

CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER!!! (Young Justice #18 cover by Todd Nauck and Teen Titans #1 cover art by Michael Turner)

Welcome back to Battleworld! If you missed the first edition on both of the modern Avengers runs, smash that hyperlink!!! For this edition we jump across the street (or across the country, since 2015) from Marvel to DC Comics and from the adults to the youth of the nation.

The 1990s were a time of change in comics, some for good and a decent amount of bad (because 90s). In terms of DC’s famous Teen Titans of the 1960s through the 1980s, the kids had grown up. Dick Grayson was Nightwing instead of Robin, Donna Troy shed her Wonder Girl name for Troia, Roy Harper became Arsenal, and most famously Wally West replaced Barry Allen as The Flash.

Because of all this, the 1990s Teen Titans books became weak in nature without any heavy hitter sidekicks. During this time, the 3rd generation of heroes were born. In the pages of A Lonely Place of Dying (1989), Tim Drake became the 3rd Robin. In Reign of the Superman (1993), a new Superboy was bred in the labs of Cadmus, who would eventually be named Kon-El or Conner Kent.

In the pages of Mark Waid’s The Flash #92 (1994), Barry Allen’s grandson, Bart Allen, from the 30th century came to the past to become Wally West’s sidekick, Impulse. Over on the west coast in Gateway City, a new Wonder Girl was christined in the pages of John Byrne’s Wonder Woman #113 (1996), Cassandra Sandsmark.

In addition, sidekicks got their own long running series for the first time ever. Robin (1993) by Chuck Dixon and Tom Grummett, Superboy (1993) by Karl Kesel and also Tom Grummett, and Impulse (1994) by Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos were popular mainstays. It was not until 1998 that they all came together for the first time.

Enter Young Justice (1998). In a Teen Titans book without the Teen Titans name, Peter David and Todd Nauck crafted a fan favorite featuring Robin, Superboy, Impulse, Wonder Girl and new additions to the generation such as Arrowette (Cissie King-Jones), Secret (Greta Hayes), Lil Lobo/Slobo, Empress (Anita Fite), and The Ray (Ray Terrill).

For five years and 55 issues along with the Sins of Youth (2000) event, Young Justice (1998) was the humorous answer to a dark era in comics. Then in 2003, Young Justice (1998) was canceled and the third volume of the Teen Titans (2003) were born.

After recieving the order from Dan DiDio, Geoff Johns and Mike McKone took to bringing the Teen Titans back to Marv Wolfman and George Perez prominence. Due to this, the Young Justice team was broken up and Robin, Superboy, Wonder Girl and Impulse (now Kid Flash) were “graduated” to the new Teen Titans team in San Francisco.

Joining them would be classic New Teen Titans (1980) members Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven. Although technically running all the way until the New 52 relaunch in 2011, Teen Titans (2003) reached its peak during the early years through post-Infinite Crisis (2006) when Johns left the book.

From 1998 through 2016, (or 2011 if you do not want to count the New 52 Teen Titans run), the YJ4 generation, as the fans began to call them, dominated DC youth landscape, primarily through Young Justice (1998) and Teen Titans (2003). So….which one is better?

Fans are split on which book better portrayed the YJ4 and a lot of times it depends on what type of tone you are looking for. Sometimes it depended on topics like continuity or even costume design. Well that is what I am here for fellas, because what better things do I have to do with my quarantine time? So….TEST YOUR MIGHT!!!!

Star Power: TEEN TITANS VOL. 3

TITANS TOGETHER!!! (Teen Titans #1 cover by Mike McKone)

It is without a doubt that Teen Titans (2003) blows Young Justice (1998) out of the water in terms of star power, and it does so with the name of the team alone. The Young Justice (2010) TV show would not show up until the 2010s, and that was when the name finally became popular. Before that? It was a cult-followed comic book.

The team name “Teen Titans” was a DC megabrand. The Marv Wolfman and George Perez run made it that way right up their with Chris Claremont’s X-Men saga. Outside of the name, the Teen Titans (2003) was full of all of the Teen Titans heavy hitters. Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven were superstars of the 1980s runs and stars of the Teen Titans (2003) TV show coming out at the same time.

Along with the most popular members of Young Justice (1998) in the form of Robin, Superboy, Wonder Girl and the artist formerly known as Impulse, Teen Titans (2003) was setup for sales success and it did succeed in the direct market. In fact Issue #34 of Teen Titans (2003) reached a high total of 82,504 issues while Young Justice (1998) only reached a high of 60,671 issues and that was for their first issue.

