elements of the Kole story quite effectively. Eduardo Barreto came aboard as the regular artist, consciously aping Pérez’s style, but without as significant an impact. In between, Stan Woch, later to be known for his horror and fantasy work, contributed a surprisingly mainstream issue that added some interest to the ghost story. Veterans Ed Hannigan and Mike DeCarlo did their usual clean, professional work on the otherwise forgettable Vanguard story. Series staples Romeo Tanghal on inks and Adrienne Roy on colors provided some continuity, but the book couldn’t help but miss the innovation that Pérez had brought to it. Still, there was no bad work here.
Volume 10 is not for the uninitiated. It really relies on a reader’s knowledge of and investment in the events of the franchise up to that point to achieve any impact. But Wolfman was incubating some elements that at least gave readers a reason to have some faith that he knew what he was doing without his long-time collaborator.
After parting ways with Lilith, the Titans learned the background of new ally Kole, coming into conflict with her mad scientist parents who were certain environmental doom was imminent and were willing to take extreme measures to survive it. A child’s ghost put the team onto a fifty-year-old murder, while a flashback detailed an encounter with a bizarre alien team called the Vanguard and one of Superman’s biggest foes. Then the Titans became enmeshed in Crisis on Infinite Earths, while the winged alien now known as Azrael was gulled by the Church of Brother Blood, as Arella’s search brought her closer and closer to her daughter, Raven. After a lengthy exile, Starfire was called back to her home planet Tamaran to reunite with her parents (with Nightwing and Jericho in tow), unaware that her vengeful sister was lurking in the shadows or that she’d be expected to fulfill a duty that would rip apart the life she’d built on Earth. Meanwhile, Changeling’s adoptive father, using the helmet that gave him the powers of Mento, became unhinged and promised to be a major threat.
After the second New Teen Titans series opened with the one-two punch of the finale of the Raven saga and the impressive Olympians spectacle, most of the issues collected in Volume 10 found the book treading water, gestating plots that wouldn’t pay off until a bit further down the road. Writer Marv Wolfman was, of course, embroiled in the massive Crisis series at the time, suggesting he was stalling until the new order that the climax of Crisis ushered in for DC. There was still plenty of good characterization, as the cast navigated romantic ups and downs, family drama and other personal preoccupations. The early focus on Kole was well done (even if the environmental message of the story was delivered a bit hamfistedly), setting her up as an interesting addition to the cast and making Wolfman’s decision to kill her off not too much later in Crisis all the more puzzling. Other characters (notably fan favorite Wonder Girl) seemed to drift along without much going on.
The Crisis tie-in issue itself was disjointed, with half of it devoted to the cast’s personal issues and much of the rest of it a re-hash of the team’s involvement in the main series, with only the sequence showing Cyborg’s initial recruitment into Monitor’s strike force being of note. The ghost story and the introduction of the Vanguard felt like filler of differing degrees of success. This stretch doesn’t really kick into gear until the final two issues collected here, exploiting the building romantic drama between Starfire and Nightwing against the backdrop of her unstable home planet, while also dramatizing Mento’s emotional breakdown. Raven remained an ethereal background presence nearly a year after the climax of the first arc, but both she and Azrael loomed to feature in the return of Brother Blood.
A hodgepodge of artists featured in a relatively brief run. José Luis García-López delivered only two more issues as regular artist, but they were absolutely gorgeous, as he took a softer focus, more impressionistic approach that fit the horror elements of the Kole story quite effectively. Eduardo Barreto came aboard as the regular artist, consciously aping Pérez’s style, but without as significant an impact. In between, Stan Woch, later to be known for his horror and fantasy work, contributed a surprisingly mainstream issue that added some interest to the ghost story. Veterans Ed Hannigan and Mike DeCarlo did their usual clean, professional work on the otherwise forgettable Vanguard story. Series staples Romeo Tanghal on inks and Adrienne Roy on colors provided some continuity, but the book couldn’t help but miss the innovation that Pérez had brought to it. Still, there was no bad work here.
Volume 10 is not for the uninitiated. It really relies on a reader’s knowledge of and investment in the events of the franchise up to that point to achieve any impact. But Wolfman was incubating some elements that at least gave readers a reason to have some faith that he knew what he was doing without his long-time collaborator.
July 8, 2022
On this volume, we got some stand alone stories, and, probably, the first time where all of DC books got a bunch of tie ins and annuals for a mega saga, which was obviously, Crisis on Infinite Earths.
