New Teen Titans (1980) 16

Starfire Unleashed!
By Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Romeo Tanghal
Feb 1982

On the surface this issue seems fairly simple...

The Titans have been back in New York City for a little while. The only one not present is Gar who is off spending time with Steve Dayton, his stepfather. Koriand'r meets someone new. She and Dick were dating but she needs someone who is more passionate about her that Dick was. Raven and Wally enroll in classes at Manhattan College. I still don't get this whole unrequited love thing between these two. Raven feels toward Wally the way Dick feels about Kory: they are friends and that's all.

Kory's new boyfriend has a secret that he keeps from her: he's working for HIVE. As he gets to know Kory he wants to break his deal with the HIVE agent (Number Seven) that he's dealing with but it's not that easy. Instead of letting him out of what he agreed to Seven kills him. Kory never learns what he was up to although some of her teammates do.

The emotional impact of the death of Kory's new boyfriend is palpable. She tries to kill the HIVE Agent who did it but Donna steps in manages to get her to back off. While they are arguing about what sort of treatment the killer deserves he escapes. Donna vows to hunt him down but when she finds him he's dead, killed by HIVE for not keeping them informed about what he was up to.

Before all that, Robin and Wonder Girl do some sleuthing after they discover Donna's apartment has been trashed. The trail they follow leads them to a drug kingpin. While all that is happening, Raven has a rough time adjusting to the unwanted advances of some of her male classmates. One of whom claims to have studied the ways of Azarath but then uses violence to protect her. She is left feeling very alone.

Based on the way HIVE is portrayed in this issue it seems like the leadership is a group of seven men. None of them have any features that distinguish them from one another. They are all white men of roughly the same height. They wear purple robes which conceal most of their bodies including their faces.

The artwork is the usual great stuff that Perez and Tanghal were generating at this time although there is one panel where Donna's neck looks much longer than it actually is, as if she has just gained elastic powers.

This isn't a great story but as I said before the emotional beats work, they moved me.

New Teen Titans (1980) 15

The Brotherhood of Evil Lives Again!
By Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Romeo Tanghal
Jan 1982

The Teen Titans plus Robotman have been captured, with the exception of Changeling. The captured heroes are in a vat of chemicals that causes them to devolve into primitive versions of themselves, except for Robotman who is protected from the chemicals by his metal body.

Changeling has allied himself, temporarily, with Monsieur Mallah, the Brain, and the rest of the New Brotherhood of Evil: Plasmus, Phobia, Houngan, and Warp. Before Changeling teamed up with the villains he tried attacking them. He got a taste of their powers and quickly changed his mind. The Brain explains how Madame Rouge tried to kill him and Monsieur Mallah and how they survived. By the time Changeling and the villains attack the forces of Madame Rouge the other Titans have devolved and begun to attack Robotman.

Changeling and his new allies are more than a match for Rouge's troops but what the troops lack in skill they make up for in numbers. Robotman saves himself and the devolved Titans (who no longer recognize him) using Cyborg's White Sound Blaster. The Titans quickly change back to their normal forms and join the battle. Robotman chases down General Zahl. The General tries shooting him. The bullets ricochet off his metal body, one of them right into the General, killing him.

Changeling chases Madame Rouge. He goes a bit around the bend once again. He transforms into a giant sea serpent looking creature which might be a creature of his imagination. Madame Rouge seeks to blow them all up. She sets the auto destruct but in a rage, still in sea serpent form Gar hits her. The blow is deadly. Before she dies she encourages Gar to get out and once again professes her love for the Chief, Niles Caulder, the deceased leader of the original Doom Patrol.

The New Teen Titans and the New Brotherhood of Evil escape the doomed floating headquarters thanks to Warp's teleportation ability.

So much to chew on here. There is still no explanation of Gar's moments of insanity. He has gone into a rage a few times now. I hope this eventually gets resolved.

I still have a problem with the way Gar teamed up with villains. It made sense on one level but there was something about it that rubs me the wrong way. It may be connected somehow to his moments of insanity.

I appreciated the shades or levels of villainy in this chapter. Zahl (a Nazi) is by far the worst of the lot. Even Madame Rouge, his ally, can barely contain her disgust and seriously contemplates killing him. She was a little girl during WWII. Her parents were killed by German troops.

Mallah and Raven share a moment. She heals him after Zahl shoots him in the chest. Mallah thanks her and then goes right back to his murderous ways. He protects Raven but she is disgusted by his disregard for human life. Also in this moment is further evidence that Raven is headed for a meltdown.

This isn't Madame Rouge's final final appearance but this is more or less it for her. She's dead. I think most if not all of her subsequent appearances are in flashbacks.

