1 thing I like about DC COMICS: small TITANS

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SPECIAL breaking news EDITION!!!!!

KC Carlson

by KC Carlson

If push concerned shove as well as I was required to expose my preferred DC title, it wouldn’t be any type of of the new 52 titles. It would still be the one that I’ve been raving about for many years — small Titans. Art Baltazar as well as Franco have a sweetly twisted version of the DCU — specifically, the sub-section of the DCU including all things Titans (past as well as present). They are not scared to tell tales about virtually anything that the routine DCU does (notably, without the killing, bodily mutilation, icky sexual situations, as well as swinging dead cats that the routine DCU currently revels in) — albeit in a totally distinct way, capable of being comprehended by visitors from age 2 to 92 (and beyond). I smile each time I note that this book is rated E — for EVERYONE.

NOT just FOR KIDS

Tiny Titans #41

Anyone who tries to tell you that this book is for youngsters only certainly hasn’t checked out it. It has a cast that rivals the X-Men as well as the legion of Super-Heroes (combined!) for sheer numbers. A common sprinkle page typically IDs at least 35 characters — including Bat-Cow. When the very animals show up (which is frequently), that just adds to the character count, as each very Pet has his or her own distinct character as well. all of the Titans right here are elementary school-age youngsters (thus, the “Tiny” part) — except for the newest small Titans, such as miss Martian as well as youngster Devil, who are infants.

The only adults in the book are the villains, who run the the Sidekick City elementary institution all the characters attend. The primary is primary Slade (aka Deathstroke the Terminator), the trainer is Lobo, as well as (in the very best casting in comics) the lunch woman is Darkseid. many of the adults in the series are only seen from the shoulders down, just like in the the old Tom & Jerry as well as Peanuts cartoons. (Although we can’t hear them — since comic books are silent — I’m quite sure all the adults noise like soft trombones).

Tiny Titans re-boot!

There are a number of wonderful, secret, silly rhythms to many small Titans adventures — slyly acknowledging that the characters have a comic book history, with circumstances as well as connections going back decades. Yet none of that is truly essential to the series (it’s kinda like frosting for fanboys), as it’s all played for laffs anyway. Every problem features a dispute (or three), however there is practically no punching or hitting. There’s regular pointing as well as yelling, however when conflicts get as well heated, they’re typically resolved by either speaking it out, being distracted by activity (frequently dancing or the occasional soccer game), or just deflected by sarcasm or other smart kid-logic. (There’s a great deal of Peanuts influence lurking about.) Sometimes, the last-minute arrival of food saves the day — the calming power of hot dogs or cereal is amazing. There’s likewise major emphasis on the moppet-sized battle of the sexes right here (see Beast young boy vs. Terra), with great deals of teasing, eye-rolling, as well as a great deal of kid-level “who are these interesting opposite creatures that I can’t figure out?” Of course, part of the joke there is that that concern never gets answered…

The artwork as well as style by Art Baltazar is amazing. There’s such an amazing simplicity at work right here that you don’t commonly notice that each of the characters has particular determining qualities beyond the apparent costume designs. They play around with the super-costume trope of often altering costumes as well. Such is the power of the character style that visitors often don’t notice occasional pages don’t have backgrounds whatsoever (once they’ve been recognized in the early panels). The bright, solid colors likewise play a significant function in the smile element of the artwork. It’s such a distinct vision for the characters/storytelling that you just can’t envision anybody other than Art illustrating small Titans stories.

A darn great question

Another subversive thing about small Titans is that each problem appears like it’s just a lot of one-to-three-or-four-page gags told just for young kids. In fact, these short features are all part of a much longer (book-length) story! Well, not rather book-length. Each problem likewise features a excellent puzzle page (Yay! There ought to be much more reasons to compose or draw in your comic books! Mint is for breath mints as well as after-dinner chocolate), in addition to a routine letters page which features actual kids’ drawings of the characters or pictures of the youngsters dressed up as the characters! thinking about that all of DC’s lettercolumns obviously disappeared with the old DCU continuity, small Titans has one of thefew DC lettercols left.

