Teen Titans, Vol. 1: A Kid's Game

Teen Titans (2003) #1

by Geoff Johns

Witness the dawn of a new era in TEEN TITANS: A KID'S GAME, a 192-page trade paperback collecting the best-selling TEEN TITANS #1-7, written by the fan-favorite Geoff Johns with art by Mike McKone and Marlo Alquiza, additional art by Tom Grummett, Nelson DeCastro and Kevin Conrad, and a cover by Michael Turner! Witness the gathering of a new team of Teen Titans and their initial battle against an old, familiar foe: Deathstroke! The reasons behind his actions prove shocking to the team, and before the teen heroes can even get their feet on the ground, they must reencounter the cult of Brother Blood. Plus, an introduction by Johns and Profile Pages from TEEN TITANS/OUTSIDERS SECRET FILES #1!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Comic Book

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.

His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.

Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved A Kid's Game! Who knew the Teen Titans were so cool?
Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg have decided to mentor and train the next generation of Titans, but of course, it's not quite that simple. Not only are they faced with a crazy villain from their past, but some of the new recruits are less than enthusiastic about being there and/or following their rules. Add that to the fact that not all of their previous mentors are ready to cut the cord, and you have the makings of an excellent start to a new group of heroes!

Honestly, I'm almost tired of saying how much I love Geoff Johns' writing. Has he ever written anything that just flat-out sucked? Never mind. If he has, I don't want to know.

I personally think Robin stole the show in this. It had to be hard for Johns to make the kid who is stuck between Batman and Nightwing stand out, but he did it. Somehow, Robin manages to be the coolest kid in the room. Yes. Even with Batman hovering in the shadows.

Connor was another one who really interested me. He is the answer to the question, "What if Superman wasn't such a goody-goody?". It's going to be a lot of fun watching him figure out his place in the scheme of things.

Bottom line...I'm definitely going back for more.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was pretty dang good, but that's what I expected.

This deals with the fallout after both Young Justice and The Titans series come to their end. The older titans move on to become outsiders, which I reviewed in another series, and really enjoyed most of it. This deals with mostly the Young Justice kids becoming Teen Titans. Tim, Wonder Girl, Superboy, Impulse (Who becomes kid flash), and Beast boy all join together along with Cyborg and Starfire as their teacher. However, when Deathstroke comes after the new kids who will suffer? That's what this is all about!

The art is solid, a mix of Young Justice and Outsiders style. I dig it. I also enjoyed a lot of the character interaction, especially Superboy and Wonder Girl stuff. Tim as a leader is great too. I like the idea of the two mentors as well. Deathstroke as a villain seems out of character first but once we learn the truth it's interesting. Saying that, it is a bit odd and takes awhile for the gang to get together. It isn't perfect but it's fun. A 4 out of 5.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so good!

It starts with Cyborg recruiting this new team of heroes including Tim, Conner, Cassie and Bart and we follow their present status quo and whatever is happening and then their individual struggles after what happened to Donna and then their battles with villains old and new like Jericho whose in Deathstroke's body and finally things with Beast Boy and Starfire. There is foreshadowing of things to come with Raven and thats big. The struggles of Conner and his secrets and the coming of Krypto and I love the transition of Bart to a big legacy!

And the ending was awesome, setting big things with Deathstroke and this generation of Titans! I love also the thing with Diana and the JL vs TT thing that almost happened and shows tension there and the need for privacy and I love how Johns brought that original tensions and team dynamic and conflicts and them having to want their own identity back into the book and its really well done and the art was so good, each page is a blast to read through and finally the big battles are awesome too! One of the best relaunches ever.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this trade when it was first released, and I really liked it at the time. I really like it now, too, though it does kind of bother me that I don't really know what happened at the end of Young Justice. This is, of course, entirely my own fault for not having read Young Justice. I will fix this.

Back to the topic at hand: I love Teen Titans as a concept, and I love many of the characters that end up in the roster. I'm especially attached to a Robin-Starfire-Beast Boy-Cyborg-Raven team because of the awesome cartoon. Different Robin, which is fine- Tim's my favorite Robin anyways. I've read bits and pieces of Impulse, Superboy and Cassie as Wondergirl in other places, so I like them, too. So a very good team for me.