We got two great stories first. One revealing a little about Kole and her parents's past and one about a ghost girl that appeared on Dick's house. On these two stories, we see the major influnce that The Swamp Thing, Vol. 1: Saga of the Swamp Thing had on every major super hero book back then (until these days, of course). Even on the art, the ink and the colours, Alan Moore's, John Totleben's and Stephen Bissete's masterpiece was really a influence, even close to it's release.
Them, we got a annual with a really boring group called The Vanguard and then, the tie ins about the crisis.
And on the end, we're back on Tamaran, as Kory's dad is still making bad decisions.
We got two great stories first. One revealing a little about Kole and her parents's past and one about a ghost girl that appeared on Dick's house. On these two stories, we see the major influnce that The Swamp Thing, Vol. 1: Saga of the Swamp Thing had on every major super hero book back then (until these days, of course). Even on the art, the ink and the colours, Alan Moore's, John Totleben's and Stephen Bissete's masterpiece was really a influence, even close to it's release.
Them, we got a annual with a really boring group called The Vanguard and then, the tie ins about the crisis.
And on the end, we're back on Tamaran, as Kory's dad is still making bad decisions.
November 22, 2022
A volume after the Titans defeated the cosmic horror Trigon and battled the Greek gods of Olympus, they struggle to find their footing in this uneven collection. Marv Wolfman offers a series of ideas that don't feel fully baked: a ghost story in Robin's apartment, a mad scientist intent on turning people into bug creatures to survive the coming nuclear apocalpyse, etc.
It's only at the end of the story that we see glimmers of stories with more long-term potential. Starfire is called back to her homeworld, where it's soon revealed her sister is trying to force their father from the throne. And Beast Boy's adopted father, Steve Dayton, is driven mad and seeking retribution thanks to the helmet intended to amplify his mental powers.
The art by George Perez is good throughout, even when he's not given much to work with (although he does get a workout drawing all of the funky bug creatures). Several stories here are skippable, but the final issues hopefully lay the groundwork for better things ahead.
It's only at the end of the story that we see glimmers of stories with more long-term potential. Starfire is called back to her homeworld, where it's soon revealed her sister is trying to force their father from the throne. And Beast Boy's adopted father, Steve Dayton, is driven mad and seeking retribution thanks to the helmet intended to amplify his mental powers.
The art by George Perez is good throughout, even when he's not given much to work with (although he does get a workout drawing all of the funky bug creatures). Several stories here are skippable, but the final issues hopefully lay the groundwork for better things ahead.
May 23, 2025
Another densely plotted and well characterised set of stories in this surprisingly mature series. This particular set suffers from focusing the story on Starfire being summoned home to a B-movie sci fi setting, and from being clumsily interrupted by the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event, but around that it's good.
August 25, 2024
Issue #10
Cyborg: “Wings, knock it off with that “my Lilith” garbage! Cripes, first woman ya see an’ you go crazy!”
What an absolutely insane issue to kick this volume off, so much is happening and so much is being built up!
For starters we get a glimpse of a Tamaran ship still on its way to pick up Kory. We get to witness the ceremony where Lilith becomes a God and takes her ranks among Zeus and the others in immortality, only for the titans to be returned home. Subsequently the winged guy has a total emotional breakdown, and Vic absolutely roasts him like a country fried chicken. Never ended up learning his name, and he flies away only to be targeted by Brother Blood. Meanwhile Kole is hanging out with them now but is unsure where she should go. The titans are such a diverse crew now, and her issues with her parents would fit right in. As it’s revealed that her parents worked for Dayton (Gar’s step father) and gave her the crystal powers. She is unsure if she should go see them. But Jericho promises to help her, because he is the sweetest person on the planet, and as she has been gone for 2 years, he even uses his moms agency to find them.
But this issue also contains a lot of decompressing for the titans. And that’s great to see! They just fought for Olympus…again. It’s nice to see them decompress. And this issue reinforced my thoughts about Dick and Kory being my favorite couple. But love is not to be found everywhere, as it seems Sarah was to late to pick up a call from Vic as she is with some new guy. And he has a five o’clock shadow and smokes and drinks. I don’t like him. Maybe he can get a bit of the car crash syndrome Matt Cable picked up in swamp thing…just a thought.
We also got a very sweet scene where Kole, who has been living in Olympus for 2 years, thought she should offer herself to Jericho because of how sweet he is and how she likes him now. But Jericho sees right through that Olympus no choice BS, and shows her that he is a friend not a lover, and Kole spends the night talking and decompressing as Jericho listens.
