THE NEW TEEN TITANS (VOLUME 2) #6

"TITANSMANIA"
Writer-Editor-Co-Plot: Marv Wolfman | Co-Plot: George Pérez | Layouts: Daniel Jurgens
Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal | Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Adrienne Roy

The Plot: New York honors the Titans with a parade and a presentation of the Key to the City. Wally West and his family, with Frances Kane, watch the parade on TV while elsewhere, the winged alien pines for Lilith and Jericho recovers in the hospital after the Titans' encounter with Trigon. Later, the Titans assess damage to their tower and then attempt to adjust to life as celebrities, while Arella heads out to search for Raven. Eventually, when he realizes that something is troubling Donna, Terry suggests a Titans' holiday in the Grand Canyon. There, the group discusses their experiences with their dark sides and eventually reaffirms their status as a team.

My Thoughts: I just had to give it one more issue, didn't I? Based on the cover and then the splash page, I figured this would be a feel good "quiet" issue in the aftermath of the Trigon saga. Well, it's definitely the latter, but in no way is it the former. It seems the Titans' fame has made them all suddenly realize how laughably careless they've been with their secret identities since the series began, as they suddenly can't get a moment's peace with the press and fans hounding them. Besides that, they're all disturbed by the visions Trigon showed them, in which their dark sides did terrible things to their loved ones, which led to the Titans giving in to the darkness and killing those evil versions of themselves.

So, to cope with this trauma, the group spends the final nine pages of the issue moping about their feelings to each other. The entire Grand Canyon scene is a slog, as the Titans pour out all their emotions in a way that just doesn't feel real to me. I like my super heroes to keep their angst bottled up, to soliloquize about their feelings through thought balloons, and to express their emotions by screaming and punching teammates who say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Seeing this group sit around and yak about what's eating them rubs me the wrong way.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS (VOLUME 2) #3, #4, & #5

"SOULS AS WHITE AS HEAVEN...AS BLACK AS HELL!"
"TORMENT!" | "THE TERROR OF TRIGON!"
Co-Creators: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez | Co-Artist: Romeo Tanghal
Letterers: Bob Lappan (#3), Todd Klein (#4), John Costanza (#5)
Colorist: Adrienne Roy

The Plot: (issue 3) The Titans and Arella return from Azarath to Earth, to find Manhattan being remade in Trigon's image. Raven confronts the group and sends them separately into struggles against their own dark sides and their deepest fears. One by one, the Titans are overcome or give in to their anger.

(issue 4) One at a time, the Titans kill their dark sides, thus losing their souls to Trigon. But when Raven summons them back to Earth to serve her father, Lilith reveals that the Titans actually serve her. She then sets them against Raven, and the dark Titans kill their former teammate. Then, their task complete, the Titans return to normal just as Trigon appears to avenge his daughter.

(issue 5) The Titans assault Trigon but are easily defeated. Then, as Trigon prepares to destroy Earth and return to his dimension, Lilith reveals to Arella that she has been possessed by Azar, Raven's mentor, this entire time. Azar directs the Titans to attack Trigon again, while she and Arella restore Raven's body to life. Raven acts as a conduit for all the deceased souls of Azarath, which unite to destroy Trigon once and for all.

With Trigon's death, Raven's soul moves on to another plane and the world is restord to normal -- with the exception of Titans' Tower, which was destroyed by Trigon during his fight with the Titans.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS (VOLUME 2) #1 & #2

"SHADOWS IN THE DARK!" | "THE SEARCH FOR RAVEN!"
Co-Creators/Co-Editors: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez
Letterer: Todd Klein | Colorist: Adrienne Roy

The Plot: The Titans conduct "war games" but are interrupted when a troubled Raven returns. Jericho briefly touches her mind and realizes she needs help. That night, as Raven sleeps, Jericho enters her body and finds himself in the nether-realm inhabited by Trigon and Raven's mother, Arella. Trigon briefly tortures Jericho before Raven awakens, forcing him from her body. She departs, leaving Jericho to tell the Titans that Raven needs their help.

