>Well, without spoiling it, we have come to a point six months after the team led by Tim Drake disbanded and everyone went their separate ways. We have two of the remaining members, Beast Boy and Raven, everyone is lost in this time. This is a story about how the team comes together. Damian is actually the one who pulls the team together. Basically, all of their lives are in danger and it is because of a common interest.
>I don’t want to spoil it just yet, but Damian finds out and they are all targets. So, in order to save them he’s like, “Look, I don’t have time to explain things to people,” and he actually kidnaps them all to protect them first and let them know what’s going on. There’s a feeling of a ticking time bomb, like Terminator, where it has to happen and happen fast! The Rebirth special really centers around where the characters are at, how Damian brings them all together, albeit unwillingly. (chuckling) It’s a little questionable like, “Dude, you could have just talked to them.” But that’s not really [Damian’s] way because they don’t know him, he doesn’t know them. He thought, “Well it’s better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.”
>It’s basically an origin story about where these characters are at, and them trying to find themselves. They are all teenagers, anywhere from age 13 to Starfire who is 18-19, and trying to figure out where their place in the world is, you know. You have to understand; these characters are not only teenagers but orphans, or from dysfunctional families. Damian brings them all together and over time they become the Teen Titans.
>Q: You mentioned that Damian has turned 13, and in Middle-Eastern cultures he is now a man. There has been a lot of criticism where people have complained that Damian has been white-washed and made too white. I love the fact that you are addressing that. What can we expect from that?
>Well, I’m a person of color too, so, I think it’s important to represent everybody, you know what I mean. Comics are not just a United States thing, or Canadian thing, it’s a world wide thing. So, the fact that people can relate to a character, and making a character relatable is really important I think. If you can fall in love with a character and it transcends all genres is great.
>[Middle-Eastern culture] is gonna play a huge, huge role, because the first arc is about how the Teen Titans come together, but also centers around Damian’s arc first, as a character. He’s such a polarizing character right now, because of his heritage of where he was raised, and how he was raised. So, we want to bring a lot of the Persian influence into it, and Ra’s Al Ghul is in it of course, and Damian’s mother is in it. So it centers on him, like when you hit 13, You kind of become a man. He’s at a weird point in his life where he’s not a kid anymore and is considered to be a man. But does it feel like it? He’s not grown up yet.
Christian Howard
>Q: Especially in our culture, North American culture where you aren’t a man until you are 16-18 and even then it’s not really.
>Legally, like when you’re legal to drink, I guess you could consider that a man, but not really. He’s at this weird point where he’s trying to find himself. Again, everyone is really lost and Teen Titans, at it’s core, is really about family. It’s about how these characters, through this dysfunction find each other and become this whole unit that can depend on one another, like everyone finding a surrogate family so to speak. It’s interesting how we’re gonna get that all to coalesce and it’s a trial by fire thing. The more we can do to put them in different locals and things like that, like, I believe the Titans should be a world wide type of thing.
>I know we’re going to have them based out of San Francisco but they will be globe trotting all over the world. We’re gonna have a cast of international characters, new villains, old villains, all these things.
Evan Brooks
>Q: From watching the Teen Titans show, are any of your relationships similar to those characters?
>Yeah, you know I can actually relate to Damian quite a bit. His dad is gone a lot, and he has a weird dysfunctional relationship with his dad. He wants to know him but he never has the time to know which is an interesting point. I can relate because I was a military brat, so my dad was always gone on tours for forever and ever and ever. To have him home, you want these opportunities to connect with your father, it’s desperate, you want to get to know this person you call dad.
>For me, approaching this series, I can really identify with Damian and his need to find identity. To have a connection to where he belongs. He chooses to be part of his father’s world, but it’s a very cold world. Batman’s life is marked by tragedy and he doesn’t know anything else. Whereas if Damian wants to feel loved and family it’s with Ra’s, but then he needs to be a bad guy. So he knows to do the right thing, his dad’s way. The path of justice will be a very lonely road.
Carter Richardson
>I’m a person of color too
Isaac Lewis
My next question comes from being a fan of the cartoons and the comics, I’m used to the story of Raven and Trigon, even in the recent Justice League Vs. Teen Titans that was the main story. Are you going to avoid that because it has been so told?
