#ostrander

Teen Titans Spotlight On…

When one looks back on the 1980s comic book industry as a whole, the more observant reviewer will probably draw parallels between DC’s Teen TitansandMarvel’s X-Men - mainly for the fact that they were both ‘team’ books and hot properties for their respective companies*. Knowing a good thing when they saw it, Marvel created several spin-off 'X-books’ (i.e. X-Factor,Excalibur,New Mutants) throughout the decade. DC also had the same idea and the 80s saw various Teen Titans spin-offs such as 1982’s Tales of the New Teen Titans, 1984’s Baxter edition (set 1 year in the future from the current Tales of the Teen Titans series), and 1986’s Teen Titans Spotlight On…series.   

InMarv Wolfman’s own words, the Teen Titan Spotlight On… series was inevitable as Wolfman had different characters he wanted to explore within the Teen Titans universe and he really couldn’t deviate from the story lines of the regular series to focus attention on any individual characters (at the risk of alienating the rest of the team). In my opinion, Wolfman did something brilliant with this series - as opposed to writing all of the issues himself, he had some of DC’s top talent write the issues (while he still retained creative control) - this allowed writers who were not normally affiliated with the Titans to bring a different perspective to the series. You can probably go ahead and call this an 'anthology’ series, due to the creative teams changing with almost every issue. For anyone who may be concerned - yes, George Perez still contributed covers to the series.

I’m kind of feeling this series was overlooked by the fans due to it being a spin-off and all. This is a shame, since if you are a Teen Titans fan/DC continuity hound like myself, this series is absolute gold. As mentioned, there’s lots of attention given to secondary characters who don’t normally get much characterization, so it’s always nice to see something like that. Due to space constraints, I’m basically going to give an overview of the highlights of this twenty-one issue series.

The series debuted with a two-issue Starfire story in which she tries to battle Apartheid (with a little help from a character who looks strikingly familiar to Nelson Mandela) written by Wolfman himself.  The story dealt with real-word issues (concerns of social and political relevance injected into the story line) and Wolfman inserted a few subversive political statements, but the main goal was to raise political awareness about the war in South Africa. The first issue was not submitted to the Comics Code Authority for approval (contained crucial story elements that were in violation of code) and therefore does not have a CCA seal on the cover. These issues received a lot of press, as Apartheid and South Africa were all over the media in 1986. This storyline received mixed reviews from readers, but great attention from the media. Starting a new comic book series with a controversial story line was a very intelligent marketing move, Mr. Wolfman.Wolfman later went on to say that he did not wish for Teen Titans Spotlight On… to become “the relevant comic of our time”, and the series pretty much stayed away from topical issues after that.

A few lesser-known Titans get some attention in this series, namely Jericho (Deathstroke’s son), Aqualad, Wonder Girl, Thunder & Lightning, and Frances Kane/Magenta. Frances Kane/Magenta (who many fans compared to Marvel’sPolaris) became a recurring character in Flash v2 several years later. True story: Frances Kane’s superhero name, 'Magenta’, was pretty much invented on the fly by Barbara Randall,Tony IsabellaandWolfman before the issue went to print. Hawk (of Hawk & Dove) got a two-issue solo story written by Mike Baron that takes place sometime between the death of Don Hall (old Dove) and his introduction to Dawn Granger (new Dove). This series was not immune to the Millennium company event and had two cross-over issues: one teaming Aqualad and Aquaman together (written by Dan Miskinand Gary Cohn), and another spotlighting Harbinger written by Barabara Randall (as a direct tie-in to the New GuardiansseriesSteve Englehart was writing). An Omega Men spotlight issue was included (written by Todd Klein and illustrated by Erik Larsen) which took place after the Omega Men series had been cancelled. What’s the Titans connection? Starfire’s brother is a member of the Omega Men and the Omega Men were created by Wolfman. Fans loved the issue (gave them a sense of closure) and hoped it was a prelude to a new Omega Men series (or at least more stories). 'Nay’ to both.

