Once I heard that J.T. Krul would be spearheading the revitalization of the Teen Titans title, I was overjoyed. Having always been pleased with Krul's work on Titans (with a minor exceptions to the editorially mandate Rise of Arsenal) I was looking forward to see what Krul could do with this large ensemble cast that has been established on the title for some time. I personally felt that there was nothing wrong with the team and that they just lacked a competent and creative writer who understood them. However, now i see that many of the Titans that have been mainstays for some time are now most likely leaving the team and now I'm feeling conflicted. I like the return of Ravager and the introduction of Damian Wayne will be interesting but I'm also sad to see Static, Miss Martian, Bombshell, and Aquagirl most likely leaving. If Krul decides to surprise and keep all of these characters (and I've heard rumblings of him introducing a new character to the team), the team would look like this . . . .
Wonder Girl Superboy Kid Flash Ravager Raven Beast Boy Bombshell Static Miss Martian Aquagirl Blue Beetle Robin New character?
This would make a roster of around 16 which i'll admit is very large. But is it fair for characters to get the boot just because they weren't written properly? I'd say give them a chance, or at least a convincing reason as to why they are leaving the team all of a sudden. I've got faith that Krul can save the day.
Felicia Hendersen is terrible. . . I saw this news and was legitimately excited. Not anymore after hearing she was writing this. 2011 is a long ways away so hopefully DC has a change of heart.
Alright so to say that Teen Titans has been a mess is an understatement. The team may have finally stabilized and brought back some of the old characters in an attempt to recreate the charm of the early issues in the series, but something is still missing. I have Felicia Henderson a chance as the new writer but that has turned out dismally. Now that J.T. Krul has been announced as taking over the series in late 2010, here are some things that I think should be remedied and/or addressed within the book.
Find a roster and stick with it! Sure the roster has been fairly steady for a few issues but I still look at the team apprehensively as the kill off or write out a character every issue or so. Find a team and stay with it!
Also, Krul should pick up some of the dangling plots threads from all of the fill-in writers before going into his own stuff (or at least address them). Krul has a few stories already begun for him if he just looks some of the work that past writers have done. My main examples of this would be Bombshell's army mother hunting her down, Kid Eternity's fate while hunting down the Fearsome Five for murdering Eddie and discovering the Calculator was behind it all, sorting out who Aquagirl actually has a thing for (she has been hinted at being attracted to Static, Blue Beetle, and Superboy), the pregnant Teen Titan as foreshadowed in the Origins and Omens prophecy, Blue Beetle and Wonder Girl getting together, Wonder Girl establishing herself as leader, Superboy discovering that his best friend Tim Drake dated his girlfriend, and resolving the Beast Boy/Raven romance to name a few. Krul needs to get all of these issues sorted out before he can effectively lead the team in a new direction.
Another refreshing change to the book would be to stop having extremely similar storylines. I can't even tell you how many times that Titans Tower has came under attack the past 30+ issues. Don't the Titans ever go out on patrol anymore?
There are just a few of my ideas to help bring the book back to it's former glory. What do you guys think would help this book out most?
The return of Geoff Johns would be fantastic but I don't think that is going to happen. I'd be really happy if they brought a writer that has already shown they can write the Titans well such as J.T. Krul and Bryan Q. Miller. This last issue was dismal and i've had it with Henderson's run already. The Wyld could have been interesting but it was all too strange and unexplained for me. Also, the extreme amount of errors in her run have been astounding.
Ugh I don't know why they keep bringing people back from the dead! Just leave them be. I don't know the full situation with the Captain Americas because I'm not that big of a Marvel fan but I'm pretty up to date with the Flashs and Batmans. I just don't understand why they keep bringing people back in order to tell stories with them. The story that was told in Flash: Rebirth could have easily been applied to Wally. Although I do understand how Barry could have been an important part of that lore, I seem to find myself becoming more and more less likely to buy a comic just because somebody is coming back from the dead. And I thought that post-Blackest Night DCU would make it harder for people to just resurface years later? The thing that got me excited about Barry coming back was the reinstitution of the Flash corner of the DCU. I remember the original plan being a Barry Flash book with a Wally Flash second feature and a Kid Flash book as well. What happened to that?
As for the Batman situation, I personally am really digging Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne as the dynamic duo. Their dynamic is great and I think that it really works. And if Bruce has really been traveling through time and living different lives, or whatever happened to him, I don't think that he is gonna be too quick to take up the mantle if he has a suitable replacement. I'm hoping that Bruce comes back and simply is Bruce. We've already seen him in an advisory post with Batman Beyond. I don't know but I for one am not excited for the upcoming Return of Bruce Wayne series and won't be buying it. Keep Dick as Batman.
I can't say that i'm overly excited about this. I like Bruce Wayne but I've been diggin the current Dick Grayson Batman and Damian Robin. They brought Bruce back way too soon. My hopes is that Bruce respects the fact that Dick is now Batman.
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