Introduction
The Titans have one of the most complex storylines in the history of DC Comics, and their story has been reinterpreted quite a few times into both animated and live-action adaptations. The group is made up of quite a few young sidekicks that seems to change with every iteration. The most commonly known of the group by younger fans are Robin, Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg from the 2000s version on Cartoon Network. This culled-down group of ragtag heroes is about only 10% of the characters that join Titans throughout its serialization which started in the 1960s. “Although many point to The Brave and the Bold #54 (July 1964) as the team’s debut, that’s only partly true. The trio of Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad seen there are joined by Wonder Girl in issue #60 (July 1965), and there they adopt the actual team name, ‘The Teen Titans’” (Blumberg, 2018). This team—Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Wondergirl— is the group that older fans argue to be the better “Teen Titans.” The differences in characters, storyline, and overall vibe between all the different versions of the Titans are what have allowed the Titans to exist and be adored by many generations.
The Comics - A History
The original team of Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Wondergirl were the first to be serialized. “Later joined by Speedy, Green Arrow’s sidekick, the “cool” kids team faced socio-political issues like the Vietnam war and racial conflict head-on” (Blumberg, 2018). This was DC Comics’ way of targeting a tween and teen audience in the 60s. Their start was shaky, and publication was periodically stopped and restarted a few times, but “when they returned they were joined by the African-American hero Bumblebee and split their efforts with the addition of a West Coast team” (Blumberg, 2018). The “Teen Titans” were officially given a rebirth in the 80s that gave superhero fans the team they know today.
In addition to the confusing origins and not-so-solid original cast of characters, the Titans’ powers also get refreshed, reinterpreted, or straight-up changed throughout history. “...due to their widely varied origins, the members of the Teen Titans possess countless super-powers -- some based in science, some in magic, and some based in just plain old I-was-trained-by-Batman-ness -- that together make them as formidable a team of adversaries as any similar assemblage in the annals of comic book crusading, and we’ll leave it at that” (Blumberg, 2018). Add in the addition of the multitude of villains the team fights, plus their interactions with the Batman Family (this includes all iterations of Robin, Batgirl, Batwoman, etc.), Doom Patrol, the Justice League, and so on, this creates a lot of lore to take from to create a TV or film adaptation.
Cartoon Network - Teen Titans
Not to be confused with the 2013 Teen Titans Go!, or the 2019 Teen Titans Go! Vs. Teen Titans, or 2010’s Young Justice, the 2003 animated adaptation of Titans was the first of many modern revivals of the Titans comics. Featuring everybody’s favorite Batman sidekick Robin along with classic Titans characters Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg, this rendition of the Titans universe is essentially GOATed in the eyes of fans who grew up watching it on Cartoon Network. The 2013 rendition, Teen Titans Go!, was even created as a spin-off because fans demanded more from the original Teen Titans creators. While this was a great revival for the Titans team, Teen Titans did have some faults when it comes to the storyline.
As mentioned, there is quite a good chunk of lore connected to the Titans/Teen Titans, and the 2003 animated series really only took on a very minuscule section. Missing in action are characters like Wondergirl, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Hawk, Dove, etc. This omission creates a very different atmosphere than the original comics and other renditions. The Titans usually take on the recurring villain Slade, their archnemesis, which shortens the characters’ scope when compared to the multitude of villains fought in the comics and in other adaptations. While this is a huge difference from the original content, the base concept is still there.
The animation style of the show is also a bit odd. For its time, it was very modern as it copied the format of many animes, but now some of it has become a bit outdated looking. In a review on IMDb, a fan says “I'm not really into anime and the super-deformed moments can be strange and/or annoying, but the action's pretty solid, the relationship between the team is believable and the conflicts they face internally and externally are well done” (mitsubishizero, 2020). Some fans will argue this point about the animation as it is held quite dearly in the DC community, but as the seasons progress, there are certain animation techniques that are consistently reused which create heavy distortion on the bodies of the characters. It’s a bit of a weird comparison to the current live-action adaptation because it really doesn’t encompass the same rich lore and complex storyline.