I’m totally with you on that. I feel like that story has really been told. I know Ben [Percy] really wants to do it. I’m not feeling that just yet. I feel like, honestly, if we’re going to do a story about Raven and make Trigon a thing, lets build up to it. If I were to do it, I would want to pair her with somebody, like Klarion the Witch Boy. It would be really cool to do a story with him. He’s an evil kid but he’s also a teenager and he needs a connection. Maybe he’s like, “I want a girlfriend, I think Raven would be a great woman to spend eternity with.” Let’s do something different like that, to bring a different angle to the character. I feel like the Trigon story has been done to death. If we are going to do it, let’s make it something special instead of, “Oh, it’s Trigon again.” (Sarcastic shock). Let’s do something a little different and change it up because people have already seen that.
Camden Watson
>When you’re doing such an iconic book, like Teen Titans, and our base thing that we’re going off of is what the Wolfman/Pérez run did, It’s such an iconic thing so if that’s what we are comparing ourselves to, we better bring our A-game. Story, art, everything, needs to be on par and fire on four cylinders because that’s what we are comparing ourselves to, so that’s what it’s gotta be. If we’re gonna do it, let’s try to make it that type of level, but add our own wrinkle to it. We don’t want to repeat or reinvent the wheel if you don’t have to. If we’re gonna build up to Trigon, let’s make that a thing that is something special. For me I want to do that in a different direction, let’s do a different wrinkle, let’s make it a thing between that personal relationship where this other evil kid, who is similar to her tries to make a connection with her.
>At its core, Teen Titans is about family and the relationships between the characters. I feel that if you want those big rough and tumble world changing fights, go to Justice League. Our books are about the characters, and the relationships with teens while they go on these great grand adventures. The core is about how the kids get together, and make a team. The Titans by themselves are not strong, but as a team, when they function well, that is where their strengths lie. That’s where they have the Justice League beat. The League is, at their core, individual characters, where the Titans will play off each others strengths and weaknesses.
Gabriel Price
>Q: A lot of the time, Raven is portrayed as very Goth. The drawings at the DC panel yesterday look a little more punk and interesting, can you comment on that.
>For me, she’s a mix of Punk, Goth, and 80s retro type stuff. The thing about her is that even in her design, everything is pointy and sharp. There is no skin, the only thing you see is her face, she even hides behind her hair a little bit. Like, you won’t see her jewel unless she starts moving around. Again, she’s a teen struggling with her whole story. She’s the product of a sexual assault and her dad is a demon who wants to destroy reality and make her the heir to it all. She’s got a lot that she is struggling with, and she tries to keep herself emotionally closed of, which is her way of dealing with things.
>When she comes into this family environment, where she’s dealing with kids going through the same thing she is, you’re going to see her evolve as a character. You’ll see her open up a little more, her hood will be down more, and she’ll start to feel more comfortable.
Nicholas Cox
>Q: Will Teen Titans and Super Sons have crossovers?
> What’s gonna happen with that is that, Teen Titans will happen first. At the same time, we’ll have a crossover. Patrick Gleason and Peter Tomasi will have the big meeting where Batman and Robin will meet Superman and Superboy in issue #10 of Superman. That will allow for the ground work for Super Sons. I can see that Clark’s son will eventually be in Teen Titans but we have to build up to that. We always talked about having Teen Titans with a revolving roster where we have certain core characters. At the moment there is no plans for it, but I can tell you that there will be a cross over eventually in a Superman book. But first, we want to establish these characters first because right now, no one knows Jonathan Kent. The more you can do to build that character in a superman book so that people understand what he’s about, then we can introduce him to the world at large and have him interacting with Damian.
Brayden Morales
>Q: In, the movies, a lot of the time, there are hints at a relationship between Nightwing and Starfire, are we going to get to see them interact?
>Oh, yeah, we do a little bit in Rebirth, there’s a little nod to that saying, “hey, look there’s something going on between these two crazy kids.” I think Dick, in this version is 24 maybe and Starfire is 18-19. Tamaraneans age a little slower, so they are closer in age than what she looks, but she still has the teenage mentality. It is definitely a thing and with Damian having a really great relationship with Dick Grayson because they were Batman and Robin for a time so we will see that dynamic in it too. I’m always pushing for that, “hey let’s get Dick in there,” because Starfire is the de facto leader. Damian wants to be, but Starfire has a demeanor about her.
>I don’t like a bimbo Starfire, it’s basically saying people of color, or someone from another country should act like an idiot. Foreign people don’t act like idiots, putting someone from China in America, they don’t act like an idiot. They don’t try to eat a beach ball or something. So it doesn’t equate for me. I understand the whole fish out of water thing, but I think we should play it more about the personal relationships. She has this really great relationship with Dick and Dick has a great relationship with Damian. There’s gonna be a point where she’s interacting with Dick and Dick will talk to Damian and I think Starfire recognizes the fact that Damian wants to come out of his shell and lead and I think she’ll try to get him to do that. For her, at her core, she’s a very motherly figure too. Always very supportive, even the way Palmiotti wrote her, a very caring, big hearted person, and there to help people. I can see those roles transitioning as the series progresses.