My Thoughts: First and foremost -- and I know I said this before the last time Pérez inked himself, but -- this is, without a doubt, the best the Titans have ever looked. George Pérez has, for my money, at last completed his evolution into the George Pérez, legend among comic book artists. Working here on a series with higher production values, Pérez is free to experiment and really up the dynamism of his work. The issue is filled with breathtaking full-bleed art and exciting panel layouts, and, thanks to Pérez's own inks, it looks absolutely magnificent -- better than even the best of Pérez's previous collaborators could've made it.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #40 & TALES OF THE TEEN TITANS #41

"LIFEBLOOD" | "BAPTISM OF BLOOD!"
Co-Creators: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez | Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal
Letterers: Bob Lappan (#40) & John Costanza (#41) | Colorist: Adrienne Roy
Editor: Len Wein

Note: These issues do not have credits in THE NEW TEEN TITANS OMNIBUS volume 2. The above credits are pulled from the DC wiki.

The Plot: (issue 40) Brother Blood preaches to his flock. Meanwhile, Changeling and Terra are tutored by a teacher at Steve Dayton's estate before heading to Manhattan for an appearance with the other Titans (minus Dick Grayson) on Bethany Snow's news program. Wonder Girl debates a group of newly elected politicians over an arms shipment to Zandia, and Brother Blood joins the broadcast via satellite to assuage the public's concerns.

Later, Dick goes undercover as a reporter and meets with the three congresspeople who were voted out of office due to their connections with Blood. It turns out they were framed, so Dick offers to send them to Zandia as a fact finding committee. Soon after, accompanied by Bethany as well, the group heads to the island nation. But Dick is recognized in spite of his disguise, and Blood uses him to lure the Titans to his temple, where he captures them.

(issue 41) Brother Blood prepares to execute the Titans, but Raven's soul self saves them. Blood tests the Titans with his monsters, then challenges them to a duel. Meanwhile, the visiting congresspeople observe evidence elsewhere in Zandia of Blood's benevolence and the current regime's cruelty.

Blood battles and defeats the Titans, then traps them in an energy field and orders the brainwashed Dick Grayson to kill them. But Stafire's love for Dick overcomes his programming and he turns on Blood even as the Zandian military assaults Blood's temple. Blood plummets into a deep pit with his machinery and the temple is destroyed. As the Titans head home, they watch Bethany Snow's report stating that the congresspeople will work to sanction Zandia, while nations around the world have opened their borders to Brother Blood's church.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #38 & #39

DC Comics presents a Wolfman/Pérez production
"WHO IS DONNA TROY?"
Script by Marv Wolfman | From a plot by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez
Art by George Pérez & Romeo Tanghal | Lettering by Ben Oda
Coloring by Adrienne Roy | Edited by Len Wein

The Plot: Through the framing device of a case summary recording, Robin explains that Terry Long asked him to investigate Wonder Girl's past since it was very important to her that she learn where she came from prior to their wedding.

Robin and Wonder Girl investigate the tenement where young Donna Troy was found by Wonder Woman, uncovering a long hidden doll. The doll leads Robin to a toymaker, and subsequently to the former owner of an orphanage. Eventually, after unwinding a long series of clues, Robin reunites Wonder Girl with her adoptive mother and her new family, and with the grave of her biological mother.

My Thoughts: The point of this story is to explain Wonder Girl's origin, a plot point dating way back to THE NEW TEEN TITANS' very first issue. As I understand it, Wonder Girl was originally created as the childhood version of Wonder Woman -- but, when the original TEEN TITANS series launched in the sixties, writer Bob Haney (apparently well known for such continuity gaffes) assumed she was Wonder Woman's sidekick and brought her onto the team. This led to Marv Wolfman later teasing an origin for Wonder Girl in the final days of the original TITANS series, and now he follows up on that here.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #37 & BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #5

"LIGHT'S OUT, EVERYONE!" | "PSIMON SAYS..."
Writers: Marv Wolfman (NTT #37) & Mike W. BARR (B&TO #5)
Artists: George Pérez & Romeo Tanghal (NTT #37) & Jim Aparo (B&TO #5)
Letterers: John Costanza (NTT #37) & Jim Aparo (B&TO #5)
Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: (NTT #37) At the order of Psimon, Gizmo breaks Shimmer and Mammoth out of prison. Dr. Light convinces them to spring him as well. At the suggestion of Shimmer and Mammoth, Psimon leads the Fearsome Five to kidnap Dr. Jace, a woman with a technique for imbuing normal humans with superpowers.

