Wallace Takes "Titans" Down A Dark Path

CBR sat down with Eric Wallace to discuss the TITANS future:

Kicking off with the recently announced "Titans: Villains For Hire" one-shot and then ricocheting into the ongoing series with issue #24, Wallace and artist Fabrizio Fiorentino will be bringing a series of hard edged twists to the Titans franchise with an all-villain cast led by Deathstroke and featuring the Tatooed Man, Chesire and a few other mysterious surprises. "Call it the supervillain version of 'Inglourious Basterds' in a certain sense.

It's people with a very specific mission, and that mission becomes ridiculously clear in the special. Right out of the gate, you know what's going on. The big questions are how they accomplish it and what the consequences are once they have. Deathstroke leading the Titans is shocking, so you've got to ask yourself, 'Why would they follow him?' There is a reason. And there are hints even in the title of that first special."

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But beyond that early tease, Wallace remained quiet on the ins and outs of Slade Wilson's cast of miscreants, instead promising that what readers would get, regardless of the player, is a look into the deeper history that makes them who they are. "As much as I'd love to tell everybody the lineup, which has been finalized, I can't!

I will say, though, that in contrast to the big action, we're trying to create a very intense pace for this book. You'll see that from the team's first appearance – the intense nature of their mission. Juxtaposed in my first issue with the high action are going to be these incredibly personal stories. That's what we really learned of what worked in the Perez/Wolfman stories of the '80s and why they're so eternal. It's how much we got to know people on a personal level. That will remain true in a deep level for this new team."

Read the full interview here.

That one shot will probably decide the fate of the book; It's either going to hook readers, or turn off the remaining ones!

I think they've done themselves a disservice by calling it "TITANS." Done as a DEATHSTROKE mini-series, I think it'd be an easier sell. I just can't see any reason Slade would adopt the Titans name.