It's been a light reading week so far this week, and we've already covered the overviews for all of the series I have in complete runs through 1984. Still at least a week — most likely two — before my next shipment of new comics come in. But I have ventured far enough into 1985 that I have just re-read the first story arc of the 1984 Baxter New Teen Titans series.
The first five issues of the series detail the re-match between the current Titans line-up and the demonic Trigon the Terrible, other-dimensional father of Titan Raven. Issue #6 is also part of that story arc, at least in my opinion, because it deals with the aftermath of the battle and the repercussions for the Titans themselves.
These books also mark the last before the departure of New Teen Titans co-creator and collaborator George Perez. Marv Wolfman would stay with the book for another six or so years, and Perez continued to provide the cover art and story contributions, but Jose Luis Garcia Lopez took over the regular art chores with #6.
For anybody not familiar with the Baxter term, no, it doesn't mean that the comic was printed in the headquarters for the Fantastic Four. Baxter refers to the higher paper quality and the greater range of color inks used in the printing of the comic. In 1984, DC opted to experiment with the process on a re-vamped Legion of Super-Heroes title and their new Infinity Inc. offering. The New Teen Titans re-launch was the third title to get the upgrade. The brief mention of the different printing process is because I believe that very process is at least part of why this story arc is remembered by so many as so dramatic.
Of course, it was a pretty compelling story beyond the visuals, too. In the earliest adventures of the New Teen Titans, Raven is depicted as gathering this group of teenage heroes together so they could help combat her other-dimensional demon-father. That initial confrontation took place in New Teen Titans (first series) #s 6 and 7. At the end of that tale, the Titans had managed to "trap" Trigon in his own dimension, and Raven's human mother, Arella, stood "guard" over the portal between the dimensions.
In the 1985 story, it is revealed that over time Raven's appearance has been changing, growing to resemble that of her demonic father, mirroring the changes within her soul. Apparently, each time Raven has used her empathic powers over the course of the group's adventures, Trigon has captured a little piece of her, until she can no longer resist his influence. With the corrupted Raven's help, Trigon escapes his imprisonment, travels to Earth, and very quickly subjugates the entire planet. Superman, the Justice League and other heroes are shown to never have had a chance to even register the attack, let alone managed to organize counter-measures. The Titans are left whole only because they were elsewhere when the initial attack began, and because Trigon has special plans for them.
Over the course of the story, Trigon and the corrupted Raven use the darkest fears and insecurities of each Titan against that specific hero. Wonder Girl has recently married, so her "dark self" mocks the relationship of an Amazon to a mortal by killing Donna's husband. Changeling has lost his natural parents and his adoptive family the Doom Patrol. He naturally feels responsible for the tragedies which took his loved ones, so "Dark Changeling" accuses him of killing them. Nightwing has recently given up being Robin, so "Dark Nightwing" shows him that the new ineffective Robin has failed to watch Batman's back, resulting in the death of the Dark Knight Detective. Cyborg, Kid Flash and Starfire suffer similar nightmares, being taunted by their darkest fears to the breaking point.
These are dark fears and deal with some pretty dark concepts: slavery, failure, loss of humanity, death and murder. On top of that, the "dark" Titans are illustrated as "negative" figures, mostly black (as opposed to white) with blood-red outlines. The concepts and the visual depictions make for some very disturbing nightmare sequences, but they allow the reader to "feel" the Titans' torment all the more for their richness. I remember feeling a chill reading these stories for the first time, and even though the story and outcome are familiar now, a portion of that same chill returns each time I re-read these comics. Now that's not only good story-telling, but that's damn good graphic story-telling — and isn't that what comic books are all about?
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