Zandia, the island nation where most of the story takes place is described in this chapter as a refuge for criminals. Madame Rouge wants to take this country but her plan is never explained.

The deaths of both Rouge and Zahl are treated seriously. Neither Robotman nor Changeling gloat about the villains demises. They know that they can never get back their fallen comrades: Negative Man, Elasti-Girl, the Chief.  Their villainous allies are much more satisfied with the deaths of Zahl and Rouge that the two former Doom Patrolers are.

I enjoyed this arc but I think the opening story arc of the series is still my favorite for now.

New Teen Titans (1980) 14

Revolution!
By Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Romeo Tanghal
Dec 1981

All the Teen Titans (plus Robotman) reunite in Uganda. Gar seems to be back to normal. Steve Dayton is still acting weird. They give him his Mento costume when he asks for it. He attacks the group as soon as he puts it on. It doesn't look good for the assembled superheroes. Mento seems to have them all on the ropes when Raven steps in to the fight. She uses her abilities to relieve Dayton of his pain. Dayton recovers and is back to normal.

A few pages are devoted to retelling the origin and fate of the Doom Patrol as recounted by Steve Dayton. Robotman manages to sneak in a quick explanation of why he doesn't look like he did in Showcase 94-96 (1977-78), his first and only appearance since the death of the Doom Patrol (1968). Dayton also tells them about how he was captured by Madame Rouge. The other Titans just listen closely but Changeling gets fighting mad. It isn't clear if he has just had enough or if he is possessed once again.

Changeling heads for the villains underground headquarters. Before he gets there the whole complex lifts out of the ground and takes off. Gar just barely catches up to it and lands on the edge of the flying headquarters. The complex seems to have changed a bit and now has tall buildings and is encased in a bubble.

The other Titans follow in one of their jets. Did they leave the other one behind? There were two jets shown at the beginning of this chapter. The flying base heads for Zandia, an island country in the Baltic Sea. The armored warriors of Madame Rouge and General Zahl attack the island country. The Titans aren't far behind. They don't know what's happened to Changeling. They don't see him barely hanging on to the edge of the flying base.

Before the Titans attempt to land Starfire, Wonder Girl, and Ravenn take off under their own power and engage the troops of the enemy. Kid Flash lowers himself using his super speed. At first it seems like they are making some progress but one by one the Titans are taken down, first Starfire, then Wonder Girl, Raven and Kid Flash. The most surprising take down may be when Changeling comes up brandishing a large, high powered, high tech rifle. He blows the jet out of the sky. Of course it wasn't really the Changeling. It was Madame Rouge. Her superpowers aren't identical to Changeling's but she does posses the ability to make herself look like other people.

After the other Titans have been taken down, the real Changeling looks up only to see himself the prisoner of the Brotherhood of Evil. It was clear from what happened earlier in the issue that there was someone else who wasn't allied with either the Titans or Madame Rouge. Up to this point there were no indications given as to whom that might be.

The cover to the next issue shows Changeling leading the Brotherhood of Evil in an attack on Madame Rouge and her forces. I'm sure it can't be quite that simple. These are super villains but Changeling has shown signs that someone else is possessing him on at least two occasions. Maybe that explains the cover to the next issue.

I love the foreshadowing on page 10 where Robin wonders about the stress that Raven is under and what it might eventually lead to. I can't help but think of think of the parallels to Jean Grey/Phoenix of the X-Men who was dead by the time. Both characters code names are the names of birds and both have hidden pasts or secrets that their teammates don't fully understand.

I love the little breaks in the storytelling that are used to bring the reader up to speed on past events. In this issue it is the Doom Patrol origin story which takes up a little over 2 pages.

Great read. I really wish that other series aged as well as this one does.

New Teen Titans (1980) 13

Friends and Foes Alike!
By Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Romeo Tanghal
Nov 1981

Donna is still back in the Big Apple, unlike the other Titans. She does a little solo crime fighting. She can't get her mind off what Hyperion did to her. She's also worried about Gar.

Starfire takes part in a tournament on Paradise Island. The Amazons are well trained but she is victorious in both competitions: jousting while riding on kangas (giant kangaroo like creatures) and sparring with battle staves. Everything is going great until there's an explosion in Paula von Gunther's lab where Gar is recuperating.

The Amazons, Starfire, and Raven rush to find out what happened only to be confronted by Changeling who has taken the form as a Brachiosaurus, a 100-ton dinosaur. From the word balloons and what he has to say it is clear that he is possessed by someone or something. The Amazons and Starfire try fighting him but get nowhere. Raven steps in and using her soul self renders him unconscious. They take him back to the lab. When he wakes up he is back to his normal self.

