Teen Titans #46 (February, 1977) "The Fiddler's Concert of Crime!" Writer - Bob Rozakis Pencils - Irv Novick Inks - Joe Giella Letters - Ben Oda Edits - Julius Schwartz Cover Price: $0.30 Ladies and Gentlemen... the countdown is on! As of today, we are one month away from our ONE-THOUSANDTH DAILY POST! Sooo, barring my getting hit by lightning... it looks like we're probably going to get there! --
We open with a comparison of the Roman Colosseum... and the Long Island Colosseum (I'm guessing they mean Nassau Colosseum) where there's about to be a Battle of the Bands! Great Frog fans, don't get your hopes up... they're not playin'. The bands among the battle are Peter and Laura McCarthy and the Flyers... and the Woodworkers. Fans of 70's tunes will probably figure that we're looking at Wings and the Carpenters. Inside... the Earth-2's Fiddler is wrecking all sortsa havoc.
The Titans bust in, and after Mal toots on his wondrous Horn, the Fiddler changes tact. Instead of having everyone destroy their instruments, he starts them on a dance-off. Speedy fires some gas arrows into the mass of humanity... which only seems to enrage them. Roy and Mal wind up on the receiving end of a mosh pit stomp-down.
Meanwhile, back at Titans Cavern... the rest of the teen-age heroes talk about how their next headquarters should be on an island (hmm...). Then, Robin tells an awful joke before introducing their latest member... the *shudder* Joker's Daughter. Eesh, she really skeeves me out.
Speedy and Mal return from their beating, and report in that the Fiddler is on the loose. Kid Flash posits that this might be the same fella that the Flash fought on Earth-2. No duh, Wally. Then they see... Joker's Daughter. Yeeeeeeesh, just lookit her face. Ay yai yai... that must be what you see before you die.
We learn a bit more about the competitors in the Battle of the Bands. The Flyers... and the Woodworkers (oi). Turns out, neither band wants anything to do with the other. They agree to the showdown, so long as they never share the stage. If you're thinking this won't be important later... well, just wait.
Back to the Titans... the Creeper delivers some horrible news: The MacCarthy's have been kidnapped! The "fantastic" Fiddler is among the likeliest culprits. The Titans decide to look into it... otherwise, Great Frog might have to take their place in concert! What would be so bad about that?! Also... there's plenty more ghoulish smiling from Duela. Yeeeeesh.
Robin sends all of the Titans (sans he, Aqualad and J.D.) back to the Colosseum to take on the Fiddler. Upon arrival, they find that he's started a musical plague... calling forth rats, and bugs! Mal gives his horn a toot... and is reminded by the spectre of death that if he loses another fight... he'll die. A holdover from a recent run-in with Azrael (not that Azrael... or that other Azrael either).
Despite the Titans' best efforts... the plague continues. Roy gets a bad case of "ants in the pants", causing him to fire a (thankfully gimmicked) arrow right into Wonder Chick's back!
With the rest of the Titans downed... it comes down to a musical duel between the Fiddler and the Hornblower! Mal manages to win... saving not only his own life, but saving the crowd from being covered with vermin. The Fiddler takes off in his... uh, Fiddlemobile.
Elsewhere, Robin and Company are looking into the abduction of the McCarthy's. Their hotel room is in shambles... and there are two sets of footprints leaving the room via an opened window.
Robin locates the McCarthy's outfits (floppy hats and whatnot)... and has an idea. He asks Aqualad to pretend to kidnap Joker's Daughter... and during the reenactment, we can see that the footprints he leaves are deeper than those present. Robin's not so convinced that the McCarthy's have been nabbed. Before he can share his conclusion, they are zapped away courtesy of Mal's wondrous horn.
They arrive at the Colosseum... where they are informed by the rest of the Titans that the Fiddler has the Woodworkers atop the arena. Also, Joker's Daughter's face... uhhhh.
Once up high, the Titans are taken in by a Fiddler spell... they do-si-do for a bit, nearly chuckin' Mal and Duela off the roof!
When they "come to", the Fiddler calls in his Fiddlecopter (how many things did he manage to bring from Earth-2?!). While the team takes care of the chopper... Joker's Daughter uses her gimmicks to disarm the Fiddler... then she karate chops his funny bone to ensure he won't be fiddlin' with much for at least a little while.
All that's left for the Titans is solving the case of the Missing McCarthy's... only, Robin's already done that! Ya see, he takes the Woodworkers to a Colosseum closet... where he reveals the Flyers! The Woodworkers are sure they're impostors though!