Oh also turns out Steve Dayton is dying and Gar just found out. So not everyone is decompressing…it’s alright Gar! Just wait a bit for crisis and his mind will be fried by some mystics!
Then this issue ends on an insane note as Jericho and Kole find her parent’s new house. But only found her dad, who in the 2 years she has been gone developed a bit of the crazy scientist from full metal alchemist syndrome and started trying to force human evolution through splicing. No telling which one of the monsters could be her mom. Absolutely horrifying.
Issue #11
Wow….Kole really opened this issue with trying to push sex on Jericho and complaining about why they can’t talk…wow. I think Jericho is getting a bit fed up with her family problems…and we know all about his LOL. But I have a ton of respect for Jericho for seeing her advances how they truly are. As a scared child who is trying to use that as the only escape she has learned from her time in Olympus, to get away from the horror her father is committing.
But with everything happening: Vic and Sarah’s relationship. Gar feeling betrayed by Dayton. I realized why this storyline was called love story. As it is truly referring to Kole’s parents. As their motivations for forcing evolution are seeped in a misguided love to try and protect the human race from annihilation:
“Whose love for man has grown into malformed obsession.”
When the titans hear the story of what happened at Kole’s parents they immediately decide to head out for themselves. I love how the standard transport has been that Gar will turn into a big bird to bring Vic.
But as the titans find as they are put up against the creatures, they are severely outmatched, as all of these creatures have some kind of survival skill that negates their abilities or brings them down completely. This got them into a position of being stuck in a tank that would have turned them into the creatures they were fighting. IF, Jericho did not use his powers to take over Kole’s mother who is also mutated. Through Kole’s pleading she is able to get her parents to see reason and that forcing them to transform would be damning them. They claim that one day the world will see there way was correct, as they transformed into full blown insects, but as Nightwing put it at the end:
“No, they were wrong. The answer is not to run and hide from your problems…it’s to work out solutions. Life by itself isn’t the answer to ever hung. It’s what you do with it.”
Issue #12
One thing that I mentioned earlier that is great about titans is how diverse the cast is. You have heroes from all walks of life, and this issue allows us to dive into the supernatural and investigative side of the dc universe. As Dick and Vic see a little girl, who knows everything about them, only to disappear around a corner, as she is using them to lead to her own murder!
It’s an interesting concept and it pays off quite well as we see the titans navigate through this 50 year old murder and finally uncover the truth and bring an old crime boss to prison.
My absolute favorite moment of this is the ending. Bad enough that it turns out some bodies were stuffed in Dick’s apartment walls 50 years ago. But then to see a ghost of a little girl reunite with her parents dead bodies then suddenly disappear while thanking them…then seeing their shocked faces. HAHAHAHA!
Oh also, the church of brother blood easily picked up and manipulated the winged guy from earlier. All they had to do was name him like a lost puppy and give him a purpose. Meet Azael…puppet of brother blood.
Annual #1
Whelp, guess enough people didn’t write to dc comics begging to seeing more of “the vanguard.” As this is basically the only issue they show up in. Interesting issue that takes a look back at one of the titans old cases where they team up with a super hero team in the stars, as they originally came to earth to grab a robot Superman involved in the almost destruction of a planet. Which in turn, was actually brainiac, trying to lure Superman to take for himself then drain the power out of to fuel his weapons and destroy worlds and lure someone out called the master programmer. Whoever that is.
Ultimately I think this group would have an odd time fitting into the rest of the dc universe. How are they any different from green lanterns, other than being a much smaller group. It would be interesting to see where they get their orders from, but apparently they can die just as easily as a GL but they don’t pass their power along. They are like a lesser known omega men. It’s also odd that Wolfman brought this group out around the time when crisis was starting up, as one of the group members controls anti matter and they actually have a panel in this issue very similar to Superman holding a dead supergirl in crisis. But it was white dwarf holding a dead team member. I do have to say, I really like how their ship is a sentient being and is pretty overpowered. But overall the group does seem a bit unmemorable and underdeveloped. If they wanted this group to grow more I would have wanted a bit more promise and info.
It was kinda funny to see how petty brainiac was in this issue though. Because he was using Superman’s power to destroy worlds he also changed his ship to look like him, lol.