The other Titans (Robin, Cyborg, Kid Flash) follow Robotman's instructions and arrive in Uganda. They find Cliff Steele near death but Cyborg is able to restore him. He leads them to a subterranean building where he says they will find Steve Dayton (Gar's stepfather) and the villains who are holding him captive (Madame Rouge and General Zahl). The villains have an army of red armor clad warriors guarding the temple.

The Titans and Robotman fight their way down through the villains headquarters until they find Dayton. They get away, back to their jet plane but it all seems just a little too easy. Based on the comments made by Madame Rouge on the final page it is clear that she has something up her sleeve. Presumably Steve has been brainwashed and will follow Rouge's twisted orders once she gives them.

Great opening to this arc. I like the split between Paradise Island and Uganda. It was nice to see the differences between Starfire and Raven highlighted as they were. I also liked the character moment that Vic and Dick share while Wally is off looking for Robotman. The rendering and visual storytelling is as always very nicely handled by Perez and Tanghal.

The Titans Tower letters column includes a very complimentary letter from R.M. Eury from Concord, NC. I am fairly certain that this is the Michael Eury who later worked for DC Comics and is the editor of Back Issue magazine from Twomorrows Publishing.

New Teen Titans (1980) 12

Clash of the Titans
By Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Romeo Tanghal
Oct 1981

Artemis appears before the army of Amazons. She calls on the Amazons to fight on the side of the gods. This sets things up in a framework that looks familiar as the Greek Titans are the parents of the gods. In the first arc of the series there was also a parent child conflict when Raven had to do battle with Trigon, her father.

Donna begins to have doubts about her feelings for Hyperion. The Titans attack Mt. Olympus. She sticks by the Titans side but her concern about her choice behind to grow. There is a very nice double page splash of the battle between the Titans and the Gods. The battle ends with the Titans imprisoning the Gods in rock just as the Titans were in Tartarus. The significance, if there is any, of imprisoning the gods (or Titans) in rock (if there is any) is not explained.

The Amazons show up after Zeus and the other Greek Gods have been defeated. Hippolyta tries to convince Donna to switch sides. Donna, despite having doubts about the Cronus, Hyperion, and the rest of their siblings stands by them. Athena, Greek Goddess of wisdom, (who did not participate in the earlier battle) refutes the Titans claims of benevolence. A battle breaks out between the Amazons and and the Greek Titans. Starfire manages to free Zeus from the rock in which he is imprisoned. Raven uses her soul self to help calm Rhea, Cronus' sister/wife. Before the battle can get any worse Athena intervenes once again and talks the Titans into returning to Tartarus. I'm not sure I completely buy this ending with the Titans of myth giving up like that but it does fit in with the whole generational divide theme that runs through the series.

There are three epilogues. The first one features Raven, Starfire, and Queen Hippolyta back on Paradise Island. They are chatting as they watch Donna head back to NYC in a borrowed airplane.

The second one takes place in the lab of Paula von Gunther. She has been keeping an eye on Gar as they use the Purple Ray on him. Her assistants note that he is recovering just before he wakes up and says something strange that sounds very unlike Garfield Logan: I live again… and I live -- to kill! That obviously not Gar talking. Someone has possessed him. I'm not sure who that person would be but it probably ties into the arc that runs through the next three issues.

The final epilogue is Donna, back in NYC with Terry, her 29-year-old boyfriend. She seems to still be shaken over what Hyperion did to her.

Interesting to note that Hippoltya's name was spelled slightly differently in the previous installment. I believe that the spelling used in this chapter is the correct one.

This little arc didn't quite live up my hopes it. The events as depicted on the covers are more exciting than the ones inside the comic books, especially in the case of this issue. I didn't have anything particular in mind but I guess I was hoping for something along the lines of some of the future arcs in this series that I have read before. It isn't bad it just felt a little flat but not enough to make we want to drop this book and read something else.

---

Titans Tower, the letters page, includes an announcement about the X-Men/New Teen Titans crossover (which was still a year or so down the road) and several letters praising New Teen Titans (1980) 7, especially the ending with Vic and his father.

New Teen Titans (1980) 11

When Titans Clash
By Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Romeo Tanghal
Sep 1981

The Teen Titans travel to Paradise Island. Their one hope to save Changeling's life is the Purple Ray, a device created by Wonder Woman. It was used to heal Steve Trevor (Wonder Woman 1, Summer 1942) and it gave Donna Troy her powers (Teen Titans 22, Jul-Aug 1969). It doesn't always work but it seems like it is their best hope for bringing Gar back from the brink of death.