In terms of star power, Teen Titans (2003) wins in a landslide.

New Reader Friendly: YOUNG JUSTICE

EW COOTIES!!! (Young Justice #4 cover by Todd Nauck)

It is without a doubt that if you want to reccomend a DC legacy team book to a new reader, Young Justice (1998) is at the top of the list. Where Teen Titans (2003) is rooted in the long history of the Teen Titans and the current DC continuity, Young Justice (1998) comes of as the wild and free adventures of teenaged superheroes in the late-1990s and early-2000s.

Peter David and Todd Nauck do a great job in building the a world within the DC Universe that is not overly-reliant on its long 60 year (at the time) history of continuity. Their antagonists, such as Harm, Old Justice, and A.P.E.S (All-Purpose Enforcement Squad) were invented for the series and if they ever dove outside of their realm, such as with the New Gods, it never confused readers.

In all intents and purposes, Young Justice (1998) was on its own realm of reality. Meanwhile, if there were any important changes to characters in other books, such as in Robin (1993), Superboy (1993), and Impulse (1995), David would do a good job of explaining it to keep you on track.

In comparison, Teen Titans (2003) was a major part of the then current DC continuity and relied on previous knowledge of The New Teen Titans (1980) run by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Geoff Johns and Mike McKone had one major job: make the Teen Titans matter again, and in doing so, made a quintesential sequel to The New Teen Titans (1980). Its first arc even included the return of Deathstroke as a main villain to the Teen Titans.

While also being a sequel to The New Teen Titans (1980), it is also essentially a sequel to the Young Justice (1998) series, as its roster relies on the big guns from the Young Justice team. You do not necessarily have to read Young Justice (1998) before diving into Teen Titans (2003), but it will make understanding the positions of Robin, Superboy, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash a lot easier.

Along with the sequel aspect of Teen Titans‘ (2003) nature, it also is essential lead up to Geoff Johns’ mega event Infinite Crisis (2005). I will not dive deep into it because I already have done that here and here, but Johns lays a lot of groundwork for Infinite Crisis (2005) in the pages of Teen Titans (2003). Which of course in turn, requires knowledge of the grand DC Universe as you read, or else things could go over your head.

Just as lopsided as it was in star power in favor of Teen Titans (2003), Young Justice (1998) is by far the easiest of the two to pick up with little to no knowledge of DC Comics. If someone wants to jump right into a Teen Titans story, ironically, one of the best candidates is Young Justice (1998).

However on that note….

Continuity Driven Storytelling: TEEN TITANS VOL. 3

A Lot of Turmoil on the Road to a Crisis (Teen Titans #24 art by Matthew Clark)

All of those reasons why Teen Titans (2003) was not a better entrant for new readers? Well those are actually some of the major strengths of this run. Where as Young Justice (1998) is a self-contained adventure and story of DC teenagers being teenagers, Teen Titans (2003) is a part of a larger narrative as the DC Universe comes crashing into another crisis.

When it comes to long running narratives, Geoff Johns is right up there with the likes of Brian Michael Bendis and Jonathan Hickman. His runs on Green Lantern (2005) and Justice League (2011) are famous examples of it and Teen Titans (2003) also executes a narrative. As stated before, Johns wrote Infinite Crisis (2005) and Teen Titans (2003) provides its part as a leadup to the main event of the 2000s.

Where Robin, Superboy, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash were all in their proverbial corner of the DC Universe in the form of the Young Justice team, Johns brought them in to the grander scheme through Teen Titans (2003). This in turn lead to greater character developments and growth (well also due to the fact that each of the solo series had been canceled except for Robin (1993)).

Superboy had new character injections in the revelation (or retcon) that the DNA that created him was both Superman’s and Lex Luthor’s, adding a new dichotomy for Conner (and the actual name of Conner Kent as well was introduced in this series). For Bart, he is forced to grow up fast from his impulsive (ha get it?) ways, as he shed the Impulse name for Kid Flash.

Both Conner and Bart’s arcs are crucial for events in Infinite Crisis (2005), as their growth is key for the actions they take in the event. Outside of them, we see Johns explore Tim Drake’s role as Robin and what his future may be in relation to Batman and exploration of the mythology behind Cassie’s lineage (including a new lasso!!!).