The storyline is various shades of the younger half of the team (Robin, Superboy, Impulse, and Wonder Girl) proving themselves as heroes, first to the older and more experienced part of the team, then in battle against Deathstroke, and to and against their JLA counterparts. That part's notable for letting Wonder Woman be totally wrong without it being out of character or turning her into a straw feminist. (Hooray for a realistically flawed Wonder Woman!) Plenty of action to keep the story moving, without losing sight of the personal storylines of the characters.

[Donovan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would rate this 4 stars if there was more heart and humor. That's what I enjoyed about Marv Wolfman's early 80s New Teen Titans: it was a balance of action, humor, in-fighting, and villainy that tested and refined their abilities. But here the new Titans are kind of bitchy, angsty, arrogant teens, and they pay for their folly. With more sarcasm than heart or humor, it sort of bums me out, disallows me to care for them. Even the old Titans (apart from Garfield, one of the funnier characters) are lacking in humor and their usual charm. They've taken on parental roles and fail to do what they set out to do: protect the new Titans while encouraging them to carry on the name. Unusually, the humorlessness and attitudes escalate to full on fights between Titans and the Justice League, and I just didn't care for it. That being said, the young Titans do still develop and mature in a short amount of time, and this combined with the storyline kept me reading right along.

KRRRAKOOOM! Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke has it out for the Titans. (Although I have trouble with the "I'm going to kill you so you know how dangerous it is to be a Teen Titan" logic. But maybe it's just me.) While avoiding spoilers (I don't know what your knowledge of Titans is, probably limited like mine), Deathstroke's relationship to the fallen Jericho plays big time for his hatred for the Teen Titans. This theme and what happens later is interestingly echoed in Jeff Lemire's Teen Titans Earth One. But Deathstroke, like happens in other Titans' plots, is secondary to their own internal conflicts. While I didn't enjoy this as much as Wolfman or Lemire's Titans, it's still worth reading if you're interested in the Titans, and I'm hoping the series will pick up speed, humor, and lose some bitchiness as it goes along.

[Vinicius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gostei bastante desse primeiro arco dos Titãs do Johns, acho que aqui ele ainda não estava paranoico em ficar mexendo na cronologia da DC tentando mudas os paradigmas vigentes. Acredito que por isso, a HQ foi bem bacana de ser lida.

Nesse arco, temos uma história bem focada na relação dos personagens, estabelendo interações entre os membros já estabelecidos nos jovens titãs, com os novos titãs que iriam adentrar no grupo, que são heróis que fizeram parte da justiça jovem, que diga-se de passagem, é uma revista bem divertida.

Respeitando o status quo de veteranos que os titãs antigos possuem, Johns trabalha essa questão de maturidade para com os novos titãs, pegando esses heróis adolescentes que são parceiros, filhos e/ou parentes de heróis de legado, e buscam dar uma orientação e ajuda no sentido de ganhar experiência, mas também respeitar a individualidade de cada um.

Apesar de todo esse foco nas relações entre os personagens, temos bons quadros de ação, principalmente quando Slade enfrenta o Impulso, que no decorrer do arco, amadurece de forma bem legal.

Assim, ressalto que estava apreensivo em realizar essa leitura e achar o texto maçante ou a história sem cadencia, mas o Johns me surpreendeu e foi um gibi bem divertido.

[Nico · Rating 4 out of 5]

OKAY FIRST OF ALL I'M PISSED. This is a 5 star novel with a 4 star rating (temporarily, of course) because I'M PISSED OFF. AND IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PLOT OR THE SETTING OR THE CHARACTERS. IT HAS TO DO WITH MY FREAKING PET PEEVE OF THE KIND OF PAPER IT'S PRINTED ON. The reason I buy graphic novels and not comics is because I have a vendetta against the kind of paper that is all rough and it doesn't read as well as the glossy paper like the ones in say Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Born to Kill or Fantastic Four, Volume 1. So I spend the extra money (OKAY YOU KNOW WHAT $4 OR $5 DIFFERENCE IS A BIG THING FOR A STUDENT WITH NO JOB) to get the nice glossy paper, not the shitty rough substandard paper that tons of other people love (including my Mother, who is ashamed of me [I'm kidding Mom, if you see this then know I'm joking] for it). SO I'M DROPPING A STAR FOR NOT WARNING ME - THIS IS BECAUSE OF YOU CHAPTERS/INDIGO/COLES!!!

*TAKES BREATH*

Alright. Let's get down to the review of the content, shall we?