Also, thanks to DC’s recent re-start of their entire superhero line, small Titans is now the longest-running superhero title that DC publishes. (I don’t believe that was expected to happen, however that likewise makes me smile everytime I believe about it.)

Recent small Titans problems have included stories about the romance of match (aka Bizarro Superboy) as well as Bizarro woman (Bizarro Supergirl), the legendary formation of the new supergroup “Just us Cows”, the secret of the “Crossing Patrol of Doom”, as well as Batgirls vs. Robins. The school’s soccer team likewise handled trainer Huntress’ trick six team. (You gotta see ‘em to believe ‘em!)

OH YEAH… THAT “BREAKING NEWS” THING…

Lady in Purple

The many present small Titans problem (#46) features the very first appearance of the small Titans version of the Protector (who very first appeared replacing Robin in a traditional 1983 teen Titans anti-drug giveaway comic book — as well as you requirement this info to comprehend a few of the jokes in this issue). much more brilliantly, the small Titans handle the new 52 (in a sweetly subversive way), as the mysterious “lady in purple” who appeared in all the #1 new 52 problems (and Flashpoint #5) likewise appears right here — as well as her identity is revealed!!! I won’t provide it away, however suffice it to state that the small Titans team have scooped the new 52 here. Whatever (and whoever) the “real” purple woman turns out to be — it most likely won’t be anywhere near as fantastic as what Art as well as Franko have pulled off here. Kudos, gents!

In a recent interview with Newsarama, Art as well as Franco discuss their technique (and madness):

Art Baltazar: We believed we ought to have her in our book too! She’s been all over else however small Titans.

Franco: We wished to essentially make Dan [DiDio] as well as Bob [Wayne] liars. They stated that she’s going to appear in all 52 books, however we wished to make them liars as well as make her show up in 53, in our book too. It’s 53, at least.

Tiny Titans #49

The interview likewise exposes upcoming problems of small Titans will function the “secret oranges” of question Girl, an “all Red-Hair issue”, a special “squishy” problem (hope that a person is printed on special paper stock), as well as in small Titans #50, the men provide a many distinct relaunch to Beast Boy.

KEWL small TITANS SPIN-OFFS

As numerous of you may know, there’s now a small Titans kinda sorta spin-off series of young visitor storybooks starring the very animals (who function prominently in the comic). These are published by photo window books (an imprint of Capstone Press) as well as totally authorized by DC. Each 64-page book stars a different very Pet, features a cameo appearance by their “owner” (a DC superhero), in dispute with a “bad” super-animal (occasionally a pet of a DC supervillain). Each book is written by a prominent young visitors author as well as profusely illustrated by small Titans artist Art Baltazar. Each book features numerous full-page illustrations, in addition to lots of area illos throughout.

Their have been three “waves” of six books each so far. Westfield has previously noted the very first wave as well as are now noting both the second as well as third waves. (Note: the second wave of books has previously been released in bookstores, however they are just now being provided to many comic book outlets. Wave three will be published in early 2012.) Here’s the rundown:

Wave Two:

DC Super-Pets: assault of the unnoticeable Cats

Attack of the unnoticeable Cats: Krypto as well as the S.C.P.A. (the area Canine Patrol Agents) handle the unnoticeable Phanty-Cats, who have escaped from the Phantom Zone. Written by former DC staffer Scott Sonneborn.

DC Super-Pets: Backward Bowwow

Backward Bowwow: Krypto needs the assist of Ace the Bat-Hound, streaky the Super-Cat, as well as Alfred, Batman’s butler, to return Bizarro Krypto to his Bizarro world home. Written by Sarah Hines Stephens.

DC Super-Pets: battle Bugs of outer Space

Battle Bugs of outer Space: Insectoid eco-friendly lantern Bzzd gathers the eco-friendly lantern Bug Corps to handle the Sinestro Bug Corps (one of whom is named Donald) when the poor bugs invade a baseball game on Earth, making it America’s Pest Crime! Written by Jane B. Mason.

