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.

TALES OF THE THE TEEN TITANS #50

"WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY......."
A DC Comics Production
Marv Wolfman: Writer/Co-Plotter | George Pérez: Penciler/Co-Plotter
Dick Giordano: Embellisher (Special Thanks to Mike DeCarlo)
Lettered by John Costanza | Colored by Adrienne Roy
Edited by Marv Wolfman & George Pérez

The Plot: Surrounded by their family and friends, Donna Troy and Terry Long are married.

My Thoughts: Usually the double-sized anniversary issue of a comic features a big fight or a shake-up to the status quo or the culmination of a long-running plotline. TALES #50 doesn't really contain any of those things. There's no fight whatsoever, and Wonder Girl getting married is more of a change to the "window dressing" than an actual modification of any status quo. I suppose the nuptials are the culmination of her engagement, which dates back to issue 30, but that's really just the end to a minor sub-plot, rather than the conclusion of some big, ongoing story.

All that said, this is mostly a very nice little issue. Things like this would become commonplace within a decade or so, but at this point in time, dedicating a full issue of a superhero comic to a wedding is extremely unusual, and something of a bold move. Fortunately, Wolfman and Pérez have spent so much time getting us to care about the Titans as people that the idea doesn't backfire.

I do find it odd that the story goes through every single stage of the wedding day, however. We start with Changeling overseeing final preparations, then we see hair being done and guests arriving, followed by the ceremony and even the introduction of the bridal party to the reception, the first dance, the cutting of the cake, etc. as I read through all these things, I kept thinking, "Yup... this is what happens at a wedding." I'm not sure why the decision was made to commit all of it to paper, however.