Issue #13
CRISIS IS HERE! The skies are red and no one knows what is happening. Especially the Tamaran ship we have been following that is now detecting an anti matter wave. This story primarily covers Vic before he was picked up by harbinger to aid in the crisis. As he finally goes out to try and find Sarah in person, only to shockingly find her with a new boyfriend, who also works as a teacher with her. But Vic has grown quite a bit as a character, and he was able to spend the entire day playing with the children, giving him enough time to reflect and realize he was okay with the situation as long as she was happy. But oh man if that dude messes up once…I’m still disappointed that Sarah and Vic’s relationship isn’t moving in a romantic direction, while it is true they have barely seen each other for a while, but I’m glad they are still connected. On the flip side, Dick is continuing to worry about Kory as her killer fighting instincts and training seems to be seeping out more with every mission.
But then harbinger comes calling and takes Victor along with her. Which really gets us up to speed on what victor was doing before crisis. I can only assume Wolfman was so busy with the event itself that he really didn’t plan much else for the titans to be doing right now as they do show up in some key spots throughout crisis. Instead this issue servers as a way of speeding through crisis a bit and giving a recap on what’s happened.
B it then this issue ends with a new revelation, as we are deep within crisis now and the Tamaran ship decides to show up asking for Kory to come back home!
Issue #14
As crisis continues side storylines still progress over the Scarlett skies. Raven’s mother is close in her search. As it turns out Raven appeared over some farm lands, only to be picked up and brought to a hospital where she slept for a week. Only to wake up, heal someone, and pass right back out. Once she fully awoke she realized she had no memories of who she was, but for a small time became a local healer. But by the time her mom tried to find her she was long gone.
As mentioned last issue, the Tamaran ship finally showed up to earth and asked for Kory to come home! But she is not returning alone. Dick and Jericho are coming with her. And now I see part of the intended purpose of the annual, as Jericho has been itching to have a space adventure. But Dick is reasonably worried that Kory may not want to return to Earth, I hope he doesn’t get super clingy because of those thoughts.
Meanwhile the church of brother blood is still doing there thing.
But more importantly this issue focuses on Steve Dayton aka Mento and Gar’s adopted father. It seems quite a bit has happened off panel as Steve fully kicked Gar out, but in an attempt to heal himself using the mento helmet he has gone fully insane and even tried killing his butler. In reality the helmet was the thing killing him. One thing that does confuse me about this issue, is that I know for sure Mento gets fried during crisis due to helping the mystics. But looking at the dates of release this issue was released before that happened. So I guess the titans have to deal with him for now. But the titans did find that Mento is quite a powerful adversary as they barely stood a chance against his mental powers physically effecting the environment around them. To the point where Mento was able to open and close a hole in the ground and escape to the sewers. Kole could even crystallize the hole to keep it open long enough.
But the epilogue leaves us with quite a bit tease, as black fire stands watch in another ship as Kory returns home!
Issue #15
“The road to war” is a very fitting title, as a lot is being built up here for very tough battles. On Earth and on Tamaran.
On Earth we see as Raven’s mother actually gets a glimpse of Raven, only to be interrupted by the one group we never would have wanted to see in the same room as Raven: the church of brother blood. They got Raven and her mother, and as we have seen with the winged man, Raven is in a very vulnerable place to be manipulated. Especially after the last community she was in, who ended up tying her up and forcing her healing ability through touch. They legitimately could have killed her with the disease that ran through their small community. Otherwise Dayton is continuing the make moves to build his power, including threatening scientists his company employed. No good will come of that and I sense a very tough battle for Gar coming up.
The main focus of this issue has been on Tamaran and learning of the situation Kory is walking into. She has reassured Dick that her place is on Earth and that is where her heart belongs, but her Father may have different plans. Since the war of the citadel ended, Tamaran has started towards a civil war, as some of the states on the planet want independence from their ruler, as the believe his action in giving Kory up to protect the planet was cowardice, and prevented the warriors on Tamaran from truly fighting. Absolutely terrible logic to want bloodshed, but that’s the current state we are in. And of course one of the most vocal people on that side is dark fire.
But there is a chance to prevent this, and Dick was skeptical about everything the moment he stepped onto the space ship. As it turns out their pilot, although he too loves another, is the one Kory will be forced to politically marry in order to unite the 2 sides and rule together. Yep that’s the solution to everything. War with the citadel…take Kory as a slave. Civil war…use Kory in a politically arranged marriage to fix everything. This issue does end with a short story as we get a glimpse at Myand’r’s life as a child in Tamaran. He saw first hand how taking the course of war over peace, even when having to sacrifice someone you love, leads to way less bloodshed and a better society than taking the path of the warrior. If that was something the people could understand and see then maybe this civil war wouldn’t be a thought, but with black fire poking the fires, that’s impossible.