DC Super-Pets: The Hopping Hero

The Hopping Hero: Hoppy the marvel Bunny battles Sobek the Croc at the regional circus. however Sobek has a trick slimy evil partner, which makes the super-bunny not extremely hoppy. Written by John Sazaklis.

DC Super-Pets: Salamander Smackdown

Salamander Smackdown: The super-speedy fantastic Whatzit should not only stop super-slimy cyborg salamanders — he likewise takes on a huge robot that appears like professor Zoom! Written by John Sazaklis.

DC Super-Pets: Superpowered Pony

Superpowered Pony: Mechanikat as well as Dogwood team as much as handle Comet theSuper-Horse — the only foal that can foil their evil plans! Written by Sarah Hines Stephens.

Wave Three:

DC Super-Pets: The remarkable Mini-Mutts

The remarkable Mini-Mutts: Krypto, Act, as well as the other Super-Pet pooches see the Bowwow Boot Camp, a training camp for new super-dogs. Brainicat (an evil cyborg kitty from the world Colu) shrinks the camp into a bottle, so the new recruits should step up as well as show their stuff to escape! Written by Donald Lemke.

DC Super-Pets: Barnyard Brainwash

Barnyard Brainwash: The evil mad Catter has made all the cows go mad, as well as the roosters have all gone cuckoo. only the Batcow can stop this from ending up being udder madness! Written by John Sazaklis.

DC Super-Pets: candy store Caper

Candy store Caper: After Tim Drake as well as his good friends are conquer by an evil new candy store, only the young boy Wonder’s pet, Robin Robin, has a bird’s-eye view of the sugary crime. Written by John Sazaklis.

DC Super-Pets: Sleepy Time Crime

Sleepy Time Crime: streaky won’t get up from his catnap, as well as his good friend Super-Turtle finds something shell-shocking — an evil plan by Ignatius Iquana! Written by Sarah Hines Stephens.

DC Super-Pets: Starro as well as the area Dolphins

Starro as well as the area Dolphins: When Lobo’s cherished area dolphins go missing, Dawg as well as huge Red team as much as track them, only to find a bigger issue — they’re being managed by the evil starfish Starro! Yikes! Written (and drawn) by Art Baltazar!

DC Super-Pets: Super-Pets Showdown

Super-Pets Showdown: While the legion of Super-Pets is hectic protecting the universe, the Kennel of Justice is attacked! only Proty, the shape-shifting Super-Pet, is there to save the world! Written by Sarah Hines Stephens.

TINY TITANS COLLECTIONS

As for the comic book series, there are six volumes of trade paperback collections:

Tiny Titans: welcome to the Treehouse

1. welcome to the Treehouse (collects problems 1-6)

Tiny Titans Vol. 2: Adventures in Awesomeness

2. Adventures in Awesomeness (collects problems 7-12)

Tiny Titans Vol. 3: Sidekickin’ It

3. Sidekickin’ It! (collects problems 13-18)

Tiny Titans Vol. 4: very first guideline of Pet Club

4. The very first guideline of Pet Club (collects problems 19-25)

Tiny Titans Vol. 5: field Trippin’

5. field Trippin’ (collects problems #26-32)

Tiny Titans Vol. 6: The Treehouse as well as Beyond

6. The Treehouse as well as Beyond! (collects problems #33-38) offered SOON!

I likewise hope there will be a good style (non-digest) collection of the excellent small Titans/Little Archie crossover in the pipeline soon!

ONE TO grow ON

Perhaps we won’t understand this for sure for one more decade or so, however small Titans may turn out to be the most essential comic book of this age that DC has ever produced. It keeps the comic book audience to life as well as growing. The bit visitors that this title captivates today will grow up understanding the magic of comic books that it took all of us all years to discover. Talk about keeping the dream to life for the next generation…

KC CARLSON will have much more 10 things next week. Promise.