My God, it was awesome. That second-last volume had me cackling and shivering and talking to Nightwing through the pages (I'm not insane, I swear). I loved Beast Boy (naturally) and it was so nice to read him again. My little shipper heart of BBRae (Beast Boy aka Changeling aka Garth and Raven aka Rachel Roth for those of you who don't ship it and are rolling their eyes at me) was only slightly disappointed that she only made a very quick (but important) appearance. But I went into this for the whole team, not just them, and the rest of me was SO not disappointed.

The sheer amount of character development that was craftily written in here was unbelievable. And yet somehow it was only after I finished I realized how much it really was. What I mean is at the time it didn't seem crammed in, or rushed or anything, it was just old fashioned good writing.

Speaking of not being rushed, I liked that they weren't all like "Oh hey, so this is happening! We're at completely different points in our lives, but whatever, we'll work out having to save the world together! I'm cool with this, when's lunch?". There were catfights and punches and kisses and deceitful teenagers aplenty and I was impressed that Geoff took the hard route and made it more realistic.

I am very eager to get my hands on the plot of the next novel, but not the actual physical copy. SO. SO. SO. PISSED. However my love of the Teen Titans will prevail against my hatred for gross rough paper. *sigh* What we do for love...

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2003, the Titans were floundering. After the New Teen Titans finally fizzled out with a cast of DC's newer heroes, Dan Jurgens unsuccessfully tried to introduce a totally new cast, then Devin Grayson tried to return to the heights of Marv Wolfman's Titans without introducing much innovative to the mix.

Enter Geoff Johns' v3. He saw better than anyone else how Marv Wolfman had reinvented the Titans and was able to do something similar for a new era. He largely built his cast around PAD's Young Justice team, which offered a much better group of true teens who were crucial to the DC universe at the time. But, he kept around some old favorites from previous Titans as mentors and also built on old Titans storylines.

However, it wasn't just recognizing and repeating a formula that made Johns' Teen Titans work. He also did a superb job of discovering who these characters were and making them his own. So we get a Tim Drake who is wondering about his future; a Bart Allen who totally reinvents himself as Kid Flash; a Connor Kent who's alienated in his small town and shocked to discover secrets about his heritage; and a Cassie Sandsmark who's ostracized and suffering from survivor's guilt. These are intriguing characters who are obviously at the beginning of great arcs.

A Kid's Game (#1-7). The first story dives straight back into one of the New Teen Titans greatest villains: Deathstroke. But there's a lot of nuance to who's going on with Slade. If it were just a big fight ... well, it'd still be an interesting story, as Johns' writing here is great. But it goes far beyond that, to really spotlight who these kids are, how they interact with their mentors, and who they want to be themselves [5/5].

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how this directly follows New Teen Titans. The art is pretty good, and the characters are good so far. One issue I do have is the fact that the Titans are watching over the Teen Titans. I get they want to protect them, but the New Teen Titans had none of that, they were left to their own for the most part. There were a few were the League helped them, but that was it. It is also true, though, that these Teen Titans are a bit younger than the New Titans. We'll see how that changes throughout, as I will enjoy seeing these characters grow.

[Unseen Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed Teen Titans, Vol. 1: A Kid's Game as part of my Throwback Thursday series where I republish old reviews, re-review books I've read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read.

Ever since I mentioned Geoff Johns’ 2003 Teen Titans series in one of my Top Ten lists last week, I have wanted to revisit the series. I have always loved this run of Teen Titans the most. Something about the combination of storylines, characters and this version of the artwork always spoke to me. It was also one of the first comic series that I read and subsequently went out of my way to get every collected edition. Even years later I still love dusting this series off, so I figured this would be a good time to go back and have a try at reviewing parts of this series. That is why for this Throwback Thursday I will be looking at the first collected volume of the series, Teen Titans: A Kid’s Game.

Following the tragic events of Graduation Day, the young heroes that made up the superhero team Young Justice are lost. Tim Drake (Robin), Conner Kent (Superboy) Bart Allen (Impulse) and Cassandra Sandermark (Wonder Girl) dissolved the team in their grief over losing the original Wonder Girl, Donna Troy, and have been avoiding each other since her funeral. They may be the sidekicks of the greatest heroes in the world, but they are all missing their friends. Despite their reluctance to team up again, each of them accepts an invitation from Victor Stone (Cyborg) to form a new version of the Teen Titans. With a new base in San Francisco and other veteran Titans members Starfire and Beast Boy to help as mentors, Cyborg wants to bring these young heroes together again and forge an effective team.

