Flamebird is the name used by six different fictional comic book characters who have appeared in books published by DC Comics , specifically from the Superman and Batman mythos .
93-486: The primary character to use the Flamebird name is Bette Kane , who was the pre- Crisis hero Bat-Girl . However, the original pre- Crisis Flamebird was Jimmy Olsen , who was later succeeded by a Kandorian scientist. In post- Crisis , a Kryptonian hero used the name Flamebird, and in a " One Year Later " storyline, so has Kara Zor-El . Flamebird characters are also often associated with characters who use
186-640: A superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics , frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC's premier superheroes in the Justice League . The original team later becomes known as the Titans when the members age out of their teenage years, while the Teen Titans name
279-561: A brief time in the 1970s, Bette Kane joins Titans West as "Bat-Girl". In post- Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity, Kane never becomes Bat-Girl and instead assumes the Flamebird moniker. Furthermore, Superman and Jimmy Olsen never became Nightwing or Flamebird. In Supergirl #6, Kara Zor-El assumes the Flamebird identity to fight crime in Kandor, alongside Power Girl as Nightwing. In Superman: New Krypton , Thara Ak-Var and Chris Kent become Flamebird and Nightwing, serving as
372-467: A brief time in the 1970s, Betty had joined the west coast version of the Teen Titans under her Bat-Girl moniker. Though "Bat-Girl" does not exist in the post-Crisis universe, her team did; therefore, a new version of the character was necessary. In Secret Origins Annual #3 (1989), the official post-Crisis history of Titans West was revealed. Instead of Betty Kane's Bat-Girl, fans were introduced to
465-463: A couple, the return of Speedy as Arsenal, and the resurrection of Raven as a villain. Following Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! , the series saw a revamp: Nightwing was removed from the series by Batman editorial and a roster of new young heroes such as Damage and Impulse were inserted into the team to try and renew interest, along with Team Titan survivors Mirage and Terra II. New Green Lantern Kyle Rayner
558-536: A couple. The initial storyline, "The Terror of Trigon", featured Raven's demon father attempting to take over Earth and Raven's own struggle to remain good despite Trigon's demonic blood inside her. Pérez left the series after issue #5. José Luis García-López followed Pérez as the title's artist and Eduardo Barreto followed García-López. Paul Levitz scripted or fully wrote issues #28-33 in order to give Wolfman time to catch up on his writing after he fell behind by taking on Crisis on Infinite Earths and History of
651-529: A full army of villains called the Wildebeest Society and revealed to be a front for the remaining members of the supervillain group the H.I.V.E. The group fell under the control of Titan Jericho, who in turn was being possessed by the corrupted souls of Azarath. During the "Titans Hunt" storyline that followed (#71–84), Cyborg was destroyed and rebuilt, along with being lobotomized; Danny Chase and Arella (Raven's mother) were killed and resurrected as
744-674: A guest appearance in Batman Family #16 (March 1978), and as one of the attendees at Donna Troy and Terry Long's wedding in Tales of the Teen Titans #50 (February 1985). In the post-Crisis DC Universe , the character known as Batwoman was erased from existence (although her alter ego, Kathy Kane, was revealed to have existed and was murdered by the League of Assassins ). Batwoman's niece, Betty Kane, disappeared as well. Unlike her aunt, Betty's removal from history would not last long. For
837-516: A masked adventurer herself. Training to Olympic -levels in gymnastics and martial arts , she created the identity of Flamebird (and a costume that resembled her pre-Crisis Bat-Girl identity) and joined Titans West in hopes of catching Robin's eye. While flattered, the driven young hero was not sure how to deal with her obsession and avoided her, much to her dismay. After briefly giving up her heroic persona, Bette found that neither winning tennis tournaments nor achieving perfect grades in school matched
930-401: A new #1 following the release of Tales of the Teen Titans #44 and Annual #3, the conclusion of the "Judas Contract" storyline. After both titles ran new stories for one year, with Tales of the Teen Titans #45–58 taking place prior to the events of The New Teen Titans (vol. 2) #1, and a filler issue reprinting a digest-only story and the original preview story from DC Comics Presents #26,
1023-411: A new team of Titans, anchored by Robin, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash and soon followed by The New Teen Titans #1 (November 1980). The series, created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez , re-introduced Beast Boy as Changeling and introduced the machine man Cyborg, the alien Starfire, and the dark empath Raven. Raven, an expert manipulator, forms the group to fight her demonic father Trigon
