Bring on the Bad Guys: The Deliverer

 Real name: Unrevealed 

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?

Bring on the Bad Guys: The Gang

 Real names: Unrevealed 

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. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: The Scorcher

 Real name: Unrevealed 

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

Bring on the Bad Guys: Captain Tiger

Real name: Unrevealed 

First appearance: Teen Titans I#9 (May.-June1967)

Abilities: Pirate 

Worst act: Piracy, theft, assault  

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. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Dr. Michael Larner

Real name: Karl Larner

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. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Baltzar and Verna

 Real names: Baltzar and Verna 

First appearance: Teen Titans I#6 (Nov-Dec. 1966)

Abilities: Animal trainer Hypnotist 

Worst act: Theft, kidnapping 

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). 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Lazlo Krask

Real name: Lazlo Krask

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.