Cyborg: “Wings, knock it off with that “my Lilith” garbage! Cripes, first woman ya see an’ you go crazy!”
What an absolutely insane issue to kick this volume off, so much is happening and so much is being built up!
For starters we get a glimpse of a Tamaran ship still on its way to pick up Kory. We get to witness the ceremony where Lilith becomes a God and takes her ranks among Zeus and the others in immortality, only for the titans to be returned home. Subsequently the winged guy has a total emotional breakdown, and Vic absolutely roasts him like a country fried chicken. Never ended up learning his name, and he flies away only to be targeted by Brother Blood. Meanwhile Kole is hanging out with them now but is unsure where she should go. The titans are such a diverse crew now, and her issues with her parents would fit right in. As it’s revealed that her parents worked for Dayton (Gar’s step father) and gave her the crystal powers. She is unsure if she should go see them. But Jericho promises to help her, because he is the sweetest person on the planet, and as she has been gone for 2 years, he even uses his moms agency to find them.
But this issue also contains a lot of decompressing for the titans. And that’s great to see! They just fought for Olympus…again. It’s nice to see them decompress. And this issue reinforced my thoughts about Dick and Kory being my favorite couple. But love is not to be found everywhere, as it seems Sarah was to late to pick up a call from Vic as she is with some new guy. And he has a five o’clock shadow and smokes and drinks. I don’t like him. Maybe he can get a bit of the car crash syndrome Matt Cable picked up in swamp thing…just a thought.
We also got a very sweet scene where Kole, who has been living in Olympus for 2 years, thought she should offer herself to Jericho because of how sweet he is and how she likes him now. But Jericho sees right through that Olympus no choice BS, and shows her that he is a friend not a lover, and Kole spends the night talking and decompressing as Jericho listens.
Oh also turns out Steve Dayton is dying and Gar just found out. So not everyone is decompressing…it’s alright Gar! Just wait a bit for crisis and his mind will be fried by some mystics!
Then this issue ends on an insane note as Jericho and Kole find her parent’s new house. But only found her dad, who in the 2 years she has been gone developed a bit of the crazy scientist from full metal alchemist syndrome and started trying to force human evolution through splicing. No telling which one of the monsters could be her mom. Absolutely horrifying.
Issue #11
Wow….Kole really opened this issue with trying to push sex on Jericho and complaining about why they can’t talk…wow. I think Jericho is getting a bit fed up with her family problems…and we know all about his LOL. But I have a ton of respect for Jericho for seeing her advances how they truly are. As a scared child who is trying to use that as the only escape she has learned from her time in Olympus, to get away from the horror her father is committing.
But with everything happening: Vic and Sarah’s relationship. Gar feeling betrayed by Dayton. I realized why this storyline was called love story. As it is truly referring to Kole’s parents. As their motivations for forcing evolution are seeped in a misguided love to try and protect the human race from annihilation:
“Whose love for man has grown into malformed obsession.”
When the titans hear the story of what happened at Kole’s parents they immediately decide to head out for themselves. I love how the standard transport has been that Gar will turn into a big bird to bring Vic.
But as the titans find as they are put up against the creatures, they are severely outmatched, as all of these creatures have some kind of survival skill that negates their abilities or brings them down completely. This got them into a position of being stuck in a tank that would have turned them into the creatures they were fighting. IF, Jericho did not use his powers to take over Kole’s mother who is also mutated. Through Kole’s pleading she is able to get her parents to see reason and that forcing them to transform would be damning them. They claim that one day the world will see there way was correct, as they transformed into full blown insects, but as Nightwing put it at the end:
“No, they were wrong. The answer is not to run and hide from your problems…it’s to work out solutions. Life by itself isn’t the answer to ever hung. It’s what you do with it.”
Issue #12
One thing that I mentioned earlier that is great about titans is how diverse the cast is. You have heroes from all walks of life, and this issue allows us to dive into the supernatural and investigative side of the dc universe. As Dick and Vic see a little girl, who knows everything about them, only to disappear around a corner, as she is using them to lead to her own murder!
It’s an interesting concept and it pays off quite well as we see the titans navigate through this 50 year old murder and finally uncover the truth and bring an old crime boss to prison.
