Superhero Origins: Teen Titans

Superhero Origins: Teen Titans

Saving the day is a job for the young! Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we will explore the comic book origins of The Teen Titans.

As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginations and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen to primarily follow the storyline, which unfolded in 1964’s “The Brave and the Bold” #54 and 1966’s #60, which was expanded upon in 1966’s “Teen Titans” #1.

The first incarnation of this superhero team originally emerged under the banner of the “Junior Justice league”, when the sidekicks of Batman, The Flash and Aquaman joined forces. These included Dick Grayson’s iteration of Robin, Wally West’s Kid Flash and Aqualad.

In that issue, the adults of the town of Hatton Corners came to feel that the teen population had become too wild, demanding that the youngsters get less play and do more chores. On the other hand, the teens felt that the adults have become square and wanted their curfews lifted. As a result, the son of the town’s mayor invited the three famous teen justice league superheroes to come and support their cause.

However, before the heroes arrived, the town happened to be attacked by the cyclone-riding super villain Mister Twister. Using magic, he abducted the town’s youth, imprisoning them on Goat Island while making outrageous demands.

With the three heroes using radar recordings to track Mr. Twister, they found the island, where the villain was using the kids to build a stone monument to tornadoes.

With Robin creating a distraction, Aqualad used whales to bring the kids home. With Mister Twisted becoming infuriated, he returned to Hatton Corners for revenge, using weather to decimate the town. However the three heroes defeated him by taking away his magic staff, proving to the town’s elders that teens deserved their respect.

In issue 60, Robin explained to Batman that following the incident, he and his friends had officially adopted the “TeenTitan” name, and recruited Wonder Girl, Wonder Woman’s daughter Donna Troy.

In this story, the town of Midville decided to have a “Teen Day” and elected a “Teen Mayor”. However when the Separated Man attacked the town with his giant bodyparts, the newly christened Titans arrived to save the day. They did this by putting the body parts together and creating a serum to return the villain back to human form.

Over the years, Robin continued to lead the team, and the Titans continued to recruit many other young teen heroes, including the likes of Beast Boy, Speedy and The Guardian.

Appearing in various media, the Teen Titan team eventually made their cartoon debut in 2003’s self titled series. Here, the team and their stories was based loosely its 1980’s comics incarnation. This meant the core team consisted of five members: Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven. Operating out of the Titans Tower, shaped like an inconspicuous giant T, they lived and trained there, between protecting the fictional West Coast City.

Taking its cues from the source material, this series didn’t just dealt with defeating evil, but the struggles of adolescence and the interpersonal relationships of the group.

Interestingly, unlike other Superhero cartoons, the Teen Titans series kept it’s heroes out of their true identities at all time, which technically makes sense considering that only Robin had one to begin with.

Are you a fan of this puberty stricken super fighting teen? Which Teen Titan is your favorite? For more thrilling comic book origins, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.