Not sure if many readers remember, but the Doom Patrol were connected to the Teen Titans mythos (the connection being Changeling, who was the ex-patroller named 'Beast Boy’) and this became extremely prevalent in this anthology series. Aqualand battles ex-patroller Mento in a story by John Ostrander (and illustrated by Eric Larsen), the Brotherhood of Evil (who were originally Doom Patrol villains) get an issue to themselves and a Changelling/Robotman team-up (written by Paul Kupperberg and drawn by Dan Jurgens) served as a prelude to Kupperberg’s 1987 Doom Patrol series. Mr 104 (AKA Mr 103) appears for the first time in two decades in the Changeling/Robotman issue, only to be killed off for good later that year. (don’t call it a comeback)

There are three issues that really stand out above all the rest of the great stuff in this series, and I’ll tell you why:

Teen Titans Spotlight On… #13 (1987) was a Cybrog story written by J. Michael Straczynski that pitted him against Two-Face. During the 80s, the Teen Titans typically fought their own gallery of rogues (i.e. Fearsome Five, Deathstroke, H.I.V.E., Trigon’s forces, Blackfire and company, etc) so it was a pretty cool concept to have Cyborg battle a Bat villain. It gave a nice sense of continuity reminding readers the Batman and the Teen Titans all inhabited the same universe, and it was a great story to boot.

Teen Titans Spotlight On… #14 (1987) had Nightwing return to Gotham City to save Batman. This story was written by Micheal Reaves and featured one of Nightwing’s first encounters with Batman post-Crisis in DC. Yes, Nightwing did first appear in Tales of the New Teen Titans #44 (1984), but the 1987 Batman reboot kind of messed up continuity for Batman and affiliated characters, so while I’m not sure if this counts as Nightwing’s first 'official’ encounter with Batman, it seems to be a significant enough story for Nightwing fans to want to collect it. I’m not really 100% how many times Nightwing has met Batman for the first time in the DCU. If any Nightwing historians want to 'school’ me on this matter, I’d be happy to quote you. :)

The last issue of the series, Teen Titans Spotlight On… #21 (1988) was a throwback to the 1960s Teen Titans team (Robin, Aqualad, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash) where they kind of play as a 'mod squad’ to combat organized crime. Written by Mark EvanierandSharman Divono, it wasn’t a retcon, but it was inconsequential enough to be just slid in there and not really have any impact on Teen Titans history. Dan Spiegle illustrated this issue, and if you don’t know who Spiegle is, he’s the artist that illustrated a large variety of Gold Key Comics titles from the 1960s, giving this 1960s Teen Titans story an even more 'authentic’ feel.

Teen Titans Spotlight On… ended suddenly with issue #21. I say 'suddenly’ because there was no real fore-warning that the series was in any sort of trouble in regards to sales. Actually, it was teased in an earlier letter column that Raven would be having her own solo story in issue #22. The reasons given for the sudden cancellation was that Wolfman was too busy with other projects to keep overseeing this series, and the reason he was so busy was because other great Teen Titans projects were in the works (a new Titans team book, a Teen Titans graphic novel called ’Titans of Myth’ by WolfmanandPerez, and a Nightwing solo series). I seem to recall reading something about Perez stating that he no longer wanted to draw monthly issues of anything anymore, and that he would rather only draw Graphic Novels. None of these projects saw completion within the alloted time schedule, btw.

Other than the few negative comments about the Starfire/Apartheid story, fan reaction to this series was incredibly positive. Fans loved the concept and the line-up of writers and artists. There were many requests for Nightwing stories as well as Bat-girl (old Titans West character) stories. Oddly enough, this series generated a lot of hype for a Titans West series that never materialized. I’m thinking it had something to do with Hawk’s two-parter, which gave false hopes to fans that a Titans West revival was in the works.**

Doug Moench wrote a Wonder Girl story that fans felt was a real missed opportunity to explain the whole post-Crisis Wonder Girl/Donna Troy origin which Wolfman had been promising readers for the past 2 years. Could you really blame Moench for not wanting to jump on that grenade? I’m assuming Wonder Girl/Donna Troy’s elusive post-Crisis Wonder Woman connection was going to be revealed in the ’Titans of Myth’ graphic novel WolfmanandPerez were working on.


*In 1982, the New Teen Titans and the Uncanny X-Men even had an inter-company cross-over.

