I have a question regarding the tie-in comics this show once had. Around the time this show was airing, there was a comic series called Teen Titans Go (not connected to the other cartoon of the same name). These stories seemingly followed the continuity of the show, but also introduced new stuff not seen in the show. In particular, it tried to incorporate more stuff from the original mainline dc comics continuity, like Slade's daughter, and Terra's backstory about being a princess with a superpowered family.
Has anyone read these? If so, how do you feel about them? Do people generally regard them as canon to the show, or no?
Personally, I don't really like the way these comics handled some stuff. Like, I personally feel that the "princess of Markovia" thing never really seemed to fit for the 2003 version of Terra. It feels like they only included that because "that's how the mainline comics did it". The thing is though, the 2003 cartoon wasn't afraid to change things about the characters. Take Slade. 2003 Slade was not an assassin/mercenary called Deathstroke who used swords and guns. Instead, he was a shadowy criminal mastermind who wanted to conquer and destroy, and primarily used hand to hand combat. On the same note, I wasn't crazy about how they handled Slade's daughter either. Seemed like a waste.
Maybe that's just me though. Anyone else have an opinion on this?
I've looked at a few issues here and there. The comic was where they first used the Wonder-Girl design that have been regulated to cameo appearances in the show (due to an embargo of Wonder-Woman characters).
I always liked that design, as it was a good combination of Donna's original look, and her later star spangled bodysuit. In fact, I wish she'd gotten a real chance to appear in the cartoon, as it would have helped with her popularity quite a bit.
One Strip! One Strip!I've read them. I guess I appreciate more ambition than execution. It's nice that writers didn't just stick to safe stores but tried to expand on the world, bring new faces, and return old ones. Amount of secondary Titans appearing in later issues is fun for example. And there were some fun ideas like the issue where Titans switched powers was well-handled. But there is no question that it's just not nearly as good as the show. Some stories are very simplistic and childish - e.g. Beast Boy Who Cried Wolf, the whole story is right there in the title - others have original fun premises enough to be entertaining. The artwork is generally pretty good. Overall it's an ok opportunity to see your favorite Titans in some cute or fun scenes often enough. But I'd say any story that tries to handle more serious storytelling will be too ambitious for its own good like the aforementioned Slade's daughter. Not to mention heavily limited by the page count.
I always enjoyed watching this show because it managed to balance drama and comedy very well. Of course, the episodes that always stood out to me are the dark episodes like the episodes where Raven's father Trigon comes back to Earth and any episode that dealt with Robin's obsession with Slade. What were some of the darkest moments for you in this show?
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The one where Cyborg is captured by a fellow cyborg called Fixit who is much more cybernetic than him. Fixit wants to "improve" Cyborg, who spends like half the episode tied to an operating table, by removing all his organic parts.
Personally I second Haunted (the one where Robin hallucinates Slade) and I would add Aftershock part 1 and 2 because of everything going on with Terra plus all of the titans almost dying.
I watched the first episode. Gotta say I was a bit underwhelmed with the "one member leaves the team" plot. I consider those bad plots for early episodes, especially first ones, since you don't really know the characters and have no investment in them whatsoever.
There was plenty of sillyness, too. The Titans shoot lasers and whatnot at Cinderblock, and he doesn't even flinch. But Beast Boy turns into a bird and flies at him, and the guy just turns and runs. Like, really?
The catalyst for the Fake Conflict wasn't that great either: they mess up a... completely unnecessary spinning jump. We see the move done "right" at the end of the episode, and it doesn't seem to add anything at all. And then they have a spat and everyone treats it like Cyborg is never coming back. As a new viewer, I have no idea how serious to take all this. Like, how am I supposed to know how serious this guy is about "quitting"? It's set up like this happens a lot, so presumably they always make up soon enough too.
Like, that slip up wasn't even that bad. Does Cyborg quit at the drop of a hat, or what? Or was this just the last drop? The episode certainly doesn't tell us.
Damn, how many dirty plates do they have? How often do they wash up, once a month?
How Plasmus works is confusing. How solid or liquid he is seems to change as the plot demands. One shot goes right through him, and he just blobs it shut with one breath, and Robin's punches just sink right through his surface, and yet he can be tackled with a simple rope. And then he gets tied up with iron girders, which seems to work just fine... until it doesn't, and Plasmus just absorbs them? And then when they beat him up enough, the guy just... falls asleep, I guess.
Cinderblock's capture at the end seems a bit too easy and convenient, with Cyborg just beating him off-screen on his own somehow, when the guy could shrug off the entire team before.
I'm getting major Dr Claw/Rita Repulsa vibes from the arc villain. He's going to send a new critter or mastermind a new plan every episode, isn't he?
I assume the rest of the show will be better than this. It certainly has the reputation going for it.
Hope shines brightest in the darkest timesI just thought up a way in which you could cure Plasmus. Since he is human, and apparently non-evil, when asleep, putting him into a sleep-like trance through hypnosis should circumvent his transformation. He could then be induced into a combination of sleepwalking and lucid dreaming so that he can interact with the outer world without really being awake.
I wonder if anyone else came up with something like that before.
Hope shines brightest in the darkest timesI feel they missed an opportunity with Plasmus. He has great potential for being a Tragic Villain due to his condition. They could've used him as the Mr Freeze but he amounts to little more than a monster for them to fight
The nature of his condition means you can't really get to know him as a person. When he wakes up, he only has a few seconds of awareness before he turns into Plasmus.
What's worse is that he has accepted this is his fate. His reaction to being woken up is horror, declaring he should never be awake again.
Edited by M84 on Mar 6th 2024 at 11:50:51 PM
Disgusted, but not surprisedCyborg used his own original appearance and his last name to go undercover. The Titans are always on their hero identities, so their other names don't really come up that often. And since several have rather distinctive appearances, a secret identity isn't really in the cards. And Robin does what Batman often seems to want to do.
Wake me up at your own risk.

Apparently Beast boy's real name is.. Garfield Logan
Edited by Ultimatum on Aug 13th 2023 at 1:21:02 PM
have a listen and have a link to my discord server