New Teen Titans #2 (December 1980)
"Today...The Terminator!"
Script: George Pérez (plot); Marv Wolfman (plot; script)
Pencils: George Pérez (breakdowns); Romeo Tanghal (finished art)
Inks: Romeo Tanghal
Colors: Adrienne Roy
Letters: Ben Oda
Grade: A-
How many comic book series have ever introduced their greatest villains in the second issue? Seems like, usually, the villain is either right there in the first issue, as the writers are dumping all their ideas for the series on the reader right at the get-go, or is stumbled upon by the writers later down the road. But I think it speaks to the level of planning Wolfman and Perez are bringing to this series that they are still introducing new concepts in the second issue that were planned before they ever sat down to write the first. In fact, you can see just how far ahead they are planning when we get references like this one:
They were already planning to introduce another Wilson son down the road. Of course, when we finally get around to meeting Joey more than three years from now, he won't end up matching what's being said of him here.
Of course, the bigger plan is to introduce Deathstroke the Terminator as a major Titans antagonist and to give him a reason for wanting to kill the team. Beyond my continued confusion as to why the hell this character has two names (and the most recent Teen Titans Go film feels the need to call him "Slade" because apparently two names weren't enough), I'm impressed by the suggestion that the Titans have a nemesis that hopelessly outclasses them. Much like Magneto's first encounter with the X-Men, this doesn't end in a win for our new heroes -- just a respite, as well as an ominous warning that they are not ready for this guy.
The concept of his being altered so that he can utilize 90% of his brain is bad pseudo-science, but it intrigued me as a younger reader. What actually charms me far more about the character is that he has his very own Alfred the Butler:
Wintergreen not only gives the villain opportunities to explain his thoughts and motivations; he also civilizes the character into an intriguing contradiction. This rough, tough brawler is also an ice-cold civilized socialite among the wealthy elite. The 1980s were just beginning to show us that corporations and businessmen were often the true and terrifying villains. and here we have Wolfman and Perez giving us a wealthy elite villain six years before Lex Luthor went CEO (incidentally, Wolfman was involved in that decision as well).
But as for the genesis of the grudge between The Terminator and the Titans, I struggle with that one quite a bit. We're given two reasons why The Terminator now has a reason to kill them. The first is that he holds them responsible for the death of his son, which is crap. He knows exactly what killed his son and that the Titans are not actually to blame. The second, which is the rationale he sticks to for the long run, is the idea that his son had taken a contract to kill the Titans, and so he feels obligated to finish it.
Hey, sure. That makes sense. Even Grant acknowledged he had accepted such a contract:
...except that
New Teen Titans #1 ended with this little moment that Wolfman and Perez apparently forgot about:
So...Grant hired the H.I.V.E. to hire him to kill the Titans??
No big deal that this makes absolutely no sense. It's not the cornerstone of The Terminator's rivalry with the team or anything, right?
The other big development in this outing concerns Starfire. So, first off, she has apparently been hanging around the team for weeks following the events of the first issue and, in all that time, knew she had the ability to learn their language just by touching one of them. And yet she waits until Robin tackles her to do so.
Illogical as this moment is, it serves as the basis for Dick and Kory's initial relationship and conflict. Kory is attracted to Dick because he exhibits violence towards her, even though he was just trying to keep her from making a serious mistake. Coming from a planet of warriors (which has been implied but not stated yet), this is clearly a turn-on for Kory, who might otherwise see nothing especially appealing about Dick. The genesis of her attraction to him is, essentially, a misunderstanding, and that opens up a ton of potential conflict down the road. Meanwhile, Dick is concerned about how aggressive Kory is, and at the close of the story is even wondering if she will be the team's undoing. Seriously, where did all of this amazing conflict go? My fuzzy memories of this series generally have Dick and Kory as a boring couple, with boring and forced couple problems concerning jealousy and (at one point) a pre-arranged marriage. I've remarked previously that I find Starfire most interesting in her earliest appearances and quite bland after. A re-reading of this series will show for sure, but I suspect Wolfman and Perez ultimately had to downplay these tensions between them in order to keep the team together, and that may have meant muting Starfire's personality as well.
IMPORTANT DETAILS:- 1st appearance of Deathstroke the Terminator, as well as his alter ego. We know that his last name is Wilson and that Grant was his son.
- 1st appearance of Wintergreen
- Death of Grant Wilson
- 1st cameo appearance of Trigon
Why is Raven begging his forgiveness while, at the same time, assembling a team to stop him? Also, wouldn't this be more up the alley of an occult hero like Dr. Fate, The Spectre, or The Phantom Stranger? I'm still at a loss as to why Raven needs this specific team of heroes assembled in order to stop him.
- Three times in this issue, the new team is referred to as "The New Titans". They are never called "The New TEEN Titans":
- What's up with Donna's back? She throws it while stopping a truck, spends three different panels of the story commenting on it, and then has Vic solve it for her with a look of pure ecstasy on her face.
Why give such attention to this? Were they just trying to set a power limit for Donna, or were there early plans for these two to end up in a relationship? After all, this happens in parallel to Kory kissing Dick for the first time.
- I STILL think the early Starfire draws a lot of inspiration from Chris Claremont's Storm. The similarities between the two are abundant in these first two stories.
- So Dr. Stone DID cause the accident that prompted him to make Vic into a cyborg:
We also learn that this killed Vic's mother and that it is slowly killing Dr. Stone somehow as well.
- Wolfman and Perez have been very secretive about Raven's face/identity. We didn't see her face at all in the first issue, and now we are getting our first teasers of what's under the cloak:
Why, though? If it isn't Lilith, isn't any character we already know for that matter, what's the point of the mystery? At first, I was imagining she had her demon face (which she sometimes isn't able to hide in later stories), but Kid Flash is looking right at her and doesn't seem preterbed in the least. Of course, we will get another reminder in this issue that his mind is not entirely his own when it comes to Raven
and one has to wonder why Raven chose Kid Flash's bedroom to run to after her encounter with Trigon. Does she feel that her control over Wally makes her safest there? Or does she inexplicably love him too and find comfort around places that remind her of him?
MINOR DETAILS:- Once again, we're reminded Cyborg has a vast myriad of equipment and weapons, and once again the only one he goes for is white sound generation:
- Can everyone from Starfire's planet shoot starbolts? I honestly don't recall.
- How did Grant/Ravager know the Titans would be at Gar's mansion? Sure, Any fan of the Doom Patrol or of later NTT issues knows Gar is an actor and, thus, a high profile personality. But fans of this issue didn't necessary know that, so if Grant did, it would have been nice to explain that. And even still, what would be the chances that all the Titans would be there, taking a dip in his pool at that exact moment?
- I love the attempt so early on to show the Titans bonding off duty
except...1. Starfire comes from a colder planet and loves the warmth here. First off, how much colder could her planet be if she is comfortable in this atmosphere, and second, her body would therefore not be prepared for the extra heat of the Earth. Shouldn't she find it uncomfortable?
2. The Titans' first ever plan for an off-duty social is a pool party. Nice way to say F*ck you to the half robot dude who already thinks he doesn't fit in.
- And finally,
Seriously good point, Donna.
Lots of development and planning in this issue, lots of fleshing out of characters and relationships, the first appearance of one of the greatest villains of the 1980s, and off-duty bonding for the team as well. Pretty great issue overall.
