Friday, January 13, 2012

Comic Book Focus: Teen Titans: Games



Writer:  Marv Wolfman
Penciller:  George Perez
Inkers:  Mike Perkins and Al Vey


How many times do you hear comments like “this (fill in the name) was decades in the making”?  In this instance, it is true.  Many years ago, Marv Wolfman and George Perez rebooted a cancelled title called the Teen Titans.  The outstanding combination of writing and art took the title all of the way to the top.  Fans debated whether Teen Titans or the X-Men were the better title.  At the time, Chris Claremont and John Byrne were on their legendary run on X-Men.  Which title was better?  For me it depended on which one I was reading when asked the question.



Like all good things, after a few years the Wolfman/Perez team split up.  Perez went on to other books while Wolfman continued the title with other artists.  Rumors soon emerged that the team was working on a graphic novel.  With all of the other work they were doing, it would probably take a year.  Maybe two.  Now, twenty some years later the much anticipated graphic novel was published.


The duo managed to capture the flavor of their classic run.  While it is not the best Titans story ever, it is very good.  Perez’s art is still top notch.  Even with the presence of two different inkers, it looks consistently excellent.  Wolfman’s story is a good one.  He brings King Faraday back into the mix with the mystery of a terrorist who is killing people and leaving riddles for Faraday.  As the mystery grows and the death count rises, the Titans attempt to stop the insanity.  The mystery is eventually solved.


The story sets up a new status quo for the Titans.  Wolfman and Perez planted the seeds for future storylines that I would have liked to see continued.  From the sounds of it, fans will have to be content with this one.  It doesn’t look like the creators will be returning to follow it up.  


As for me, this one will go into my box of Titans comics.  At some point I plan on going back and re-reading the series with the first Wolfman/Perez issue.  Even if we don’t get any more Titans stories from Marv and George, I want to thank them for all of the reading pleasure they have given to me.  If I see them at a convention, I know I will be thanking them for their efforts.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I liked the Wolfman/Perez run a lot, too, and I'm interested in reading this one. It's good to know this is as good as the rest.

pulpcitizen said...

Enjoyed the post.

I thought Games was a very worthwhile read, and have just embarked on reacquainting myself with early NTT via the recent volume 1 omnibus. I wish comics were like this these days.