I admit, I pretty much missed out on the Marv Wolfman and George Perez New Teen Titans run the first time around; I was too young, too non-American (For some reason, I don’t think I ever saw an issue of NTT in a store until it had become Tales of The New Teen Titans and moved on to the Eduardo Barreto days), and too into reading Justice League of America, anyway. Surprisingly, there’s never really been an affordable series of collections of the run, either, so it’s taken me until now to read the Archives of the earliest issues and trades of later arcs, and… I just don’t get it.
That’s not to say I think it’s bad, because I don’t. But, reading things like The Terror of Trigon, I feel as if I’m missing something, and I’m not sure what. I don’t think this is just limited to me, or to New Teen Titans; I have a friend who didn’t read Walt Simonson’s run on Thor until earlier this year when the gigantic omnibus came out, and he didn’t see what all the fuss was about (Despite it clearly being the best Thor run since Lee and Kirby, I mean, come on). There are classic runs and era-defining comics that seem to be as much about the context they were created in as the comics themselves, and reading them later, without any sense of nostalgia… Well, it’s just not the same.
I’m curious; am I wrong about New Teen Titans? Should I go all in and get the omnibus and try for a full immersion to hopefully understand it once more? And also, what classics have you sampled and ended up shaking your head in confusion over what everyone else saw so clearly that you failed to…?
October 4th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
These are runs that, arguably, changed the ways stories were told and characters portrayed. Reading them after such a change wouldn’t have the same “wow” factor. I felt this way about “Watchmen”, great story, but in an era where we have “The Boys” and other such books its no longer an original concept. Superman may have been the first superhero, but now he’s just one of many, same is true for these arcs IMO.
October 4th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
I didn’t read much of NTT back in the day (though I did read the preview of it in DCCP #26, which at the time was the only really collectible comic I owned). When I found back issues (amazingly cheap) in the last few years, I was interested but never enthralled. The art was Perez-level awesome, but the stories always came up just a bit short.
The funny thing, however, is that what little exposure I did have to to NTT made me a big fan of Nightwing. So much so that I was annoyed when Tim Drake got a series ahead of Dick Grayson. And when Wolfman wasn’t hired to write the NW comic.
But at least I can see why NTT was a hit. It was DC’s answer to X-Men and there was clearly a big audience for it. Thor, however…Simonson doesn’t make the character work for me anymore than any other writer till Langridge has. Never mind the frogs.
October 4th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
I was also too young to read NNT as it was published.
But I tracked down the back issues in the late 80s.
NTT is what made Dick Grayson, Donna Troy and Wally West into MY characters.
The writing and art were consistent throughout and the storylines were/are enthralling.
I’d recommend picking up the Omnibus. It’s worth the $75.00. It’s HUGE.
Not every story is going to work for every reader.
THE JUDAS CONTRACT and TERROR OF TRIGON read excellently for me, but I read all of the issues leading up to it, so I knew the whole background.
October 4th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Count me as among the many who don’t get the big appeal of Teen Titans. Visually they were great characters, and superficially they feel like they’re going to be an awesome Marvel-style super team (which I remember was the unofficial hook among fans when the series came out, that it was a Marvel-style book starring DC characters). The problem for me was as time went on and on I realized…all they did was cry and lose, unless they were fighting nameless anonymous henchmen.
I don’t think I can remember Dick Grayson having a notable hand-to-hand victory against a top-tier fighter in the whole run. And oh the angst and crying and inferiority complexes. The final straw was Terry Long.
October 4th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
The Avengers.
I never understood the appeal, and never will. Every other superhero group I can get behind, even Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew. The Avengers do absolutely nothing for me.
October 4th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
It’s funny, when I go through my collection and get to “N” I often end up pulling a few issues of New Teen Titans to reread. Maybe context is important, but I still find the Wolfman/Perez run as captivating now as it was back in the newstand days.
Plots, subplots, awesome art, static characters suddenly allowed to be 3-dimensional, stories about subjects that were too mature for other DC books, even more endless subplots, even better Perez art… NTT was DC’s X Men, and it appealed for many of the same reasons.
October 4th, 2011 at 5:57 pm
I think NTT benefited from being such a departure from being not just a departure from the previous Teen Titans series but from the rest of the DC line as a whole. Yes, it was the most-”Marvel-ish” book DC did at the time, but also the only one that had that Marvel feel without reading like they were trying too hard. Legion really was hit and miss on the art front. There was actual debate if you could consider the Super Friends comic was in continuity or not. NTT was a breath of fresh air for DC fans and a DC book Marvel snobs didn’t feel was beneath them.
October 5th, 2011 at 4:56 am
Claremont’s X-Men. I started reading during Acts of Vengeance when Jim Lee was on the book. I didn’t get it. I’ve become a huge comics fan and nerd. I even won a trivia contest at the Pittsburgh Comic-con many years ago, but I’ve never been an X-Men fan and I blame it on Claremont’s X-Men. I’ve even gone back and read some of the Claremont/Byrne run, but I can’t read and enjoy it just for the Byrne. I’ll read Fantastic Four or Superman or Avengers if I want to see some Byrne.
October 5th, 2011 at 8:43 pm
Secret Wars has always been talked up big time from my old school Marvel friends. I went in with high expectations. I thought it was terrible.
On the flip aide, I have loaned copies of All Star Superman to those same friends and they didn’t get it at all.
October 5th, 2011 at 9:58 pm
I collected this run of the titans from issue number one. I was 12 years old when it came out. I think what got my attention was that each character had a unique personality. All I read at the time was DC, and that was not the norm for their comics. Plus, the artwork was amazng compared to what I was seeing in comics such as Superman Family and World’s Finest (which were still in print at the time). Looking back – I think they still hold up to a certain degree. But I think they made me feel like I was reading a more mature comic.
October 5th, 2011 at 10:01 pm
simple answer —graeme is an idiot
October 6th, 2011 at 6:33 am
The Byrne/Claremont run was lightning in a bottle. To a newer reader, going back and reading it, especially after the Jim Lee years of Claremont’s run, isn’t as good as experiencing it while it was coming out. To me, it’s still how the X-Men should be done. I personally can’t go back and look at the Jim Lee run and think that they’re good comics but to some those are as good as I think the Claremont/Byrne issues are. I think that the New Teen Titans fall into the same category. If you liked the Geoff Johns run (which wouldn’t have happened without Wolfman/Perez) the Wolfman/Perez run reads a bit corny.
October 7th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
I think the problem is that the impact of those stories has been lessened with the world being a bit more sophisticated now than when the material was first published. A ten year old now-a-days have much more that they’ve been exposed to than the kids the same age when the material was out in the first printing, so something that would seem a bit edgy back then can be totally overlooked by the new generation.
October 9th, 2011 at 11:26 pm
The Perez/Wolfman’s Titans really didn’t hit its stride until after the first year. But I agree with others in that some of the techniques Perez and Wolfman mastered in Titans have become more commonplace in comics today.
It’s kind of like listening to Elivis. His recordings and style are old fashioned and maybe even corny to today’s audience, but he was more controversial than Lady GaGa ever thought about being in his day.
October 10th, 2011 at 4:36 am
Things like Terror of Trigon and Judas Contract may appear confusing when you dont have the back stories (i can imagine Raven’s good to evil to good again can confuse people who dont know her) so i can greatly reccomend getting the first Omnibus, where you get all the introductions to the main cast. (Or just watch the cartoon and you get the basic lowdown)
Same is true i guess if one new reader jumps both feet first into something like Dark Phoenix Saga.