Later, Terra leaves a Titans' meeting when she receives an emergency signal from Dr. Jace, who gave her and her brother their abilities. Terra heads for Jace's lab, where she finds the Outsiders -- Metamorpho, Katana, Halo, and Black Lightning -- investigating the demolished facility. The Titans catch up and a fight breaks out, but when the Outsiders' fifth member -- Terra's brother, Geo-Force -- reveals himself, both sides make amends.

The teams' respective leaders, Robin and Batman, are summoned from Gotham City while Psimon mentally coerces Dr. Jace into working with the Fearsome Five. When the heroes investigate several recently transformed half-mud vagrants, their path leads them to Psimon's lab outside Gotham City. There, Dr. Jace's procedure has been perfected and the Fearsome Five have an army of mud monsters under their control.

After a brief skirmish, Psimon triggers explosives on his island lair which sink it into the sea with the Titans and Outsiders aboard, while the villains and their monsters escape.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #35 & #36

"SIEGE!" | "FEEDBACK!"
Writer: Marv Wolfman | Layout Artist: Keith Pollard
Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal | Letterers: John Costanza & Todd Klein (#36 assist)
Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: Sarah Simms' ex-boyfriend, Mark, accosts her on the street. When a police officer attempts to break it up, Mark grabs the cop's gun and escapes with Sarah into a nearby store. As police surround the building, Sarah manages to contact Titans' Tower. Cyborg, Raven, and Changeling respond immediately. After Cyborg is shot in the shoulder, Changeling infiltrates the building but is unable to reason with Mark. Raven next enters and begins to negotiate as Cyborg tries a new route through the roof. In the end Mark surrenders after Raven and Cyborg talk him down.

My Thoughts: Geez; George Pérez must've been under a deadline crunch or something! THE NEW TEEN TITANS has skipped a month, jumping from August to October. In my experience, this sort of thing was unheard of in the eighties -- at least at Marvel. I would assume it was similar for DC. Anyway, now we have a fill-in artist for two installments, leading me to the above assumption that Pérez was responsible for the delay.

Anyway -- when Mark popped up, he appeared to be Cyborg's romantic rival for Sarah. Now it turns out he was just an extremely unstable guy with abandonment issues. I wouldn't have minded if there'd been more to him than met the eye, but not this. The issue feels like a sub-par episode of a prime-time cop show, rather than another soap operatic issue of THE NEW TEEN TITANS. And with this plotline now complete, it seems painfully clear that Mark was little more than a wrench created by Wolfman and Pérez to artificially delay the Cyborg/Sarah relationship.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #2

"THE MURDER MACHINE"
Writer: Marv Wolfman | Artists: George Pérez & Pablo Marcos
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

Note: This issue does not have credits in THE NEW TEEN TITANS OMNIBUS volume 2. The above credits are pulled from the DC wiki.

The Plot: D.A. Chase and his family are rushed to the hospital, but Chase's wife and children perish. Robin vows to get Anthony Scarapelli for the murders. Meanwhile, Scarapelli finds himself on the outs with the mob's Donna Omicidio due to the public nature of his assassination attempt. Scarapelli requests aid from a criminal "referral agent" called the Monitor.

Robin finds himself handcuffed by a restraining order from Scarapelli after his invasion of the mobster's home, so the rest of the Titans rough up Scarapelli's various illegitimate enterprises. The Monitor sends a group of assassins to lure the Titans into a trap, but the heroes escape. During the skirmish, two of the assassins are killed by a mysterious figure. Kid Flash is injured, but Raven -- who had been away from the Titans for much of the recent action -- returns to heal him.

Soon after, Scarapelli heads to a meeting with Donna Omicidio, but sends a group of battle suited warriors to kill her. While the Titans fight these troops, Scarapelli escapes to his home. But he's cornered by a costumed man calling himself the Vigilante. Vigilante has Scarapelli at his mercy and unmasks himself as D.A. Chase. Robin appears to talk Chase out of murdering Scarapelli, but when Scarapelli pulls a gun on the pair, Chase kills him and escapes.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #34

"ENDINGS...AND BEGINNINGS!"
Co-Creators: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez | Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal
Letterer: Todd Klein | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

Note: This issue does not have credits in THE NEW TEEN TITANS OMNIBUS volume 2. The above credits are pulled from the DC wiki.