My absolute favorite moment of this is the ending. Bad enough that it turns out some bodies were stuffed in Dick’s apartment walls 50 years ago. But then to see a ghost of a little girl reunite with her parents dead bodies then suddenly disappear while thanking them…then seeing their shocked faces. HAHAHAHA!
Oh also, the church of brother blood easily picked up and manipulated the winged guy from earlier. All they had to do was name him like a lost puppy and give him a purpose. Meet Azael…puppet of brother blood.
Annual #1
Whelp, guess enough people didn’t write to dc comics begging to seeing more of “the vanguard.” As this is basically the only issue they show up in. Interesting issue that takes a look back at one of the titans old cases where they team up with a super hero team in the stars, as they originally came to earth to grab a robot Superman involved in the almost destruction of a planet. Which in turn, was actually brainiac, trying to lure Superman to take for himself then drain the power out of to fuel his weapons and destroy worlds and lure someone out called the master programmer. Whoever that is.
Ultimately I think this group would have an odd time fitting into the rest of the dc universe. How are they any different from green lanterns, other than being a much smaller group. It would be interesting to see where they get their orders from, but apparently they can die just as easily as a GL but they don’t pass their power along. They are like a lesser known omega men. It’s also odd that Wolfman brought this group out around the time when crisis was starting up, as one of the group members controls anti matter and they actually have a panel in this issue very similar to Superman holding a dead supergirl in crisis. But it was white dwarf holding a dead team member. I do have to say, I really like how their ship is a sentient being and is pretty overpowered. But overall the group does seem a bit unmemorable and underdeveloped. If they wanted this group to grow more I would have wanted a bit more promise and info.
It was kinda funny to see how petty brainiac was in this issue though. Because he was using Superman’s power to destroy worlds he also changed his ship to look like him, lol.
Issue #13
CRISIS IS HERE! The skies are red and no one knows what is happening. Especially the Tamaran ship we have been following that is now detecting an anti matter wave. This story primarily covers Vic before he was picked up by harbinger to aid in the crisis. As he finally goes out to try and find Sarah in person, only to shockingly find her with a new boyfriend, who also works as a teacher with her. But Vic has grown quite a bit as a character, and he was able to spend the entire day playing with the children, giving him enough time to reflect and realize he was okay with the situation as long as she was happy. But oh man if that dude messes up once…I’m still disappointed that Sarah and Vic’s relationship isn’t moving in a romantic direction, while it is true they have barely seen each other for a while, but I’m glad they are still connected. On the flip side, Dick is continuing to worry about Kory as her killer fighting instincts and training seems to be seeping out more with every mission.
But then harbinger comes calling and takes Victor along with her. Which really gets us up to speed on what victor was doing before crisis. I can only assume Wolfman was so busy with the event itself that he really didn’t plan much else for the titans to be doing right now as they do show up in some key spots throughout crisis. Instead this issue servers as a way of speeding through crisis a bit and giving a recap on what’s happened.
B it then this issue ends with a new revelation, as we are deep within crisis now and the Tamaran ship decides to show up asking for Kory to come back home!
Issue #14
As crisis continues side storylines still progress over the Scarlett skies. Raven’s mother is close in her search. As it turns out Raven appeared over some farm lands, only to be picked up and brought to a hospital where she slept for a week. Only to wake up, heal someone, and pass right back out. Once she fully awoke she realized she had no memories of who she was, but for a small time became a local healer. But by the time her mom tried to find her she was long gone.
As mentioned last issue, the Tamaran ship finally showed up to earth and asked for Kory to come home! But she is not returning alone. Dick and Jericho are coming with her. And now I see part of the intended purpose of the annual, as Jericho has been itching to have a space adventure. But Dick is reasonably worried that Kory may not want to return to Earth, I hope he doesn’t get super clingy because of those thoughts.
Meanwhile the church of brother blood is still doing there thing.
But more importantly this issue focuses on Steve Dayton aka Mento and Gar’s adopted father. It seems quite a bit has happened off panel as Steve fully kicked Gar out, but in an attempt to heal himself using the mento helmet he has gone fully insane and even tried killing his butler. In reality the helmet was the thing killing him. One thing that does confuse me about this issue, is that I know for sure Mento gets fried during crisis due to helping the mystics. But looking at the dates of release this issue was released before that happened. So I guess the titans have to deal with him for now. But the titans did find that Mento is quite a powerful adversary as they barely stood a chance against his mental powers physically effecting the environment around them. To the point where Mento was able to open and close a hole in the ground and escape to the sewers. Kole could even crystallize the hole to keep it open long enough.
