The Silver Age Teen Titans Archives Vol. 1

October 27, 2003 | Trades

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The Silver Age Teen Titans Archives Vol. 1
Bob Haney, Nick Cardy, Bruno Premiani
DC Comics
$82.95/$49.95 US (Hardcover)
*** ½ (out of five)

Nobody dies in The Silver Age Teen Titans Archives. Nobody really even gets hurt, other than the occasional bonk on the head. And this team of youthful super-heroes, made up of Robin (of Batman and), Kid Flash, Aqualad and Wonder Girl, doesn’t even save the world.
These stories, originally published from 1964-66, tried something relatively new to comics at the time: writing teens as teens.
Titans took the classic heroes and turned them into “The Man”. All of the member’s adult counterparts treat them like kids and don’t expect them to do the smart thing. Of course the Titans go out and prove them wrong.
At any point in comics history, the my-parents-just-don’t-understand theme is a perfect one. The kids and teens who would’ve read these stories when they were new 40 years ago, especially in the turbulent 60s, would easily identify with our protagonists.
Batman is a square, spouting lines like: “Robin, isn’t there anything but that noise on the TV?” when the Boy Wonder is watching hip, swingin’ teen group, The Fabs.
On adventures that see them helping small town American kids with their problems, dealing with ignorant adults and, of course, super-villains, the Titans hang with the surfer crowd, the hipsters and even join the Peace Corps.
This collected edition is a really nice break from the harshness and reality that often clouds modern comics. It is bright, clean and beautifully illustrated by artist Nick Cardy, who also provides a rather peculiar forward to the book, in which he confesses “there is not much that stands out to me about working on the title.”
This book is ideal for fans of both silver age comics and for those who just miss nice, clean, fun books.

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