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#17327795535571116-636: A party thrown for the Gotham City Police Department , and attempts to chat her up, only to be blown off. According to Kate's father, Bette looks up to her and likes spending time with her. In Detective Comics #862, Bette is seen hunched over on her bed, staring at her Flamebird costume and asking Kate how to "let go of the past". Bette is kidnapped by a crazed serial killer known as the Cutter, and awakens bound and gagged in his workshop. The Cutter plans on removing Bette's ears as part of
1209-492: A plan to create a perfect woman through the use of stolen body parts. Batwoman rescues Bette from the killer and accidentally reveals her identity. At the end of the story, Bette is seen in her Flamebird outfit, telling Kate that she wants to become her new partner. Kate eventually agrees to train Bette, and gives her a capeless grey military outfit and the codename Plebe. Later still, Bette acquires pyrotechnic technology and adopts
1302-539: A psychopathic girl named Terra with the power to manipulate Earth and all Earth-related materials. She infiltrates the Titans in order to destroy them. "The Judas Contract" won the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for "Favorite Comic Book Story" of 1984 and was later reprinted as a standalone trade paperback in 1988. Robin adopts the identity of Nightwing , while Wally West gives up his Kid Flash persona and quits
1395-443: A result, the Teen Titans briefly abandoned their identities to work as ordinary civilians, but the effort was quickly abandoned. Along the way, Aqualad left the series and the character of Mr. Jupiter, who was Lilith's mentor and employer, was introduced. He financially backed the Titans for a brief period. The series was canceled with #43 (January–February 1973). The series resumed with issue #44 (November 1976). The stories included
1488-561: A similar character called Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane, also known as Flamebird . This was an in-joke, as the team of " Nightwing and Flamebird" had a history in the Silver Age continuity as a pair of supporting characters in the Superman books. Bette was now a very driven and somewhat spoiled Los Angeles debutante and tennis prodigy. After seeing Robin on the news, Bette vowed that she would gain his attention and favor by becoming
1581-535: A three issue miniseries entitled Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day , which saw Lilith's death and Donna Troy sent to another world after seemingly dying, along with the disbanding of the 1998–2002 Titans roster and the Young Justice team. The relaunch came on the heels of the debut of the Teen Titans cartoon on Cartoon Network and reflected DC Comics chief executive Dan DiDio's desire to rehabilitate
1674-524: A variety of characters have been featured heroes in its pages. Significant early additions to the initial quartet of Titans were Speedy (Roy Harper) , Aquagirl (Tula) , Bumblebee (Karen Beecher) , Hawk (Hank Hall) , Dove (Don Hall) , Harlequin (Duela Dent) , and three non-costumed heroes: boxer Mal Duncan , psychic Lilith , and caveman Gnarrk . The series would not become a genuine hit until its 1980s revival as The New Teen Titans under writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez . This run depicted
1767-840: Is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics . The character first appeared in the 1960s as "Betty Kane", the Bat-Girl . Her name was later modified to "Bette Kane", and she assumed the role of Flamebird . The original Bat-Girl first appeared in Batman #139 (April 1961) as Betty Kane , the niece of Kathy Kane, also known as Batwoman . After discovering her aunt's dual identity, Betty convinced Batwoman to train her as her sidekick. Batwoman and Bat-Girl were created to be romantic interests for Batman and Robin , respectively, as well as crime-fighting associates. Bat-Girl appeared seven times between 1961 and 1964, but then disappeared in 1964 (along with Batwoman, Ace
1860-799: Is an exceptional athlete, trained for strength and endurance, and has worked as a professional tennis player. She has also trained in several forms of martial arts, with kickboxing as her specialty. As such, while she is a formidable martial arts opponent and combatant, she is not among the top tier or elite of DC's martial artists. Like Robin, Flamebird has a utility belt containing a grappling hook with line, gas grenades, gas mask, flares, flashlight, radio/transmitter, handcuffs, bird-shaped throwing blades (Bird-A-Rangs), and an emergency medical kit. She increased her arsenal by equipping her mask with lenses capable of emitting powerful bursts of blinding light, and created bird-like bolas that can electrocute anyone tangled in them. As Plebe, Batwoman's sidekick, Bette
1953-511: Is continued by subsequent generations of young heroes. First appearing in 1964 in The Brave and the Bold #54, the team was formed by Kid Flash (Wally West) , Robin (Dick Grayson) , and Aqualad (Garth) before adopting the name Teen Titans in issue 60 with the addition of Wonder Girl (Donna Troy) to their ranks. Over the decades, DC has cancelled and relaunched Teen Titans many times, and
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#17327795535572046-592: Is invited to train, but the two eventually leave, with the members joining the Justice League of America and Justice League International, respectively. The Titans fight the future, evil adult versions of the group ( Titans Tomorrow ) and Clock King and the Terror Titans, who are part of Darkseid's underground fight club for metahumans. After the Batman R.I.P storyline, Robin leaves and Wonder Girl leads