But the epilogue leaves us with quite a bit tease, as black fire stands watch in another ship as Kory returns home!
Issue #15
“The road to war” is a very fitting title, as a lot is being built up here for very tough battles. On Earth and on Tamaran.
On Earth we see as Raven’s mother actually gets a glimpse of Raven, only to be interrupted by the one group we never would have wanted to see in the same room as Raven: the church of brother blood. They got Raven and her mother, and as we have seen with the winged man, Raven is in a very vulnerable place to be manipulated. Especially after the last community she was in, who ended up tying her up and forcing her healing ability through touch. They legitimately could have killed her with the disease that ran through their small community. Otherwise Dayton is continuing the make moves to build his power, including threatening scientists his company employed. No good will come of that and I sense a very tough battle for Gar coming up.
The main focus of this issue has been on Tamaran and learning of the situation Kory is walking into. She has reassured Dick that her place is on Earth and that is where her heart belongs, but her Father may have different plans. Since the war of the citadel ended, Tamaran has started towards a civil war, as some of the states on the planet want independence from their ruler, as the believe his action in giving Kory up to protect the planet was cowardice, and prevented the warriors on Tamaran from truly fighting. Absolutely terrible logic to want bloodshed, but that’s the current state we are in. And of course one of the most vocal people on that side is dark fire.
But there is a chance to prevent this, and Dick was skeptical about everything the moment he stepped onto the space ship. As it turns out their pilot, although he too loves another, is the one Kory will be forced to politically marry in order to unite the 2 sides and rule together. Yep that’s the solution to everything. War with the citadel…take Kory as a slave. Civil war…use Kory in a politically arranged marriage to fix everything. This issue does end with a short story as we get a glimpse at Myand’r’s life as a child in Tamaran. He saw first hand how taking the course of war over peace, even when having to sacrifice someone you love, leads to way less bloodshed and a better society than taking the path of the warrior. If that was something the people could understand and see then maybe this civil war wouldn’t be a thought, but with black fire poking the fires, that’s impossible.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2023
Collects issues of 10-15, plus Annual #1 of the revamped New Teen Titans from the 1980s. Most of these stories are setting up for the good ones that will be collected in the next volume. What we have here are a collection of decent, but not great, issues of the New Teen Titans.
The first two issues deal with a love story where the weird origins of the character of Chrystal are revealed. Somewhat boring. Next we have a murder ghost mystery at Nightwing's apartment. This one was fun, but felt cramped. It could have used another issue.
Then comes the annual which open with the character of Jericho looking over an old mission, not shown previously. This is back when Raven and Terra were still part of the team. The mission involves Superman and Brainiac, but mostly is an attempt to debut a new space-based superhero team called Vanguard. At the end of the issue it reads "Like the Vanguard? Tell us about it. Write to blah blah blah." I guess no one did, because we haven't heard of the team since.
The next issue is a total waste as it simply ties in the series with Crisis on Infinite Earths and shows a few scenes only hinted at in that larger series. And unless you know that series, this is all just filler.
Things pick up in the last two issues as we have dual stories running. One where half the team travels to Starfire's home planet where is will be forced to marry a pollical foe or the planet will be plunged into civil war. And a further story on Earth, where Changeling's stepfather redons the Mento helmet and goes off the rails. None of these interesting storyline are resolved. Along with this we have hints of the return of the Cult of Brother Blood and Raven's reappearance after destroying her father Trigun.
As such, I'm looking forward to the next volume.
The first two issues deal with a love story where the weird origins of the character of Chrystal are revealed. Somewhat boring. Next we have a murder ghost mystery at Nightwing's apartment. This one was fun, but felt cramped. It could have used another issue.
Then comes the annual which open with the character of Jericho looking over an old mission, not shown previously. This is back when Raven and Terra were still part of the team. The mission involves Superman and Brainiac, but mostly is an attempt to debut a new space-based superhero team called Vanguard. At the end of the issue it reads "Like the Vanguard? Tell us about it. Write to blah blah blah." I guess no one did, because we haven't heard of the team since.
The next issue is a total waste as it simply ties in the series with Crisis on Infinite Earths and shows a few scenes only hinted at in that larger series. And unless you know that series, this is all just filler.
