Exclusive Cover Reveal: Cliff Chiang's TEEN TITANS #1 Variant

@outside_85: Fair enough, I don't completely agree, but it's not like us arguing about it will go anywhere.

@captainmarvel4ever: People need to stop putting barriers from yesteryear in their own paths, that's all. Buy a book, read it, look up stuff that's confusing if it's really that important to know.

@outside_85: People shouldn't have to try, comics are entertainment and entertainment is about convenience. I've met so many people who loved the Teen Titans cartoon series and need a place to start, and all I have to tell them is "This July just pick up Teen Titans #1 and your set" in this world comics need to be that simple to survive.

@artisticneedham: plz no. cyborg will ruin it.

Looks like Young Avengers....which is cool because Young Avengers was what Teen Titans should've been since the New 52 ended. I support this....

Also

"Ding-Dong, Lobdell's Gone....."

@captainmarvel4ever: I am sorry, but I genuinely don't believe in continuity being as big a barrier as some people claim it is. Comics are unique in the world of print because they tell ongoing stories with no set end, which on the surface makes them similar to those long-winded TV shows like Dallas or Beverly Hills, who don't have the problem with people getting scared off by the long line of things that's come before.

Now, when I started reading first time around, I started with Spiderman... right in the middle of the Clone Saga, the very first issue I bought I had to wrap my head around that Peter Parker was revealed to be a clone. Sure I was confused by it, but I stuck with it up to the point where I had gotten bored and Marvel having decided to not have national names any more (which was around the time when Peters kid was abducted right out of MJ's womb nearly). And this was in a time when the Internet was largely unavailable.

Years later I got back into comics thanks to Teen Titans and armed with stuff like Wikipedia and Comicvine, getting up to speed of things has never been easier. So again, I am sorry, but if you want to get into comics and just the prospect of the long backstory scares you away, then you really aren't trying.

@outside_85: But don't you see? They are trying to give us a feeling of the Teen Titans being young and hip! They are giving us a view on teens and their crazy cell phones and social media in the eyes of a middle age comic writer! It's just like the original Teen Titans book of the Silver Age! :D

@outside_85: Honestly I think now that comic characters are becoming more popular in the eye's of the public with big movies, and good television series, now is the time for comics to change, to become more accessible to the casual reader. I tried to get into comics years ago, but I couldn't because it of the massive continuity, and when I tell people they should think about reading comics the first think they always say is "I don't feel like reading 50 years of comics just so I can read them" so I don't think I can change your mind, but there is no denying that things are changing, and comics may have to change with them.

SO IS BEAST BOY GREEN?

@captainmarvel4ever: The comic industry suffered, because the comic industry did nearly nothing to promote it's existence outside of existing readers for the last 20 to 30 years. Comics vanished from regular newsstands and moved into dedicated stores where the uninitiated don't venture, advertising new and existing books were nearly always inside other comicbooks. The only thing that have gotten new readers in are the various cartoons and movies that basically fail to remind viewers that comics are in fact still being published and not just something a director found in an old shoebox of his dad's garage. It's the industry's own fault it's gotten to this.

That said, comics live primarily off longtime dedicated readers who continue to invest in the stories surrounding their favorite characters. And the companies actually owe it to these people to keep trying out new things to keep the interest going.

If you are going to cater for the new readers, make the stories easy to understand without referring to tons of stuff in other books. Or else you are going to reboot the book every 5 years or so just to retell the same stories over and over, leaving comics as nothing but a temporary fad for the kids.

Make Beast Boy crossdress hey it would sell you know it would!

@outside_85: Because comics can't just live on old fans and slowly picking up new ones. It's a different time, comics have more competition then ever before. Before DC's New 52 they were slowly going under, making changes for a whole new generation of readers was the smart thing to do. Although there is no denying that the Teen Titans have been the ones to suffer in the New 52, so hopefully this new series will fix that.

@dondave: I think he looks like a One Direction

@captainmarvel4ever: And you shut out the ones that have already read the story of Trigon's merry dance through New York. Those books and stories are told and printed, they are not hard to get, so why not give the rest of us something new and the new breed can catch up to us later.

@outside_85: What about the new readers? you can't just ask a new reader to go back and read all the comics of the 80's just so he/she can enjoy them now, by making her a teen again you open up a door to a new generation of readers.

as always, cliff never ceases to amaze me

I'm considering picking this up, I love Chang's art so much, when he and Azzerello leave wonder woman, I don't know when he'll be on another book. This cover is amazing.

goddamn it

After what 40-50 years he finally moved to Stormwatch only to move straight back onto another League team?