The Plot: At his apartment in Manhattan, Deathstroke discusses his next plan with his manservant, Wintergreen. Meanwhile, the Titans throw a sixteenth birthday party for Terra. She believes she has proved herself to them and asks why they don't trust her with their identities and other secrets. As Wonder Girl leaves to go see Terry, Kid Flash informs her that he plans to quit the Titans.

Meanwhile, Robin and D.A. Chase fight through Anthony Scarapelli's men and arrest Scarapelli on a warrant for possession of illegal firearms. Elsewhere, Deathstroke kidnaps a stockbroker while Wonder Girl accepts Terry's proposal, but asks for time to learn about her past before the wedding. Sarah Simms calls Titans' Tower for Cyborg, but he has no interest in talking to her. At her apartment, she kicks her "fiancé" Mark out, as she called off their engagement a year before but he won't let her go.

Deathstroke calls Titans' Tower and tells Changeling to surrender the Titans to him or he will kill the broker. But Terra knocks Changeling out and goes to face Deathstroke on her own in Manhattan. The Titans follow and in the end, it is Terra who gets the better of Deathstroke. But the villain apparently blows himself up rather than be captured. In the aftermath of the fight, the Titans officially welcome Terra as a worthy member.

Later, Terra goes to the tenament where she had been held by terrorists and meets Deathstroke. The entire fight was part of his plan to plant her among the Titans as a mole. Meanwhile, Robin argues with Chase over his obsessive methods and leaves in a huff. But as he prepares to drive away, he sees a bomb detonate far above in Chase's apartment.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #32 & #33

"THUNDER AND LIGHTNING!" | "WHO KILLED TRIDENT?"
Co-Creators: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez | Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

Note: These issues do not have credits in THE NEW TEEN TITANS OMNIBUS volume 2. The above credits are pulled from the DC wiki.

The Plot: In St. Louis, a pair of young men named Tavis and Gan -- a.k.a. Thunder and Loghtning -- wreak havoc on a neighborhood as they search for someone. Meanwhile, the Titans return to Titans' Tower following their adventure in Zandia. Robin immediately departs, leaving the rest of the group to unwind. Speedy leaves as well, to return to his anti-drug organization, while Frances invites Kid Flash to quit the Titans and return home with her.

Later, Thunder ad Lightning are cornered by the U.S. military. Speedy gets wind of their confrontation and informs the Titans. Sans Robin, the group heads to St. Louis, where they learn that the young men are looking for an Army lieutenant named Walter Williams. A brief skirmish ensues, ending with Thunder and Lightning pausing to recap their origin as the children of Williams and a Vietnamese woman. Born Siamese twins, they were separated and grew up with superpowers.

Following this tale, an army officer appears, informing Thunder and Lightning that Williams last resided in a fishing village in Maine. Thunder and Lightning immediately depart for the village, but are chased by the Titans. There they fight again, and the Titans are victorious. Wonder Girl, having made a side trip to Wasington D.C., arrives and reports that Williams' home was destroyed recently and no bodies were found.

Believing themselves near death due to their powers, Thunder and Lightning surrender. At Cyborg's suggestion, they're taken to S.T.A.R. Labs for stabilization. Meanwhile, Wonder Girl reports to the Titans that Williams was actually a military scientist, and that she believes he is still alive.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #30 & #31

"NIGHTMARE!" | "INFERNO!"
Co-Creators: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez | Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

Note: These issues do not have credits in THE NEW TEEN TITANS OMNIBUS volume 2. The above credits are pulled from the DC wiki.

The Plot: (issue 30) It is New Year's Eve. Raven has disappeared following the Brotherhood of Evil's attack on Titans' Tower, leaving Kid Flash, Speedy, and Frances to discuss the situation. But the Brotherhood members come around, trounce the trio, and escape to search for Raven.

