Is Titans really that big a franchise?

As far as needless title launches go, I had to give it to DC with Titans - an ongoing with the old-school Titans joining together for no particular reason. Not a lot of setup - just a Titans: East teaser and there you have it!

My problem with this book (and why I decided not to add it to my list) was because the book really doesn't seem to matter. Nightwing is busy in his own book and in the Batman world. A big part of Flash's story in JLA has been his lack of time for his family (in Flash) and the JLA, let alone the Titans, yet in Justice League America #20 he rededicated himself to the league. Red Arrow also has a prominent role in the JLA where his story focused on his graduating into Green Arrow's place on the League - not with the Titans anymore. Donna Troy became a watcher of the Monitors with Kyle Rayner and Ray Palmer at the conclusion of Countdown. Beast Boy rejoined the Doom Patrol during the One Year Later gap and even became leader.

So does all that make Titans a book being put out simply to put a book out? Looks that way to me.

So then I come to the end of this week's Teen Titans #60 and I see that a certain member of the team's adventures will be continued in Terror Titans #1! The Terror Titans are the small group of young villains who have plagued the Titans recently (not to be mistaken for the villainous Titans: East from a few arcs ago). Do they really need their own six issue mini? Does the only Titan going over have enough star power to carry the book? Seems the overwhelming Titans editor thinks so. What's his name here? Ah...a Dan DiDio. Ever heard of him?

This is getting ridiculous. I'm going to be sticking with Teen Titans, thanks. Adult Titans and villain Titans don't particularly interest me. They're missing the point here.

Did I Miss Something?

After much waiting, Teen Titans #50 came out a couple weeks ago. I was greatly anticipating this issue, as it surely would spell the end of the Countdown-related filler that the book had been sitting on for the past three months. Nothing against the "tragic end" of Duela Dent or the tie-in with Amazons Attack, but the Titans had been a bit aimless for that period, and I was looking forward to them turning a new corner with new writer Sean McKeever on board.

When I read issue 50, though, I felt like that corner had already been turned down and they were taking a break to reflect on another event. Titans finally got around to mourning the fallen Bart Allen, but it was not this that caught me wrong in the book - it was that Supergirl was a member of the Titans. I didn't miss an issue, did I? When did this happen? Then there was Cyborg leaving for his Titans East team. What? When did this come about? Suddenly, the Titans are a drastically changed team (changed from the drastically changed team of the One Year Later jump), with no cohesive story to explain it. These things just happened - deal with it.

The same had taken place earlier in the year when the Lightning Saga started over in Justice League of America. After reading the first issue, I called my friend (and Comicdom Wrecks! conspirator) Casey and asked when Geo-Force had joined the JLA and Black Canary been elected leader. Neither had been pointed out in the story (in fact, it was signaled against in Geo-Force's case), and were simply mentioned in the context of the new story.

I'm not a fan of throwing changes on without having something take place to explain them. Sure the Titans had just fought a Titans East team led by Deathstroke, but there was no setup to create a new team under that name. It seemed like someone had forgotten to set it up, so they just had to say "And this is happening too. Read it!" To further future stories, consistent setup is necessary, or anything can happen for no reason. Continuity must be established and maintained. A sense of stability is needed to maintain a reader's suspension of non-belief that comics so require.

So please, stop with the jumping. It's giving me a headache.

Top and Bottom of the Pile 6-27-07

TOP: X-Men First Class #1
Take the creators of an excellent mini series that they obviously loved creating and tell them that they can do it in an ongoing and you have the first issue of the ongoing X-Men First Class. Everything that was great about the mini series is still here, and the story remained self-contained, which nudges it over the cliffhanger endings of Cable/Deadpool #43 and X-Men #200. This was just a fun story, which I hope will remain the tradition of this title.



BOTTOM: Teen Titans #48
So I get that they want to debut the new creative team with issue 50, but that means three issues have to fill time with lame crossover events. Without any kind of synopsis of what Amazons Attack is about, it's hard to get into this story. It's also tough that the Titans play background characters, and several members of the team don't even show up. I have a feeling the follow up issue will end up on this side of the list as well.