As for exposure... Well, I was actually pulled into the world of comics through the old Teen Titans cartoon and Raven played a very big part in drawing me in. By that time, obviously, the W/P era had been out and closed for over a decade, so I sat down and enjoyed that which had given the cartoon it's foundation, I didn't need to see a new version of either, especially not since Johns' version lacked the wit, humor and charm of the show that was such a big part of what made it a success.

Dick, Wally, Donna, Starfire and Victor all grew up and went in interesting directions and places (mostly), Raven has remained secluded and rarely appears anywhere outside of Teen Titans because... it's the Teen Titans and there is this weird barrier between them and adults that prevents them from interacting on page for more than single panel cameos. Which I find extremely annoying because I really want to see Raven interact more with the rest of the DCU rather than just a handful of it's teenagers which has been her thing for the last 30 years. And I would very much like to see her appear much more regularly in some of the magic-themed books.

So yeah, imagine my disappointment when I found out the New 52 was for Raven just another romp through Titans Tower rather than doing the innovative and interesting thing and stick her on Justice League Dark :( (which under Milligan's pen would have seemed a less odd choice than mentally breaking Zatanna to make her fit in)

Well, wasting the time would mean there was something from the last 30 issues that was worth saving :) Lobdell practically unmade all the long-term effects of the Culling. Cassandra appears in control of her armor now. A pair of fingers were snapped and Raven's good again. Tim going nuts was quietly forgotten. Only thing he's left behind that's in need of being returned to is the matter of Bart-Tor and Solstice, which is going to need some truly heavy editing to fix.

Honestly, I would be fine if the last 30 issues remained, but in the past and not really spoken of (since we missed the opportunity for someone striking the time wall and undoing it all Prime-style :D ).

@outside_85: lol, yea. Know. Most people hated it. I just think it'd be such a huge waste to let 30 issues go down the drain for nothing

@outside_85: Martian Manhunter moved on, he's got his own team now. Also, it's not really dumb, it opens up opportunities for new readers to enjoy the character.

Awesome.

One of the few people to say this :)

Think it was one of the dumbest and laziest choices to come out from under Johns' tenure of Teen Titans, a choice that's just about cemented Raven as the Martian Manhunter of the Teen Titans, unable to move on, unable to grow up and by her presence; preventing other characters of a similar nature to be on the team.

this cover wont ever get dated. it's eternal.

Im getting a New Avengers vibe from this

Also, I liked bunkers costume better how it was.

I'm really hoping this continues on from where it left off and it doesn't get retconned

@outside_85: I think it's good they made her a Teen again, a lot of girls (and boys) grew up loving Raven from the Teen Titans, and now they can get a chance to read a comic where she's a teen again and experience that same enjoyment in a more mature structured medium.

I'm really hoping this relaunch is good

If DC had allowed Raven to retain her proper age rather than going along with Johns' de-aginging scheme.

Good thing it's a variant.

I do love Cliff, but the concept is unattractive.

Beast Boy looks really weird, but otherwise that's a great cover.

@wtk1013: Nah, their still Teens.

@captainmarvel4ever: Then wouldn't Raven and BB be to old too.

@cloakx14:

i agree with you, Raven´s costume should have been changed, just like Bunker's costume or Beast boy's hair. By the way Bunker's outfit look cooler now.

I love how their all using smartphones!

@captain13: IDK, I think that would suck, Cyborg is way better in the Justice League, plus Cyborg, Starfire, and Dick are all too old to be Titans now (at least I think Star is). But they could take time off occasionally to mentor them.

It does remind me a lot of the most recent Young Avengers series. But then again I loved that one so I'm not gonna complain. Please DC, give me a reason to care about the Teen Titans.

Really hoping Pfeifer turns this series around.

Wow that's an awesome cover. Just as good as those Young Avengers books. Now if the inside can match the cover, at least thematically.

i really do not like how they are making beast boy green again.

Or the next roster can be Dick, Raven, Victor, Kory, and Gar.

I'm just glad Lobdell's gone.

As usual Chaing kills it, and I feel even more excited for this new TT series.

Yeah but Animal Man is kind of the center of the web of life because of the nature of his powers. It wouldn't be crazy to think that The Red is strongest where ever he goes since he kind of pulls connections from the web to himself, so it would make sense for it to be weakened in other places far away from him. It's just a theory.

@teerack: The Red is still The Red even when Animal Man is not around