However, before Cyborg can attempt to work with the four new Titans and convince them to stay on the team, a massive explosion rips through Alcatraz, endangering tourist lives. As the Teen Titans mount a rescue, one of them is ambushed by the team’s oldest and most dangerous adversary, the world’s best assassin, Deathstroke the Terminator. Deathstroke has long had a complicated relationship with the Teen Titans, but this time it looks like he wants to put the team down for good. Claiming that kids should not wear costumes, he attempts to take out each member of the team, but what is the real reason behind his attack? Can this new version of the Teen Titans survive the ruthless assassin? What role will recently reborn Titan Raven play? Moreover, what will happen when the Justice League arrives to shut them down?

To see the full review, check out the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2019/02/28/...

Or visit my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/

[Ernest · Rating 2 out of 5]

Teen Titans as a concept is solid – a younger group of superheroes, a different perspective from the triumvirate of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman and their contemporaries, and different challenges for them to overcome. Despite this, this volume did not connect with me and I found myself only finishing it due to how easy it was to read.

I will admit to being more a Marvel than a DC fan, and perhaps this explains some of my ignorance about the (necessary) backstory into this volume. Some of the individual characters were well portrayed – I particularly liked Kid Flash/Impulse and how problems from his perspective were portrayed. The art felt very traditional (which isn’t a bad thing) and the story perhaps would have grabbed someone who understood where some of the characters had come from and previous Teen Titans had been through.

As it was, it wasn’t terrible to read but I found little to be fully interested in, no reason to reread it again and no desire to seek out the next volume.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good volume of the Titans, reminding me at least a little of the Wolfman/Perez run.

We get to see a new team launched, and all of the problems that come with it. Deathstroke shows up although all is not what it seems. We even get to see the Titans throwdown with the Justice League. The Mike McKone art is nice as well. Overall it's a strong volume introducing a new team of Titans. Not on the level of the Titan classic stories, but much better than when the series was in decline.

[R J Royer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first in the new series of the good but rather normal story telling of the teen Titans and how much they came to be. Friends like these kids really don't know how much they should get together and just let loose and enjoy it while they can.

The art is pretty good but still average comic book fair and I enjoyed it but wanted more than just the same old stuff.

Ilu eh

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great. Not just because of the nostalgia I felt upon opening the book but the fact that my emotions got a hard kick from remembering what happened. How this came to be. I truly love the way that Superman and Superboy were talking together in this. Though the ending however can be a shocker to those who didn't know. So much to let your mind contemplate as you read.

[Ondra Král · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solidní rozjezd, dobrá práce s charaktery, pořádnej záporák. Mírně mi lezly krkem teen témata ("my jsme sice děcka, ale víme všechno nejlíp, tak nás vy zlí dospěláci nechte"), ale celkově spokojenost.

[Al Capwned · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a pretty decent story, although anticlimactic and with too much teenage cringy attitude.

[Bacon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! the art and writing is beautifully well done, it feels almost cinematic and I love how they bring depth and development to each character

[Jens · Rating 2 out of 5]

I re-read this years after I bought it, and it didn't hold up. The plot is fine (but not better), with a strong hint of stubborn teenage "Don't tell me what to do (even though you know better)!". It's alright if you don't mind stereotypical superhero plots, where there's a threat (external that becomes internal!) that needs to be eliminated no matter what, no nuance required.

The graphical style did not convince me either. Some facial expressions look like the result of someone's first attempt at Photoshop, and not necessarily in a modern Picasso style... The lettering is also very strange, with many signs just downright awkward. I am specifically referring to the labels of a row of status that play a role near the beginning of this collection... They look like Times New Roman at an odd angle. And how could I forget the female characters' enormous breasts and incredibly tiny waists?

Not sure why this passed quality control, I can only assume the characters were enough to get fans (and professionals) excited. Not a win in my book.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Kid's Game collects the first seven issues of the third volume of Teen Titans comics published by DC. Less than preferable for a collection, and all too common for comic compilations, the title pretends that it isn't a copy/paste of existing material and removes the covers from between issues. This causes the individual comics to melt together into one long story, and it can be difficult to determine where one issue has ended and the next has begun. Because of this, I'm not sure if I'll be reviewing each issue individually like I intend to do for other comic compilations and like I have been doing for game compilations.