And that's because... the Flyers are the costumed alter-egos for the Woodworkers! Ohhhhh... so, that's why they refused to share a stage.
That night, during the Battle of the Bands... the secret is revealed! And (allegedly) the world of Pop Music will never be the same again!
We wrap up with an epilogue, in which the Titans find their newest digs. Next issue promises the big reveal of the TT's Disco-Headquarters!
-- Okey dokey... well, this was something. Such a weird little story, wasn't it? Bringing analogues for big pop-music acts is interesting. I'm not terribly familiar with either band outside of their hits... but I tried Googling to see if there were any rumors that Wings and the Carpenters were the same band. Couldn't find anything, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't a rumor at the time... I guess. This was all well before my time. The action scenes were pretty well done, and fit the threat the Fiddler posed. Having the Titans distracted with a plague is probably a good idea... since, it wouldn't take much for them to beat up an old man with a fiddle. Robin was able to flex his detective muscles here, which was also pretty cool... if not a bit convenient. I suppose most detective-y bits in comics are going to be convenient, so I shouldn't really harp on it. We probably ought to talk about the Joker's Daughter. Yikes... just so darned unpleasant to look at. It's as though the comic was able to look into my soul anytime she was on-panel. Just... that face. Gonna have to sleep with the lights on for a few nights. My biggest disappointment here is... we have a Battle of the Bands, and there was noGreat Frog performance. I guess I just oughta be happy that they get a mention! Also... and more seriously, the art was a bit uneven. Overall... ehh, this was silly, but fun. If you're down for a weird-o Bronze Age Titans romp (featuring the ghoulish Duela Dent), you'll probably dig this. I'd certainly advise against breaking the bank (or your back) to get this one though. -- Letters Page:
Teen Titans #21 (May-June, 1969) "Citadel of Fear" Writer/Penciller - Neal Adams Inks - Nick Cardy Letters - John Costanza Cover Price: $0.12 Today we're heading back to the... I think it was still the Silver Age... to take a look at an early team-up of the Teen Titans and Hawk & Dove... with art and words by Neal Adams! It's sure to be a banger! --
We open with the combined forces of the Teen Titans and Hawk & Dove... tripping over one another while trying to catch a mustachioed gentleman who is fleeing into a teleporter. The Titans blame the Birds, and vice versa... so, we get some young hero on young hero action.
Speedy nails Dove with a psychedelic arrow, which causes him to lumber back into a stack of boxes... which look to be about to tumble atop Wonder Chick!
Hawk rushes in and nyoinks her out of danger... an act that sorta begins defusing the situation. They aren't all pals or anything, but there is an uneasy alliance taking shape. The teen-agers head over to that teleportation machine, and note that it has two settings... which means, it'd be in their best interests to split into two teams to track the baddie. Hawk, who is still carrying Donna, decides that them two plus Dove will be one team, leaving Roy, Dick and Wally as the other.
We follow the Birds and the (Wonder) Chick first... they are transported to Istanbul (not Constan... nope, not gonna do it!). They beat up a pair of guards, much to Dove's dismay. Meanwhile, in Berlin... a pair of shadowy men look on via monitors.
As the teens soldier on, they happen to wander into... a trap! One'a those rooms where the walls start closing in. That kinda thing always freaked me out... asamattafact, as a kid I was convinced that this would be one of the two ways I might die... the other was quicksand. Anyhoo, after the walls close in a sufficient amount, the remaining space is filled with knockout gas.
While they doze, we pop over and check in with the Boys... who have been transported to Berlin. They walk along some underground train tracks, fearful that they're entering a trap... because, ya know, they are. The shadowy men launch their second deadly threat... and from the looks of it, they're using a bunch of those automatic tennis servers to do so!
Well, it's actually a locomotive stuffed with armed fellas... the bullets still look like tennis balls though. I dunno, maybe it's NERF. The Boys git ta steppin' until they get far enough away for Wally to whup up a hurricane with his arms.
The Titans board the train and are able to disarm, and eventually wipe the floor with, the bad guys. The train keeps barreling forward until... it stops! Then, a pair of glass panels close them in... could this be the real trap?!
Well, of course it is... don't be ridiculous! The locomotive transforms into a giant spider and takes out the trio with ease! Holy Crippled Cockroaches, indeed!
As the bad guys collect Robin and Kid Flash (but not Speedy), we rejoin the Birds and Donna, who are locked in a prison, hands bound. Hank and Donna repeatedly slam themselves into the prison door in hopes of breaking free... while Dove sits off to the side. He suggests they just give a tug on their cuffs... since they're made of a fibrous plastic, they oughta be able to stretch.