Meanwhile, Changeling and Terra are at the apartment where Terra was held by her terrorist blackmailers. She changes into a new costume and asks to join the Titans. Elsewhere, Robin, Starfire, and D.A. Chase meet with Bethany Snow, who informs them that Brother Blood is trying to rig an upcoming congressional election -- however, unbeknownst to the group, she shares this info at Blood's order, and an "assassination attempt" on her life ensues that the trio believes her.

Cyborg goes to Sarah Simms' apartment for a New Year's party, but meets her fiancée, Mark Wright. Their awkward moment is interrupted when the Titans call Cyborg for help. He returns to the Tower, where the group is working to locate Raven and the Beotherhood. Raven, meanwhile, has encountered the villains at a church, and fled to Times' Square. The Titans catch sight of her on television and move to her aid.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #28 & 29

"TERRA IN THE NIGHT" | "FIRST BLOOD!"
Co-Creators: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez | Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

Note: These issues do not have credits in THE NEW TEEN TITANS OMNIBUS volume 2. I don't know if DC used the files from a trade paperback reprint that had previously omitted them or what, but this sort of thing is par for the course for the DC collected editions department. The above credits are pulled from the DC wiki.

The Plot: Changeling is on Terra's trail, having spent days chasing her. Meanwhile, in Zandia, the Brotherhood of Evil enters Brother Blood's Cathedral of Death to stage a coup. Back in New York, Starfire and Robin spend some time together while Wonder Girl goes to visit Terry Long, but meets his unfriendly ex-wife at his apartment. Elsewhere, Changeling finally captures Terra.

Back at Titans' Tower, Terra explains to Changeling, Kid Flash, Raven, and Cyborg that her father and stepmother, sovereigns of another nation, have been kidnapped by terrorists. She and her brother Brion set out to find the villains, but were separated. Terra eventually tracked them down but was blackmailed into committing crimes in order to keep them alive. The Titans agree to go with Terra to her meeting with the terrorists.

The group heads for a subway yard in Long Island, where they fight the terrorists. The villains' leader claims that Terra's parents have been killed, which sends her into a rage. Changeling attempts to comfort her, while Raven believes something is amiss about the girl.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #26 & #27

"RUNAWAYS" | "RUNAWAYS PART 2"
Co-Creators: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez | Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal
Letterers: Ben Oda (#26) & Todd Klein (#27) | Colorist: Adrienne Roy
Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: (issue 26) The Titans return to Earth, and Robin admits to Starfire that he loves her. Weeks pass as the group members resume their lives. Meanwhile, around the country, several teenagers run away from home under varying circumstances. Then, one night while out for a date, Dick Grayson and "Cory Anders" (Starfire) witness a young junkie accost District Attorney Adrian Chase for money before retreating and getting run down by a truck.

Elsewhere, Changeling is on monitor duty when he picks up an incident at the Statue of Liberty and moves to investigate. There he fights a girl named Terra, babbling about an assignment from "them" to destroy the statue. Before Changeling can capture her, Terra escapes.

Later, Raven -- back in college -- befriends a young street walker and takes her to Cyborg for help. The duo then brings the girl to a runaway shelter where they bump into D.A. Chase. He recruits the Titans to investigate the local end of an international drug ring which plans to use runaways to transport their narcotics through the city. The Titans agree to help and return to Cyborg's apartment, where they find a young man bleeding on the carpet.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #25 & ANNUAL #1

"WAR!" | "FINAL CONFLICT!"
Co-Creators: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez | Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Carl Gafford | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: On Okaara, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Raven, and the Omega Men defend the imprisoned goddess X'hal from the Citadel forces. Meanwhile, aboard a Citadel ship overhead, Cyborg saves Changeling from the slavers holding a gun on him. Cyborg, Robin, and Changeling hijack the ship, using one slaver as a guide, and head for the Citadel's homeworld to find Starfire.

Meanwhile, during the fight on Okaara, Raven is nearly overcome by the darkness in her soul, but manages to pull herself together. Subsequently, X'hal orders the battle to an end and departs to turn herself over to the Citadel.

