First appearance: Teen Titans I#26 (Mar.-April. 1970)
Abilities: Ruckus raising
Worst act: Assault
Created by: Bob Kanigher (script) Nick Cardy (pencils/inks), and John Costanza (letters)
And now we end another feature here at Geekademia for another year.
We'll end our look back at the Teen Titans with the second foe of their new approach. The Hell's Hawks were your standard biker gang that were hassling the residents of a poorer section of town.
The Titans get involved when they hit the streets in their new jumpsuits and armed only with a penny. The gangs pretty generic, mostly serving to establish new supporting character and future Titan Mal Duncan.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#25 (Jan.-Feb. 1970)
Abilities: Mass protest
Worst act: Murder
Created by: Bob Kanigher (script) Nick Cardy (pencils/inks), and John Costanza (letters)
Nearing the end and right in time for a major shake-up.
The Titans are relaxing at a disco when a go-go dancer, Lilith, warns them that they will open the door to death.
They brush her off and report to their next assignment. Seems Dr. Swenson is making a speech and some protesters ain't happy. Why are they protesting him?
'cuz they are protestors. It's in the name daddy-o.
Things heat up real fast and Dr. Swenson takes a slug to the brain as Kid Flash, Speedy, Wonder Girl (plus Hawk from Hawk & Dove) wrestle with one particular protestor and he manages to get a shot off. Which begs the question of how freaking strong was this guy?
I mean, Speedy is just a normal human, but Wonder Girl is an Amazon plus Hawk and Dove are superhuman. How can this guy move?
So the JLA come down on the Titans, basically saying they all had a hand on Swenson's death. Seems like they should be blaming the guy who shot him, but what do I know?
In steps Mr. Juipter and out steps Robin. Yeah, Robin formerly quits the team during this, but who is Mr. Jupiter? Why, only the richest man in the world. He wants the Titans to work for him, solving teen problems. Kid Flash agrees on the condition they don't use their powers.
Would like to know how Wonder Girl is going to manage that, plus Hawk and Dove (since their powers only activated when they are in danger). So with the protestors swiftly forgotten, we now embark on a new chapter in the Titans.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#24 (Nov.-Dec 1969)
Abilities: Appropriation
Worst act: Attempted murder, real estate scam
Created by: Bob Haney (script) Gil Kane (pencils), Nick Cardy(inks), and John Costanza (letters)
Judging from the story, I'm guessing Haney caught some Scooby-Doo.
The Titans are on vacation, hanging out at the local ski resort. Medicine Mountain is owned by the local tribe but they have problems. What started as a series of accidents is now moving to outright sabotage.
Yeah, turns out the local medicine man is in cahoots with Old Sourdough, who turns out to be Anson Larson, real estate mogul. Seems he wants the ski resort to go under so he can sell the land over to the government for a missile site.
Except the tribe own the entire land. If the resort fails, they'd still own the land. Yeah, he didn't think this one through. A disapointing effort from Haney and Kane.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#23 (Sept.-Oct 1969)
Abilities: Native to jungle
Worst act: Attempted murder
Quote: "Aaahh!"
Created by: Bob Haney (script) Gil Kane (pencils), Nick Cardy(inks), and Milton Snapinn (letters)
Well this aged well. The Titans are watching a Sammy Soul concert when the singer has a breakdown on stage. Seems the young man is torn between his money-grubbing aunt and his equally greedy manager. The only family who cared for him was an uncle. Pity the fellow went looking for El Dorado and vanished.
So naturally the Titans go off looking and deal with hostile jungle natives. Yeah, just a dumb story all around.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#21 (May-June 1969)
Abilities: Gang leader
Worst act: Attempted murder
Created by: Neal Adams (script/pencils), Nick Cardy(inks), and John Costanza/Joe Letterese (letters)
Continuing from a Hawk & Dove yarn, I found this whole trilogy a bit of a downer. Hawk and Dove do darn little here, leaving when their powers start to fade. The Fat Man does even less, as the real villains are the Aliens from Dimension X. They carry on to the next issue when this mess is finally resolved.