Jonathan Ward
> She has this really great relationship with Dick
dickbabs shippers btfo
Owen Hernandez
>Raven x Klarion My waifu is at risk!
Leo Davis
>I feel like the Trigon story has been done to death.
Oh thank God.
Hunter Kelly
>it's a "Damian bullies other children into being his friends" episode
my favorite
Carter Walker
>It's a "Damian catches his new mother figure fucking his big brother" episode
Aaron Long
>We've done the Trigon thing too much Phew, maybe now we can- >Let's make KlarionxRaven a thing!
Ryder Powell
>If I were to do it, I would want to pair her with somebody, like Klarion the Witch Boy. It would be really cool to do a story with him. He’s an evil kid but he’s also a teenager and he needs a connection. Maybe he’s like, “I want a girlfriend, I think Raven would be a great woman to spend eternity with.” Let’s do something different like that, to bring a different angle to the character. I feel like the Trigon story has been done to death. If we are going to do it, let’s make it something special instead of, “Oh, it’s Trigon again.” (Sarcastic shock). Let’s do something a little different and change it up because people have already seen that.
>I don’t like a bimbo Starfire, it’s basically saying people of color, or someone from another country should act like an idiot. Foreign people don’t act like idiots, putting someone from China in America, they don’t act like an idiot. They don’t try to eat a beach ball or something. So it doesn’t equate for me.
Smart talent on this book, hopefully he can hold back Percy a little if necessary.
David Fisher
hes the artist though, so his opinion really doesn't mean shit in regards to the story.
he could be off the book in 6 months.
Leo Watson
Comics are more collaborative than that
Noah Bell
Damian has had a HARD life.
Gavin Watson
>Let the boy watch
Anthony Sanchez
Is this referring to Jason and Talia or Dick and Starfire?
Thomas Johnson
KLARION
Isaac Martinez
Yes
Camden Allen
Nah, Percy's going to rant nonstop about racism
Andrew Rodriguez
>Damian has trouble opening up at first, but slowly learns to trust Kori after having a poor experience with his real mother >He begins talking more about his feelings, and she takes him out for ice cream >Damian sees her as a role model, and decides to surprise her with a handmade gift >Damian walks into her bedroom, only to find his big brother, the first person he ever learned to trust, bending her over and doggying her from behind, while she's dressed in a Batgirl costume crying "spank me harder, daddy"
Christopher Gonzalez
The fuck? He didn't answer that question at all.
Jonathan Taylor
Oh fuck off, Sup Forums
Hudson Roberts
>Persian influence >Arab family
If you're going to fuck it up this badly, don't bother with it at all.
William Rivera
>it's a "Look, I don’t have time to explain things to people,” story Oh for the love of god, hasn't this been done enough time already? Can you seriously not think of anything more original to bring this team together?
>Q: From watching the Teen Titans show, are any of your relationships similar to those characters? >goes on to only mention Damien I guess he could be talking about the recent movie, but still seems like he missed the question entirely.
>I don’t like a bimbo Starfire, it’s basically saying people of color, or someone from another country should act like an idiot. It's saying she's an alien from an entirely different culture from ours. I'm not exactly a fan of bimboFire either, but that's reading way too deeply into the thing.
In any case, I'm cautiously curious about this. Maybe worth reading four or five issues before deciding if it's worth continuing or not.
Also >Raven x Klarion >not Raven x Starfire Why do writers have such shit taste.
Blake Russell
The problem is that Starfire's ongoing went too far with it. She should understand the concept of currency, for example. Human life is not dramatically different than DCU alien life tends to be.
Xavier Hughes
I'll have to take your word on that, since I only read about two issues from that series.
I don't remember anything quite that extreme, but the series really failed to capture my interest in the slightest, so I might have just expelled it out of my memory.
Like I said, I'm not a big fan of Starfire being treated as a complete idiot, but if you approach it in the same way as the animated show did, you can have your cake and eat it too by having the fish out of water story, and a good source of comic relief.
Camden Johnson
>I think Dick, in this version is 24 maybe and Starfire is 18-19 i'm kind of annoyed they de-aged Kori so much is the wolfman/perez stuff still canon or no?