**It was, but never saw the light of day. Read the full story at http://www.titanstower.com/titans-west-that-wasnt/

Manhunter v1

The Manhunters (alien robots that served as antagonists to the Green Lantern Corps) originally appeared in 1977 and were created by Steve EnglehartandDick Dillin.

The ‘Manhunter’ concept actually pre-dates the Manhunters’ first appearance by three decades with Adventure Comics #72 (1942): a character named 'Manhunter’, created by Joe SimonandJack Kirby, who appears similar in appearance to the Manhunters EnglehartandDillinintroduced.SimonandKirby’s Manhunter (aka: 'Paul Kirk’) fell into obscurity around 1944 when various factors, due to a direct result of World War 2, caused DC comics to shorten the length of it’s publications.

The 'Paul Kirk’ Manhunter was revived* by Archie GoodwinandWalter Simonson in a 1973 back-up feature that ran in Detective Comics from issue #437 to #443 and was promptly killed off afterwards.

A new Manhunter (aka: 'Mark Shaw’) was introduced in DC’s 1st Issue Special #5 (1975) by Jack Kirby - but fan reaction did not merit 'Mark Shaw’ recieving his own ongoing series. Mark Shaw re-appeared in 1977’s Justice League of America #140 - #141 (in which EnglehartandDillin introduced the Manhunters) and tied Mark Shaw and Paul Kirk to the whole 'Manhunters’ mythos that Englehart created - a nice example of Englehart incorporating some previous continuity to tie everything together. Mark Shaw appeared in a few issues of Justice League of America in various incarnations during 1977 and pretty much remained in comic book limbo until John Ostrander gave Shaw his big break in the 1987 Suicide Squadseries.

Ostrander was drawn to Mark Shaw and the character’s quest to 'uncover his identity’ and decided to include him in a Suicide Squad story arc dealing with the inter-company Millennium cross-over (Suicide Squad v1 #8 to #10). The issues were well-received by fans and generated renewed interest in the character. It should be noted that the Millennium cross-over event spotlighted the Manhunters across every DC title being published at the time. Also, by this point, Goodwin/Simonson’sManhunter back-up feature from 1973 had achieved cult-like status among fans (and was reprinted as a Baxter edition in 1984). Thus: a combination of the Millennium event, the demand for the Goodwin/Simonson Manhunter reprint and his appearance in Suicide Squad created the 'perfect storm’ of interest to allow this character to receive his own ongoing series. It was originally planned as a 4 issue mini-series, but became an ongoing series thanks to fan response.

While the series *could* be considered an unofficial Millennium spin-off, I’m sure it’s creation had more to do with Ostrander’s treatment of the character in the pages of Suicide Squad rather then the cross-over event itself. This is relevant, since it’s Ostrander and (his wife) Kim Yale’s scripting and writing of the Manhunterv1 series that makes it so enjoyable to read. At the time, Ostrander was writing 3 other DC titles (Suicide Squad,Deadshot, and Firestorm) and it wasn’t unusual to have supporting characters from one series featured in another. For example, the first issue of Manhunter has Mark Shaw apprehending Captain Cold (a Flash rogue) who ends up joining the Suicide Squad in the following month’s Suicide Squad (issue #16). It’s the tight cohesion of these four titles that made these series’ so enjoyable to read - almost like a mini-Ostrander universe (Ostraverse?) that only you are privy to. Another example: shortly after Count Vertigo appears in Manhunter v1 #7 does he become a member of the Suicide Squad in Suicide Squad#24.

TheManhuner series was brilliantly written as a detective/espionage thriller. The premise of the series is: Mark Shaw, in an effort to make money and clear the Manhunter name, decides to use his abilities and powers (a bionic face mask and a high-tech baton) to hunt down and capture escaped super-villains at large. Essentially, Mark Shaw is a soldier of fortune who only targets meta-criminals. This was a great excuse to feature a lot of super-villains from other titles - which Ostrander/Yale take full advantage of - we have appearances from the Penguin, Captain Cold, Catman, Dr Alchemy, Count Vertigo, Kobra, and a thug in a LexCorp battlesuit throughout the series. Mark Shaw *did* have his own personal antagonist named Dumas, but he was killed off at the end of the first four-issue story arc (much to the dismay of the fans). Ostrander/Yale ensured that there were lots of references to the current happenings of the DCU in the series, and the Invasion! inter-company cross-over event played a huge part in this series. This series also played a bit part in the Janus Directive cross-over that ran between a few DC titles in 1989.