Gar is transported from the jet in a suspended animation chamber. His feet are not allowed to touch the ground. The other guys (Robin, Cyborg, Kid Flash) aren't welcome on the island home of the Amazons. If a man ever steps foot of the island, according to Wonder Girl, the Amazons will lose their powers and immortality. The guys take off on a separate mission to look for Changeling's stepfather, Steve Dayton.

Before the Amazons get started analyzing Gar's condition an intruder interferes with the operation of the Purple Ray. Wonder Girl investigates and discovers Hyperion, the Titan of Greek myth who has recently escaped from Tartarus. He had been imprisoned there for tens of thousands of years. Donna tries to lasso him but he shrugs it off. It has no power over him. He hypnotizes her and from there on she follows him everywhere and fights by his side.

Starfire and Raven come to their teammate's aid but Hyperion is too powerful. Starfire's bolts have no impact on him. He inflicts great harm on both of them, but they survive and recover quickly enough. Before they are back to strength Hyperion and Wonder Girl have teleported back to Tartarus to free his brothers and sisters.

Raven and Starfire team up with an army of Amazons and head for Tartarus. The army is led by Queen Hippolyte, Wonder Girl's adoptive mother. The Amazons encounter some resistance getting into Tartarus in the form of a green-skinned beast with 100 heads. Hyperion and Wonder Girl also had to fight their way into the underworld. In their case it was three giant Cyclopes that stood between them and the realm of the dead.

Hyperion tells his origin story which is also the story of the origins of the Titans and the Greek Gods. His plan is to revive his brothers and sisters, who were also trapped in Tartarus, and then head for Mt. Olympus. The extended plan is to settle some old scores and take over Mt. Olympus, where the Greek Gods live.

The issue ends with Starfire, Raven, Hippolyte, and the army of Amazons catching up with the Titans. By this time Hyperion has freed his siblings. Hippolyte tries talking Donna into leaving Hyperion and returning with her but Donna claims to have decided of her own volition to stay by Hyperion's side. It is where she says she wants to stay for the rest of time. Before Hippolyte can react Hyperion teleports himself, his siblings, and Donna out of there, presumably to Mt. Olympus.

One interesting detail is that one of the Titans is missing. There are just 11 of them (6 males, 5 females) instead of 12. The missing Titan is Thia, Hyperion's sister/wife. All the other pairs of Titan siblings/spouses are intact. Hyperion wants Donna to replace Thia. I wouldn't be surprised to see Thia return before this story wraps up in the next issue and prove to be in the decisive factor in the fight between the Wonder Girl and the Titans of Greek myth and the Amazons and the New Teen Titans (Starfire, Raven). Whether she does or does not I'm guessing that there will be some divine intervention before this story ends.

I've been looking forward to reading this story for quite some time. As with all the issues in this series up to this point, I had not read this one before. On the first read through I thought it was fairly straight forward both in the plot and in the way it was told. Going back through it as I wrote my summary of the issue I can see that it is more layered at least in the amount of detail that is included than it originally seemed to me.

New Teen Titans (1980) 10

Promethium Unbound!
By Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Romeo Tanghal
Aug 1981

Deathstroke steals a nuclear warhead from an aircraft carrier. He plans to sell it to the highest bidder but he needs a little help from the Titans in order to get the job done. He kidnaps Sarah Simms, Cyborg's friend, and uses her as leverage to get them to play along with his plan. That's the gist of the story minus the details about how it all turns out but there is so much more to the story than that.

Changeling's origin is revealed during a conversation he has with Cyborg. He talks about how he got his powers, his time with the Doom Patrol, and how they were killed. I love that Perez and Tanghal included a couple panels of Changeling, or Beast Boy as he was known then, transformed but still with a tuft of hair on his head, just like he used to appear when teamed up with the Doom Patrol in the Silver Age.

Robotman is still alive! The original or Silver Age incarnation of the Doom Patrol was killed in the final issue of their comic book, Doom Patrol 121 (Sep/Oct 1968). The second incarnation of the Doom Patrol first appeared in Showcase 94-96 (1977-78). This must be where it was revealed that Robotman (aka Cliff Steele) survived. I don't have Showcase 94-96 nor have I read that story. Unlike the original run of the Doom Patrol those issue of Showcase have yet to be reprinted.

Two of the scientists that Deathstroke has employed to help build a bomb using the stolen Promethium and the stolen nuclear warhead are named Honeywell and Bleeker. Only Honeywell is seen. He looks very much like the Bunsen Honeydew from the Muppets. I'm guessing that's not a coincidence.

