Teen Titans #20 (April 1969)
"Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho"
Script: Neal Adams (Marv Wolfman and Len Wein -- not attributed by DC or GCD)
Pencils: Neal Adams, Sal Amendola (Nick Cardy -- not attibuted by DC or GCD)
Inks: Nick Cardy
Colors: ?
Letters: Ben Oda and Morris Waldinger
grade: D+
Just when this title was starting to get good, we suddenly have one of the worst issues yet (as well as possibly the worst work of Neal Adams' career), with clumsy art, a nonsensical plot, and seeming carelessness throughout (ex. the credits for this issue first appearing in an arbitrary splash panel on page 11). But the story behind this thoroughly unremarkable issue runs deep and complex, and it's become one of the more infamous contested moments in Silver Age DC history.
What we know:Marv Wolfman and Len Wein, still newbies at DC, originally pitched a story in which a mysterious costumed hero named Jericho enlists the Titans' aid in stopping a gang of radical young black men from using violence against the establishment, Jericho ultimately turning out to be the brother of one of these kids and (big reveal moment) a black man himself. It was 1969, and there were no African American heroes in mainstream superhero books yet. This would have been huge.
The story was approved by Managing Editor Irwin Donenfeld and slated to be a two parter, but, by the time part one was penciled, inked, and ready for publication, Carmine Infantino was now managing editor and ordered the story scrapped. Neal Adams pulled an all night rush job to redo the story, making everyone white, changing the scope of the story entirely, and salvaging what little he could of Nick Cardy's original art in spite of this:
and Wolfman and Wein were taken off of the title and not allowed any major assignments at DC for several years after.
What Wolfman and Wein claim:According to Wolfman and Wein, Infantino's stated objection was that this kind of a story would have a backlash, especially in the South. They claim he scrapped the story entirely because of the subject matter.
What Infantino claims:It was just a really bad story.
What Neal Adams claims:Adams takes a middle-road approach to all of this, acknowledging that he found the story overly preachy and potentially very offensive in a reverse racism sort of way, but he also acknowledges that Wolfman and Wein were nearly blacklisted from DC over this script, something that doesn't happen just because you wrote a bad story.
In the end, the cover and some of the original art were incorporated into the issue, but what we get is a story with only faint echoes of what was originally intended:
It's a nonsensical story with no real allure to it. No great action, no great characterization, a forgettable guest-hero, and an oddly paced conflict that doesn't really get started until page 19 and then fizzles out fast. But, judging it as the all-night revision that it was, it's probably one of the more impressive stories Neal Adams ever did. And (at least according to Adams) if it hadn't been done, Wolfman and Wein never would have worked at DC again.
Important Details:- In the letter column, Giordano explains that, "Speedy will be around on a semi-permanent basis for a while."
- The inter-dimensional alien invaders from
Teen Titans #16 are revealed to be utilizing human operatives on Earth to accomplish their goals, including the radicalized teens in this story, Dr. Larner (
Teen Titans #8), and Scorcher (from
Teen Titans #10).
- Neal Adams claims that the conversation this issue started made possible the introduction of John Stewart two years later.
Minor Details:Marv Wolfman purposefully recycles the name "Jericho" in his New Teen Titans series, much as he did for "Starfire".
Source for the facts, history, and original artwork provided in this review:
Titans Tower.com