THE NEW TEEN TITANS

Here's a series I've wanted to read for years: THE NEW TEEN TITANS by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. Both Marvel stalwarts in the seventies, this duo was among the many creators who jumped ship to DC when Jim Shooter took over as Marvel's editor-in-chief. At DC they revamped the long-running TEEN TITANS series, aging the characters a bit into their late teens and adding a handful of new members to the team. The book skyrocketed up the sales charts, becoming -- though all involved deny this was intentional -- DC's answer to Chris Claremont's X-MEN. But regardless of whether anyone felt the X-Men comparison was valid, it was that which made me want to check this series out.

A few years ago, DC began publishing a NEW TEEN TITANS OMNIBUS series. Volume One appeared in 2011, Volume Two in 2012, and Volume Three in 2013. I bought all three with the intention of getting to them eventually, and that time has finally arrived. The third volume has been mercilessly criticized by fans for its spotty collection of the series, but as long as it contains all the Wolfman/Pérez material, which is really the main draw for me, I'm fine with it. I understand there is a chunk of issues missing in the book, however, which should fit in there between other issues it does collect, but those installments are available through DC's digital store, so I'll look into reading them there when the time comes.

However, after spending over a year writing two in-depth, continuity laden posts per week for Iron Man and Spider-Man, I think I need to step away from that format for this series. Plus, I'm not as versed in DC's history as I am in Marvel's so keeping track of these things would be harder for the Titans. Thus, my plan is to simply write about these stories as I read them, in the vein of most of my Friday posts: I'll just read the issues, then compose a post about them; no categories, no overly detailed analysis and no copious panel scans/screenshots. Just my simple thoughts. And it won't be a set number of issues per post, either. If I happen to read one issue in an evening, that's all I'll write about. But if I read two or three, they will all be covered in the same post. However I'll ideally aim for two issues per post, as that's what I usually feel comfortable reading at night.

So I don't know exactly how long this project will take -- but we're looking at roughly 70 issues altogether, so I'll ballpark the whole thing, at two issues per post and two posts per week, to take about four or five months. I'll continue to post my usual "grab bag" items on Fridays, of course, possibly even going the "in-depth" route there on a short run or two, after I finish the just-announced Loeb/Sale stories, followed by a second round of GUNDAM: THE ORIGIN posts.

At any rate, this blog is going predominantly DC for the next few months, beginning Wednesday, to cover a run on a series I've had my eye on for years. I can't wait to dig into these volumes!

Volume One is out of print, but Two and Three are currently available on Amazon.com for those who care to read along:
THE NEW TEEN TITANS OMNIBUS VOLUME 1 | VOLUME 2 | VOLUME 3

Also, DC has begun to collect the series in trade paperback format as well, with one already released and a second on the way:
THE NEW TEEN TITANS VOLUME 1 | VOLUME 2