Yes, our favorite characters get some key exploration in Teen Titans (2003), and in keeping with continuity, are dropped into some major conflicts on the road to Infinite Crisis (2005). Their battle against the Titans of Tomorrow (their future selves) and the machinations of Lex Luthor in turning Superboy against the team provide some great stories and make the Teen Titans question their ability to be heroes and if they should even be together at all.

It was a grim time in the DC Universe, and Teen Titans (2003) reflects it with reactions to the greater world around them. No Infinite Crisis (2005) is complete without diving into Teen Titans (2003).

Lighthearted Story Telling: YOUNG JUSTICE

What is it good for? (Young Justice #35)

Do not get me wrong, Peter David and Todd Nauck’s Young Justice (1998) is not all rainbows and sunshine 24/7. Some of the best single issues in the 55 issue run involve David tackling social issues in regards to Columbine and post-9/11 culture in the United States. However, the strength of Young Justice (1998) is on the youthful nature of the storytelling and seeing a group of teenagers that happen to be superheroes rather than superheroes that are teenagers (you get what I mean right?).

Each arc does not rely on a soul sucking antagonist destroying the world, it instead revolves on humorous shenanigans. Instead of anti-life equations and yellow lanterns, we get evil Teletubbies, alien races that battle through the form of baseball games, and magic that turns adults into kids and kids into adults.

The ridiculousness of it all is what makes it all so enjoyable, and like in Teen Titans (2003), the team grows in terms of character development and begin to gel as a team. It is not all coming of age or Superboy showing signs of becoming Superman, but young high schoolers experiencing the same weird shit and reacting to it as young teenagers would.

It is the namesake for this blog, and it also sums up the entire run in one sentence.

We’re Young, But Just Us (Young Justice #1 art by Todd Nauck)

Peter David’s nature of storytelling with humor and an understanding of teenagers are what drive Young Justice (1998) and is not necessarily something you get from Geoff Johns in Teen Titans (2003). Unlike in Teen Titans (2003), the darker and deeper story arcs do not carry the book, rather the characters themselves experiencing the random nature of living in the DC Universe while becoming friends.

In addition, Todd Nauck’s art brings out the youthful nature of the story which in turn brings us into our next part…

Art: YOUNG JUSTICE

90S POWER UNITE!!! (Young Justice #6 cover art by Todd Nauck)

Between Young Justice (1998) and Teen Titans (2003), we are treated to some amazing art. Teen Titans (2003), during Geoff Johns’ run, is primarily pencilled by Mike McKone with issues done by the legendary Tom Grummett along with Matthew Clark, Tony S. Daniel and even Todd Nauck. However when it comes to Young Justice (1998), its all Todd Nauck.

A large part of what makes a great run is a consistant creative team, and Young Justice (1998) for almost all 55 issues it was Peter David, Todd Nauck, and inker Lary Stucker. This consistent team was a major reason that even up to its 2003 cancellation, Young Justice (1998) never had a drop in quality and remains a fan favorite to this day.

So yeah, its consistent, but why does that make its art better? Well, at least in this person’s opinion, the main reason is that Todd Nauck THRIVES at drawing younger characters and creating a vibrant environment. His Impulse is one of the best versions of the character to see print.

The story by Peter David is enhanced tenfold by Todd Nauck’s ability to draw amazing youthful characters and to bring out the best in the shenanigans going on. The characters look their proper age and an even cooler added bonus, Nauck captures the late 90s and early 2000s culture of high schoolers, which is especially apparent in the appearances of Wonder Girl and Superboy towards the end of the run.

It does not take away from the amazingness of the art on Teen Titans (2003). Mike McKone’s art is beautiful and anything Tom Grummett does, especially with the Robin and Superboy characters he did runs on already, is extremely good on the eyes. However, it does not match the tone and consistency set in by Todd Nauck.

The beauty and essence of Young Justice (1998) is in large part due to Todd Nauck’s ability to bring that environment to life.

Watcher’s Choice: YOUNG JUSTICE

A Marquee Team (Young Justice #40 cover art by Todd Nauck)

This one was with little debate for me. Young Justice (1998) is my all time favorite run in comics. It is constant excellence from issue 1 in 1998 all the way to issue 55 in 2003. In fact it was reading this run on DC Universe last year that got me absolutely hooked on comics again. Young Justice (1998) is my series and it is my favorite group of characters in DC or Marvel.