First appearance: The Brave and the Bold I#53 (May 1969)
Abilities: Being a punk
Worst act: Theft
Quote: "No thanks Big Daddy, 'cause strange as it sounds, I don't dig you at all! You're too much like me!"
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Neal Adams (pencils/inks), and Ben Oda (letters)
And the first proper crossover with another title.
Here Batman learns that, due to a promise his father made, he has to take in another ward, the titular Lance Burner.
Lance is a bit two-faced. To Wayne he's all smiles and sunshine, eager to be part of a new family. To Dick he's a two bit punk. Lance also figures out Batman's identity but while the story does suggest he's going to spill the beans he has a deathbed conversion and doesn't reveal anything.
Really more of a Batman/Robin yarn but the Titans do show up. Lance reminds me quite a bit of Jason Todd, even the memorial statue in the backyard.
Quote: "Now me boyos, a bit of reagent to separate the goody from the threads! I really 'ate to do this to one of my stunning creations--but business is business... 'aw! 'aw! 'aw!"
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Nick Cardy (pencils/inks), and Joe Letterese (letters)
Joining the illustrious ranks of Two-Face, Lex Luthor, the Cheetah, Solomon Grundy (and Sportsmaster), and the Shade, we now have the Mad Mod!
The Titans, this time summoned by the US Treasury Dept, arrive in DC. Seems rocker Holly Hip is going to the UK on a goodwill tour and Uncle Sam wants the Titans to accompany him. To act as bodyguards? Nope.
Seems they suspect Hip as being involved in a scheme to flood the market with counterfeit cash. So, after making sure to salute a picture of JFK, the Titans are off to Merry old England.
Well, he is involved but not how you think. Seems Hip only buys his clothes from the Mad Mod, who uses the rocker to smuggle his goods across date lines. The Mod/Rocker clash truly was a terrible thing. He also manages to come closer than some of the previous guys in killing the Titans, even if he has to resort to a robot shark.
Haney must have liked this fellow as he was also the first foe to make a second appearance in the series and honestly, I like him. Is he silly? Yup, more dated than the Roller Disco Devils but sometimes that isn't a bad thing.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#20 (March-April 1969)
Abilities: Mastermind
Worst act: Attempted murder
Created by: Neal Adams (script/pencils), Sal Amendola (pencils), Nick Cardy (inks), and Ben Oda/Morris Waldinger (letters)*
The * is there as this is somewhat of a controversial issue. Officially Neal Adam handled most of the work, but unofficially (allegedly) Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and Nick Cardy did script and pencils.
As the story goes, Wolfman and Wein pitched an idea with the Titans encountering a new hero, who, when unmasked at the end, would be revealed to be a black man.
Well thus ruffled someone's jimmies thus Neal Adams was called in at the last minute to basically rewrite the whole thing and make everyone white.
The whole issue is a mess. A masked hero calling himself Joshua breaks into the Titan's Lair and begs them for help. Seems a bunch of teens are set to protest the police. Why? Seems the teens are actually being controlled by Fat Cat, a local mobster.
Oh, and Fat Cat is also working with the aliens from Dimension X (last seen in #16) and his agents include the Scorcher and Dr. Larner. Seems Fat Cat and his partners want the unrest to help them release the Meroul Being.
Our heroes stop them though, at least this time. The Aliens from Dimension X would be the focus for the next few issues.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#19 (Jan-Feb. 1969)
Abilities: Death trap design
Worst act: Attempted murder
Quote: "You shall talk differently when I destroy the rest of your group!"
Created by: Mike Friedrich (script), Gil Kane(pencils), Wallace Wood (inks), and Roy Holloway (letters)
Here we have an unoffical crossover with the Justice League. Young Master Sepastopol wishes to impress Headmaster Mind. He knows trying to take out the JLA would be doomed to fail, so why not start small and take out the junior league?