Oh, and those plastic cuffs? Also combustible... which is, ya know, helpful. They press the cuffs into a crack in the wall, and with a spark created by Donna clanking her bracelets together, they ignite... blowing a nice-sized hole out of the wall and assuring the teen-agers' freedom. The trio saunters back over to the teleportation machine, and heads to Berlin.
Before we know it, they're standing right before that giant spider, maaaan... and they see that Speedy is pinned underneath it. Hawk and Dove rush in and free him from the heft of the mechanical beast.
The foursome decides to press on. Of course, they come to a fork in the road... which causes them to have to split up again. Hawk chooses Donna to accompany him, which doesn't sit well with Roy... and so, he punches Hank in the face. Dove intervenes and gets everyone to settle their respective tea kettles before things get uglier.
Turns out this was all a moot point, as the forked paths lead to the very same place. Guess we had an extra page or two that needed filling. The no-longer shadowy man is freaking out, and sends his agents in to take out the teens.
We then learn that the jolly gentleman is being controlled by... aliens from Dimension X! Say it ain't so. The alien leader knows that the game is up, and orders the fella to pull the self-destruct switch in order to cut his losses.
Hawk and Dove are able to stop him before he does... and when Roy and Donna try questioning him, he falls into a deep trance of "selective hypnosis".
Roy calls out to Hawk for some assistance finding Robin and Kid Flash, however... Hawk and Dove's powers are starting to wear off, changing them back to Hank and Don Hall. They rush back through the teleporter rather than be seen in their civilian identities.
Speedy blames himself... believing that the Birds ran off because he socked Hawk in the face... like three times. He then lashes out at the hypnotized jolly gentleman... but, ya know, he's hypnotized, so he doesn't get anywhere. We wrap up by learning that Robin and Flasher are being held captive by... well, duh, that alien guy.
-- Well, this was a weird one, wasn't it? Having not read Teen Titans #20, I'm not sure whether or not this was picking up directly from there... but, ya know... it is the Silver Age, so there's also a pretty good possibility that this was just the way a new story started. Not sure what the threat of the Aliens of Dimension X might be... but, I mean, no good could come from a place called "Dimension X", right? Thought the interpersonal conflict between the Titans and the Birds was pretty well done... Hawk is still a blowhard jerk, and Dove is still so wimpy you wanna smack 'im... so, I was definitely cool with Roy giving them both a few punches. I thought it was cool that Hawk had an instant attraction to Donna. What I wasn't prepared for was how it seemed like that attraction might just be mutual. I was expecting an "Unhand me, you ape" and instead we get her sorta making goo-goo eyes. Not much else to this story. A lot of spectacular art, but as a story, it was just okay. Full of Silver-Age trappings... I mean, how many times are we going to need to "split up" already? How many times are the heroes gonna fly off the handle and just throw punches? Not saying I didn't enjoy all'a that, but it's kinda formulaic. Though, it fairness... I'm saying all this one year shy of a half-century after this book hit the newsstands. This being a Silver Ager, it didn't have creator credits listed. I had to check some of my usual online research haunts to fill'em in. I also checked DC Digital to see if it was available there. It is! What I also learned there is that this issue was retroactively "age rated" as "12+ Only"... the hell is this nonsense?! For some context, a recent issue of Teen Titans (one in which Beast Boy claims his dinner gave him a "mouthgasm") is also rated "12+ Only". What the hell, DC? This is dumb... and you need to fix your rating system. Overall... worth a read (for any and all ages). "Twelve Plus Only" my be-hind. -- Letters Page:
Teen Titans #53 (February, 1978) "In the Beginning..." Writer - Bob Rozakis Pencils - Juan Ortiz Inks - John Fuller Letters - Ben Oda Colors - Gene D'Angelo Editor - Jack C. Harris Cover Price: $0.35 Here's a cover that's haunted my collection. If you look above, it kinda looks like I just took a bad picture of it (which, if you're familiar with my "photography" probably isn't much of a surprise to you)... but, nope... this one was just cut wrong, severing the price/number "box" in the process.
It's always the worst for me when I can't see the issue number at a glance... it's the same reason I'll pass up the Whitman "variants" I come across... those leave the issue number off the cover completely! Anyhoo... we're left with a cover that looks like something your mother would try convincing you into "trying on" when you're back-to-school shopping at the outlet mall. Weirdly cut... and the colors aren't quite "right". I mean, check out Wally's hair. Maybe they're just paying homage to that 1967 cartoon?