Robin, Cyborg, and Changeling reach the Citadel planet and infiltrate the slavers' temple. But one of the Omega Men, Demonia, has stowed away on their ship and reveals herself to the Citadel's leader, Damyn, pledging to serve him and informing him of the Titans' presence.

Robin and the others locate Starfire, along with Damyn, Blackfire, and X'hal, now imprisoned. Believing Starfire dead, Robin flies into a rage and attacks. Cyborg takes Damyn hostage in an attempt to end the fight, but Blackfire kills her leader to claim his title as her own. She then orders Robin, Changeling, and Cyborg taken into custody alongside Starfire.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #23 & 24

"KIDNAPPED!" | "CITADEL STRIKE!"
Co-Creators: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez | Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal
Letterers: Ben Oda (#23) & Todd Klein (#24) | Colorist: Carl Gafford
Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: While the Titans speak with the District Attorney about their assault on Baron Blood, Blackfire arrives in orbit of Earth and sends her slavers to attack New York. Starfire is captured and the aliens escape, but the Titans capture one of their ships. Using it with the long-dormant ship that brought Starfire to Earth, the Titans head into space to rescue their teammate.

But no sooner do they board Blackfire's ship, than her defenses get the best of them, and she jettisons them into space before leaving Earth's solar system. The Titans are rescued, however, by Superman, who is aboard the Justice League's satellite headquarters. But when Robin urges the Man of Steel to head out and stop Blackfire's escape, he admits that he can't, as he's recently suffered a drastic decrease in power.

My Thoughts: The story continues organically from the Brother Blood chapters, as we pick up with the Titans in voluntary custody for their meeting with the D.A. We also learn that Bethany Snow, an antagonistic reporter introduced last issue, is a member of Blood's church and seems to be running a deliberate smear campaign against the Titans.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #21 & 22

"BEWARE THE WRATH OF... BROTHER BLOOD!" | "ASHES TO ASHES!"
Co-Creators: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez | Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal
Letterers: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: (issue 21) Raven and Starfire defuse a terror attack on Yankee Stadium. Meanwhile, Cyborg has made amends with Sarah Simms, but his peace is short lived as his ex-girlfriend, Marcy, calls him. She has joined a cult called the Church of Brother Blood, and is executed for attempting to escape while on the phone with Cyborg.

The Titans learn of Blood's church from Marcy's parents, and Robin, Wonder Girl, Raven, and Kid Flash go undercover to join up. But when Blood senses their presence while addressing his congregation, they are forced to fight. Blood defeats them all, but Raven's soul self escapes.

(issue 22) Blood takes Robin for interrogation and throws the remaining Titans into a dungeon. Meanwhile, raven's soul self recruits Cyborg, Changeling, and Starfire to come to the church and rescue their teammates. But Blood has called a local news station to the church for an interview, which catches the Titans' assault on camera. Robin and the others are saved, but Brother Blood is believed killed by Cyborg, in full view of the public eye.

Meanwhile, in outer space, a slave ship captained by Starfire's sister, Blackfire, heads for Earth.

TALES OF THE THE NEW TEEN TITANS #3 & #4

"CHANGELING" | "STARFIRE"
Writer-Co-Plotters-Artist: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez
Embellishers: Gene Day (#3) & Ernie Colón (#4)
Letterers: John Costanza (#3) & Todd Klein (#4) | Colorist: Adrienne Roy
Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: As he struggles to roast some hot dogs over a campfire, Changeling reveals his history to the rest of the Titans.

My Thoughts: It's interesting that, in this four-part series, three issues focus on the brand-new characters (Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven), while the fourth is dedicated to one of the pre-existing Titans. Though I suppose this makes sense, since Changeling has the least history of the remaining team members. Robin, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl have all been around for decades at this point, while Changeling has existed only for around fifteen years or so.

Thus, with a somewhat known but still relatively new and underutilized character like Garfield Logan, Wolfman and Pérez get to put their creative spin on him as they've done with Cyborg and Raven, and soon will do with Starfire. I must remind readers, though, that I'm no expert on DC history, so I'm unsure where Changeling's official history ends and the contributions of Wolfman and Pérez pick up. I can guess though.

