With the latest volume of TEEN TITANS, Will Pfeifer has been restructuring the team and giving them a new sense of direction. Lately, we've seen Manchester Black appear with the offer sharing some of S.T.A.R. Labs' resources with the team. Amidst all the chaos and attacks, we've even seen the addition of a new member to the team with the new Power Girl.
Issue #7 came out this week and next issue will see the return of Superboy so we asked Pfeifer some questions about the team and book.
COMIC VINE: Where did the decision come to start using Manchester Black?
WILL PFEIFER: Way back when the series was in the planning stage, we knew we wanted a suitable character to match wits with the Titans — someone who could play the game on both sides, someone who might be using the Titans for his own ends while also helping them achieve their goals. Someone, in other words that would keep both the Titans and the readers guessing. Manchester Black, given his innate cunning and his uneasy relationship with the super-hero community, was the perfect choice. As a writer, I always enjoying working with someone who’s one of the smartest guys in the room, and Manchester is at least three or four steps ahead of just about anyone in the book, let alone the room. The dialogue scenes between him and Red Robin or him and Cassie have been some of the most fun I’ve had with the book so far. Not only is he smart and cagey, he’s also, more often than not, an arrogant jerk — and that’s always enjoyable to write.
CV: Can this younger/newer version be trusted?
WP: Nope. Not a bit. Next question?
CV: The Titans working with S.T.A.R. Labs could be a good move for them. Will they be sticking around (provided there’s anything left to salvage issue 7)?
WP: There will still be a connection between at least a few of the Titans and S.T.A.R. Labs — in fact, that connection will be even closer before too long. But some of that is going to move to the background of the story.
As someone who grew up reading DC comics, I always like the fact that S.T.A.R. Labs was a constant presence in the DCU, like Microsoft or Apple or any other big tech company you’d see in our world, lurking in the background, making products everyone uses. Of course, this being a world with superheroes, supervillains and other high-powered intrigue, S.T.A.R. isn’t just another corporation – it’s a powerful force itself, and one of the fun things in writing the Teen Titans so far has been playing with how a company like that – especially one led by guys like Manchester Black – acts as a behind-the-scenes force in this world.
The next couple of issues hint at the history of S.T.A.R. Labs, and believe me, some of it’s not exactly the sort of thing you’d trumpet in an annual report to the stockholders.
CV: What do you have planned for the new Power Girl?
WP: Big things, I assure you. From her first moments with the Titans in issue 6, she was questioning what they did and how they went about it. As she gets to know them better, that sense of questioning is only going to grow. She combines the intelligence of a child prodigy/genius with the natural tendency of a teen to question authority — and in Tanya’s case, the authority she’s questioning are the super-heroes who are only slightly older and more experienced than she is. Over the next several issues, Power Girl is going to go through a lot — a real baptism of fire, in other words — but when the dust settles, her role in the Titans in going to be very, very different.
CV: Is the team roster set now or could we possibly see other characters joining the team?
WP: Aside from the addition of Power Girl, the roster has been solid for the last several issues — since Kenneth [Rocafort] and I took over the book, in fact. So it’s about time to mix things up a bit. I’m not going to go into any detail, for obvious reasons, but there are going to be some additions to the Titans over the next several months, and there are going to be some departures, too. One of the most enjoyable things about writing a team book like the Teen Titans is bouncing the various personalities off each other, and changing the lineup is one sure way to keep things bouncing in interesting directions.
CV: It seems something’s brewing between Cassie and her mom. Will the two get a chance to sit down and talk?
WP: They might, but as is the case with most parents and children, whenever they finally get a few seconds to sit down and talk things out, something always comes up. The trouble is, Cassie is going to be facing some very very big issues soon, bigger things than she’s had to deal with so far, and she could really use a bit of guidance — even if she’s not the sort of woman who’s willing to actually ask for it.
CV: Is it weird that I find myself reading/hearing the Red Robin and Beast Boy parts with the voices from Teen Titans Go?
WP: It’s a little weird, but I can understand — I love that show, too! Now I just hope I don’t hear those voices as I write the scripts. As much fun as TTG is, it’s not quite the mood we’re aiming for at the moment.
CV: Anything you can tell us or tease about the return of Superboy?
WP: Just that it’s not a heartwarming reunion that leaves everyone with a warm feeling. Superboy returns under the worst possible circumstances, and things go — rapidly — downhill from there. His return forces each one of the Titans to make some hard choices, and those choices are going to determine the direction the book takes from the annual forward. It’s going to be a hell of a ride, trust me.
TEEN TITANS #7 is now on sale. Look for Superboy's return in TEEN TITANS #8, on sale March 18, 2015.