Tales of the New Teen Titans 4

Tales of the New Teen Titans 4
Sep 1982

Starfire
by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Ernie Colón

Starfire has been a bit of a mystery up to this point. There has been very little revealed information about her. The biggest reveal (prior to this issue) was in New Teen Titans 1 when she crash landed on Earth. Her future teammates, the other Titans, helped her fight off Gordanians who were trying to recapture or kill her. In the roughly 18 months since then Raven, Wonder Girl, and Changeling have had spotlight arcs on their past but there has been little to nothing about Starfire. Cyborg is the only other of the “new” New Teen Titans not get a spotlight arc although his past has been spotlighted to a greater degree than Starfire’s has up to this point.

Starfire tells the story of her past, before she came to Earth. She grew up on Tamaran. Her father was the king. Komand’r, her older sister resented Koriand’r and had an evil streak in her that did not fade as they grew older. Once they were old enough they were sent to Okaara to study with the Warlords of Okaara. Both were excellent students but Komand’r was expelled for excessive cruelty and not exemplifying the lessons she was taught. She did not return home but instead betrayed Tamaran to the Citadel, which had been at war off and on with Tamaran for over a century.

The Citadel defeated the Tamaranians with the help of Komand’r. In return Koriand’r was given to her sister as a slave. Koriand’r remained a slave for 6 years during which time her sister did everything in her power to break her spirit. Before Koriand'r regained her freedom, both sisters were captured and experimented on by the Psions, a cruel scientific race which was at war with the Citadel. Starfire and her sister gained starbolt powers as a result of the experimentation. They escaped from the Psions but there was no reconciliation to be had between the two sisters. Komand’r still despised her sister.

The story ends with a very brief account of how Starfire arrived on Earth a few months moths later.

There is an amazing amount of information packed in this issue. George Perez does a wonderful job laying it out and making it a pleasure to read.

Young versions of two of the future Omega Men (Primus, Kalista) make cameo appearances in one of the scenes where Koriand'r and Kommand'r were training with the Warlords of Okaara.

This is very much a prequel to the story that runs through New Teen Titans (1980) 23-25 and concludes in Annual 1. The annual was the first issue I remember buying and reading of New Teen Titans. It wasn’t until about 2012 that I went back and bought and read the first 3 installments in that story. I didn’t realize then the importance of this issue at that time.

Tales of the New Teen Titans 3

Tales of the New Teen Titans 3
Aug 1982

Changeling
by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Gene Day

The first six pages recount Gar Logan’s origin as recounted previously during the “Doom Patrol” arc (New Teen Titans (1980) Vol. 2) and originally told in the pages of Doom Patrol (1964). I believe there have been s few updates made to the story in this retelling.

The rest of the issue is given over to a confrontation between Changeling and Arsenal, a villain who last appeared in Doom Patrol (1964) 113. He is out to destroy Gar’s life and takes his girlfriend, Jillian Jackson, hostage. Jillian appeared in a few issues of Doom Patrol (1964) and according to my research becomes a recurring character in Tales of the Teen Titans (1984).

This Arsenal is not the same one that fought the Doom Patrol about a decade earlier. He has a connection to the original Arsenal and a personal connection to Gar. Jillian disappears in the last few pages of the story. Presumably she was rescued by Changeling but her fate isn’t revealed in this comic book.

This is probably my least favorite of the stories in the mini-series so far. It is filled with Gar’s sense of humor which usually makes me roll my eyes. The art is superb as usual, especially the layouts and panel arrangements. Arsenal’s design reminds me of the villain from DC Comics Presents 61, which was also drawn by George Perez.

Tales of the New Teen Titans 2

Tales of the New Teen Titans 2
Jul 1982

Raven
by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Pablo Marcos

Raven tells the story of her past. This is a much more detailed version of the story than was revealed in the opening arc of the New Teen Titans (1980). It isn’t just Raven's origin story but also that of her parents’ (Arella and Trigon). More is revealed about Azar and Azarath, the former being the leader and the latter the inter-dimensional home where Raven was born and raised. In the final pages of the story Raven finally comes into her own and meets her father for the first time.

The panel layouts and art are as usual spectacular. I particularly like the huge closeup of Trigon on p. 20.

Tales of the New Teen Titans 1

Tales of the New Teen Titans 1
Jun 1982

Cyborg
by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Brett Breeding, John Costanza

The Titans take some time off from battling villains and take a vacation together to the southwest mesa country.

Cyborg tells the story of his early days, what his parents were like, his interactions over the years with a childhood friend, and how he came to be the man he is today. There is some overlap with the bits and pieces of his past that were revealed over the course of the first year-and-a-half of New Teen Titans (1980) but I was pleasantly surprised to see that the issue was much more that.

George Perez does a wonderful job plotting the story with all different sorts of panel arrangements.