2139-558: Is stripped of her outfit and gadgetry, wearing a nondescript grey military outfit. Her martial arts prowess however is being improved by Batwoman's tutelage. Later, as Hawkfire, her costume features gold plated elements and she carries a wrist-mounted flamethrowing device. Since enrolling at West Point , she would have received the same sort of military training conducted there, which among other things would require instruction in firearms, boxing , Modern Army Combatives , and battlefield tactics. Teen Titans The Teen Titans are
2232-469: The gestalt being Phantasm (an identity created by Chase early in the series); while Raven, Jericho, and obscure Titans ally Golden Eagle were killed. New character Pantha (based on plans for a female Wildcat character Wolfman conceived in the mid-'80s) joined the team, along with Deathstroke and Red Star. Deathstroke was also given his own solo book and the team received its first crossover tie-in since Millennium , with The New Titans #81 being part of
2325-748: The Black Lantern Corps . In the Titans: Blackest Night miniseries, an emergency team consisting of Donna Troy, Cyborg, Wonder Girl, Starfire, Beast Boy, Kid Flash and the new Hawk and Dove , is formed to defend the Tower. In the ensuing battle, the Hawk is killed after her predecessor Hank Hall tears her heart out. At the end of the Blackest Knight crossover, Hank Hall is resurrected and resumes his partnership with Dove. In
2418-622: The Justice League . Hoping this would lead to a formal invitation to rejoin the team, Bette was crushed to learn they did not need (or want) her assistance. A short time later, Gar " Beast Boy " Logan found himself alone in Los Angeles after the team neglected to ask him back. Landing himself in a bit of trouble by an impostor framing him for various crimes, Gar asked former teammate Bette for help. Having been recently chastised for her dedication (or lack thereof) to crime-fighting by Robin (now in his adult Nightwing identity), Flamebird seized
2511-548: The Millennium crossover event, with the second issue being the coda for the event. The series failed to catch on and was cancelled in 1988, along with Tales of the Teen Titans . The Team Titans were one of 100 groups sent back through time to prevent the birth of Lord Chaos , the son of Donna Troy and Terry Long. Their mission was to kill the pregnant Troy before she could give birth. Mirage , Killowat , Redwing, Terra , Nightrider , Prestor Jon and Battalion made up
2604-483: The "War of the Gods" storyline. Peterson also saw the launch of Team Titans , which featured a new genetically modified (and heroic) doppelganger of Terra and Donna Troy, who was depowered in the "Total Chaos" crossover. Peterson left the book before "Total Chaos" concluded, leaving Wolfman to deal with the fallout from Peterson's editorially mandated storylines, including the final break-up between Starfire and Nightwing as
2697-465: The Bat-Hound , Bat-Mite , Vicki Vale and (temporarily) Alfred ) when the new Batman editor, Julius Schwartz , decided she and other characters did not fit the new direction he intended to take the series. It has been suggested by scholars that the characters of Batwoman (in 1956) and Bat-Girl (in 1961) were introduced in part to refute allegations of homosexuality in Batman comics; specifically,
2790-545: The Bold #54 (July 1964) by writer Bob Haney and artist Bruno Premiani . They appeared under the name "Teen Titans" in The Brave and the Bold #60 (July 1965), joined by Wonder Woman's younger sister Wonder Girl (Donna Troy). After being featured in Showcase #59 (December 1965), the Teen Titans were spun off into their own series with Teen Titans #1 by Haney and artist Nick Cardy . The series' original premise had
2883-657: The DC Universe . Pérez temporarily returned with issue #50, when the series took the name The New Titans without the "Teen" prefix, as the characters were no longer teenagers. Issue #50 told a new origin story for Wonder Girl, her link to Wonder Woman having been severed due to retcons created in the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths . Pérez sketched through issues #55, 57 and 60, while only providing layouts for issues #58–59 and 61, with artist Tom Grummett finishing pencils and Bob McLeod as inker. Pérez remained as cover inker to issues #62–67. He would return for
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2976-647: The Earth-Two counterpart to Bat-Girl, and that after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Flamebird had replaced Bat-Girl on the sole remaining Earth. Flamebird, along with most of the Justice Society , disappeared when Earth-Two was reborn. In the Villains United special, Flamebird (and the other heroes who vanished to Earth-Two) had made it back to "New Earth" at some point after Infinite Crisis #6. She
3069-534: The New Teen Titans , a four-part limited series by Wolfman and Pérez, was published in 1982, detailing the back-stories of Cyborg, Raven, Changeling, and Starfire. Wolfman wrote a series of New Teen Titans drug awareness comic books which were published in cooperation with The President's Drug Awareness Campaign in 1983–1984. The first was pencilled by Pérez and sponsored by the Keebler Company ,
