World's Finest: Teen Titans #1

[superfangirl1]

Comments

[morallyambiguousscience]

I know comic book universes have a sliding timescale, but this one, this one hurts.

[shakalooloo]

Yeah, this is the past to now, so how long ago was it that 'social media presence' first became A Thing? Is it possible to properly date this by which terms are used and which are omitted?

[akodo_rokku]

I mean, probably the early 2010s? Twitter launched in 2009 but was a pretty big deal within a couple of years.

[morallyambiguousscience]

2013 is 10 years ago now and I think nothing in this would be out of place then?

[scorntx]

Yep, there's the inevitable Waid-written Batjerk.

(But that's the price of a Mark Waid comic. Batman gonna jerk.)


Roy getting him back by stealing Justice League Batman's move.

And Bumblebee just doing stuff! Always good.
(Last I recall seeing her in the modern was that Titans run during Rebirth, and something about amnesia?)

[cypherfdp]

The Titans are already established in Superman/Batman, so presumably this ends with Batman warming up enough to the idea to let Robin introduce David to the team.

[mastermahan]

I don't know, this is pretty reasonable on the sliding scale of Batdickery. Bruce is actually referring to other heroes as friends.

[icon_uk]

Yeah, not seeing Batman being much of a jerk here, an overly protective father to his only kid, yes, absolutely, but he's a first time Dad whose kid is into the ultimate in extreme sports, caution is a good idea.

[nyadnar17]

"But that's the price of a Mark Waid comic. Batman gonna jerk."

I think I have seen Batman smile and hang around other Superhero's as an actual person more in Waid comics than anywhere else. This is typical protective dad stuff. Especially given that HIS kid is the one without super powers.

[windleopard2]

Batman gonna jerk

Phrasing.

[thanekos]

" We're in a serious business - they're steeped in the clichés of science fiction and fantasy, fairytales for children.

" We're steeped in the clichés of crime fiction, neo-noir and technothrillers - fairytales for adults. "

[blueprintstyles]

The Other history of the DC Universe also had a thing where Aqualad was bullied off the team, is this something based on the original continuity?

[thumbs13]

At the end of the original titans run, Aqualad's powers had stopped working, and nobody knew why, until it was revealed that the team, especially Roy, had hurt his self-esteem so much he had a psychosomatic reaction and it stopped him from being able to use them, and that ended with him leaving the team.

This wouldn't matter for long, as the Titans would break up in, like, the next issue, and would stay dormant until the new teen titans era.

[beyondthefringe]

Damn, that's kinda dark.
Some of the Titans were real assholes back then... Roy and Hank Hall especially.
Looking back at those stories and cringing at how abusive they were to their friends, teammates, relatives...

[scorntx]

Huh. So Garth-kicking isn't just some modern trend.

[nyadnar17]

Really? Holy shit, I guess I missed that part of the run.

[super_fly]

So is everybody just watching Robin stand there suddenly gritting his teeth and clenching his fist after Roy goes off on him? Kind of a funny picture.

[lordultimus]

I'm so deprived of Diana and Donna being confidants that I practically jumped for joy at these panels.

[mastermahan]

"Why won't you tell me your real name!?" Speedy asks as he shouts everyone's real names in front of a crowd of people pointing smartphones at them. "I, Roy, feel very insulted that you don't trust my judgment and discretion, and so do Wally, Garth, Karen, and Donna!"

[zachbeacon]

Roy was mentored by Ollie; he doesn't actually understand how secret identities are supposed to work.

Though ... do Garth and Donna actually have lives outside of superheroing at this point? Does Garth EVER have one?

[icon_uk]

It's especially odd as Roy knows that Robin was a former circus star.

[windleopard2]

Sometimes I feel like fans are too hard on Roy.

Then I read stories like this and I feel guilty for liking him.

[mastermahan]

Roy is a fuckup with bad decision-making skills and daddy issues. But that's why I like his character. A well-written Roy is interesting for his shortcomings.

(A poorly written Roy is 'heroin, heroin, heroin, oops my baby mama committed genocide, heroin, dead cat, heroin.')

[windleopard2]

I feel like emphasizing or overemphasizing the former is how we get the latter.

[zachbeacon]

That recent mini where Bruce has Dick spy on the Titans was pretty messed up. This seems a lot more of a reasonable take. They're teens and they don't always have the best judgment. What if one of them becomes a junkie and hooks up with a supervillain?

Though hopefully Bruce handles this better than he did when he forced Tim to keep secrets from allies...only to out Tim to Steph himself.

(Does Wally know here though? It's weird if Wally doesn't know about Dick)

[icon_uk]

Yeah, that whole "Robin and Batman" mini had some nice ideas (like Killer Croc knowing who Robin was, because he was circus folk himself and recognised the kids style) and gorgeous art by Dustin Nguyen, and a Batman who lurched from "well meaning but clueless first time dad" to, as Alfred put it about that Teen Titans moment you mention, "you bastard!"