HBO Max - Titans
This is one of the first adaptations in a while that have only used the name Titans rather than Teen Titans. This is on the basis that the story starts after the original “Teen Titans” aged enough to become just “Titans.” This would make sense if they were called Teen Titans in flashbacks, but every iteration of the team shown throughout the 3 seasons is referenced only as “the Titans.” That’s really the only deviance from the original content of the comics. Titans has already gone pretty deep into the original Titans lore, which means that the villain from the 2003 Teen Titans, Slade aka Deathstroke, has already been defeated. The team originally features Robin I aka Dick Grayson who then becomes Nightwing, Starfire, Raven (who goes by Rachel in this series), Beast Boy, Robin II aka Jason Todd, Hawk, Dove, and Wondergirl. They are joined in later seasons by Superboy, Rose, Blackfire (Starfire’s sister), and Robin III aka Tim Drake. If season 4 is continuing on the same path as it has been, there will be more introductions to new supers featured in the comics.
The most interesting part about this adaptation doesn’t feature Cyborg, a beloved character from the previous adaptations. This is really due to previous adaptations of other DC stories. Cyborg has been featured as a member of the Justice League in multiple movies, so he was omitted and is instead featured sometimes on the Titan’s spin-off Doom Patrol instead of Beast Boy who is actually originally a part of that crime-fighting group. This is a perfect example of how the original Titans lore is so confusing because of its multiple reboots. Crossover episodes can only solve problems for so long, so sacrifices have to be made. With an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, this adaptation will probably end up being as beloved as the 2003 version.
Teen Titans vs. Titans
It’s very hard to compare these two as there is not much to really compare. One is really not necessarily “better” than the other because the storylines are wildly different. This concept is spoken about in The Prisoner: Cult TV Remakes by Matt Hills: “It is also true in terms of how the remake demonstrates the economic, industrial, and cultural requirements of an ‘event miniseries’ by prioritizing televisuality over and above the original cult’s enduring teleconceptuality” (Hills, 2013). As Linda Hutcheon says in Adaptation: What? Who? Why? How Where? When?, “art is derived from other art; stories are born of other stories” (Hutcheon, 2013). This is exemplified in Teen Titans (2003). The show ran for 3 years and created a whole new outlook on the original Titans story. This is also successful due to how “producers can use storytelling techniques and genres to target fans, whilst fans can evaluate shows and share their views via social media, either assenting to their industrial targeting or rejecting it. Appealing to a built-in, loyal audience helps explain why cult shows with established fandoms have frequently been remade, rebooted, or reimagined” (Hills, 2013). DC in general has a large fanbase due to the rise of action movies, superhero movies, etc. This fanbase has supported and brought the Titans back to mainstream media over and over again no matter the way it is adapted. On top of the film and TV adaptations, there are even novels based on the original characters in Titans.
Truly, there is no end in sight for more revivals/adaptations of the Titans. With its ever-growing fanbase, multiple generations can relate to each other and love the characters of Titans (and other related characters) together. From the creation of Batman and Robin, Titan’s place in history was solidified as a must-have. As long as superhero culture exists, there will probably always be some form of the Titans. It may not consist of Robin I, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Wondergirl, but it will give its consumers the same lessons of comradery, heroism, and selflessness as is the point of all superhero media in today’s society.
References
Blumberg, A. T. (2018, October 10). The history of the teen titans explained: What is the DC superhero team? IGN. Retrieved November 22, 2021, from https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/10/10/history-of-the-teen-titans-explained-who-is-dcs-youthful-superhero-team.
Hills, M. (2013). The Prisoner: Cult TV Remakes. NYU Press. https://nyupress.org/9781479898817/.
Hutcheon, L. (2013). A theory of adaptation. Routledge.
mitsubishizero. (2020). User-submitted review of "Teen Titans". IMDb. Retrieved November 22, 2021, from https://www.imdb.com/review/rw6133099/?ref_=tt_urv.
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