Comic Info
Comic Name: The New Teen Titans
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artist: George Perez
# of Issues: 8
Release Date: 2015
The New Teen Titans (1) #12
Reprints The New Teen Titans (1) #9-16 (July 1981-February 1982). The Teen Titans may have conquered Trigon, but their challenges are far from over. Deathstroke the Terminator returns and he’s gunning for the Teen Titans. As Wonder Girl faces her past through a godly uprising on Paradise Island, Beast Boy fights for his life. The Titans set out on a journey to find what happened to Gar’s family Doom Patrol and discovers them in conflict with Madame Rouge and General Zahl who are accused of killing them. Meanwhile, the H.I.V.E. is plotting against the Teen Titans and plotting a way to destroy the Teen Titans from within.
Written by Marv Wolfman, The New Teen Titans—Volume 2 is a DC Comics comic book collection. Following The New Teen Titans—Volume 1, the series features art by George Perez and was also collected as New Teen Titans Archives—Volume 2 and in New Teen Titans Omnibus—Volume 1. Not included in the collection is the Captain Carrot introductory pullout comic from New Teen Titans (1) #16 (February 1982) which was a stand-alone story.
The New Teen Titans was a massive hit for DC Comics. I was just starting reading comics when this series was deep within Wolfman’s popular run, but as a Marvel reader, The New Teen Titans was one of those DC titles that made me even consider picking up issues. When I did start reading DC Comics, The New Teen Titans (along with Legion of Super-Heroes) was one of the first titles I coveted. The series holds up, but it also isn’t like modern comic books.
The New Teen Titans is extremely wordy to say the least. The number of words on a page and even in a panel just dwarfs most modern comics. This makes trudging through each issue of New Teen Titans a task and if you are used to skimming comics, good luck…you’ll miss many plot points, character insights, and it will be hard to follow.
The New Teen Titans (1) #13
Unlike a lot of comics at the time, New Teen Titans is more serialized than other titles. The stories blend together and can be read as individual issues (the hearty nature of the comic allows that), but it generally has storylines that are more entrenched than other comics. The New Teen Titans got a lot of comparisons to Uncanny X-Men of the same time (and featured a crossover with the X-Men), but the Teen Titans have other issues going on in the lives of the late teen characters…there is a lot of melodrama and soap-opera romance that piles up through the course of the story.
Like John Byrne, George Perez’s art was very stylized. His imagery of the characters (especially Starfire) were iconic and add to the sudsy nature of the comic book…of course with all the “fun” characters of New Teen Titans, you have to deal with characters like Terry Long whose relationship with Donna Troy was just creepy…and Perez’s art didn’t help that.
The New Teen Titans—Volume 2 is a good read, but it isn’t a great read. If you were a fan of the comic in the ’80s or ’90s, it is fun to revisit just to see how much comics have changed. The next volume of the series is where the comic book really starts to pick-up, but New Teen Titans isn’t a series where you should do a lot of jumping around…stick to the reading order provided and get ready for more fun in The New Teen Titans—Volume 3.
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