So he slaps on a clown outfit and tries to kill a bunch of teenagers. He fails and is never seen again, but this issue would mark the last appearance of Aqualad for a while.
Pretty good but even the team doesn't take this guy seriously.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#18 (Nov-Dec. 1968)
Abilities: Thievery, being outrageously French
Worst act: Theft
Quote: "You are zee fool I am zee biggest..."
Created by: Len Wein/Marv Wolfman (script), Bill Draut (pencils/inks), and Jon D'Agostino (letters)
#17 we'll be skipping, as the villain in that yarn was the Mad Mod (who'll we'll be seeing shortly). No, this time we'll be looking at Le Blanc and the first appearance of Starfire!
No, not that one.
The character that would later become Red Star is introduced as a Russian hero on the hunt for infamous jewel thief Le Blanc. A pretty standard yarn; two international groups(s) clash at first but learn to work together. Le Blanc is pretty generic, even his thief outfit looks like he got it off the rack.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#16 (July-Aug. 1968)
Abilities: Dimensional travel
Worst act: Kidnapping, attempted war
Quote: "Now there is little time--those infernal Teen Titans found out about the warp! The first intruder, the boy called Chet, led them to it!"
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Nick Cardy (pencils/inks), and Joe Letterese (letters)
Possibly a riff on Invasion of the Body-Snatchers, or maybe Invaders from Mars.
The story, which I admit I found to be the best thus far, is about a lad named Chet. The whole town thinks he's crackers when he starts going on about the high school principal is really an alien plotting to take over the world.
In the real world, yes, but given this a world with murder clowns and Atlantis, the Titans decide to at least check Chet's story out. Turns out he was right, who knew?
Wonderful art, but the Aliens aren't as alien as they could be. Beautiful use of shadows though.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#15 (May-June 1968)
Abilities: Motorcycling
Worst act: Assault
Quote: "Waste 'em! Rock and roll the Hippies!"
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Lee Elias (pencils), Nick Cardy (inks), and Mort Waldinger (letters)
Now we face the most daunting foe we've seen thus far-hippies!
Seriously though, the Titans are called in by Mr. Matthews. Seems his son Ken has run away from home and may have fallen befoul of the dreaded hippies. So the Titans go undercover.
Captain Rumble is your standard thug biker, but he does have a nice look. The funnies thing is that Haney doesn't condemn the hippies. The slang is utterly daft but they are shown as generally mellow. Basically, saying they aren't inherently good or bad and if the thing isn't for you, you can leave.
Which isn't the worst thing to say, really. The Titans manage to save Ken from getting involved with some generic gangsters, but I felt that the Captain was a more compelling character.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#14 (March-April 1968)
Abilities: Teleportation
Worst act: Kidnapping
Created by: Bob Haney (script) and Nick Cardy (pencils/inks), and Mort Waldinger (letters)
This is an odd one but is generally considered one of the better Titans stories from the original run.
The Titans are confronted by a ghostly voice, claiming to be a former foe of theirs but unjustly imprisoned, saying they ruined his life. The Titans are conflicted, Robin more so. Then they die, save for Robin.
Yeah, the Titans all apparently perish with Robin being the sole survivor. He tries to carry on solo but is quickly overrun and exhausted. He then decides to crawl into the Gargoyle's grave where it turns out the Titans aren't dead. No, just help captive in Limbo.
Robin overcomes his doubts and rescues his friends, but the identity of the Gargoyle is never reveled in this issue.
In a much later tale, we find out some other dimensional being found Mister Twister and, being touched by his hate, gave him more power. An interesting twist and while I love bringing back old characters this just seems less designed and more, "crap, we have to have this story resolved and fast!" feel.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#13 (Jan.-Feb.1968)
Abilities: Using alien tech?