3162-535: The Outsiders were the first and only titles included in this program. The same stories were published twice, first in a more expensive edition with higher-quality printing and paper distributed exclusively to comic book specialty stores, then republished a year later in the original format, distributed to newsstands. The title was renamed Tales of the Teen Titans with issue #41, while a new concurrently published series named The New Teen Titans (vol. 2) launched with
3255-605: The Teen Titans are betrayed by their teammate Terra (Tara Markov) . The 1990s featured a Teen Titans team composed entirely of new members before the previous members returned in the series Titans , which ran from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Subsequent stories in the 2000s introduced a radically different Teen Titans team made up of newer DC Comics sidekicks such as Robin III (Tim Drake) , Wonder Girl II (Cassie Sandsmark) , and Impulse / Kid Flash II (Bart Allen) , as well as Superboy (Kon-El) , some of who had previously featured in
3348-551: The Teen Titans helping teenagers and answering calls. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that Haney "took some ribbing for the writing style that described the Teen Titans as 'the Cool Quartet' or 'the Fab Foursome'. The attempt to reach the youth culture then embracing performers like The Beatles and Bob Dylan impressed some observers." Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy makes guest appearances before officially joining
3441-541: The Teen Titans were front and center during the build-up and events of the Infinite Crisis crossover. During the lead-in of the crossover, Donna Troy came back in a four-part crossover miniseries with The Outsiders called "The Return of Donna Troy" while Superboy and Cassie Sandsmark became a couple. During Infinite Crisis, Superboy was killed by his evil doppelganger Superboy Prime, Cyborg was severely damaged by cosmic forces unleashed by Alexander Luthor Jr., Starfire
3534-514: The Teen Titans while the newest three members (replacing Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven) that join the team are Red Arrow (Emiko Queen) , the half-sister of Green Arrow and daughter of the assassin Shado , Crush, the daughter of intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo , Roundhouse, a metahuman with the ability of transforming into a fireball, and Djinn, a powerful 4,000 years old genie. The Teen Titans have been adapted to other media numerous times, such as in
3627-501: The Terrible and the team remains together. Wolfman and Pérez's working relationship quickly evolved to the point where they were plotting the series jointly. Wolfman recalled that "once George moved to the same town I lived in, only five blocks or so away, we usually got together for lunch and would work out a story over the next few hours. In many cases I would then go home and write up a plot based on it, or sometimes George would take
3720-497: The Titans as one of DC's top franchises. Launched at the same time was a companion series, a revived version of The Outsiders which featured Nightwing and Arsenal, along with several other Titans members (Captain Marvel Jr. and Starfire). The series featured several of the main teenage heroes from the Young Justice roster (Robin, Superboy, Wonder Girl, Impulse) and Starfire, Cyborg and Changeling (now rebranded Beast Boy to reflect
3813-457: The Titans purged Raven of evil once again in order to prevent Raven and the revived Citadel Empire from reconquering the Vega star system. The New Teen Titans was widely thought of as DC's answer to the increasingly popular Uncanny X-Men from Marvel Comics , as both series featured all-new members and depicted young heroes from disparate backgrounds whose internal conflicts were as integral to
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3906-505: The Titans. It also featured the introduction of a new member in Jericho , Deathstroke's other son. Other notable New Teen Titans stories included "A Day in the Lives...", presenting a day in the team members' personal lives; "Who is Donna Troy?", depicting Robin investigating Wonder Girl's origins; and "We Are Gathered Here Today...", telling the story of Wonder Girl's wedding. Tales of
3999-463: The animated television series Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go! , and the live-action television series Titans . Within DC Comics, the Teen Titans have been an influential group of characters taking prominent roles in all of the publisher's major company-wide crossover stories. Many villains who face the Titans have since taken on a larger role within the publisher's fictional universe, such as
4092-541: The assassin Deathstroke , the supervillain teams Fearsome Five and Brotherhood of Evil (archenemies of the Doom Patrol), the demon Trigon , the alien villian Blackfire (DC Comics) , the cultist zealot Brother Blood and the evil organization H.I.V.E. . Robin (Dick Grayson), Kid Flash (Wally West) and Aqualad (Garth) team up to defeat a weather-controlling villain known as Mister Twister in The Brave and
4185-521: The avatars of their namesake entities. Following the events of Infinite Crisis , it is revealed that Bette Kane is the cousin of the current Batwoman , Kate Kane. After being injured in battle, she acquires pyrotechnic technology and becomes Hawkfire . The Bette Kane incarnation of Flamebird appears in Teen Titans Go! as a potential recruit for the eponymous group . Bette Kane Mary Elizabeth Kane , better known as Bette Kane ,