Yeah, probably not. Oh well, without further ado... let's wrap up the first volume of Teen Titans! -- We open with Mal and Karen happening across the Teen Titans Casebook. Well, it's not like they hadn't seen it before, that just never actually stopped to read the thing. With the Titans on the brink of breaking up... what better time than now? They open it up to the very first "official" case for the team, which falls sometime after the Mister Twister incident... but before the group hits the ground running.
This first entry was written by Robin, and recounts his earliest memories of the formation at the start. Ya see, he was on a routine patrol tailing what he believed to be a cat-burglar. He's as shocked as you might imagine when he discovers it was actually a... bat-curglar... er, burglar.
There is a struggle between the dynamic duo... with Batman getting the better of it. After they swat each other's 'rangs out of the sky, Batman just kayos the kid... and makes off wit' da jewels.
Next stop for the Boy Wonder... Metropolis! If Batman's gone batty, maybe Superman can help! While Robin loiters around the outside of the Daily Planet, he is approached by... Aqualad! He's also here to see Superman, because... get this, Aquaman has become a pirate!
Garth tells the tale... Aquaman sent his pet octopuses on board a cruise ship to steal all'a da jewels.
But, that's not all... next thing we know, Kid Flash and Speedy are rushing up on the scene! Their mentors have also gone bad!
And finally, the boys meet the newest teen hero on the block... Wonder Girl! This is their first meeting... and nobody really has much of a clue what to make of her. Anyhoo, she reports... the same thing as the others, her mentor has also lost her mind.
Robin hatches a plan... and it has to do with our brand-new team of teens... splitting up! First we'll join the original three... Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash, as they attempt to apprehend Wonder Woman, who is currently trying to hijack a plane from the outside. She's able to take the boys out with ease... until... Robin "binds" her. Ya see, he's done his Bat-Homework and knows Wonder Woman's weakness is being bound by a male.
Next, we join Wonder Girl and Speedy as they try and corral the Flash. After a few unsuccessful attempts... Donna is able to, get this, "bind" the speedster using her lasso which she vibrates at the same super-speed frequency that Barry is moving in!
At this point, I'm guessing Mr. Rozakis realized he was running out of pages with which to tell his tale... so, we get one panel each of the Titans taking down both Aquaman and Batman. If ya believe it, seems the easiest way to take down Batman is with a boxing glove arrow.
The not-yet Titans then head into the Justice League's headquarters, where they happen across the "Big Bad"... he is Antithesis! And his power intensifies whenever anyone under his control (like say, the Justice League) does his bidding. With all but Green Arrow "bound", he's not nearly as strong as he might otherwise be.
While the Antithesis and the Titans chat... elsewhere, Aqualad and Kid Flash are neutralizing Green Arrow with ease. This causes the big bad to fade away. Easy peasy.
After the dust settles, the kids unbind their mentors... and decide it might be a good idea to form a "Junior Justice League". Donna suggests adding a bit of pep to their team name, and thus, the Teen Titans is born. Roy ain't keen on going "all in", but says he'll hop in and out.
We wrap up this issue... and volume of Teen Titans back in the present... where all of the members decide to go their own way. In the words of Roy Harper, they've "outgrown this Teen Titans shtick". If you only knew, pal.
-- Out with a whimper! The ol' DC Implosion rears its ugly head and takes out the Teen Titans in one bite. Not the best story to go out on... feels terribly stock, and reads more like a fulfillment of a contract than anything else. Can't really hold it against them... but, it's still pretty disappointing. I guess the main takeaway here is retconning Wonder Girl and Speedy into the Teen Titans as "founding members"... which, is fair enough. If you're a newer reader to the Titans, and this story gave you a bit of deja vu... there's a reason for that! This singular issue was adapted and stretched into a six-issue miniseries around a decade ago... in Teen Titans: Year One. Remember folks, there is no such thing as decompression nor "writing for the trade". It's allllllll in our heads. Really not much more to say. The art was... again, an afterthought. Just a "job" to be done. Can't fault 'em... but, I don't have to like it either. I think the bit about this issue that tickled me the most was the "Where are they now?" section in the Tell it to the Titans letters page (included below, click to embiggen). It fills the reader in on where they might find their favorite Titans characters now that their own book is a-goner. Overall... I'd say this is one for Titans Completionists only. If you come across it on the cheap... you could do far worse. This is a weird one, least in my neck of the woods... I've seen it in the cheap-o bins... and also behind glass with a double-digit price tag. I'd definitely suggest not paying more than a couple bucks. Doesn't look like this one's been made available digitally... which isn't much of a surprise. It has been collected as part of Teen Titans: The Bronze Age Omnibus, so if you have an extra Benjamin laying around... -- Letters Page:
