Whats New in the DCU: Didio on Titans

Newsarama's Alex Zalben talks to DC Comics' VP/Executive Editor Dan Didio about what's coming up with Superman, Wonder Woman, the status quo of the Big 3, Flash and Titans/Teen Titans.

Check out the video here.

Didio talks about "Deathtrap": the corruption of Jericho and the "family aspect" of Titans.

FACES OF EVIL FLASHBACK: Deathstroke

CBR’s look at the villains we love to hate continues, highlighting the stars of DC Comics’ Faces of Evil campaign, whereby the villains of the DC Universe take center stage in a series of one-shots and special issues of existing series. The spotlight falls this week on Deathstoke the Terminator, who returns to prominence in “Faces of Evil: Deathstroke,” a new one-shot on sale now.

Check it out here.

DC Preview: Teen Titans #67

See preview pages at Newsarama.

Written by Sean McKeever; Art by Fernando Dagnino; Cover by Eddy Barrows and Ruy Jose A "Faces of Evil"issue! The war in Hell has created enough confusion for Brother Blood to escape, and guest star Kid Eternity leads the villain right to the Teen Titans' doorstep! With the recruitment drive still under way, is the team prepared to face this new attack? DC Universe | 32pg. | Color | $2.99 US On Sale January 28, 2009

The issue hits stores on Wednesday.

FACES OF EVIL FLASHBACK: Jericho

CBR reports: "Continuing with the January 2009 **Faces of Evil** campaign, whereby the villains of the DC Universe take center stage in a series of one-shots and special issues of existing series, "Titans" #9 features former Teen Titan and son of Deathstroke, the body-jumping Jericho."

Read the full Jericho lowdown here!

McKeever and Wolfman Tackle Titan-ic Crossover

Following the events of "Teen Titans Annual 2009," on sale April 1, writers Sean McKeever and Marv Wolfman team-up with artists Fernando Dagnino and Raul Fernandez to tell a five-part crossover in the pages of "Teen Titans," "Titans" and "Vigilante." The story is part of DC Comics’ Faces of Evil campaign, whereby whereby the villains of the DC Universe take center stage in a series of one-shots and special issues of existing series.

In the story called “Deathtrap,” the featured Face of Evil is none other than Jericho, a former Titan and the son of classic Titans supervillain, Deathstroke the Terminator, whose plan of attack is to eliminate both teams of Titans in one fell swoop.

Marv, what does Vigilante – the resident lone wolf – offer to the Titans teams, both young and old, as an ally? Can the two teams learn from someone who predominantly works alone?

MW: Vigilante and the Titans are after some of the same things and therefore cross paths, but they aren’t working together in the traditional sense. They are not friends and frankly, the Titans would just as soon arrest him and he’s just as willing to screw them over. This is not a case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

They are two entities who are using their own methods to get to the root of what’s going on with Jericho and the New York mobs, and therefore find themselves crossing paths all too often. Vig doesn’t mind screwing the Titans over to get what he wants, and if anyone of them gets in his way he doesn’t mind shooting them. On the other hand, the Titans won’t let him get in their way.

How does Deathstroke’s daughter, Ravager, play into all of this?

SM: She’s a wild card. She has her own agenda, and whether or not that lines up with what the other heroes want will determine if she’s friend or foe. Of course, with Jericho being her brother, it really makes you wonder if she’ll be out to protect him at all costs or kill him. After all, that Wilson family is pretty messed up.

Read the whole thing here!

I have hope for this crossover, with Marv and Sean at the helm. Maybe they can make sense of Jericho's "new status."

Commentary: Didio's 20 Answers

Read the January 23rd edition of "Dan DiDio: 20 Answers, 1 Question" at Newsarama, then come back...

Back already? Great. Reading Didio's replies, I couldn't help but have some visceral reactions:

ON TITANS FUTURE: Didio says, "Jericho was revealed as that book’s villain, we found out that Jericho, in leaping from body to body has also been picking up character traits and memories of the different people he’s been in, so it’s been leaving his mind a little shattered and rambling."

In DC DECISIONS (as I understand it) Jericho specifically tries to assassinate one of the candidates. Over in TITANS, he's confused and wants to do evil things. So, he's NOT "acting" like Slade or any villain in particular. He's just acting like a psychotic crazy person. And, what about all the heroes he's possessed? They have no sway on his psyche? And again, with this idea that Slade out and out "hates' the Titans. He NEVER hated the Titans - it was a contract he was FORCED to uphold. Then abandoned, and even became the Titans' ally. Everyone keeps claiming they revere the Wolfman/Pérez era Titans - as they proceed to ignore all the great things Marv and George built.

ON TITLES FOR "ALL AGES" and TWEENS: By Didio's response, it's almost like he doesn't understand the difference between "all-ages" and "for kids under 8 years old." Something like THE INCREDIBLES is all-ages, providing fun adventure for the kids, and some sly references and intelligent scripting for older folks. And while "all-ages" isn't specifically geared towards tweens, it would at least appeal to them.

Books like TINY TITANS and SUPERFRIENDS are only appealing to small children (and maybe some fun-loving fanboys). Tweens would grow out of those series by the time they were 7 or 8. And DC Comics has nothing for tween consumers. The mainstream DC titles are took dark for Tweens, with harsh language, sexual references, rape and violence.

Didio says, " I think people sometimes forget what brought them in when they were kids. An Uncanny X-Men by Claremont and Byrne, or a New Teen Titans by Wolfman and Perez and even the Legion of Super-Heroes by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen – a lot of those books are books that current fans now point to as being what brought them to comics when they were kids. "

Yes, those books brought me into comics when I was 9-12 years old. But I must have missed the issue where Cyclops called Wolverine an a--hole (language used in FINAL CRISIS). Or the one where Cosmic Boy tore someone's body in half on-panel while Lightning Lad decapitated some woman (se several DC titles, like INFINITE CRISIS and 52). Or the issue where Professor X mind-wiped the team after Magneto raped them all (like in IDENTITY CRISIS). Or the issue where Starfire was lying naked in bed handcuffed, waiting for Robin to come in and have kinky sex with her (like in an issue of TEEN TITANS). Yeah, I missed those.

The sad thing is some of those books - IDENTITY CRISIS, FINAL CRISIS, INFINITE CRISIS, TEEN TITANS - feature mainstream DC characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Robin on their covers. Is Didio really suggesting this content is appropriate for a 9 year old?

Didio states that tween readers like "to read up." That is true. But so do younger readers. They will outgrow TINY TITANS and SUPERFRIENDS sooner than you think. And the content of the mainstream DC universe is too adult for them.

The real answer would be to tone down the adult content of the mainstream DCU to make it appropriate for tweens. But that's not the flavor of the day at DC. Their bread and butter is from the older fanboys, and I'm sure DC would live in fear of alienating them. So, short answer? DC really isn't interested in acquiring new, young customers. They'd rather try to get older long-term fans to buy more books.

Marvel, on the other hand, is more "all-ages" friendly for the most part. Stuff like MIGHTY AVENGERS, UNCANNY X-MEN and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN contain similar content as the books I grew up reading. The language may be a little coarser and the suggestiveness may be a little more, but it does track with what you see on TV these days compared to 20 years ago.

Marvel also has a "tween line" with their MARVEL ADVENTURES. Does Didio really not understand the gap in DC's product line?

THE MULTIVERSE: Didio says, "Let's go through the idea of the Multiverse first. Grant has a very clear, concise interpretation of so many of the worlds that inhabit the Multiverse – that's one of the reasons I say it's Grant's playground, because he really understands it, gets it, and knows what the full potential is. So, realistically, I'd rather work with Grant on exploiting the potential as he sees it, and I think the fans will react very positively to it."

So, it's Grant's playground because "he really understands it, gets it, and knows what the full potential is"... unlike John Broome, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, and Marv Wolfman? Yeah, those hacks just didn't get it.

It's parallel worlds. It's a pretty simple concept. I dunno, I enjoyed a ton of parallel world stories, and Earth-2 and Earth-C stories - before Morrison came in. We don't need Morrison's acid tripping to tell parallel world stories. I feel DC has ruined the fun and wonder of the Multiverse. They brought it back, and then squandered every potential it offered.

LEGION OF 3 WORLDS: Asked about the status of LEGION OF 3 WORLDS, which has been running exceedingly late, Didio replies, "We decided that, even though it's connected to Final Crisis, the story's events take place in the future, and therefore it didn't have to run lock-step in conjunction with the main series. Legion of 3 Worlds is essential to the DC Universe and tied to Final Crisis, but because stories take place in a future timeline, it doesn't need to come out in the same way that Revelations did."

So.... when the heck is it coming out? Just about everything surrounding FINAL CRISIS has been a monumental clusterf--- of scheduling. "Status" means "what is happening with the series right now?" That's part of the question. I'm disappointed Newsarama failed to press for any answers.

It's no wonder my DC pull list has dwindled to almost nothing....

Titans in Didio's 20 Answers

From the January 23rd edition of "Dan DiDio: 20 Answers, 1 Question" at Newsarama:

2. Let’s talk Titans – what more can be said about what’s going on with the “Deathtrap” crossover story that’s coming in both titles?

DD: We’ve been playing up Jericho as the lead antagonist in the story, and the reason as to why he’s the “antagonist” and not the “villain” is that we’re trying to give a real explanation and reason as to why he’s going through the moves and machinations that he is. What we revealed in Decisions, where Jericho was revealed as that book’s villain, we found out that Jericho, in leaping from body to body has also been picking up character traits and memories of the different people he’s been in, so it’s been leaving his mind a little shattered and rambling. And of course, because he’s spent most of his time in the mind of his father, Deathstroke, he’s been left very tainted towards the Titans, and on a dark and dangerous path.

The Titans themselves are out there to protect their own, but also realize the fact that he has to be stopped. So we’re crossing the story over in Titans and Teen Titans, and we’re also bringing in Vigilante, because the Vigilante character had ties to the Teen Titans before, so we wanted to include that as well, and give a nice platform to explain the motivations of, and the platform of the new Vigilante.

There will be a lot of fun twists and turns along the way, and the good part is that both the Titans and Teen Titans sides of things will be handled by one writer, Sean McKeever, and he’s working very closely with Marv [Wolfman] on Vigilante, so we’re looking at something that should feel very seamless as it flows from book to book, comic to comic.

3. While there is a new Teen Titans team that’s coming in with “Deathtrap,” would you say that the storyline is something of a re-establishment of the status quo for the Titans franchise?

DD: I think so. There will be a lot of twists and turns for the Titans over the next year or so, just because of the characters that will be coming and going, but realistically, this is a nice spot for us to point out the direction for the series – not that it’s a new direction, but it firmly establishes what the key teams are in both books, and more importantly sets up what may be coming down the road in the next year.

and

13. One question that keeps coming back with the return of Barry Allen as Flash. What’s the role of Wally West going to be?

DD: That question is great fodder for story, and what will be taking place in Wally’s life. He will be trying to figure out his place in the world in regards to being a hero and a family man, given the turn of events and the return of Barry. The return of Barry basically forces Wally to ask himself why he would want to continue, and should he continue in the role of the Flash? He took the mantle on, and “graduated” from Kid Flash to Flash because Barry died, and now that he’s returned, Wally has to question what he wants to do. He also gets to reexamine his family life, and see where he fits in and what exactly his purpose is. That’s going to be the centerpiece of a lot of stories in Titans and beyond in the coming year. Wally will be featured very prominently in Titans following the conclusion of Flash: Rebirth. We’re going to be addressing all of that – there’s a lot of story left to be told with Wally.

David Hine & Deathstroke's Faces of Evil

The Pulse reports: "When you think of some of the Faces of Evil in the DCU, Deathstroke has to be in the top ten. The thorn in the New Teen Titans' side has been wreaking havoc in their world for over twenty-five years. He's grown from seeking revenge against those heroes to going up against some of the brightest heroes the DCU has to offer and held his own or bettered most of them. His recent bout with Geo-Force, a hero seeking his own revenge against Deathstroke, left the villain apparently dying in a hospital room. But, Slade Wilson's been down and close to out before. Writer David Hine picks up this Faces of Evil crossover shortly after Last Will and Testament. He told THE PULSE, "This story is about Slade Wilson coming to terms with his own toxic influence on anyone who comes close to him. And he deals with it in his usual uniquely psychotic way.""

"THE PULSE: Deathstroke's got a very unusual extended family in the world of comics, which, if any, of his children show up in these pages? Who are some of the characters he encounters here?

HINE: In those opening scenes he symbolically confronts most of the key family members, both the quick and the dead. In the real world it’s all about Rose. They have a very focused confrontation, one-on-one in a sealed room and it gets pretty harsh. We also introduce a mystery new character, who will feature large in Deathstroke’s life.

THE PULSE: What are the biggest challenges of you, personally, getting into character like this? How tough was it for you to get in touch with your mercenary side?

HINE: No problem. I’m a freelance writer! My keyboard is for hire.

THE PULSE: For me, Marv Wolfman and George Perez defined this villain, especially in The Judas Contract. How big of an influence are those two men on your vision for who and what Deathstroke should be?

HINE: I absorbed all this stuff in a very concentrated dose, so I haven’t lived with the character in the way that a lot of readers will have. The Wolfman/Perez version was of his time. He was Robin Hood by way of Green Arrow, James Bond by way of Nick Fury. But all the key aspects of his personality were established in the early years. He’s an introspective character, with a questionable grip on his own sanity, who generates a field of destruction around him that draws everyone into it. I don’t know how Wolfman and Perez would feel about the more nakedly amoral character he’s developed into, but that development feels pretty organic to me, quite in keeping with the established character."

Read the whole interview here!

Joe Bennett is New Teen Titans Artist

Sean McKeever confirmed (on ComicBloc) what a few of us have guessed: Joe Bennett (of TERROR TITANS fame) is the new regular artist on TEEN TITANS.

Question asked by Titan529: So Joe Bennett is the new ongoing artist for the forseeable future?

Sean: Yep!

"Deathtrap" Interlocking Covers

Sean McKeever kindly posted them at his site....

Looks good together! So next month, I suppose we will see them all charging toward... Jericho?

Sean also confirms he IS the writer on TITANS #11 and #12 (the solicits still listed Winick). Sean says: "It's an oversight. It happens. I'm sure they'll correct it eventually."

Titans In April

Full April solicits here!

... plus the new line-up revealed! (see image)
Aquagirl, huh? Interesting!

TEEN TITANS ANNUAL 2009 #1
Written by Sean McKeever Art by Fernando Dagnino & Raul Fernandez Cover by Andrew Robinson Prelude to the “Deathtrap” crossover between the pages of TEEN TITANS, TITANS and VIGILANTE! Titans Tower has mysteriously come to life to attack the Teen Titans! But The Titans have one secret weapon their unknown assailant doesn’t know about. Will they be able to use this weapon in time to save themselves? Find out as the story continues in TITANS #12! And be sure to check out the awesome interlocking covers by Andrew Robinson spanning the entire “Deathtrap” story that create one massive image! On sale April 1 • 48 pg, FC, $4.99 US

TITANS #12
Written by Judd Winick Art by Howard Porter Cover by Andrew Robinson “Deathtrap” Part 1 of 5! Completely unhinged, Jericho continues his assault upon his former teammates. As if that wasn’t enough, he also draws the Teen Titans into his twisted plot. And the Vigilante makes it his mission to stop Jericho – permanently! Continued in VIGILANTE #5! On sale April 8 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

VIGILANTE #5
Written by Marv Wolfman Art by Rick Leonardi & John Stanisci Cover by Andrew Robinson “Deathtrap” part 2 of 5! After attempting to kill Cyborg, Vigilante has been locked up by the Titans. But Vigilante knows that there is a traitor in their midst, and he will use any means necessary to bring Jericho to justice – Even if that means killing all of the Titans to do it! On sale April 15 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

TEEN TITANS #70
Written by Sean McKeever Art by Joe Bennett & Jack Jadson Cover by Andrew Robinson “Deathtrap” Part 3 of 5! Straight from the pages of VIGILANTE #5, the team gets roped into Jericho’s insane plot to take out both Titans teams. But how can they fight back against a menace who can possess their bodies? Continued in TITANS #13, on sale in May! On sale April 29 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

TINY TITANS #15
Written by Art Baltazar & Franco
Art and cover by Art Baltazar
Our magical friend Zatara visits the Titans’ Treehouse and brings some new fuzzy friends to meet the gang. And it’s Rose’s turn to babysit the Terror Titans when a group activity yields fiery results.
On sale April 15 • 32 pg, FC, $2.50 US

BATMAN: BATTLE FOR THE COWL #2
Written by Tony Daniel
Art by Tony Daniel & Sandu Florea
Covers by Tony Daniel
With the destruction of Arkham Asylum and dozens of Gotham City’s most lethal villains rioting through the streets, it would seem that Nightwing, Robin and their allies have their hands full. But they hadn’t counted on the return of Batman himself! But is it really The Dark Knight? If so, why is he acting so strangely? And if not, is this a threat that could mean the destruction of Gotham?

This 3-issue series continues to shock and surprise as the battle shifts to the next level with a face-off and ending that will have everybody talking. Who has earned the right to be Batman? Who thinks they deserve it? Robin? Nightwing? Jason Todd? Who will ultimately win the BATTLE FOR THE COWL?

Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 10 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Tony Daniel), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Tony Daniel). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale April 8 • 2 of 3 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US

ORACLE #2
Written by Kevin VanHook
Art by Don Kramer & Jay Leisten
Cover by Guillem March
The Calculator will go to any lengths to save the life of his daughter Wendy – even if it means using remnants of the Anti-Life Equation to do so! But when Oracle intervenes, she soon finds out that the Calculator has been killing Internet hackers from across the globe to get his hands on the Equation, and the final name on his list is hers!
On sale April 15 • 2 of 3 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

THE FLASH: REBIRTH #1
Written by Geoff Johns Art and covers by Ethan Van Sciver Through the decades, many heroes have taken the mantle of The Flash, but they all ride the lightning that crackles in the wake of the greatest hero the DC Universe has ever known, the man who sacrificed himself to save the Multiverse: Barry Allen!

Following the events of FINAL CRISIS, Barry has beaten death and returned to a fast-paced world that a man out of time wouldn’t recognize. Or is it a world that is only just now catching up? All the running he’s done before was just a warmup for the high-speed race that he and every other Flash must now run, because even though one speedster might have beaten death, another has just turned up dead! From Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver, the visionaries responsible for the blockbuster GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH and THE SINESTRO CORPS WAR, comes the start of an explosive and jaw-dropping epic that will reintroduce to the modern age the hero who single-handedly birthed the Silver Age of comics! DC history will be made, and the Flash legacy will be redefined!

Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information. On sale April 1 • 1 of 5 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US

THE FLASH PRESENTS: MERCURY FALLING TP
Written by Todd Dezago
Art by Ethan Van Sciver, Eric Battle, John Stokes, Prentis Rollins and others
Cover by Ethan Van Sciver
In this classic story from IMPULSE #62-67, featuring art by Ethan Van Sciver, Max Mercury discovers that his connection to the speed force has been severed. Now, it’s up to Impuse to save his mentor and surrogate father.
Advance-solicited; on sale May 6 • 144 pg, FC, $14.99 US

STATIC SHOCK: REBIRTH OF THE COOL TP
Written by Dwayne McDuffie and Robert L. Washington III
Art by John Paul Leon and Steve Mitchell
Cover by John Paul Leon
Static, currently appearing in TEEN TITANS, is back in this new collection of classic stories from his hit Milestone series!
When a mutagenic gas accidentally gave him superhuman abilities, Virgil Hawkins was reborn as Static, the electrically powered teen Super Hero. And while Static tries to balance the pressures of his school work, after-school job and family life, he also protects his inner city neighborhood against villains including Holocaust and Commando X. Collecting STATIC #1-4 and STATIC SHOCK!: REBIRTH OF THE COOL #1-4.
Advance-solicited; on sale May 27 • 192 pg, FC, $19.99 US

ROBIN: THE TEEN WONDER TP
Written by Dennis O’Neil, James Robinson, Chuck Dixon, Jim Starlin, Marv Wolfman, Bill Willingham and Geoff Johns
Art by Lee Weeks, Scott McDaniel, Tony Daniel and others Cover by Alex Ross
All of the teenagers who have served as Robin star in this title collecting stories from BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #100, NIGHTWING #101, BATMAN #428 and 442, ROBIN #126 and 132 and TEEN TITANS #29.
Advance-solicited; on sale May 27 • 160 pg, FC, $17.99 US

TINY TITANS: ADVENTURES IN AWESOMENESS TP
Written by Art Baltazar and Franco
Art and cover by Art Baltazar
Check in on the young, adorable heroes of Sidekick Elementary as they head into space, get their report cards, transform into monkeys, fall in love and more! Collecting issues #7-12 of the monthly comic.
Advance-solicited; on sale May 20 • FC, 144 pg, $12.99 US

DC Nation: Titans

This week's DC Nation talks Titans. Not much new info, but here it is....

DC Nation: Greetings, DC Nation!

January 14, 2009

Last week, Dan's tour of the DCU lineup for 2009 was interrupted by the breaking news that the villains had taken over our world in January's Faces of Evil event. I hope you're enjoying the F.O.E. books (we didn't realize that the acronym worked like that when we started…honest) all this month, but we need to interrupt plans once again. You see, I'm Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler, and I've been forced to take over this week's programming. We realized that Dan was too old to talk about the younger characters in Teen Titans and that most of his pop culture references seem to stop at about 1989. I said I'd step in, but I keep forgetting that I'm old as dirt now too. I have no idea what the kids are into these days. I'm the guy that carried an entire run of the original Suicide Squad series to a Radiohead concert because I found them at a comic store before the show. So with what little time I have left before I age out of existence, let's get back on the tour bus and find out what's coming up in Titans and Teen Titans this year.

As you know, the Teen Titans have had their hands full recently with the Clock King, Lycus, and of course the menace of Wonder Dog. At the same time Ravager has been trying to survive the Dark Side Club in Terror Titans, where she witnessed the debut of Static in the DCU. This month you'll want to pay close attention to Teen Titans #67 as Brother Blood makes his return in a Faces of Evil showdown with the team. This issue will also feature the debut of a new Teen Titan, but you'll have to read the issue to find out who. And every Teen Titans fan should make sure to pick up the Faces of Evil: Deathstroke special to see The Terminator's showdown with Ravager and a hint at the terrible things that are to come later in the year.

Over in Titans the team has been dealing with the fallout from DCU: Decisions where they learned that their old teammate Jericho has become mentally unstable and turned into a killer. In the midst of trying to figure out if they can save their friend, Jericho disappears into the mind of one of the Titans. Unsure of who is now being manipulated, the team has a lot to deal with…and that's before the JLA shows up to claim Jericho. And you know how it goes when these super-teams meet up, so expect a pretty big fight.

The Jericho story is so big that it can't be contained in just one book, so this spring expect a crossover between Titans, Teen Titans and Vigilante as nobody is sure who they can trust and tensions run high. Beginning in the Teen Titans Annual and continuing for three months through each title, this event—titled "Deathtrap"—sees new members join each team and others depart for good. Caught in the middle of this struggle is the new Vigilante—who might be just as mentally unstable as Jericho as he takes a "by any means necessary" approach to dishing out justice. It's going to be a heck of a battle for our heroes and yet another example of the exciting changes in store for you this year in the DCU. So get ready and we'll see you next week to talk about the Justice Society of America.

- Ian.

Ian Churchill's Unused Titans Designs

Just in case you thought the recent TITANS relaunch couldn't have been any worse.... Here's some unused costume designs from Ian Churchill. You can purchase the sketches over at Artist's Choice, by the way.

Dove's redesign is the best of the three. Her hair looks cool. I don't mind her hot pants/high boots combo. But it's needlessly busy with all those strange capsules around her torso. Definitely not an improvement over her old costume.

Cyborg's redesign isn't terrible, but again, it looks needlessly complicated. Definitely not an improvement. And he sorta looks like an action figure whose outer costume has been removed. Mike McKone's redesign was a good update from Perez's outdated original. Just stick with that.

Donna's costume is the worst of the three. Just when you thought nothing could be uglier or busier than Donna' original Troia costume.... we get this. Phil Jimenez has given us two elegantly simple costumes for Donna, referencing both her Wonder Girl roots and ties to New Chronus. There's just no need to mess with that. This attempt at a redesign looks like a drag queen Wonder Woman. And the boob window is just not appropriate for Donna. Kory? sure. Donna? not so much.

So what do you guys think?

Sean McKeever on All Things Titans

Newsarama reports: Beginning in March, Sean McKeever will be writing all three of the Titans-themed books for the DCU as he not only finishes up the Terror Titans mini-series and debuts a new line-up in Teen Titans #69, but he'll also temporarily takes over the Titans title with issue #11.

Newsarama: Sean, with you taking over Titans in March, everyone's going to want to know – are you the new writer on Titans?

Sean McKeever: No, I'm not taking over for Judd. I'm just filling in for a few issues. Titans #11 is the lead-in to the “Deathtrap” crossover between Titans, Teen Titans and Vigilante. Editorial asked me to come in and tell the Titans lead-in story and the two Titans issues of the crossover itself, so I'll be writing those in addition to the Teen Titans portion of that crossover.

NRAMA: So when does the crossover start and how many issues is it?

SM: The Teen Titans Annual comes out at the start of April, and that leads directly into the Deathtrap storyline. It's also an epilogue to the whole recruitment drive we're seeing in Teen Titans. So we'll see the new lineup against their first major obstacle, then the crossover starts in earnest with Titans #12 the very next week.

Read the whole interview here.

I'm really excited to see Sean's take on TITANS!

I'm also guessing the new artist is either Joe Bennet (TERROR TITANS) or Mike Norton (who worked with Sean on Marvel's GRAVITY).

Titans #9 Preview

A preview for Titans #9 has been posted. It is due for release on Wednesday.

I'm wondering why Joey looks like he's 11 years old in this flashback.....

I'm still staying clear of this series until McKeever starts writing it....

Dan Didio Titans Answer

Dan Didio talks Titans in his 20 Questions segment. But he mostly talks about the Avengers. I'm not sure he truly answered the question, but here it is...

From Newsarama's bi-weekly “20 Answers, One Question” with DC Universe Executive Editor Dan Didio...

2. Let’s get into the larger plan for the Teen Titans and the larger Titans franchise. March sees the debut of the new Teen Titans lineup, which looks interesting in a “Let’s bring in the new guys” way. Since the Teen Titans have been in that mode a lot recently, let’s talk about that first – fan expectation and desire versus what you see as good story and shaking things up. Judging by feedback, at least by what we see at Newsarama, if Teen Titans fans had their way, any version of the team would have Robin, Wonder Girl, a Flash, and probably Superboy in it. This lineup doesn’t have that at all. What’s the thinking when you take a chance like that?

DD: The hope is that we’re telling stories that are exciting, and people are buying in to the Teen Titans franchise. The good thing is that when you have characters like Blue Beetle, Wonder Girl, Red Devil, Miss Martian and others that inhabit the world of the DC Universe, there’s no place else to see them other than the pages of Teen Titans. So we can take a lot of dramatic, storytelling chances with them and we can show a lot of things happening to them, without having to coordinate it through several books.

When characters like Robin or Kid Flash are not available at the moment, this gives us the chance to let these other characters open up, tell more story with them, and hopefully develop the same level of fanbase that Robin, Kid Flash and all the others did on their own terms. What happens is if those characters from the team’s other eras do return to the story, we can bring new readers back in, but also have the potential to spin off some of these other characters, if we’ve been successful in building a fanbase for them.

I hate to say it, and it gets me in trouble, but I have to use my Marvel reference with this one again – from what I understand and what I’ve read, Avengers, with Iron Man, Hulk and Thor wasn’t nearly as possible as it was when they introduced the team of Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. They were supporting characters at best at the time, and they were all considered villains, but they came into the Avengers team, and because they weren’t appearing anywhere else, they were able to tell these incredible stories with them that caught everyone’s interest, and the book really took off at that point.

What I always hope, and what’s always the hope, is that we can take some of our supporting cast members and be able to tell strong, compelling stories with them, and hopefully people will get as excited about them as they did with the characters as they did with those in Avengers, years ago. What we’re seeing more and more, and this isn’t a surprise to anyone, is that it’s getting harder and harder to introduce a character in their own solo book or series if they don’t get the sampling that we hope for from readers. But if we start them, or put them in a series which we know has a pre-sold quality like Teen Titans of Justice League, the hope is that the people who buy Teen Titans and Justice League will read these books, enjoy these characters, and want to see more with them, even if it’s outside of those series. That’s what we’re always striving for.

PREVIEW: Terror Titans #4

DC Comics has provided Newsarama with an exclusive preview of this week's Terror Titans #4, featuring Static's first full appearance in the DCU. The solicitation for the issue reads: Written by Sean McKeever; Art and cover by Joe Bennett and Jack Jadson The hidden champion of the Dark Side club is revealed – Milestone's own Static, in his shocking introduction to the modern DC Universe! Since proving too powerful for the confines of the Club, Static has been kept under lock, key and heavy sedation in its basement cells. Now he's unleashed against Ravager as her ultimate

Check out the preview here!