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<HEAD><TITLE>Don Markstein's Toonopedia: The Teen Titans </TITLE> <script language="JavaScript"></script> <META name = "author" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "description" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "subject" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "keywords" content = "comic books animated cartoons animation comics comix syndicated comic strips"> <META name = "publisher" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "format" content = "text/html"> <META name = "language" content = "EN"> </HEAD><BODY> <body onload="if (self!= top) top.location = self.location"></body> <BODY BGCOLOR="FFFFFF" TEXT="000000" LINK="0000EE" VLINK="551A8B"> <TABLE><TR><TD WIDTH=290 VALIGN="CENTER"><IMG GALLERYIMG="NO" ALIGN="LEFT" HEIGHT=433 WIDTH=280 ALT="Cover of the first issue of New Teen Titans. Artist: George Pérez." SRC="titans2.jpg"> <TD VALIGN="CENTER"><H1>THE TEEN TITANS</H1><FONT SIZE=4> <B>Medium:</B> Comic Books <BR><B>Published by:</B> DC Comics <BR><B>First Appeared:</B> 1980 <BR><B>Creators:</B> Len Wein (editor), Marv Wolfman (writer) and George Pérez (artist)<FONT SIZE=3> <! BEGIN DONATION CODE> <HR><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR="993366"><CENTER> If this site is enjoyable or useful to you, <BR>Please contribute to its necessary financial support. <BR><A HREF="http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/pay/T1237L0BCY25QA" TARGET="_blank">Amazon.com</A> or <A HREF="https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=don%40toonopedia.com&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_cod e=USD" TARGET="_blank">PayPal</A> </FONT></CENTER><HR> <! END DONATION CODE> <P><A NAME="cont"> The New Teen Titans started out with several of the same characters as <A HREF="titans1.htm">the 1960s version</A> — but with a difference. <A HREF="robin.htm">Robin</A> was older and more independent of  <P ALIGN="RIGHT"><A HREF="#cont"><FONT SIZE=2><I>continued below</A></FONT> </TABLE> <CENTER><! BEGIN ADSENSE "LEADERBOARD" CODE> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <! END ADSENSE CODE></CENTER> <P><TABLE><TR><TD VALIGN="TOP"> <A HREF="batman.htm">Batman</A> (in fact, he was soon replaced with a younger version, and allowed to grow up). Wonder Girl had been revamped and <A HREF="glossary.htm#retcon">retconned,</A> and was no longer very closely tied with <A HREF="wonderwo.htm">Wonder Woman.</A> <A HREF="kidflash.htm">Kid Flash</A> had never been that constant a companion of <A HREF="flash2.htm">The Flash</A> to begin with. And the remaining characters (Raven (<A href="nightrav.htm">no relation</A>), Changling [formerly Beast Boy], Cyborg and Starfire) weren't associated with adult <A HREF="dc.htm">DC</A> characters at all, and seemed to live pretty much on their own. <P> The result was a group that functioned as adult adventurers, but still maintained their status as teenagers. This was important, because the hottest thing in comics was <A HREF="marvel.htm">Marvel's</A> <A HREF="xmen.htm">X-Men</A> — also a group of functional adults who benefitted from a youthful image. <P> This version of The Teen Titans was introduced as a 16-page insert in <I>DC Comics Presents</I> #26 (October, 1980). Readers who bought the comic for its lead feature, a team-up between <A HREF="superman.htm">Superman</A> and <A HREF="lantern2.htm">Green Lantern,</A> got the Titans debut at no extra cost. Thus, they were enticed into continuing to follow the group when <I>New Teen Titans</I> #1 hit the stands, that same month. (Later, the Titans passed the favor on — <A HREF="carrot.htm"><I>Captain Carrot & His Amazing Zoo Crew</I></A> began with a similar insert in <I>New Teen Titans</I> #16.) <P> Creators Marv Wolfman (writer), George Pérez (artist) and Len Wein (editor) stayed with the series for several years, creating a large fan following. For a time, the series actually was able to compete with <I>The X-Men</I> on its own turf. One thing that eventually did it in was the inevitability of the characters growing up. By the time Wonder Girl was married, Robin was a college graduate and Kid Flash was converted to the new <A HREF="flash3.htm">Flash,</A> it had become hard to maintain the "teen" image. With its December, 1988 issue, the word "teen" was dropped from the team's name, and from the comic's title. <P> As <I>The New Titans,</I> the series continued until 1996. By that time, still another version of The Teen Titans was running — this one with a line-up of DC's younger-yet characters, including the new Superboy and <A HREF="atom2.htm">The Atom</A> (who had undergone the horrifying experience of being turned back into a teenager). And so it goes  <P ALIGN = "RIGHT">— DDM <P><A HREF="index.htm">BACK</A> to <I>Don Markstein's Toonopedia</I> Home Page <BR><A HREF="today.htm">Today in Toons:</A> Every day's an anniversary! <P><B>Webring:</B> <script language=javascript type="text/javascript" src="http://ss.webring.com/navbar?f=j;y=don_markstein;u=10107083"> </script><noscript><center> <table bgcolor=gray cellspacing=0 border=2><tr> <td><table cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td align=center> <font face=arial size=-1>This site is a member of WebRing. <br>To browse visit <a href="http://ss.webring.com/navbar?f=l;y=don_markstein;u=10107083"> Here</a>.</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table> </center></noscript> <P><! 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