Teen Titans #5 (October 1966)
"The Perilous Capers of the Terrible Teen"
Script: Bob Haney
Pencils: Nick Cardy
Inks: Nick Cardy
Colors: ?
Letters: Stan Starkman
grade: B-
If this cover offered you false hope that the Titans are finally fighting costumed villains and not just solving smaller teen-level problems, then I apologize. As the story title suggests, this is a teen who needs understanding, and (as is always the case with the Teen Titans) the true villain is
never a teen. Come to think of it, as, issue after issue, the Titans are pretty much just the pawns of a dude in a suit and the institution he represents, I guess the true hero is never a teen either.
You know, this series offers a pretty dismal view of the teen empowerment it once championed.
And speaking of teens, what's with Robin's
Boy Wonder portrait at the top left of the cover:
Clearly, someone who wasn't Cardy pasted that on in order to appeal to viewers of the Batman TV series, but it just further highlights how much older Cardy is now portraying The Titans in this book versus how they appeared not all that long ago. And, for what it's worth, a letter in this issue asks how old The Teen Titans are, and the answer is "That's a good question, Susie. We'll have to check up on all the TITANS' ages and give you readers a rundown one of these days." I still figure they must be around 15-16. Not only is that how old they look to me, but that teenage group of kids they tried to get in with two issues back were old enough to drive.
But, so long as we're trying to confuse ourselves about their ages, let's further complicate matters by acknowledging that this issue is, once again, said to be from the files of the Teen Titan, and the letter they receive from Speedy at the beginning of the issue would seem to indicate that we're still back in 1964, the previous issue having occurred only recently. I'm sure, though, that Haney wasn't considering any of this as vigorously as we are.
Okay, I've now wasted three paragraphs not even discussing the story yet, so it's probably time to get there.
Much as this issue wasn't anything new in terms of its scope, it's delivery felt a lot more mature than the four issues prior. For one thing, Haney is finally trying to give these characters some personality. While it usually manifests in them being extraordinarily nasty to each other for no apparent reason:
and sometimes even to total strangers:
(seriously?)
it serves a purpose. This is no longer a perfectly honed team that is always in lock-step with one another, executing impossibly pre-planned maneuvers anytime Robin calls them out. These are teens with their own identities who don't always coordinate well
and don't always trust in each other's abilities either
making the tension all that much more compelling, their likelihood of failing all that more believable.
Additionally, Cardy's art continues to improve in this issue. While he isn't depending upon heavy inks this time around, he's using larger panels, clever action
and stunning perspective
(and no, I don't mean her butt).
Finally, Haney is making better use of Kid Flash and Aqualad, generally the more under-utilized members of the team. For the second issue in a row, Haney relies heavily on Kid Flash's ability to vibrate through molecules:
actually giving him an indispensable usefulness for the team, and, as for Aqualad, let's take a walk over to my favorite department...
Department of Aquatic Desperation:For the second issue in a row, Haney is teasing us about how he uses Aqualad. Last time, he poked fun at himself by having Wonder Girl conveniently fall into a pool (and note that convenience) instead of Aqualad, and this time, the villains (sure enough) try to escape by fleeing into a convenient nearby lake, but when Aqualad shows up to stop them,
he doesn't even get in the water!
Yup. Aqualad saved the day, and though he was given a convenient body of water, he didn't even need it in order to pound the villains into submission with an oar.
It's a very cute move, and it also helps to perpetuate the idea that Aqualad can be useful even without these ridiculous compulsory water scenes.
Important Details:- "Titans Lair" finally receives its official name, though its location remains undisclosed.
- A letter in this issue asks what the secret identities of Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Wonder Girl are. The response is that Aqualad and Wonder Girl have no secret identities, and Kid Flash's real name is "Wally Wood". First off, I'm assuming that was an error on their part and that they meant to write "Wally West" (unless you folks know something I don't). Second, while I would expect Wonder Girl not to have another name yet (because
the writers didn't actually know who she was), I'm surprised that Aqualad has no other identity at this point. Hadn't he been called "Garth" yet?
Meanwhile, though Robin and Kid Flash have never once alluded to their alter egos in the pages of Teen Titans nor appeared out of costume (leaving us to wonder if the rest of the team even knows their identities), we do get a moment in this issue where Robin acknowledges some aspect of his other life. In response to meeting a kid whose parents were circus aerialists that died, Robin says:
Minor Details:- Wonder Girl doesn't do anything overtly creepy in this issue
- The covers have never lied to us up until now, but how was this "strictly Robin's fight"?
- "The Ant"? Seriously. That's the best you could do? Couldn't we have at least made this guy a conscious nod to Spider-Man or something?
- The pseudo-government institution or agency that teens are instructed to trust this time around: progressive reform schools
- I'm confused by the idea of "Emergency Letter Time":
Considering that the Titans have a ham radio and a two-way television communication system, would someone in a serious emergency really send a letter that might take 2-3 days to reach The Titans -- a message so urgent that everyone needs to stop everything RIGHT NOW in order to read this thing??
And I still want to know how the Titans get letters delivered directly to a secret location, the whereabouts of which no one knows.
In spite of my teasing, this was a very strong issue, not specifically due to the plot, but rather because of the progression in both characterization and art that we're seeing occur.
Plot synopsis: The Titans are summoned by the head of a reform camp for troubled youth who believes his most promising teen has become the costumed villain known as The Ant. The Titans pursue and discover both that the teen is The Ant and that he's being manipulated by an unscrupulous adult to do it. The Titans are able to help the teen and his younger brother expose the villains and save the day.
