World Famous Comics: Amy Wolfram Teen Titans: Year One Comics
Amy Wolfram Teen Titans: Year One Comics
By: Amy Wolfram Publisher: DC Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: DC Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 144 Publication Date: November 11, 2008 Reading Level: Ages 9-12 Release Date: November 11, 2008
It's great! This story is pretty good. My dad and I love the teen titans and he bought this for me.
Totally pleased! I've never read any of the Teen Titans series but I've been into comics for quite a while now and I've got to say I loved this book. My only problem with it is that it's the only one!
Most of my praise would have to be for the fantastic artwork! I think that the comments about the lack of character development are ungrounded, I was able to get into some characters I knew nothing about before, like Speedy. And I thought it was more mature than the artwork let's in on, I'm 22 and was thoroughly entertained by it.
Altogether I found it to be a very fun read and I'm going to have to really look around to find some more like it! I would highly recommend this to someone new to the comic book scene as well as a veteran!
Reading the comic book version of Chinese food... Three stars for this one. Maybe three and a half, for the terrific artwork.
While this mini-series is certainly fun to read on one level, it doesn't quite meet the standards of the Year One stamp. The best example of a Year One story arc is Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's Batman: Year One, which grippingly chronicled Bruce Wayne's struggles and growth as Gotham's would-be caped crusader. TEEN TITANS: YEAR ONE, a six-issue limited series, feels flimsy, looks lavish, reads flimsy. Amy Wolfram, who wrote in the Teen Titans animated show, writes this thing, while Karl Kerschl and Serge Lapointe draw this thing. And what does it say about them when the artwork overwhelms the written words?
This being Year One, you won't find some of the characters most often identified with this team. Continuity-wise, Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven don't show up until years later, when in the 1980s Marv Wolfman and George Perez ushered in the Teen Titans' most popular run to date, and introduced those four above-mentioned characters to the roster. Robin, probably the character most identified with the Titans, is here, Mr. Grayson being one of the team's founding members. It's nice that Amy Wolfram treats Robin like a three-dimensional character. The other Titans, unfortunately, don't get as good a treatment.
This is a lightweight series, not only in the sense that the tone is playful - which is cool because this is a bunch of kids, after all - but that the stories lack depth and complexity. What seems to be missing is one dramatic ongoing storyline, to tie the whole thing together and to add heft and layer to the Titan's inaugural year. TEEN TITANS: YEAR ONE does start off with an interesting three-parter, as these kid sidekicks band together to see what's up with their mentors, who suddenly are not acting very superheroey. By the third issue, the kids have solved the mystery, and had come up with their team name. Probably the most consistent ongoing subplot is that of Robin's resentment at Batman's constantly pushing him. The three-parter concludes with Batman curtly ordering Robin back to Gotham, with Wonder Girl, rather forlornly, asking: "Will he be back?"
The rest of the mini-series is composed of episodic issues, and that's when that sense of flightiness comes in. Issue #4 deals with the Titans going on their first television interview and focuses some on Kid Flash's need for the spotlight and his jealousy of Robin. Issue #5 has Wonder Girl and Speedy going out on a date. In issue #6, the Antithesis, the featured villain in the three-parter, returns for the weak finale. Yeah, don't even get me started on the lame villains here (The Antithesis? The Ant? Oh, c'mon!).
So the Teen Titans' first appearance was in issue #54 of The Brave and the Bold, back in 1964 (I believe Wonder Girl showed up in issue #60). Naturally, with this modern upgrading, gone are those cheesy, hippie 1960s dialogue. And, now, these contemporary Titans communicate via e-mail and chat rooms. Amy Wolfram does throw in some nice touches. Robin, as ever, is the leader and the most responsible one, even when he's being bossed to bits by Batman. I kind of like Aqualad being portrayed as meek and always twitchy, what with not being able to last 60 minutes on the surface world without water. I guess, in his place, I'd be high-strung, too. He's clearly the series' main comic foil. Okay, I actually don't have too much beef with how the Titans are portrayed. Robin gets a lot of attention. Wonder Girl (naive to man's world and loves everyone and everything), Aqualad (scared silly, Nervous Nellie), Speedy (cocky $#%^), and Kid Flash (glory hound showoff) all have their moments. My beef is that there aren't enough of those moments. There are certainly themes here which Amy Wolfram touches on, that could've done with a bit more exploring. As it is, TEEN TITANS: YEAR ONE is like wolfing down Chinese food - it's tasty and fun, yeah, but ultimately unsatisfying. It's fluff.
But the real treat to this series is the artwork. It's all good, with Karl Kerschl providing dynamic pencils, Serge Lapointe on inks, and Steph Peru and John Rauch with the vibrant colors. It's semi-cartoony stuff, but so well illustrated and so distinctive and interesting to look at, what with the compositions and the expressive facial expressions and poses. Awesome stuff! And I dig Kerschl's wacky interpretation of Aqualad (who looks endearingly homely). The only panel I wasn't down with was the one in which a bawling Wonder Girl spews torrents of tears, anime-like. Again with the fluff.
As dry as the paper it's printed on... Amy Wolfram needs to stick with Teen Titans Go! and stay away from writing comics. The characterization was horrid, and did not convey how our heroes grew as a team in their first year. The book (which was originally a six issue mini series) was completely weak, and, with some minor tweaks, should have been placed in the "Johnny DC" line of DC Comics, which targets children. Wolfram's depiction of Aqualad was truly disappointing and would probably be offensive to those who admire the character.
The only saving grace was Karl Kerschl's art - which was original and visually appealing - and the only reason I bothered to review the book at all. New readers wishing to learn more of the Teen Titans' origin should read both "Showcase presents..." books. Although the first volume is campy, it reflects the time in which the Teen Titans began, and the formulaic storylines prevalent at that time.
And don't knock her up! I bought this comic along with X-men emperor vulcan (which really sucks compared to this!), off a crack-head for $5 dollars on the streets of Seattle after seeing Children of Bodom! Now the cover looks kinda kiddie (like a comic of the Teen Titans cartoon), but I would say it's more for teens (Green Arrow tells Speedy not to knock up Wonder-Girl on their date!), but I, at 27, found it really enjoyable.
I agree with the other reveiwer that the artwork is great, but disagree that there is no charecter development, I had no idea really who any of these sidekicks were (except Robin, which was the reason I bought this hoping batman shows up, and he does!), but now there characters I have a little fondness for, now I don't know the real history of these characters, or how they they act in other books, except for Tim Drake as Robin. Aqua-lad reminds me of the son of Chucky, from Seed of Chucky, except instead of not knowing if he wants to be a killer, Aqua-lad's not sure he want's to be a super hero, also like the seed of Chucky Aqua-lad wets himself a lot!
The first story involves a villan who possess the Teen Titans mentors, so they decide to form a team to help there grown up halves. Then there's a couple side stories, like Speedy and Wonder-Girl going on a date, that just kinda (unlike what the other reveiwer said) build character, and finishes with the enemy from the firt story trying to take his revenge on the Titans.
All in all it's a fun read and I wish there was more. I know there are other Teen Titan books but none seem as fun as this. If there is leave a comment on my reveiw and tell me what to check out!
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