Worst act: Failure to pay duty fees, attempted murder
Quote: "That chick in the air--gun her down!"
Created by: Bob Haney (script) and Nick Cardy (pencils)
Bob Haney plus a Christmas Carol?
The Titans get involved when Jacob Farely breaks out of prison to haunt his old partner, Ebenezer Scrounge. Seems Scrounge has a new partner, the titular Mr. Big. What does he do? He smuggles worthless junk into the States then uses his ray gun to transform the stuff into brand new items.
So, this guy has a gun that can turn a broken bicycle into a brand new and his idea is to use it to cheat duty fees? Like America doesn't have broken bicycles?
The Titans decide to save Mr. Scrounge from this fate by doing the whole Ghost of Christmas jazz. They also read comics featuring their mentors, which is odd if you think about it.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#12 (Nov.-Dec.1967)
Abilities: Using alien tech
Worst act: Theft
Quote: "It's working! Fantastic! I shall make delivery on time--and keep my record unblemished!"
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Irving H. Novick (pencils) Nick Cardy (inks), and Morris Waldinger (letters)
One thing about 60's comics I both love and hate are the covers. You get promised an utterly wild time, but the story has nothing what was promised. Case in point we have an alien attacking Robin in space over a space DJ.
Yeah, space DJ. Seems a disc jockey gets blasted into low Earth orbit and while there an alien forces him to put in secret messages to the Deliverer. Why? So he can steal Earth monuments!
Yeah, that old chestnut.
The Titans get involved and wow, the space suits. It's like Haney stressed they needed helmets but nothing else, so we see Robin gadding about in a vacuum in shorts. Well, if Batman can breathe in space I guess Robin can too?
Also they seem to think Batman is just some guy on the TV, which raises many questions.
The Titans stop the bad guys of course but this is either Haney's best or worst. Things just happen and just roll with it.
Had many questions, but the Deliverer just raises more. Is this his normal job? Had did he throw in with aliens? He mentions his record, does his steal monuments regularly? What else does he deliver?
First appearance: Teen Titans I#11 (Sept.-Oct.1967)
Abilities: Piloting a giant sea monster
Worst act: Blackmail, theft
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Irving H. Novick (pencils) Nick Cardy (inks), and Stan Starkman (letters)
Yeah, theses guys don't even rank a proper name. When Speedy shows up, the Titans plot their most daring mission yet: Summer jobs!
I mean, Robin and Speedy are wards of millionaires and Wonder Girl and Aqualad are essentially royalty, so part time employment isn't exactly a hassle for them.
Turns out, the team is going undercover at a nearby lake do the request sent from Willie Gregson. He's the summer intern (basically) for Dr. Finley. Willie is also being blackmailed by the Gang. Seems Willie's dad did a stint in jail and unless Willie helps them the whole town will know about it.
Which is odd, as information like that is usually public knowledge anyway, but I digress.
The Gang decides to go about this by building a giant submarine to look like a sea monster and have it attack the lake. I would think that would attact more attention, but I don't have matching diving suits, so what do I know?
Not terrible but the bad guys are so generic I'm struggling to recall what they look like.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#10 (July-August1967)
Abilities: Motorcycling
Worst act: Attempted murder, cheating at racing
Quote: "Hey laddio--you got a pilot's license? Yuk! Yuk!"
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Irving H. Novick (pencils) Nick Cardy (inks), and Stan Starkman (letters)
Guess Haney caught the Wild One at one point. Robin gets invited to a motocross race and he brings the Titans along with him. Which is good, as the race gets crashed by the Scorcher! Who's he?
Mostly just your typical no-good biker punk, only he wears a fireman's hat. He enters the race with his cronies but the other racers act as if they have no choice "they'll wreck the race?"