4278-421: The cartoon). Raven later returned to the team, reborn in a new teenage body while Jericho was brought back, having escaped death by possessing and laying dormant inside his father Deathstroke's mind. The series renewed interest in the Titans, but drew sharp complaints due to shifts in the personalities of the various Young Justice characters. Most notably, the decision to have Impulse rebrand himself Kid Flash and
4371-534: The character's abusive attitudes towards her teammates post- Infinite Crisis ), Kid Devil is killed in battle, while Kid Eternity is revealed to have been beaten to death by the Calculator after being kidnapped by him. J. T. Krul became the writer with issue #88 and penciler Nicola Scott became the book's artist. The issue's teaser shows a line-up of Superboy, Wonder Girl, Raven, Beast Boy, Kid Flash and Ravager. The Titans undergo this roster change in issue #87,
4464-582: The codename Hawkfire . As Hawkfire, she tries to rescue cousin Beth Kane from the clutches of the Department of Extranormal Operations , but is herself captured. A Bat-Girl looking similar to Betty Kane is revealed to have existed in the past in Batman #682, and later reappears in Batman, Inc. #4 (April 2011). As in pre-Crisis continuity, she is the younger protege of the first Batwoman, Kathy Kane (who reappears in post- Infinite Crisis continuity as
4557-570: The deaths of Terra II and Young Frankenstein. The deaths led to Beast Boy resigning from the team to join the Doom Patrol along with Herald and Bumblebee, while Raven took a leave of absence in order to purge Jericho of the dark forces that were corrupting him. Robin and Wonder Girl eventually rejoined the Titans (now located in San Francisco, California) and helped foil Bombshell's plan to frame Miss Martian as Deathstroke's latest mole in
4650-483: The decision to Jettison his happy-go-lucky person in favor of a more serious personality. The series, under Geoff Johns, also dramatically retconned Superboy's origin with the revelation that he was a hybrid clone based on the combined DNA of Superman and Lex Luthor (a possibility Johns had first suggested in a fan letter published in the Superboy comic book several years before he was employed by DC). Under Geoff Johns,
4743-462: The end, the heroes realized that, now that they were in their early 20s, they had outgrown the name the "Teen" Titans. In the last panel, without speaking, they all go their separate ways. The title appeared again in 1999 for Giant Teen Titans Annual #1 (1967) ( ISBN 1-56389-486-6 ), a one-shot special that reprinted selected Silver Age stories in the 1960s-style 80-Page Giant format. DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980) introduced
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#17327795535574836-543: The enduring claim that Batman and Robin were homosexuals. Later in 1977 Batwoman and Bat-Girl were revived and were regarded to have been inactive for several years. Bat-Girl became a member of the Teen Titans West in Teen Titans #50 (October 1977). However, the original Teen Titans series was cancelled with issue #53 (February 1978) and the Teen Titans, including Teen Titans West, were disbanded. After this, Bat-Girl only appeared two more times during this era;
4929-426: The final issue before Krul's run. Following a mission to an alternate dimension to rescue Raven, the team splits. Bombshell and Aquagirl are missing in action , Miss Martian is in a coma and she and a powerless Static leave with Cyborg to go to Cadmus Labs in order to find a way to restore his powers. Damian Wayne , the current Robin, is announced as a new team member, officially joining in #89. A series for Static
5022-589: The founding roster, including Solstice (Kiran Singh) , Bunker (Miguel Jose Barragan) , and Skitter (Celine Patterson), although this volume proved commercially and critically disappointing for DC. In 2016, DC used the Titans Hunt and DC Rebirth storylines to re-establish the group's original founding members and history, reuniting these classic heroes as the Titans, while introducing a new generation of Teen Titans led by Robin V (Damian Wayne) with Aqualad II (Jackson Hyde) and Kid Flash III (Wallace West) as
5115-445: The franchise since Perez left after The New Teen Titans (vol. 2) #5. The project was put on hold when it was decided instead to have Perez return to the main book as artist and for their first project back together to be "Who Is Wonder Girl?" instead. Over the course of 1989 and 1990, George Perez and Marv Wolfman continued to work on Games with over half the project being completed. But the ascension of Jonathan Peterson as editor of
5208-446: The globe with Batman and Nightwing. Changeling and Raven attempted to keep the Titans going, resulting in a massive open call membership drive that saw a large number of heroes come and join the roster, which was anchored by Beast Boy and Raven. New members include Miss Martian, Kid Devil, Zachary Zatara, Ravager, Bombshell (who like Terra I, was a traitor working for Deathstroke), Young Frankenstein, and Osiris. During this period, Osiris