Cameron Hernandez
Jason pls.you sucks.
Zachary Flores
Batman is shit dad it is canon now.
Hunter Lee
Lobdell said the same god damn thing, and then wound up having to do it.
John Young
>[Middle-Eastern culture] is gonna play a huge, huge role, because the first arc is about how the Teen Titans come together, but also centers around Damian’s arc first, as a character.
Damian wasn't raised with Middle eastern culture though. He was raised by Ninja assassins and his psychotic mother
Brody Campbell
In ENGLAND, even. Damian has a British accent, which is something most writers ignore.
Adrian Rogers
>I think Dick, in this version is 24 maybe and Starfire is 18-19. Fucking what? I mean, lol, because Dick was supposed to be 21 in the New 52 but still... WHAT?
Coming back to the topic, I'm surprised that the artist is going so in detail on all this, will he be a co writer?
Juan Morales
Its the popular thing to say now
Hunter Scott
Lets be honest what hasn't been done to death?
Chase Lee
Sauce on the interview?
Luis Young
>Always get overshadowed by Dick >Opposite of Dick in every way, like >Everyone hates him (character wise and reader wise) >Not a chick magnet (even Tim can get more girls than him, hell, even Damian already attracted chick more than Jason) >Bruce likes him the least >Stuck with the worst writer (Fuck lodbell) >Have been dead, and everyone prefer if he just die permanently >Another Robin also died but that robin got better treatment than him >Always get rekt by Damian >Most cast he's been with mostly was just used Dick's friends
He's my most favorite and one of the reason was because he's the most unfortunate character I have read. Everyday I pray he got better treatment, and still hoping it will come soon.
Charles Anderson
A team coming together under perfectly amicable terms out of a desire to do good?
It's been done, sure, but it doesn't seem to be used and abused as often as "heroes have a misunderstanding/are brought together under difficult terms/are distrustful dicks towards one or more members of the team".
Hudson Martinez
I don't want another X-23-esque fucking "Damian is really obstinant and unlikable but slowly opens up and becomes warmer to his teammates!" crap. You can only do that story so many times in 5 years man.
Also shit Wally and trying to live up to Wolfman Perez are bad signs. Staying far away from this book.
Owen Rivera
at least he's not harper row. the character everyone wants to get rip of.
Tyler Allen
>I think Dick, in this version is 24 maybe and Starfire is 18-19 ??????? What? Jesus why do they always have to deage the female member of the relationship. Same thing happened with Barbara because of Dick and her relationship.
Daniel Phillips
He did not answer this question at all.
Christian Bennett
As long as the writers avoids rehashing the Judas Contract, using Trigon, avoid going full retard like Lobdell and character derailment like Johns this series will be okay.
Noah Flores
>I think Dick, in this version is 24 maybe and Starfire is 18-19. Tamaraneans age a little slower, so they are closer in age than what she looks, but she still has the teenage mentality. What the fuck? No, seriously, what the fuck? WHY do they think this? Are they just going with what Dixon wanted in that he only fucks Starfire because Barbara didn't and he's mad at Bruce?
Anthony Cox
I have a feeling this artist knows shit about what's going on. Dick and his friends simply can't be older than 21.
Jacob Williams
Barbara was retroactivelu deaged as Batgirl when she became Oracle, in order to contrast her current state with her more youthful and innocent past
Blake White
So something that has never happened since the 80s for the Titans franchise.
Easton Howard
That'd be creepy seeing as when he was 18, she'd be like 13
Noah Gonzalez
The franchise has not been good since the 80s time to try something new.
Robert Cruz
That's kind of my point, bud.
Bentley Ross
This seems kind of doubly weird because for several years she was fucking Roy, who is Dick's age.
I mean I guess I don't blame them for ignoring RHATO but that shit happened and Starfire was not 15-16 during it.
Jayden Brown
>Klarion X Raven I never realized how much I wanted this
>Trigon is overdone FUCKING FINALLY. Remember to tell that to Benjamin Percy, I don't want another fucking Trigon/Brother Blood story
Ethan Brooks
Starfire like a hot mom. I never realized how much I wanted this
Easton Jenkins
No it was so Dixon and other writers could have her like Dick when she was Batgirl and he was Robin.
Leo Richardson
She's 18 or 19, hardly a hot mom. Just a teenager a 24 year old wants to fuck when he can't fuck the other teenage girl he's destined to play will-they-won't-they for the rest of his published career.