Why? If he didn't formerly enter, he wouldn't be considered the winner, right? Plus, there's the fact that he tries to outright murder Robin during the race. One would that would be enough to disqualify him, but I guess bike races were a bit more lenient in the 60's. The Scorcher gets taken out mostly by Wonder Girl
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Irving H. Novick (pencils) Nick Cardy (inks), and Stan Starkman (letters)
With this issue we finaly learn how the Titans get their fan mail. Nothing fancy, just a regular mailman who hands off the mail to Wonder Girl. The problem this time is Dobbs University and Brandon College. Seems every time the schools have a beach holliday the students end up in a rumble.
So putting on their college sweatshirts (yet keeping their costumes on) the team hits the beach! With much painful slang being slung around the team manages to convince the students to stop being hooligans and help restore the stone jetty.
Then a pirate shows up. Yeah, Captain Tiger opts to crash his submarine on the beach and attack.
Good yarn although odd that apparently in the DC universe there's a Batman TV show, judging from the billboards.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#8 (Mar.-April 1967)
Abilities: Spy
Worst act: Manipulating racial tensions
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Irving H. Novick (pencils) Jack Abel (inks), and Stan Starkman (letters)
Yet another yarn of the Titans being summoned by an authority figure. This time the gang gets summoned to the Lansford College. Seems some local thugs are a bit miffed at a trio of newly arrived exchange students.
There's Ahmed Al Din from Africa, Samu Rau from India, and Hans Vernick from Europe. Not any one particular country just Africa and Europe.
It seems the thugs aren't racist, no, they're just concerned about the safety of Honey Bun. Honey Bun being the giant mech being built at the local defense plant. So when Hans is found snopping around, well, does that prove them right?
Turns out, no. Oh Hans was looking to steal the plans but only to keep them safe. Seems he recongized the good doctor as a spy from the old country and wished to keep them safe. Seems like he could have mentioned that earlier, but we do get to see Robin take down a 1960's mech so there's that.
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Bill Molno (pencils), Sal Trapani (inks), and Stan Starkman (letters)
The first appearance of Beast Boy in a Titans book. Pity it'd be some time before he formerly joined, but he was a regular in the Doom Patrol at the time.
Which ties into this yarn for a bit, as Beast Boy, frustrated at being unable to join either team formerly due to his Scrooge-ish guardian, opts to run off to the circus.
The carnies running the place, instead of seeing the value in a boy who can change into any animal imaginable, decide to hypnotize him and make him knock over stores. Seems like waste.
Honestly this feels more like a Beast Boy tale than a Titans one, with Haney trying to push the shapeshifting hero as the 5th Titan (which is a bit insulting to Speedy, who technically had that title).
First appearance: Teen Titans I#5 (Sept.-Oct. 1966)
Abilities: Gangster, knew the Ant
Worst act: Blackmail
Quote: "Aqualad--and more of those blasted kids! Row, you clowns, row!"
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Nick Cardy (pencils/inks), and Stan Starkman (letters)
Now, technically the Teen Titans' next appearance would be Doom Patrol I#4, but that was a just a cameo. Here we learn the name of the Titan's lair...which is named Titans Lair.
Much like the previous issues, the Titans get a summons for help. This time it's from Lacklock Camp, one of those new fangled reform camps for troubled kids. Camp director Dr. Turner is convinced that his former prize student, Eddie Whit, has been running amuck as the newest costumed crook the Ant.
The reason this profile isn't focusing on the Ant is that it turns out the real villain is Lazlo, as he is blackmailing poor Eddie into working for him. Shame this was the Ant's only appearance as his circus background made him a perfect foil to Robin.
Lazlo was fairly bland but this does have the Titans working more with teen issues.
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Nick Cardy (pencils/inks), and Stan Starkman (letters)
Bit of an odd one here, at least in terms of story. Seems this is billed as a secret tale, in that it wasn't reveled until now, but the series is only four issues in, so it's not like they would be reveling that much. From a story perspective I suppose this takes place before Brave and the Bold I#60. We do finally see Speedy formerly join.
