This year marks the 60th anniversary of the DC Comics’ superhero team Teen Titans. Originally created by Bruno Premani and Bob Haley in 1964, their most well known comic book incarnation would be introduced in 1984 by Marv Wolfman and the late, great George Pérez. Their iconic 1980’s storylines such as “Terror of Trigon” and “The Judas Contract” would serve as the basis for the 2003 animated series Teen Titans. Turning 20 last year, the animated series Teen Titans ended up being an important hallmark in my early to mid teen years.
Airing on Cartoon Network as well as Kids WB, you’d think it was inevitable that I’d fall in love with the series, especially when superhero animated series were peaking with similar shows such as Batman: The Animated Series, Static Shock and Batman Beyond. Of these series, only Static Shock appealed to me. I could do a whole other essay explaining why, but part of it was that it combined superheroics with everyday teen life. Teen Titans would do something similar, but with the additional influence of Japanese anime. The theme song, performed by Japanese pop duo PuffyAmiYumi, is a catchy bridge between two different animation styles that were colliding in similar 00’s animated shows such as Samurai Jack and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
One of the first episodes from early in the series that resonated with me was called, “Nevermore”. It focused on Raven, the team’s mysterious half demon sorceress voiced by Tara Strong. When a temper tantrum results in Raven unwittingly unleashing a darker side to herself, things are further complicated when Beast Boy and Cyborg are sucked into Raven’s magic mirror. There is more to the episode than this, but you should see it for yourself. Not only did this episode make Raven my favorite character, but it made me feel less alone as a teen. It made me feel like I could be something more than a quiet, bullied nerd that I was in grade school and that, maybe, I could have friends who genuinely liked me.
Not only would Raven have a poignant character arc that focused on self acceptance, belonging, and overcoming toxic parenting, but the other Titans would have similar arcs. Besides Raven, Cyborg was another character who grew as the series progressed. Although his race is never brought up, the cyborg part of his body makes him Othered in a way that can be seen as a metaphor for race. In fact, much of Cyborg’s character arc focuses on him reconciling the limitations of his cybernetics with his humanity and how it affects his role as a member of the Titans. Episodes such as “The Sum of His Parts” and “Titans East” show him coming into his own, not only as a hero but as the leader of the East Coast division of Titans. It also makes him incredibly empathetic to his fellow teammates in episodes like “Troq”, which involved Starfire being discriminated against for her Tamarian alien heritage.
Besides the compelling character development, the self-contained element of the series made it appealing as well. A viewer could jump-in in any season or episode and not have to worry about comic book continuity or following a multiverse worth of connected storylines. This is a stark contrast to some of today’s superhero media from both DC Comics and Marvel Comics, especially their live-action content. Although DC Comics still produces animated shows and movies like Max’s Harley Quinn and Warner Bros’ The Lego Batman Movie, the quality varies from product to product.
When you consider this, Teen Titans almost feels like a time-capsule to the 00s, especially for me. Not only did I enjoy watching the animated series, but I also enjoyed playing its video game adaptation that it got on Playstation 2 with my nephew. A beat-em-up video game that featured the animated series’ voice cast and let you control all the Titans individually, the Teen Titans video game was a fun romp through the Titans’ biggest battles.
Eventually, Teen Titans and Static Shock would plant seeds that would lead to a casual interest in superhero comic books. Besides the aforementioned graphic novel series, I haven’t found a lot of modern Teen Titans books I like, except for Teen Titans Academy. In addition to old and newer characters, Titans Academy notably features Red X, a character originally created in the Teen Titans animated series.
Despite being off the air for nearly two decades, Teen Titans has left a mark that can be felt in current comic books and animation. Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo’s Teen Titans graphic novel series have taken the coming-of-age themes from the animated series and given it a fresh coat of paint for a young adult audience. Several of the voice actors have reprised their roles in projects such as DC Superhero Girls and the spin-off series Teen Titans Go!, while character traits from this show would be seen in the 2016 animated film Teen Titans vs Justice League. Teen Titans is not a perfect show, but when there’s trouble, I know who to call.
Latonya Pennington is a freelance contributor whose comics criticism can be found at Women Write About Comics, Comic Book Herald, Newsarama and Shelfdust, among others.