Jason Nguyen
>dur hur Dixon ruined muh BruceBabs ship No, when she became Oracle, her Batgirl flashbacks had her acting much younger and naive than she was in pre-Crisis. Read the Kelley Pluckett minis
Aiden Kelly
What does Bruce/Babs have to do with this lol
Logan White
he is Iranian, Afghan .. Pakistani.
Aiden Ramirez
ACTING, not actually BEING younger.
Nicholas Campbell
Please tell me more user
Sebastian Peterson
He also has Chinese blood, he's not a Muslim.
Jaxon Morgan
Timmfags are just bitter that comic writers don't share their pedo fetish
Isaiah Gonzalez
Yup.
Jose Butler
>I think Dick, in this version is 24 maybe and Starfire is 18-19. they really just need to kill dick/kory and dick/babs if the latter in each pairing are gonna act like teenage girls and now apparently BE one, especially since dick acts like and is a grown adult they all need to have someone more their maturity level and age
Brandon Russell
In comics, acting younger is equivalent to being younger, because ages are never set strictly in stone. The way a character acts and is drawn speaks much louder than some easily forgettable text bubble. The reason why everyone hates DickBabs now is because Dick acts much older doing important spy work while Barbara is taking selfies. They're supposed the same age, but everyone thinks Dick is much older than her
Robert Edwards
Bruce/Babs and Dick/Babs are cancer, user. Hating one and recognizing the hoops they had to jump through and retcon with one doesn't mean you like the other.
Jaxson Martinez
DickBabs was a maturely written relationship that was later derailed by bad writers. BruceBabs was nothing by some creeper fetishfic.
Parker Morgan
>Dick is 21 >Kori is 19
Well, this is the artist talking so it's probably mostly from a an artist's perspective. It would be weird though if Dick was so taken with a teenaged alien girl who would have been a minor when he was dating her, he just doesn't seem the type.
Lincoln Thompson
Finally sold. Leader Starfire, Dick cameos. All I needed.
Gavin Butler
Seeley seems to like DickHelena,,thankfully
Easton Campbell
Isn't he a gypsy though?
Jackson Reyes
Still waiting on that sauce. Google gives me completely different interview.
>The thing I've always loved about the Teen Titans, and the thing I'm having so much fun with right now, is it's a turnstile of storytelling possibilities. You've got detective stories available through Robin, and you've got horror stories available through Raven, you've got sci-fi stories available through Starfire, and comedy through Beast Boy.
>And there is a sixth member of the team that has not yet been announced, who will open up another environment, another genre possibility.
Apparently, there's one more member we don't know about.
Dylan Anderson
come on have starfire fuck damian come on do it do it fucker
Levi Jones
top kek they are trying hard to brown wash Damian now When he sounds like a brit and looks just like bruce jesus
John Jackson
assassins are middle eastern, dude r'as al ghul was, as well as talia (though their nation is now gone) the league is more about the hashashin than ninjas they wear black when in action, but normally they seem like regular people in regular positions, willing to kill when they get an order
Dylan Lee
Nope .
Aaron Baker
I was really skeptical of this artist based on his covers, but man I love his interiors.
Evan Roberts
When is the first issue released? Haven't read Teen Titans since they made Beast Boy red.
Daniel Ross
He's 3/4 white and he has no accent. He has the capability to mimic voices, maybe thats what you're thinking.
Asher Kelly
LOS are a mongolian sect of ninjas They have next to nothing to do with islam or middle eastern culture
Its just goes to show a lot of people at DC are confused by Ra's al ghul
Christopher Reed
He randomly became green again in the later part of Lobdell's run.
Anthony Green
>Klaraven YEAHHHHHH BITCHES!
Hudson Gray
he is an ant?
Ian Moore
>Its just goes to show a lot of people at DC are confused by Ra's al ghul Not as confused as you, you're thinking of the Tribe of Ubu, who were Middle-Eastern.
Cameron Fisher
At first I thought Emiko would be the sixth, but this makes it sound like it could also be Aquafag.
Leo Young
Yeah.. it seems more reasonable given he's the only loose end of Rebirth not accounted for now.
Ryan Mitchell
>is the wolfman/perez stuff still canon or no?
Abnett and Priest are going to smooth things over somehow. Would gets it gets promoted as the next big crossover after JL/SS.
Michael Morales
So Damian is now legal?
Ayden Adams
yeah, yeah. Be prepared for him to be the standard asshole-we're meant-to-be-together-if-you-don't-want-it-I'll-force-you villain just so that raven can show us what a strenk indupendent wimmen she is.