The Titans have a two part mission. First, they get contacted by Ted Bradley. His son David is both an Olympic hopeful and he's missing. The second part comes from Uncle Sam as it seems the ruthless terrorist organization DIABLO wants to ruin the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo.
They solve the first part easy enough, as it seems David is simply hiding out from his father. He wants to run though but he's so scared of his old man, specifically what his dad would do if he lost, that he doesn't want to run. They get David to run in a disguise.
They also get captured by DIABLO agents and Speedy gets tricked into nearly killing them, but thankfully David manages to outrun Kravik (agent disguised as a runner) and stop Speedy.
Worst act: Attempted murder, theft, and convincing kids to drop out of school
Quote: "Coolest titans! Little Wonder Chick may have old Ding-Dong down for the count-but you laddios can't stop my gas pump pulverizer!"
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Nick Cardy (pencils/inks), and Stan Starkman (letters)
Man, if you thought the teenage caveman was odd, Haney topped himself with this one. Also tempted to have him as 22nd special but you'll have to wait until then.
We open with Batman dealing with a souped up hot rod busting through a jewelry store. The car manages to outrace the Batmobile, no mean feat that. Robin, now looking like an actual teenager, is summoned along with the rest of the Titans to Washington, DC.
The Dept. of Education has called the Titans there due to a serious problem-dropping out. The small burg of Harrison especially as a serious problem with kids dropping out of high school, so it is ordered that the Titans investigate.
The team arrives in their custom helicopter and check out where the teens have been going since they're not in school. None other than the shop of the Go-Man the Ding-Dong Daddy!
Not a drug reference shockingly enough. No, the Ding-Dong Daddy's deal is cars and fast ones too. He hires the kids right out of school and gives them paying jobs. Cars like the kind that robbed that store, eh? Naturally Ding-Dong is up to no good and the team manages to stop him
Utterly insane and wonderful. We have another team gets invited to solve a problem, but it just goes in such a direction you almost get whiplash. Ding-Dong is also such a delight you can almost ignore the utterly bizarre slang he spouts.
First appearance: Teen Titans I#2 (Mar-April 1966)
Abilities: Superhuman strength
Worst act: Attempted murder
Quote: "Roaaarrrrr!"
Created by: Bob Haney (script), Nick Cardy (pencils/inks), and Stan Starkman (letters)
Here in #2 we see the Titans relaxing in their secret HQ. They're chilling and answering fanmail, which begs the question of how secret this place is supposed to be. Although these aren't all letters from fans, no, they also have requests for help.
And boy is their latest one a doozy. Seems a young lad from Smedleyville has a problem. No, he doesn't need a date or dealing with acne. He's being stalked by a caveman.
An old enemy in fact. Yeah, seems the lad in question is actually a caveboy, frozen in ice alongside the giant that terrorrized his tribe until they both got frozen deep in the mountains. Garn, as he calls himself, got thawed out first and was found by a kindly farmer.
Garn managed to grasp modern English and norms pretty quick, even enrolling in the local school and getting a girlfriend. When Akkuru thaws out, however, all that modern society jazz doesn't do much against a giant with an axe.
The town folk, especially, as they want to blame Akkuru's rampages on Garn. Despite the fact that he is clearly not a giant. The Teen Titans arrive to the rescue though and during the course of the fight Akkuru is killed when he falls into a river.
Garn must have taken that wanting to be normal thing to heart because this was the last anyone saw of him.
Utterly insane and plot twists coming from ever field. In other words a perfect Haney yarn.
Quote: "...and I would have destroyed you all if ze Teen Titans hadn't interfered!"
Created by: Bob Haney (script) and Nicholas Peter Carady (art)
With this we see the Teen Titans in their own series at last. This premier adventure shows the Titans being summoned to Washington, DC. Why? Seems the Peace Corps have run into problems in the small island of Xochatan. They're trying to build a small dam and a school, but giant statue is making that hard.