Things pick up in the last two issues as we have dual stories running. One where half the team travels to Starfire's home planet where is will be forced to marry a pollical foe or the planet will be plunged into civil war. And a further story on Earth, where Changeling's stepfather redons the Mento helmet and goes off the rails. None of these interesting storyline are resolved. Along with this we have hints of the return of the Cult of Brother Blood and Raven's reappearance after destroying her father Trigun.
As such, I'm looking forward to the next volume.
Read
October 11, 2019This marks the first volume without George Perez. He was drawing Crisis at the time, then went on to write and draw Wonder Woman. His absence is felt here, but the artists do a nice job, giving the series its usual detailed, creative visuals mixed with grounded emotion. Sadly, the stories are lacking. Most of them are throwaway, like the two-parter with Kole’s dad, the ghost story, and annual with Superman and the Vanguard. The second half crosses over briefly with Crisis, while focusing mainly on Starfire's return to Tamaran. The character drama isn't as strong as before and the storytelling seems more fractured than usual. And is Vic still not over the whole thing with Sarah? I’m not sure if it’s because Perez left, but I think it’s safe to say the series was past its prime by this point. I’ll probably pick up the next volume when it’s out, because I like the characters, but I won’t expect greatness anymore.
March 13, 2020
This one seemed to build up mostly to Crisis, but didn't include any of the actual Crisis bits, at least not much in an interesting way. I felt the art wasn't as good in this volume as well. Just an awkward group of stories really. There were good moments, but overall it just wasn't as good as the rest, however I am hopeful for the next one as it seemed to be building up to the return of Raven in an interesting way.
October 16, 2020
I haven't read Crisis on Infinite Earths, so the Crisis story in this made absolutely no sense to me, but the rest of the collection was great! Joey was such a sweetheart and I appreciate G&M's decision not to jump into a romantic relationship between him and Kole. Dick is an extremely believable jealous boyfriend who wants to have his cake and eat it too and Gar and Cyborg's friendship is fantastic here. Excited for book 12!
June 30, 2020
Some of the stories in here felt like filler but I like how it connected back to the previous volumes with starfire and tamaran. It reminds me of the episode of the teen titans animated series where starfire and the team go back to tamaran where she has to get married and rule tamaran. I also liked knowing about Kole and where she comes from, and the angel Azrael.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 2, 2023
This point served more as a in between for the previous storyline and what was happening at the same time the DC universe. A lot of the Collection deals with the crisis event that was going on. Still there is a lot of great personal moments as characters work to stick together despite all of the turmoil taking place.
March 27, 2019
Sort of all over but still a good read. This volume situates itself during the crisis and it’s fascinating to see how the pieces fall together like Cyborg’s disappearance and the connections to the main Crisis book.
August 8, 2019
2 1/2. I hope The New Teen Titans are reprinted up to and including TEAM TITANS, but the wheels really come off this trade as Wolfman and Perez change comics forever with CRISIS. No one is minding the store. You'll still love all the characters, except Kole, but you won't see them do much.
February 23, 2021
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
Knocked off half a star for the inclusion of "The Vanguard" - it had no relevance to the rest of the story and didn't need to be in this collection. The Crisis crossover issues were handled far better than I thought they would be.
Knocked off half a star for the inclusion of "The Vanguard" - it had no relevance to the rest of the story and didn't need to be in this collection. The Crisis crossover issues were handled far better than I thought they would be.
December 8, 2023
I miss George Perez a lot, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez is awesome but only appears in two issues. Then the art quality dicreases a little bit plus the Crisis of Infinite Earths crossover makes the whole volume less attractive than the past ones
December 30, 2025
I liked this but the crisis event tie-ins were meh, I only read them bc the plot demanded it. Kory’s current plot on Tamaran is definitely my favourite so far. I didn’t care at all for Gar’s plot, he’s so annoying I skipped it.
June 13, 2019
Ah Kole - the filler Titan, created to be killed off in Crisis. These issues never gelled with me back in the day.
June 14, 2019
Sooooooooo tedious. *zzzzzz*
May 13, 2020
These issues are more of a place holder after previous events and a side show to Crisis of Infinite Earths and never seems to stand up on it's own.
January 8, 2020
It wasn’t bad but eh. I just read it because I liked Lilith and wanted to know more about her other than that it was ok... and raven wasn’t in it so that kinda sucks but whatever.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 24, 2019
This book largely seems to be stalling for time as the heroes seem to recognize how dramatic they are until the focus is on Robin and Starfire's relationship. That seems to have real costs.
And the return as the too-creepy winged man as a soon-to-be villain.
And the return as the too-creepy winged man as a soon-to-be villain.
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