5301-415: The ill-fated team Titans L.A.). None of the recruits took the event seriously except for insane and uninvited former Titan Duela Dent , who crashed the party and was subdued by Bette. Around the same time, she and Beast Boy both served on an ad hoc Young Justice team, which she hoped would raise their public profiles; however, the team only lasted for one mission. Content to remain a hero on her own, Bette
5394-433: The interim, Wolfman had rewritten the plot (most notably, changing the original ending where Nightwing personally executes the main villain of the series after his "games" result in the death of longtime Titan ally Sarah Simms and the maiming of Danny Chase) though retained several key details (the death of Simms and Chase losing his hands) and several additional twists (the introduction of a previously unknown sibling of Raven,
5487-430: The introductions of African American superheroine Bumblebee and former supervillainess-turned-superheroine Harlequin in issue #48 and the introduction of the "Teen Titans West" team in issues #50–52 consisting of a number of other teen heroes, including Bat-Girl (Betty Kane) and Golden Eagle . The revival was short-lived and the series was cancelled as of issue #53 (February 1978), which featured an origin story. At
5580-506: The leader. Following this, Damian quits the team. The book concluded with a three-part storyline spanning issues #98–100, which saw Superboy-Prime return to destroy the team. A large group of former Titans arrived and the series ultimately ended with Prime trapped in the Source Wall , seemingly for all eternity. The remainder of the issue consisted of pieces of artwork showcasing the various Teen Titans who appeared in that incarnation of
5673-506: The main series, Ravager and Jericho fight their father Deathstroke and the dead members of the Wilson family, resurrected as Black Lanterns. During this time, several back-up stories begin to run in the series: one called "The Coven", starring Black Alice , Zachary Zatara and Traci 13 and later, one starring Ravager. Later storylines involve the corruption of Wonder Girl at the hands of various factors (designed to address complaints about
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#17327795535575766-451: The name Nightwing . In pre-Crisis continuity, Flamebird is an alias used by Jimmy Olsen in adventures shared with Superman in the shrunken Kryptonian city of Kandor . In Superman #166 (January 1964), the imaginary sons of Superman go to Kandor, and take on the Flamebird and Nightwing personas. Van-Zee is a Kandorian scientist who becomes Nightwing to rescue a captured Superman. His assistant Ak-Var later becomes Flamebird. For
5859-451: The opportunity to better herself and her reputation, becoming more level-headed and boosting her crime-fighting arsenal. However, the design of her outfit as an adult has similarities to that of Dick Grayson's Nightwing outfit, with a red tunic and gold V running across the chest. After Bette helped Gar clear his name, his cousin Matt attempted one last recruitment drive for Titans West (dubbing
5952-725: The original Batwoman, but with a revamped origin). Despite her initial Post-Crisis origin retcon, Bette Kane has regained her prior history using the Bat-Girl identity in her younger years prior to becoming Flamebird. In the DC Rebirth relaunch, Bette has enrolled at the United States Military Academy , seeming to be a yearling, or sophomore, cadet. She keeps in contact with Kate Kane and Julia Pennyworth , and even briefly visits Kate in Gotham. Flamebird
6045-406: The original Titans now as young adults and introduced new characters Cyborg (Victor Stone) , Starfire (Koriand'r) , and Raven (Rachel Roth) , as well as the former Doom Patrol member Beast Boy (Garfield Logan) under his new alias of Changeling, who would all become enduring fan favorites. A high point for the series both critically and commercially was its " The Judas Contract " storyline, where
6138-526: The pages of Titans Secret Files and Origins #2. Between Teen Titans and Titans , a new generation of young heroes formed a team in Young Justice , consisting of Superboy, Robin, Impulse, Wonder Girl , Secret and Arrowette . The two series concluded with the three-issue miniseries Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day , which led to two new series: Teen Titans and Outsiders . Writer Geoff Johns ' Teen Titans series began in 2003, after
6231-404: The rest of the team. Believing Wolfman had grown stagnant, DC assigned Wolfman a new editor, Jonathan Peterson, and gave Peterson authority to override Wolfman over the direction of the book. With Peterson controlling the book's direction, the series was rapidly overhauled. The Wildebeest , a villain who used proxies and surrogates to hide his true identity while vexing the Titans, was expanded to
6324-461: The return of Cyborg. This led into Titans , written by Devin K. Grayson , starting with Titans Secret Files and Origins #1 (March 1999). This team consisted of Nightwing, Troia, Arsenal, Tempest, the Flash, Starfire, Cyborg, Changeling, Damage and Argent. One new member, Jesse Quick , joined. This team lasted until issue #50 (2002). The West Coast branch of the team, Titans L.A., appeared once, in
6417-468: The revelation that the main villain was a schizophrenic King Faraday, and the destruction of Titan Tower, that make it impossible to fit into canon, reducing it to an alternate universe side story in Teen Titans lore. Due to fan backlash over the hardcover/softcover move to the direct market with the main title, a new newsstand Titans book was launched in August 1986 called Teen Titans Spotlight . The series