As I said earlier, it is easily described of a bunch of teenagers who happen to be superheroes, and it translates into mischievous adventures. The mix of an egomaniac (Superboy), an act first think later character (Impulse), a badass powerhouse (Wonder Girl), a Olympian with serious parental issues (Arrowette), a frickin ghost girl (Secret), and the serious kid trained by the world’s greatest detective trying to keep everything in some sense of control (Robin) made for straight up fun reading.

Outside of that, Peter David tackling topics such as gun violance, post-9/11 discrimination, and the divide between the youth of the nation (word to P.O.D.) and the adults made for great storytelling. Teens being teens at the beginning of the 21st century is one of interesting talking points with Columbine and 9/11 being central to everyone’s lives and the safety of children being as high of an alert as it had ever been.

Character wise, David handles the team with great development and no character is left behind. Arrowette’s arc throughout becoming a hero that quits for going to far and living a traumatized life was my personal favorite and her growth into mending her broken relationship with an over-the-top Mom was a development well worth the 55 issue run.

Wonder Girl and Superboy get to come into their own in terms with their own issues, such as being a clone who does not age and fangirl turned demigod. Robin learns along the way what it means to be a leader and how to breakthrough the inability (thanks Bruce) reveal his identity as Tim Drake to his teammates to better connect and lead. Impulse is….well Impulse and Impulse is awesome.

While Teen Titans (2003) is awesome in its own right and has amazing development of its own, the characterization of these same characters is changed rapidly due to adjust to rapid changes of the DC Universe. In essence, Robin, Wonder Girl, Superboy, and Kid Flash are thrown into the fire immediately to grow up faster and therefore Teen Titans (2003) does not have that beautiful youthful tone of Young Justice (1998).

In Teen Titans (2003), our resident YJ4 group are bonafide heroes full time fighting massive threats along with the older Titans. This provides for great stories and an even more satisfying end in Infinite Crisis (2005). However for me, it is the tone and the ability to connect to Young Justice (1998) that made it awesome and addicting to read.

Well what is it for you? Young Justice (1998) or Teen Titans (2003)? For a lot of people it is what they read first, because the characterization of the YJ4 differs in each run. If you have not read either yet, check out the Amazon links below and if you can, reach out to your local comic store to see if they have the trades of both Young Justice (1998) and Teen Titans (2003), which have been recently collected by DC in TPB form.

Thank you again for reading during this weird, wacky and tragic time and stay tuned for more editions of Battleworld!

Recommended Reading

Bibliography

Byrne, J. (1996). Wonder Woman #113. New York, NY: DC Comics.

David, P., Nauck, T., & Stucker, L. (1998). Young Justice (Vol. 1). New York, NY: DC Comics.

Johns, G., & Jimenez, P. (2006). Infinite Crisis. New York, NY: DC Comics.

Johns, G., Lee, J., Williams, S., Frank, G., Reis, I., & Fabok, J. (2011). Justice League. New York, NY: DC Comics.

Johns, G., McKone, M., & Daniel, T. (2003). Teen Titans (Vol. 3). New York, NY: DC Comics.

Johns, G., Pacheco, C., Sciver, E. V., Merino, J., Bianchi, S., Rollins, P., … Champagne, K. (2005). Green Lantern (Vol. 4). New York, NY: DC Comics.

Kesel, K., Grummett, T., Hazelwood, D., Parobeck, M., Parks, A., Davis, D., … Johnson, S. (1993). Superboy. New York, NY: DC Comics.

Stern, R., Guice, J., Rodier, D., Simonson, L., Bogdanove, J., Janke, D., … Hazelwood, D. (1993). Reign of the Superman. New York, NY: DC Comics.

Waid, M., Ramos, H., Faucher, W., Williams, A., Peyer, T., Rousseau, C., … Diaz, R. (1995). Impulse. New York, NY: DC Comics.

Waid, M., Wieringo, M., & Marzan, J. (1994). The Flash #92 (Vol. 2). New York, NY: DC Comics.

Wolfman, M., & Perez, G. (1980). The New Teen Titans. New York, NY: DC Comics.

Wolfman, M., Perez, G., Aparo, J., DeCarlo, M., Grummett, T., & McLeod, B. (1989). Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying. New York, NY: DC Comics.