Yeah, giant statue. Investigating they lose the statue but get attacked by a living bulldozer. They manage to stop the dozer from killing but when the dam is finished the nearby waters rise. The waters reach a hidden pyramid and cause the ancient beast gods come to life and attack.
The team manages to fight and stop them and the culprit is revealed. Yeah, it's none other than Don Mantanzas! Local land owner and guy who was upset about the dam being built. How did he go about building a giant state in the shape of a conquistador? You got me.
A bit goofy, but not nearly as insane as Haney's other work.
First appearance: Showcase#59 (November-December 1965)
Abilities: Motorcycling, surfing, and baton twirling
Worst act: Identity theft, theft
Quote: "Man the cool beat is what we like!"
Created by: Bob Haney (script) and Nicholas Peter Cardy (pencils)
Not quite in their own series, this time the Teen Titans moved over the Showcase, the offical tryout book for new series.
This time out the Titans are summoned by the teens of Clarkston. The job? Proving the Flips innocent. Yes, the Flips, those groovy rockers who incorporate motorcycles, surfing, and gymnastics in their songs. Seems everytime they have a show someplace gets ripped off and in a style incorporating motocycles, surfing, and/or gymnastics.
Naturally the teens of Clarkston can't beleive their musical idols are a bunch of crooks so the call goes out. The Titans manage to prove the band innocent and take down the crooks.
First appearance: Brave and the Bold#60 (June-July 1965)
Abilities: Giant, able to separate himself
Worst act: Identity theft
Created by: Bob Haney (script) and Bruno Premiani (art)
Now properly known as the Teen Titans and sporting Wonder Girl as a member, the Titans are summoned to Midville. Why? Because giant body parts are messing with the 'teen mayor for a day' program.
Yup.
Seems this is like the return of the character, as the giant once menaced the town before. The current teen mayor's father, Professor Brian Holmes, created the Separated Man by accident thus, the team thinks they are dealing with a transformed scientist at least until the professor shows up and they learn that the Separated Man is in fact the professor's old cellmate who decided to steal the professor's formula and turn himself into a giant who can throw bits of himself at people.
And he gets taken out by the Beatles' I Wanna Hold Your Hand'.
First appearance: Brave and the Bold#54 (June-July 1964)
Abilities: Weather controlling magic stick
Worst act: Kidnapping
Quote: "So!...the famous Robin resists my power!"
Created by: Bob Haney (story), Bruno Premiani (pencils), and Sheldon Moldoff (inks)
Back in 2022 but this time I figured we'd take a look at some Silver Age shenanigans. This time we'll be taking a look at the foes of the Teen Titans.
Now technically Mr. Twister isn't the Teen Titans first foe as this issue was a simple team-up between Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad but from him everything flows so he is included for completion's sake.
Back in Colonial times, a group of settlers wanted to develop the area known as Hatton Corners. The land's owner, Jacob Stikk, would allow them for the rent of one feather from the American passenger pigeon. If they failed to provide said feather they would forfeit the use of one of their youths for the term of one year.
Yeah, one feather or they make a teenager a slave. The people accepted and thus the payment was carried out. At least until 1913 when the passenger pigeon died out, but the Stikk family had too so no harm, right?
Yeah, until 1964 when Brom Stikk shows up in full regalia and demands the back payment. When the people of Hatton Corners rightfully point out how impossible this is, Stikk takes the payment by kidnapping all the teens in town and forcing them to build a cyclone shaped temple on his private island.
Thankfully Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad happened to be there and mount a rescue.
Wow. Right out of the gate and you know things are weird when a scruffy dude in a tricornered hat and a magic stick kidnaps teens because he didn't get a pigeon feather. Mr. Twister would later get a makeup and become the Gargoyle but that will be recounted later. Honestly this is pretty much what Haney was all about. Utterly insane concepts and lingo no human has ever spoken.