6510-560: The rooftop thrills of the hero biz. She attempted several times to reunite the Titans West team, most notably after a journey into the afterlife with Hawk and Dove , but was unsuccessful. Dove noted that Bette was essentially a very lonely person, basically desperate for company and contact with others. Bette again gave up her obsession with the Titans until malfunctioning former Titan Victor Stone collected her, along with all former Titans everywhere, in an attempt to protect his soul from
6603-481: The second was illustrated by Ross Andru and underwritten by the American Soft Drink Industry , and the third was drawn by Adrian Gonzales and financed by IBM . The New Teen Titans relaunched with a new #1 issue in August 1984 as part of a new initiative at DC informally referred to as "hardcover/softcover". The New Teen Titans along with Legion of Super-Heroes and Batman and
6696-410: The series as was their combat against villains. The two teams met in the 1982 crossover one-shot entitled "Apokolips... Now", which teamed Darkseid , Deathstroke and Dark Phoenix against both teams. The story was written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Walt Simonson and Terry Austin . In 1989, Marv Wolfman and George Perez began planning a prestige format special, their first work together on
6789-514: The series began reprinting the first 31 issues of the "hardcover" series (sans several back-up stories focusing on Tamaran that ran in New Teen Titans #14–18), the first Annual , and the lead story from the second Annual , before being cancelled with issue #91. Issue #1 of The New Teen Titans (vol. 2) created controversy when Grayson and Starfire were depicted in bed together, although it had been established for some time that they were
6882-480: The series finale #130 (Feb. 1996) providing cover art. Issues #60 and #61 were part of a five-part crossover with Batman, "A Lonely Place of Dying" and along with issue #65, featured the debut of Tim Drake as the third Robin. The brief return of Perez and the addition of Tom Grummett failed to move sales for the book, which were starting to decline. Furthermore, the addition of Danny Chase (a teenage psychic) drew negative fan response due to his abusive attitude towards
6975-530: The series, and Perez moving off of New Titans in order to work on The Infinity Gauntlet for Marvel led to the book being shelved. In the early '00s, Marv Wolfman and George Perez approached DC about completing the book as a stand-alone graphic novel. The book was completed in 2010 and published in 2011. The plot had the New Titans be forced by King Faraday to go after a mysterious mastermind who forces his victims to play deadly "games" for his amusement. In
7068-454: The similar title Young Justice . Later prominent additions from this era included Miss Martian (M'gann M'orzz) , Ravager (Rose Wilson) , Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) , Kid Devil , and Blue Beetle III (Jaime Reyes) . Concurrently, DC also published Titans , which featured some of the original and 1980s members now as adults, led by Dick Grayson in his adult persona of Nightwing . DC's The New 52 reboot in 2011 later brought new characters to
7161-524: The team and allowed Raven to cleanse Jericho of the Azarathian corruption that had turned him evil. Geoff John's final arc on the series would introduce a new villainous "Titans East" team, led by Deathstroke and Batgirl Cassandra Cain. Soon after, events related to the Countdown story arc impacted the Titans. Duela Dent and Bart Allen are killed; Cyborg leaves, and Supergirl joins and Blue Beetle
7254-488: The team in Teen Titans #19. Aqualad takes a leave of absence from the group in the same issue, but makes several later guest appearances, sometimes with girlfriend Aquagirl . Neal Adams was called upon to rewrite and redraw a Teen Titans story which had been written by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman . The story, titled "Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho!", would have introduced DC's first African American superhero, but
7347-405: The team's latest members alongside team mainstays Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy; while the Titans team from DC Rebirth were composed of Nightwing (Dick Grayson), The Flash III (Wally West) , Wonder Girl (Donna Troy), Tempest (Garth) , Arsenal (Roy Harper), Omen (Lilith Clay) and Bumblebee (Karen Beecher). After the events of Justice League: No Justice, Damian Wayne and Wallace West would remain in
7440-568: The team. Teen Titans was written and penciled by Dan Jurgens . It began in 1996 with a new #1 (October 1996), with Pérez as inker for the first 15 issues. Atom , who had become a teenager following the events of Zero Hour , leads the brand-new team (of Prysm , Joto , Risk and Argent ). Arsenal became a mentor about halfway through and Captain Marvel Junior/ CM3 joins the team. The series ended in September 1998. A contest
7533-576: The team. Red Devil loses his powers after Brother Blood absorbs them. Miss Martian returns with several teen heroes liberated from the Dark Side Club. A new team is formed: Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle and the now-powerless Red Devil are joined by Kid Eternity and Static, with the new Aquagirl, Miss Martian and a reformed Bombshell signing up. During the events of the Blackest Night crossover, some dead Titans are resurrected as members of