There is a brief glimpse at the foreign agents traveling to the United States to bid on the stolen nuclear warhead. They are coming from a number of different countries including the Soviet Union, Korea (not North Korea, just Korea), and Libya. The KGB envoy is named Boris Battinov, a name which sounds remarkably similar to Boris Badenov, one of the primary villains on Rocky and Bullwinkle. Once again, probably not a coincidence.

I'm a bit perplexed by the designation of the aircraft carrier that Deathstroke's army attacks. F-16 is the designation for a military fighter plane that had been in production and use since the mid-1970s, 5 or 6 years prior to the publication of this comic book. Aircraft carriers in the early 1980s were designated CV-nn or CVN-nn. The designation used in this issue doesn't ruin the story but it did have me scratching my head and wondering why they used a fighter plane designation for an aircraft carrier.

Starfire battles Deathstroke in a knockdown drag out fight in Manhattan. Deathstroke runs off before the fight is over. Starfire fights instinctively and comes close to beating the mercenary before he uses a bomb to threaten civilian lives. His reason for attacking her was not so much to capture or kill her as it was to get a better assessment of what she was capable of. In that respect it seems that it was a successful venture.

Before the Titans are contacted by Deathstroke, just after his battle with Starfire, Robin mentions a call he received from King Faraday. Faraday is a government agent who has interacted with superheroes from time to time. He appeared in DC: The New Frontier and also showed up in the second season of the JLU cartoon. I talked about his background on DTC 65 starting around 27 minutes into the episode.

The issue ends with a cliffhanger. It appears that Deathstroke has killed Changeling. I know that Changeling comes back. I don't know how he comes back but I have a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with a trip to Paradise Island.

What I like about this issue is the detail and how it is all assembled. At it's core this issue seems very simple and not so great. The way the story is plotted and laid out are what made it so much fun to read. Wolfman and Perez really work some magic between the arrangement of the panels and the layering of the reveals of the different bits of information. A lesser creative team could easily have turned it into a mediocre story at best. This is a big step up from the last issue which lacked the nuance and nods that this one had in spades.

New Teen Titans (1980) 9

Like Puppets on a String
By Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Romeo Tanghal
Jul 1981

The Titans are attacked by the creations of the Puppeteer, the same villain who has been killing the board members of Dayton Industries. He was hired by HIVE and his plan is two-fold. He wants to kill the Titans and obtain the plans for Promethium, a new energy source that Dayton Industries has created.

The first Titan to fall is Cyborg. He is taken down by a Batman puppet that takes over his mind and turns him into a minion of the Puppeteer. Kid Flash, Starfire, and Wonder Girl are next. The 3 remaining teammates (Raven, Robin, Changeling) manage to avoid falling under the sway of the Puppeteer but have their hands full fighting their mind-controlled friends. Kid Flash finally breaks the hold Puppeteer has on him using his super speed to vibrate at just the right frequency. It's a little murky how that happened. One minute he's a pawn of the Puppeteer and the next he is freeing himself.

In the end the Titans are victorious in that they free themselves of the mind control technology and destroy most of the Puppeteer's toys. He seems to get away but (from the looks of it) is executed off-panel by HIVE. The issue ends with the return of Deathstroke who  steals the plans for Promethium from Dayton Industries while the Titans are still fighting the Puppeteer's weapons.

I am confused by the depiction of Raven's soul self which she sends halfway across the country to fetch Wally, after Vic is attacked. In the previous issue they made a big deal about how it couldn't be separated from her physical form for more than 5 minutes. This time there is no mention made of this limitation. Was that bit just dropped? Will it ever be mentioned again? Dunno.

Overall a bit disappointing. The story helps to forward other plot lines but the story was lacking in terms of character development. I couldn't help but compare it to the episode of the cartoon (Teen Titans 1.07) where the Titans battle a villain with a similar name. From what I recall about the cartoon, which I watched a little over a year ago, it was much more fun and included a twist that didn't come from this issue. I talked about the episode on DTC 127.

The visual storytelling is first rate. I love the variety of ways the pages are broken down. One of my favorites is on page 5 where Questor's face is shown in profile facing to the right with three horizontal panels to his immediate right. It isn't so much the contents of the panels as it is the choice to present the information in that manner that impressed and pleased me.

04/24/21 Addendum

I finally bought a copy of this issue. I previously read the story in the trade paperback,

Titans' Tower

Four letters in response to the third and fourth issues of the series. Three of the four letters provide positive feedback. The other one seems to feel that the series will be canceled because there's nothing new or engaging in the book. Marv Wolfman disagrees in his response to the letter and considering the longevity of the series I would say that he is correct. Marv also drops some hints about Starfire's past in his response to another letter.