Changeling quickly recaps his time with the Doom Patrol and the original Titans, then we move into an extended sequence in which he spends some time acting in Hollywood and becomes the target of an old Doom Patrol foe called the Arsenal. Arsenal kidnaps Logan's girlfriend, condescendingly referring to him by his codename, Beast Boy, which eventually prompts the name change to Changeling.

TALES OF THE THE NEW TEEN TITANS #1 & #2

"CYBORG" | "RAVEN"
Writer-Co-Plotters-Penciler: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez
Inkers: Brett Breeding (#1) & Pablo Marcos (#2)
Letterers: John Costanza (#1) & Ben Oda (#2) | Colorist: Adrienne Roy
Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: The Titans head to the Grand Canyon for a week's vacation. Over dinner, Cyborg describes his life's history to the rest of the team.

My Thoughts: A camping trip, with the new Titans explaining their origins to the others, is a great idea for a limited series. And Cyborg's history is a pretty good one. Wolfman takes an all-too-common trope in superhero comic origins -- the angry black youth -- and flips it sideways. Cyborg didn't start out angry. He had an unusual childhood, monitored constantly by his scientist parents, but he was also a genius and a gifted athlete with a scholarship education.

The problem came when he fell in with the wrong crowd and, despite his better judgment, got involved in more than one street fight in his young life, until his father finally disowned him. Then, as described in previous installments, his mother died and Cyborg himself was crippled and rebuilt by his father.

As I said, it's a twist on the most commonly seen black character origin. Unfortunately, we knew a lot of Cyborg's background already, as he is the most angst-ridden Titan. But Wolfman ties everything together well enough, and it's admittedly nice to have all the pieces we've seen so far gathered in one story.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #19 & 20

"THE LIGHT FANTASTIC!" | "DEAR MOM AND DAD"
Co-Creators: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez | Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal
Letterers: John Costanza (#19) & Ben Oda (#20) | Colorist: Adrienne Roy
Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: Cyborg watches Sarah Simms in the park with her students, while thinking that she's better off without him. But unbeknownst to Cyborg, Sarah misses him quite a bit.

Meanwhile, in prison, Dr. Light learns that the Riddler stole five million dollars and decides to one-up the Prince of Puzzles. Light escapes and heads for the New York Museum to steal some ancient artifacts from an exhibit dedicated to Vishnu. But the exhibit is curated by Carter Hall, a.k.a. Hawkman, who thwarts Light's plan.

However, Light inadvertently awakens three statues from the exhibit with his powers, and they make a beeline to kill him. Light flees for Titans' Tower to request aid from his enemies and soon a huge fight breaks out. Eventually Hawkman realizes how Light awakened the statues, and Starfire duplicates his power to render them inert once more.

Light is sent back to prison, where he learns that the Riddler was caught by Batman, and decides the day wasn't so bad after all. Meanwhile, Sarah arrives at the apartment of Wonder Girl's boyfriend, Terry Long, pleading for his help.

THE NEW TEEN TITANS #17 & 18

"THE POSSESSING OF FRANCIS KANE!" | "A PRETTY GIRL IS LIKE A-- MALADI!"
Co-Creators: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez | Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: At Blue Valley College, Wally West meets up with his childhood friend, Francis Kane, and accompanies her to her home to study. But there, Francis's mother is engaged in a seance to contact her late husband and son, Francis's father and brother. During the seance Francis is seemingly possessed and household items go flying everywhere.

Following the chaos, a week later, Wally recruits Raven to inspect Francis. The group interrupts another seance and Francis is possessed once more. Two more weeks pass during which Francis is studied by doctors in Blue Valley. When they learn nothing and another apparent possession takes place, the Titans bring Francis to Titans' Tower in New York.

There, yet another possession incident occurs. But Cyborg, having noticed that everything telekinetically moved by Francis was made of metal, deduces that she has a surplus of magnetic waves in her brain. With the aid of S.T.A.R. Labs, Cyborg lowers Francis's magnetic brainwave activity to normal, and the possessions finally stop for good.

Later, Francis bids farewell to Kid Flash, who she has deduced is actually Wally. She tells him she thinks she's falling in love with him, then departs. Meanwhile, in another dimension, the villainous Dr. Polaris laments that his attempt to take control of Francis and return himself to reality has failed.