Teen Titans #10 (August 1967)



"Scramble at Wildcat!"

Script: Bob Haney
Pencils: Irv Novick
Inks: Nick Cardy
Colors: ?
Letters: Stan Starkman

grade: D


Without a doubt, the worst Titans story yet for oh so many reasons. For starters, whereas last issue broke with the traditional structure of the Titans preaching respect for authority and abstaining from youth culture, this one runs headlong in the other direction as Robin becomes so enmeshed in teen culture as to join a motocross competition, and the teen Robin "helps" by competing in his competition is whiny and dislikes his kindly grandfather hosting the event because, "he and I don't speak the same jive!" This is presented without judgment, by the way, and is never again addressed anywhere in the story. Hey kids, it's okay to loathe the grandparents who do everything for you because they don't exactly understand you.

But what's weirder yet is how far this story goes to attempt to capture teen culture this time around. Usually, by the third act, there's an adult behind all of this who needs to be taken down, but this time it's just Scorcher, an unruly biker teen, and the full extent of the fighting in this story is Robin trying to beat him in a race. No superheroics of any kind to be found in this story until the very very end. It really seems like Haney just plum forgot these guys were superheroes.

We first see this when Scorcher crashes the competition uninvited:



"We've got no out, man" and Robin just stands in the background gawking.

But then, during the competition, Robin watches Scorcher cheat in ways that could potentially seriously injure the other racers. Does he stop to help? No. He keeps racing.

And then Scorcher attempts to kill him TWICE, and Robin's only thought is of winning, never of "Uh, I think I'd better forget the race and take this guy out."

Scorcher goes on to attempt to murder Robin once more, and even ties Aqualad to the roof of a car in the searing sun so that he'll dry out and die painfully, but the Titans just laugh off his capture in the end. No big deal -- it's a fun teen mag, right?

Oh, and the grandfather has some subplot about wanting to salvage his lost fortune and revitalize his ghost town by striking oil. this gets mentioned exactly once, is completely forgotten throughout the story and, by the close, he randomly does strike oil. Just...bad writing.

To be fair, we get this announcement in the letter column:



The reference is, no doubt, to the Teen Titans episodes of the animated Superman/Aquaman Hour that will begin debuting in September (this issue hit stands in May). Haney wrote each of those episodes, so it's entirely possible he was busy working with the studio to plan out a specific approach to the animated Titans and wasn't able to give this script the usual amount of attention as a result.


Important Details:

- First appearance of Robin's Bat-Cycle:



not to be confused with this Batcycle:




- From the letter column:



So this was Wonder Girl's semi-official (and thoroughly lazy) origin story until Marv Wolfman stepped in with Teen Titans #23.



Department of Shameless Bat-Promotion:

Efforts to plug and align with the television series continue in this issue. First off, that billboard is still the secret exit to Titans' Lair:



But far more obnoxious are Haney's efforts to make Robin talk like Burt Ward:







Department of Being Worried About Wonder Girl:

On the one hand, this is the best and least sexist depiction of Wondy we've yet seen. We're frequently reminded that she's the powerhouse of the team, taking on Scorcher's entire gang in a single panel:



and generally being the one who turns the tides in this issue while everyone else falls into Scorcher's helpless traps. This seems really progressive for comics of the time.

Her characterization has changed too. Instead of admiring her reflection and talking about boys, she corrects Kid Flash's grammar and uses her intelligence to save Aqualad:



but, despite all this, she's still talked down to as the "girl" of the team:



and this panel might be the most creepy part of the entire issue:



Holy sexualizing a minor, Batman. DO NOT let Old Scorcher "get vertical" again!



Department of Aquatic Desperation:

Aqualad's only trick this issue is sliding down a water slide used at the oil drilling site to fly into the bad guys. Beyond that, his special abilities were more used against him this issue when Scorcher left him out to dry in the desert heat. Haney Desperation Level: none.



Plot synopsis: Robin is invited to a Motocross race. The Titans come along. A kid with serious parenting issues tries to immobilize his opponents, kill all the Titans, and randomly go on a robbery spree with his gang. It's every bit as bad as it sounds.

No.  There was no such restriction.  

Haney filled his books--Teen Titans, Metamorpho--with many (then-current) pop culture references. So the Batman TV craze fit right in!
And as Slam said, there was no restriction--DC and Dozier (show's producer) were in synch.

The Superman/Aquaman Hour featuring The Teen Titans (1967)

writer: George Kashdan

grade: D



In the Fall of 1967, The Superman/Aquaman Hour's rotation of animated shorts featuring other DC superheroes included the Teen Titans on September 9th, 19th, and 29th. I was mistaken earlier in these reviews when I believed Bob Haney wrote these episodes. Oddly enough, while Haney did script many of the episodes featured during this time, the writing chores for the three Teen Titans episodes were handled by Teen Titans editor George Kashdan.

It's an odd and largely forgettable series. At only 7 minutes long each, these adventures are tedious and hard to pay attention to without one's mind wandering due to lazy animation, lazy plots, lazy designs, and lazy voice acting. Nothing about these episodes felt quality at all. If only Kid Flash's animated costume had been the worst of it:



Just a small example of how bad this was:




And Robin, absent due to licensing issues, leaves the team feeling woefully incomplete, even if Speedy finally gets a permanent space on the team in his absence.


There ARE some positives to these adventures. The generic/lazy approach discards what I consider to be the most obnoxious aspect of the comic: the attempts to make it accessible to kids. This Titans' Lair is no clubhouse; it's a straight-up sci-fi hero hideout, complete with whirring industrial sized computers and tele-video screens:



Even the Titans' helicopter got tricked out to the sci-fi extreme:



and these Titans are fighting aliens, dinosaurs, and lost races of mutants, not answering fan mail and aiding troubled teens. It's real super-heroics, even if it's done poorly.

Fortunately, it sure looks like the comic series is heading in that direction as of next issue.


Department of Aquatic Desperation:

Best moment of the entire series is this little nod to the audience about the need to provide an aquatic villain once per episode:




Department of Worrying About Wonderchick

What is going on here?

I hear your point about context, but I compare these to what the Fleischer Brothers were doing 25 years earlier and it's even more of a disgrace. These cartoons were cheap by pretty much every standard.

I'm glad these were a cherished part of your childhood. Nothing wrong with that.

...but not in costume as Starman

"Large Trouble in Space-Ville!"


I remember reading this story and it's got to be Worst Story that I ever read and you gave it a F ... I would grade it F Minus! ... I paid a Nickel for it out of the resale section for it and the cover caught my eye and deceive me. Man, I was dead wrong and I wished that I hadn't paid a nickel for it back in 1969 (I think).