Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, That Shaman of Animation back once again. So, as the top picture may imply here, I've seen the trailer of Titans and I'm not looking forward to it. DC Universe can have my $7.99 next year when Young Justice Outsiders is released. But everything I could say about this trailer has been said already. So instead, I want to focus on a much larger topic, one that I don't think people might not want to talk about. Maybe...it might be time for the Teen Titans to go away.
Being realistic here, that's probably not going to happen, seeing as Teen Titans GO is still Cartoon Network's most successful show but that show exists in its own bubble that we can just leave it there. But the cartoon and this new show has me thinking: you have this generation of fans that grew up with the original Teen Titans cartoon; and all these fans want is to see the team they grew up with back together going on new adventures and having new stories told with them; and for a decade they've been ignored.
The kicker to this is DC has had a few prime opportunities to cash in on the namesake of the original cartoon before Go. The best example I can think of would be When the New 52 first started in 2011, and everything in DC was being rebooted, you could've worked a new version of the Titans from the show into the comic. But instead these characters were spread out through several books. Beast Boy and Raven eventually found their way on the Titans, but then you have Starfire with Red Hood and Arsenal, you've got Cyborg with the Justice League and there's Nightwing out doing his own thing, leaving The Teen Titans as the hot garbage we got in the picture above (and if you want to see me rip that hot garbage apart, just click here).
The point I'm trying to get here by mentioning The New 52, other than shilling out old stuff I've written, is that there's a disconnect between what fans want and what DC thinks fans want in regards to the Teen Titans; and admittedly, we fans are partially to blame for it. For years, we complained that Teen Titans was too childish and that we wanted a more serious Teen Titans. Unfortunately, DC took that and if the trailer's any indication went completely on the opposite end of the spectrum with this show.
In these last seven years, there's just been this loop of uncertainty when it comes to what to do with this team: Do we try to make them hip and with an edge? Do we make them super comedic? Which Robin should we have lead the team? Should we have a team of teenagers, young adults, or both? It feels like a combination of knee-jerk reactions and throwing things at a wall and seeing what sticks; and it's because of this I feel as though the Teen Titans are at an impasse right now.
It's been 15 years since the original Teen Titans cartoon debuted and imprinted itself in the minds of kids around the world; and while this incarnation of the team still has a very dedicated fanbase, I feel as though the time to capitalize on that team has long passed, and any attempt now feels like a cheap cash grab. And the reaction to the Titans trailer today, the very divisive and heated reaction the mere mention of Teen Titans GO gets and with the way the comics are heading as of this date, The Teen Titans will never be what the fans what them to be.
It's this reason why I feel as though the Teen Titans don't have a place in comic media right now and should leave the comics for a couple of years. I mean look what that did for the Fantastic Four. Granted the FF being separated and spread out through different comics was because of pettiness over movie rights, but when they make their return next month, that comic is gonna sell like hotcakes, because absence makes the heart grow fonder.
I feel that's what the Titans need right now. Put them on the shelf for a little while, you sub them out with Young Justice to coincide with the show coming back, and when the time's right, you bring back the team that everyone wants, treat it like it's a big deal, you put a writer that wants to write them on a book, and you watch the money come in.
But that's my thoughts on the matter folks. I love the Teen Titans, but with what's being done with them, perhaps it's for the best that they go away for a little bit. But what are your thoughts? Let me know and if you want to see more of me, click the links down in the description for all of my social media pages. And also check out the Outer Rejects YouTube Channel, as we're making the final preparations for our come back to YouTube and will be releasing new content very soon.
Til then Folks, I'm the Shaman of Animation.
Take Care...
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