The 60th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast: My Introduction to The Teen Titans!!

I can still remember the day I laid eyes on my first ever Teen Titans comic.  It was like discovering a whole new world and for me at the time, it was.  The writing was different, the artwork was intricate, stunningly beautiful and sharp.  I referred to it as crisp due to the lack of a better word.  That was my introduction to the team called The Teen Titans, well actually when I first read the comic, it was The New Teen Titans!

Welcome to the 60th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast: My Introduction to The Teen Titans.  What a discovery it was too, for anyone who has read this blog of mine, you'd know that I am a Marvel guy. One of my first comics ever was an issue of Fantastic Four. Then it was The Amazing Spider Man.  Sure I had a copy of Batman in there but it was Batman, everyone knew who Batman is.  But The Teen Titans?  I had no idea who they were, I knew who the X Men are but at the time I had no idea who the Teen Titans were but I found out. Fast.  Here's my first issue of The Teen Titans.  And it's a beauty of a comic, it truly is.

There you have it, Tales Of The Teen Titans # 3, the fourth book: Finale in the Judas Contract.  Did I know that this book 4 Finale was the finale for a story line called The Judas Contract.  I did not. I just knew that this was not a Marvel comic, this was different and a good different. Boy I had a great time reading this book, I must have read it, oh I don't know a lotta times.  You can tell by the condition this copy is in.  The tape on the spine of the book is no longer there cause it has deteriorated so much, it came off after I picked it up a while ago.  I wish I had kept this book in better condition.

Okay, on to the issue itself, the cover was penciled and inked by George Perez, so it's safe to say that this was my introduction to this talented artist by the name of George Perez.  I became a fan and still am a huge fan to this day.  The issue was written by Marv Wolfman and co plotted by George Perez.  Perez did the pencils, inked by Mike DeCarlo.  Now I gotta be very honest here, after this issue, I found more issue of the Teen Titans and I really liked Perez's artwork BUT I did not like some of the inkers who inked over his pencils like Mike DeCarlo.  In all fairness, he is a good inker, I just think that the best inker to ink Perez's work is George Perez.  Now that's my opinion but I felt that while DeCarlo did a good job, it just didn't bring out the best in Perez's pencils.  I could be wrong but after seeing other inkers and Perez himself inking his own pencils, I just felt that this issue would have been better if Perez had been inking his own work.

 But despite all that, this issue was just a tremendously great issue for me.  At the time I was having such a great time reading it, that I missed out on the fact that this is the finale of a story line.  No wonder it felt like I walked into a cinema just before the credits came up. This was the finale when the Titans learn the truth behind Terra and how she infiltrated and ultimately almost defeated the Titans, things however didn't go the way Terra had planned and the Titans would defeat the H.I.V.E's plans.

The Judas Contract was the most notable story line of the 1980's.  It involved a character called Deathstroke The Terminator who takes on  a contract to kill the Titans to fulfill a job his son had been unable to complete. This led to "The Judas Contract", in Tales of the Teen Titans #42-44 and this issue Tales Of The Teen Titans Annual #3.  One of the central characters was a psychotic girl named Terra (Tara Markhov).  She had the power to manipulate earth and all earth-related materials. She infiltrates the Titans in order to destroy them. It was during this time that Dick Grayson a.k.a Robin adopts the new identity of Nightwing.  I thought that this issue was Nightwing's first appearance, nope that would be in issue # 44 of The New Teen Titans.  The Judas Contract also witnessed Wally West giving up his Kid Flash persona and quits the Titans. It also featured the introduction of a new member in the person of Jericho, Deathstroke's other son.

 Terra would prove to be a powerful adversary than anyone would have ever imagined, not even Deathstroke had any idea just how dangerous Tara or Terra  was.

Yeah I remember reading these pages over and over. Thanks to this issue, I had to find the other books to find out how it all happened, how the Judas Contract started and boy I was glad I did. 

What happened to Tara Markhov?  Well, if you have not had the chance to read the Judas Contract, do yourself a favor and find it and read it.  It's one of those great collaborations that really don't happen all that often anymore.  Once I finished reading this issue, I kept my eye out for more Teen Titans and I decided to try and find the Judas Contract issues.  I knew which issues they were and started to look for them.  Years later I found one issue which was a starting point for this story line.  It was this issue.

This is The New Teen Titans # 39.  Written and co plotted by Marv Wolfman, George Perez co plotted and penciled this issue, inked by Romeo Thanghal (here's an inker who worked well with George Perez).  In this issue, The Titans destroyed a Brother Blood outpost, Kid Flash leaves the Teen Titans. Dick Grayson decides he can no longer be Robin and begins the process that will eventually turn him into Nightwing, while all this happens, wheels are set in motion pushing The Titans towards the events of The Judas Contract.

Just look at that artwork, the detail in that first page, which brings us to this page or rather these pages.

Now that's what I call great artwork from George Perez and Romeo Thanghal.  The more I read this issue and saw the art from Perez and Thanghal, the more I wanted to find issues of Teen Titans.  Remember when I said not even Deathstroke knew just how powerful and dangerous Terra is, well, he found out in this issue.

After Deathstroke found out just how dangerous she is, The Titans would find out in this next issue.

Book 1 of the Judas Contract, Terra gathers intelligence for Deathstroke on The Titans as they feel the power of Terra.

The only one who had an inkling about how dangerous Tara Markhov is was Raven who sensed her hatred.  Her words Do Not Antagonize Her was a real warning of things to come.

Tales Of The Teen Titans # 43, Book 2: Betrayal. Deathstroke attacks Dick Grayson in his secret identity. Dick escapes and learns that Deathstroke and Terra have captured the rest of the Teen Titans and delivered them to H.I.V.E.

Again if you have not read Judas Contract, try and find it cause Book 2 has some really great pages by George Perez and Dick Giordiano.  No spoilers here, you gotta read this story line.  Which brings us to:

Tales Of The Teen Titans # 44.  Book 3: There Shall Come A Titan.  In this issue,  Adeline Wilson tells Dick Grayson of the origin of Deathstroke. Dick assumes the name Nightwing for the first time.  We also get to meet Jericho, Joseph Wilson, Deathstroke's other son. 

I consider myself really lucky that I found Tales Of The Teen Titans Annual # 3 when I did.  i only wish that I had not read Judas Contract the way I did which was backwards.  I read Book 4 first.  Yeah normal comic book readers wouldn't do that but I always seem to have that kinda luck I guess.  The Teen Titans was one extremely enjoyable comic for me, to introduce me to the work of Marv Wolfman and George Perez.  The Teen Titans broadened my world of comics, showing me that the world of comics is so diverse and colorful.

Unfortunately I stopped reading Teen Titans completely after DC Comics' New 52 version of the team came out.  While I appreciate and understand that DC needs to change and evolve and re introduce the team to new fans, I was really disappointed with the New 52 Titans.  

The Judas Contract won the Comics Buyers Guide Fan Award for "Favorite Comic Book Story of 1984" which to me says a lot about the quality of the title back when Wolfman and Perez were at the helm. 

Thanks for dropping by for the 60th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast, it was a double sized edition of the broadcast being that it's the 60th broadcast.  I hope you liked it and I hope you'll come back for more next time.  Until then, as always Thank you and Take Care.