Contradictory to the "single story" aesthetic, the title includes the covers in the back of the book as a bonus feature of sorts. Also included is an introduction by Geoff Johns, the writer for this particular series of stories, which basically mentions wanting to cash in on the at-the-time popular Teen Titans animated series which was running on Cartoon Network and inspiring troubled tweens to write fan fiction about Phoenix the Robin-Clone and discover a lifelong passion which would eventually have them reviewing an almost decade's old graphic novel.

Fans of the animated series may, unfortunately, feel a little at odds with their favorite characters' mainstream counterparts. The Starfire portrayed here is anything but a gentle and naive girl who reasons firsts, fights last, and sees the good in everyone, and the Beast Boy seen here is less of a depressed kid hiding his gloom behind corny jokes and more of a dirty hornball trying to climb in all the beds. Cyborg is the most like his animated self, although we don't get to see a whole lot of him. Which is kind of disappointing, because Cyborg is a really cool character.

But I'm not going to fault the source material for barely resembling the spin off, that would be wrong. I just want readers to be aware that if you're from my generation, this isn't the Titans with which you are familiar.

As presented here, the three elder Titans (Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy) have reestablished the Titans as a crime-fighting force for good after the tragic death of Donna Troy, the previous Wonder Girl. Instead of reaching out to other former members of the Titans, many of whom are deceased, Cyborg extends invitations to what looks like the inspiration for the cast of the recent Young Justice series. Superboy, the feisty Superman clone who appeared during the Death of Superman story arc in the 80s, the third Robin, Tim Drake, a kid genius who managed to discover the identity of Batman with no outside assistance, Impulse, the future grandson of Barry Allen and reckless super speedster, and Cassie Sandsmark, present wearer of the title "Wonder Girl" and troubled teen seemingly cursed with the duty to take arms against evil. These are all characters that I like, and they are all have a heap of growing up to do.

Each hero is frequently put at odds with not only their adult counterparts in the Justice League, but also with the three elder Titans who see it as their job to not only serve as mentors for the superyouths of America, but also as their responsible guardians. Naturally, their rebellious wards don't take too kindly to being bossed around by a group of spandex-clad twenty-somethings, and strike out on their own, landing themselves in the deep end of the boiling pot of trouble brewing around them.

To coincide with the lengthy and stories past of the Teen Titans team, and also with the major antagonist of the popular animate series, the new Titans are immediately pitted against Deathstroke the Terminator. Yet something seems odd about this Deathstroke... could it be the fact that his telepathic son has been living in his brain and slowly gaining control of the merc's body? Yeah, that might be it.

On the outside this story seems convoluted, and the in-book analysis of the situation does it no justice. The dialogue is very clumsy and ham-handed, often reading more like a text book to a remedial English class than an exchange of words. The plot relies so heavily on the reader's understanding of events which happened twenty years prior (in real life time) that it spends a lot of panels catching you up on these events and explaining why something is possible instead of maybe introducing us to these characters within the context of the story. This is partially because of the nature of the medium. When you've got forty years of story to relate to, things can get kind of hairy. Still, that isn't really an excuse for being tactless. It almost make me grateful for the New 52.

Unfortunately, the dialogue isn't only stilted when explaining the origins of Jericho and what, exactly, he is capable of. Every other word bubble ends with the name of the character being addressed. Most of the comic reads something like this:

Superboy: Good thing we're friends. Right, Robin?
Robin: You got that right, Superboy.
Superboy: So you aren't going to tell anybody about the dark secret you just learned about me, right Robin?
Robin: No way. I'd never tell anyone, Superboy.
Superboy: Thanks. You're a good friend, Robin.
Robin: You too, Superboy.

We get the picture, Geoff. Even if we've never picked up a comic before, most of us are going to recognize Robin, and everyone is also going to recognize the iconic "S" drawn across Superboy's chest. We don't need a reminder of each character's name every two seconds. This really slows down the pacing and gives everything a cheesy 60s feel, despite attempting to tell a dark coming-of-age story about emotional conflict and how to handle death when it's shoved at you constantly. One character has his kneecap blown out, and the characters are still chatting like a Nick Jr. Dora the Explorer special. It's not good.

The book presents a lot of moments that make you smile, mainly when it isn't failing at being serious. Little touches like Superman keeping a watchful eye on the truant Superboy and Batman telling Robin to play with his friends are both silly, but also very important. The older heroes are breathing down the fledgling's necks constantly, just like parents with their teenagers. It helps to frame the kind of struggle for privacy which is all too prevalent in our society, and which will of course become a recurring theme in the series.

Unfortunately it doesn't do a good job of getting anyone really excited or creating any sense of danger or drama. The action is pretty bland, the build up is lame, and the climax is castrated by a Deus Ex Machina designed to introduce another former Titan. There is no payoff, and you know none of the main characters are going to be crippled or killed. It's just not a very exciting read, and I found myself itching for Marvel's Runaways instead.

The art was pretty good, though, and the book has great potential. It has an excellent cast, a good art team, and awesome ideas. If only the execution were better...

While I typically care only to review the material itself, I feel it's fair to point out that my copy of the book seems to have been printed on extremely cheap paper. It feels rough and scratchy beneath the fingers, and there isn't any gloss to it whatsoever. It's thin, cheap, not unlike newsprint. It makes me worry about how the book will stand the test of time. I don't think that it will.

Ultimately I'm not rushing back to read this again. The Teen Titans and Young Justice animated series are far superior in all regards, and if that isn't enough DC child-heroing for you, the Static Shock and Batman Beyond cartoons are amazing as well. Watch those instead. A Kid's Game sits comfortably on the good side of mediocre with a six out of ten.



ORIGINAL POST

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edith Hamilton's classic book and Harry Hamlin's hairy chest ignited my passion for mythology. Joseph Campbell, Alan Moore, Tim Burton, and JJ Abrams keep tending the fire.

Mythology often gets a bum rap in today's rational approach to understand the world. It is often seen as contradictory to reason rather than as a creative supplemental. Case in point: I know that Perseus defeated the Gorgon with a shield, and I also know that he defeated Medusa by relying on the faculties and talents he had been given.

The most truthful myths offer us a heuristic vehicle to discover ourselves in this process of becoming so that we can supplement who we are in the being.

Teen Titans is one of these mythic tales. It's episores will not make you re-think the world nor will it provide a panacea for society's ills. What it will do, however, is illustrate how heroes come into being by narrating their journeys alongside mythic heroes very much a part of our pop culture: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Are heroes "heroes" by virtue of a great legacy, or are they created through a unique and often bizarre set of circumstances? The answer is actually a both/and and neither/nor - paradox and myth are beautiful bed partners - and Teen Titans Volume 1 explores just how this new generation of "Truth, Justice and American Way-ers" get their start. At its very best, it also shows how the adults are often more childish than the kids.

This ain't your mother's Candyland, but "Kid's Game" will satisfy your sweet craving until you can make it to Volume 2.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok so I was a little leary to start reading these. I saw Starfire (the yellow chick with the metal thong) and though come on..... What woman in her right mind would wear that it looks too uncomfortable. But then I started to read these and I really got into them. It was a wonderful escape for me. The idea of the sidekicks creating their own world and support system was great. I had not read that much about the superhero's at this point and it was an easy place to jump in and really get into their lives and stories.

There are even romances and man if you have not met Beast Boy I love him! He is a riot.

I would give this to Middle School kids and Adults who like superhero's without thinking twice.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed the Teen Titans roster but never really gave their storyline much of a chance. For the start of a new run for me (granted this title has been out for a long time), I was happy to see characters that were familiar to me. The art is good but nothing over the top and the story line was fun but didn't carry much depth. That being said, I was surprised by the amount of violence (this being a DC title) and bloodshed. I will continue to keep reading John's run on Teen Titans, at least for a little while longer.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series was the introductory of the new batch of Teen Titans! It is a mix of Young Justice and the old Teen Titans. We see old mentors warring with the new and the young heroes just wanting to have a little freedom! Overall, a good first series that sets up mini plot lines that are sure to excite!

[Parker J · Rating 5 out of 5]

4/01/22

Found this at a used bookstore a few days ago and knew I had to snatch it up. This has always been my favorite teen Titans era (and this entire 100 issue run is probably my favorite DC series of all time). I had a blast re-reading this, I love these idiots.

[Diz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does a great job of introducing a new generation of Teen Titans. The relationships between the characters are well developed, and the art is very beautiful. I especially liked a certain Ghostbusters homage (no, I won't spoil it). I highly recommend this for fans of the Teen Titans.

[Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was 12 but bought the copy of this recently. The art is wonderful and I cannot wait to get the rest of the series. :)

[ipek · Rating 5 out of 5]

woWWWWWWWW
i'm a trash sign me up
and let me tell you something
tim drake is anything but straight dc better make it canon ffs

[Wren · Rating 1 out of 5]

i was a teenager when i first read this, and no teenager should read it, and not for the reasons you think. this is also far from an unbiased review.

no comic has hated teen heroes to the degree this comic does without being on purpose, its almost comical. i consider this entire run deeply disrespectful to teen heroes as a very concept. worse, it pisses on the grave of young justice 98, and burns down everything that comic built up.

i have no intentions to review this comic through the eyes of an adult, for every time i read it im mentally transported back to being 16 years old and feeling like nothing will ever get better, and also that i hope every adult in this comic dies. it is a truly miserable story that made me feel horrible and not in a good way. it preaches misery as an inherent part of the teen experience, while telling teens they deserve it for existing. there is no hope, but at least bart isnt a little autistic freak anymore because we fixed him (sarcasm). i genuinely think geoff johns, at least when he wrote this, truly hated teenagers.

anyways the funniest scene is the one where Cassie has a flashback to her younger self and goes on a tangent about how ugly and masculine she used to be. she needs to break up with her gay boyfriend and shave her head for her own good.

i think this should have been a wake up call for dc twenty years ago that they were doing something terribly wrong, that it needed to even ask the question if teens should be allowed to be superheroes. you stupid bitch, superhero comics started as stories for children. if the genre has shifted to be so gritty and edgy and ~realistic~ that teenagers being superheroes is unacceptable child abuse, you have failed the entire genre.

listen, one of my favorite comics is the 2011 animal man comic, i think there is a place for edgy superheroes, but even that made room for maxine, the small child that sits at the heart of the story and has genuine agency and drives the narrative. but if the only way for teen heroes to exist in dc requires rolling back the edge and blood? then so be it. at least with some forced restraints joker might be a good villain again.

besides, realism in the superhero genre is a joke in itself. its a genre built around people with superpowers wearing colorful costumes fighting bad guys. you can take "realism" in superhero stories behind the shed and shoot it in the back of the head.

anyways, read young justice 1998, read impulse 1995, read static 1993, read robin 1991, read blue beetle 2006, show teen heroes some goddamn respect and not this trash.

[Kathryn McCloskey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tim Drake is my favourite Robin so I wanted to go back and read when he was in the Teen Titans. It's very entertaining and I especially liked the issue where the Justice League shows up and they all get into a fight. It's so stupid but it's also very super hero comics, where no can use their words before they do a bit of damage to each other.
Some of the art though seems a bit wonky on the female characters. I think that's because there's an obsession with making the breasts as big as possible so Wonder Woman looks very top heavy in pretty much all her panels. Starfire shows a lot of skin throughout the book but at least she seems to be proportional. Maybe it's Wonder Woman's costume making it worse. At least they didn't sexualise Wonder Girl who is a teenager.
I know very little about the Teen Titans, other than what I've learned watching Atop the Fourth Wall on youtube. So it's a good place to start if you don't want to read the really old comics but you do want to go back a little bit and catch up on characters fandom loves and who seem to be wiped out by the current reboot/continuity/event.

[Matthieu Savignac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le début d'une nouvelle ère pour les Titans : une nouvelle équipe, un nouvel environnement, de nouveaux membres, chapeautés par les anciens. C'est plutôt intéressant, Geoff Johns fait ce qu'il sait faire de mieux, et on se laisse facilement embarquer dans cette nouvelle aventure afin de suivre les pérégrinations des Titans.

Seulement voilà, et c'est assez étrange, mais j'ai eu l'impression qu'au bout de ces 7 issues, il ne s'était presque rien passé. Pourtant, chaque personnage a eu droit à ses moments, sa caractérisation, ses moments de doute, des retours d'anciens inattendus, le retour de vilains — là, par contre, totalement attendu — mais tout a un goût assez amer, comme si on attendait encore un peu plus.

À suivre, finalement. On va dire que c'est le début, et comme tout début, la mise en place peut être un peu plus longue.