If any single comic book spoke to the era of the 1960's, at least as imagined by the mature creators of comics at the time it was the Teen Titans. The kid sidekicks who were a staple of the Golden Age had lingered on in comics as manifested by Robin the Boy Wonder, Aqualad, and Speedy. Kid Flash had quickly been created in the pages of the Silver Age Flash and Wonder Girl began life as Wonder Woman as a young woman much like Superboy, but that got altered when she was needed by Bob Haney and company.
Apparently, the success of the Justice League of America made the folks at DC keen to find another comic which would follow in its wake and it made rather obvious sense to reach down to the many sidekicks to make up that team -- like the JLA but younger. The place was The Brave and the Bold where the JLA had been birthed and the first team of teens was just three -- Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad. The writer was Bob Haney and he cooked up a zany plot about a curse on a small coast town, and their need for super help. It seems the towns teens are being blamed for some of the nonsense afflicting the town and so they logically call on teens for help. Bruno Premiani was the artist and his rendition of the sidekicks was in keeping with their look in the other comics but really wasn't going to cut it for the long term as we'll see. Needless to say the team are successful though they bicker a bit and the teens and the town are made happy when the villain Mister Twister is brought low.
Three becomes four and they get the official name of "Teen Titans" in their second appearance a full year, also in the B&B pages. This time they are helping a single youth who is defending his jailbird Dad accused of a series of bizarre crimes committed by a villain called the "Separated Man" who an appear a bit at a time, a giant hand here, an enormous foot there such like. Wonder Girl joins the ranks and she adds some necessary spice to the life of the boys who have something else to focus their attention on other than bickering with one another. A girl always makes thing better, though she does look rathe gobsmacked in that sidebar image on the cover by Nick Cardy. Cardy is not the artist inside the comic as Premiani is on hand again to draw Haney's script.
Six months go by and it is in Showcase that the Teen Titans reappear at long last before they kick off their own series. With this appearance they welcome their signature artist Nick Cardy who drew the heroes a tad older than Premiani had done. This made them look like true teens and allowed a slightly older audience to identify more readily with them. In this third outing the team have to prove the innocence of a trio of pop singers called "The Flips" who among them are iconic of several interests of teens such as motorcycles, surfboards and such as that.
Finally Teen Titans #1 hits the stands with the four established teens battling a weird villain who evoked ancient native gods. The team is called upon to sort of join the Peace Corps and head to South America in a remote area in the Andes called Xochaton. There they encounter a deadly giant Conquistador. Despite being drawn by Cardy this is a rather lackluster cover but is informative for sure.
In the second issue the Titans help out a teenager with a difference, he was unfrozen from prehistoric ice. This is a wacky one for sure and team has a time with an implacable monster from beyond time. This is the first issue that shows the Titans cave "clubhouse" and it's also the first time I noticed them using a helicopter with their name emblazoned on it. Note that his issue is the first with the famous Go-Go Checks.
Number three is a fun issue with the team running afoul of Ding Dong Daddy, a malevolent maker of hot rods who is using unwitting teens to help his theft ring. This one features some truly weird threats for the heroes.
There's little doubt that this villain dubbed the "Demon Dragster" on the cover is a spin on Ed "Big Daddy" Roth who is most famous today for his creation of Rat Fink.
The Titans are called upon to save world peace when a terrorist organization called "Diablo" threatens the Olympics. Speedy joins in with the regular team of four to keep the dream of the Olympics from being demolished. This cover by Cardy is a right stunner.
On a more personal level the fifth issue has the team battling "The Ant". This is a superbly conditioned villain who it turns out is the brother of a young man who pleads with the Titans to help save his brother from getting into further trouble with the law. Turns out he's being blackmailed into helping a gang and by the end the Titans have saved the day. The theme of adults and teenagers finding common ground and trusting one another is well developed in this one.
Nick Cardy steps away from the penciling chores to be replaced in this issue by Bill Molno. Haney brings in the Doom Patrol and specifically Beast Boy who is trying his hardest to find a place in the world. When the DP won't let him join, he tries the Titans and when they rebuff him because he needs parental consent, he joins up unknowingly with a criminal circus outfit.
This issue is remarkable in that showcases a key Teen Titans villain, the Mad Mod. He's a smuggler who is using a pop singer to unwittingly carry his misbegotten goods. The Titans have an unusually tough time with a villain who seems to have a mod outfit for every occasion. The team head to London for the wild hijinks in this issue, and Cardy's last as penciller for a time.
Irv Novick steps in as the regular penciler with Cardy inks for several issues of the series at this point. Yet another town is in crisis when a secret project called "Honey Bun" is stolen and foreign-exhange students are suspected. Turns out of course they are innocent but the ring that has stolen the deadly machine prove a substantial threat to the Titans.
The ninth issue is the very first issue of Teen Titans I ever read coming by a coverless copy when I was a mere lad. With some robust Novick and Cardy art this one is one pays service to all those beach party movies with two mobs of college kids descending on a beach and promising trouble. The town reaches out to the Titans for help and they turn the teen energy for rumble into positive work to help stop beach erosion. The modern pirate Captain Tiger pops up to give everyone someone to fight against. This issue is the first I believe to show that the Titans cave headquarters is hidden behind a giant billboard for the Batman TV Show. Some of the Titans even express remorse that they might miss an episode because of this adventure.
One of the problems with the Teen Titans is the same with the Justice League of America, they collectively are too powerful for normal threats. But despite that obvious fact they constantly have a hard time against just regular people, like the motorcycle gang that shows up to spoil a "Ramble" in an isolated desert town on its last legs. This is a threat that Wonder Girl or Kid Flash should be able to mop up in no time, but it takes a full issue and all of the team to put it down. One very cool addition in the story is the motorcycle Robin rides. It would become a staple of his stories for years to come.
More espionage in the eleventh and final issue in this collection which also features the return of Speedy. The cover is pretty dramatic and also pretty misleading as the lamprey monster in the comic is not quite so impressive. This is another one in which a super-smart teen is pressed to commit crime to protect his parent's reputation much like second Titans adventure in The Brave and the Bold. The stories seem less bout the threats really and more about the esprit d' corps the Titans have fighting together and helping one another when they get into hard places. Note that the Go-Go Checks have checked out with this issue.
More 60's Teen Titans action next week at this same time.
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