For the most part Ostrander/Yale gave the fans exactly what they wanted: when fans requested an issue where the story is told from a villain’s point-of-view, they got it in Manhunter #16. When fans wrote in to request a Mark Shaw/Batman team-up, they received one in issue #17. Fans wanted more integration with Ostrander’sSuicide Squad title, and they received a few cross-overs with the title.

One of the things that really stands out about this series is that it is written in such a way that you get a lot of insight into the thinking of Mark Shaw - which allows the reader to identify him as an 'everyman’ and thus feel some sort of connection with him. My favorite story arcs from this series were issues #10 - #12 (which featured a big 6-way battle with guest stars galore that was laugh out loud funny) and issues #8 - #9 (which tied in with the Flash v2 #21 and #22 in a very unique and clever way).

All 24 issues of Manhunter v1 were written by John OstranderandKim Yale (and often Yale would write an issue on her own). Doug Rice was the regular penciller up until issue #15 when Grant Miehm took over regular pencilling chores. During Rice’s run there were quite a few fill-in pencillers (Kelley Jones, Mary Mitchell, Pablo Marcos) because it took Rice longer than a month to pencil an issue. Back-up features were also included in order to get the issue to print because often the main feature wasn’t 100% completed before deadline. Sam Keith pencilled and inked a back-up feature in issue #12 which, upon closer examination, is probably the precursor to him developing his artistic style that he would end up using in his 1993 The Maxx series (from Image comics).Keith began inking the first few issues of Manhunter, but was quickly whisked away and assigned to work on Neil Gaiman’sSandmanbefore the first four issue story arc was completed.

As previously mentioned, the Manhunter v1 series lasted 24 issues (no annuals and no specials) and, while being a hot concept with lots of fanfare at the beginning of the run, by the second year interest in the title had waned. As a matter of fact, Miehm became the new regular penciller (replacing Rice) completely aware that the series would be cancelled. Unlike most ongoing series’ that are cancelled abruptly, Ostrander/Yale had the luxury of ending Manhunter v1 with plenty of time to conclude the book at their own pace. Due to popular demand, Dumas made a return to the series and was the main antagonist in the 6-part “Saints and Sinners” story arc that was more or less the death rattle of the book. The last 7 issues of the series were spent taking Mark Shaw back to his 'roots’, resolving his romantic life and basically providing a resolution to the series. Mark Shaw would appear a few more times in Ostrander’sSuicide Squad before being killed off in Eclipso #13(1993).

There are a few major themes running through this book, some obvious (ex: Mark Shaw’s search for identity/redemption) and some not so obvious (ex: Ostrander/Yales fixation with masks - allegorical or otherwise), but a theme most people seem to glaze over is the major undertones of Japanese culture predominant in this series. Just to further that last point: the entire series is more or less a 'martial arts’ book, a few adventures take place in Japan, Mark Shaw’s costume/mask/baton appear to be a homage to the costumes Kabuki actors wore and the warrior code of the samurai is a recurring idea that keeps cropping up throughout the series. Most people aren’t aware of this, but OstranderandRice had collaborated prior to this project on a series called Dynamo Joe that was published by First Comics from 1986 to 1988. Dynamo Joe was a 'giant robot’ series (akin to Voltron/Robotech) and it was no secret that Rice was a Japanese magna fan (Manhunter v1 #10 - 12 appear to be a throwback to the Dynamo Joe series, also the fusion of martial arts and high tech devices - bionic mask and high-tech baton - just screams 'japanime’). Ninjas were very trendy in North American pop culture during the 1980s, so this would all tie together. Yale even goes so far as to list the book 'Yakuza’ by David E KaplanandAlec Dubro as a valuable reference for the series.

Great premise, great writer(s), great series. Highly recommended.

*Originally there wasn’t meant to be any connection between the Goodwin/Simonson Manhunter and the Simon/Kirby Manhunter. Apparently, it was a last minute addition made for continuity convenience.