7626-503: The time; existing heroes Hawk and Dove , a duo of teenaged superpowered brothers, appear in issue #21; and time-displaced caveman Gnarrk aids the team in two issues. The series explored events such as inner-city racial tension and protests against the Vietnam War . One storyline beginning in issue #25 (February 1970) saw the Titans deal with the accidental death of a peace activist, leading them to reconsider their methods. As
7719-637: The title, contributed by various DC artists. A second ongoing Teen Titans series, titled Titans , launched in April 2008 with a cover date of June 2008, written by Judd Winick . The first issue was drawn by Ian Churchill and Norm Rapmund and the second was by Joe Benitez and Victor Llamas. The opening storyline follows the events of the Teen Titans East Special one-shot released in November 2007, revealing that Cyborg's team survived
7812-539: The verbal plotting we did and take it from there." The team's adversaries included Deathstroke the Terminator , a mercenary who takes a contract to kill the Titans to fulfill a job his son had been unable to complete. This led to perhaps the most notable Titans storyline of the era. 1984's " The Judas Contract ", in Tales of the Teen Titans #42–44 and Tales of the Teen Titans Annual #3, featured
7905-418: Was also brought onto the title and given a prominent romance with Donna Troy, whose marriage with Terry Long had collapsed in the pages of Team Titans before the book's cancellation. Sales saw a collapse and despite several crossovers with other books ( Damage , Green Lantern , Darkstars , and Deathstroke ), the series was cancelled with issue #130. The series finale saw the return of Blackfire as an ally, as
7998-560: Was among the many heroes gathered to fight off the invasion of Metropolis by the Society . Teen Titans vol. 3 #38 reveals that Flamebird briefly served on the Titans during the year-long gap . Following the events of Infinite Crisis , it is revealed that Bette is the cousin of current Batwoman, Kate Kane. In Detective Comics #856, Bette moves to Gotham City to enroll in Gotham University. She encounters her cousin at
8091-507: Was an anthology series and featured individual members of the Titans in solo stories, often spanning multiple issues. The series also focused on former members of the group (such as Hawk and Aqualad) and the Brotherhood of Evil, detailing the formation of the second version of the group. As the move to the direct market effectively limited The New Teen Titans ability to be part of company-wide crossovers, two issues of Spotlight tied into
8184-519: Was announced. In January 2011, new Titan Solstice debuted in the January 2011 Wonder Girl one-shot. She entered the main Teen Titans title following the crossover with the Red Robin series. During the crossover, Tim asks the Titans for help in tracking down the Calculator after he tries to kill his friend, Tam Fox . Tim rejoins the team as Red Robin (rather than Robin) but Cassie would remain
8277-407: Was driven from the team due to a smear campaign launched by Amanda Waller after she manipulated him into killing a super-villain. The smear campaign against Osiris, along with the war between Black Adam and Intergang, led to Black Adam declaring war on the world. In the ensuing series of battles against the super-hero community, the Titans fought and lost a bloody battle with the villain, culminating in
8370-468: Was held in the letters pages to determine who would join the team. Robin (Tim Drake), won the vote, but editors on the Batman titles banned his appearance, forcing Jurgens to use Captain Marvel Jr. instead. His inclusion failed to boost sales and the series was then cancelled. The team returned in a three-issue miniseries, JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative , featuring nearly every Titan and showcasing
8463-477: Was lost in space with several other heroes, while Kid Flash became lost in the Speed Force, re-emerging in the Flash uniform and having aged to adulthood after a failed attempt to stop Superboy Prime. Following the events of Infinite Crisis , the Teen Titans fell into a state of chaos. Wonder Girl quit the group to join a cult she believed could resurrect Superboy, while Robin took a leave of absence to travel
8556-475: Was rejected by publisher Carmine Infantino . The revised story appeared in Teen Titans #20 (March–April 1969). Wolfman and Gil Kane created an origin for Wonder Girl in Teen Titans #22 (July–Aug. 1969) and introduced her new costume. Psychic Lilith Clay and Mal Duncan also join the group. Beast Boy of the Doom Patrol makes a guest appearance seeking membership, but was rejected as too young at
8649-599: Was unheard from until she was captured by a Brainiac -worshipping cult leader in Oregon and eventually rescued by Oracle's covert team of female operatives in Birds of Prey . She fought Doctor Light alongside the majority of heroes who had once been members of the Teen Titans. Flamebird appeared in Infinite Crisis #4 to fight Superboy-Prime . In this storyline, it was indicated that Flamebird had originally been
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