25th Anniversary of Teen Titans at San Diego Comic-Con 2005

25th Anniversary of Teen Titans--Twenty-five! They're supposed to be teens! Either way, they star in one of the most enduring titles DC Comics has published in the last 40 years. Starting with the first incarnation in the 60s and 70s and moving through their groundbreaking series in the 80s co-created by Marv Wolfman and George PÈrez, the Titans are back again as a hit book! Marv Wolfman will moderates this panel featuring Titans writers and artists past and present, including the legendary Nick Cardy, artist on a memorable run of the first Teen Titans series; Barbara Kesel, former editor of the Teen Titans; Geoff Johns, current writer of the Titans' tales; and Glen Murakami, producer of the Teen Titans animated show, appearing on Cartoon Network and produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

Barbara Kesel and Nick Cardy

Barbara Kesel moderated the panel of Titans creators past and present!

Legendary Titans artist Nick Cardy was in attendance. He said his only regret was not giving the Titans members distinctive silhouettes when he first drew them. He also joked how fans remember all his work in great detail by saying, "You know more about this stuff than I do. I'm lucky if I can remember what I had for breakfast!" Nick cited Wonder Girl as his favorite Titan. "I always liked drawing the girl," he noted. Marv Wolfman gave Cardy much praise. He said he wouldn't have been interested in writing Titans if it wasn't for the work Nick had done on the book.

Marv Wolfman said he had fun reinvigorating the book in 1980 with George Pérez. He praised George as a creative partner who "always brought more to the table." Marv mentioned New Teen Titans #8 as a particular turning point in the series. In that issue, George added much to the personality of the characters, particularly Cyborg. Wolfman said Wonder Girl was his favorite of the old Titans... But out of the Titans he created, Raven was his favorite.

A fan asked Marv why he thought the Titans didn't live up to the popularity of the X-Men in the late 80s, when it once rivaled them in sales. Marv said he never looked at the Titans as an X-Men-type concept. "If anything, it was more Fantastic Four." He said he developed a very 'family' type atmosphere in the book. Also, he was aware when creating the book, to give it many places to go. Starfire gave space epics. Raven gave mystical/magic stories. And Cyborg had more high-tech sci-fi. And so on. That way, it never gets dull.

Wolfman also cited the lack of spin-off titles as one reason the Titans never matched X-Men. Also, the direct-only format ended up making the book less accessible.

When asked about the Graphic Novel GAMES, Marv answered, "I have no idea what is happening with that." He hasn't seen any new art.

Marv Wolfman, Geoff Johns and Glen Murakami

Another fan asked about the status of the Elseworlds Bob Haney book. Nick Cardy began remembering the plot - which consisted of President Kennedy being kidnapped by aliens. He said that when DC saw it, "It looked a little too far out." Upon hearing the description of the comic, Glen Murakami joked, "We have to figure out a way to do that as an episode!"

Glen Murakami talked a bit about how the comics were a springboard for the show he developed for Cartoon Network. "On my part, I wanted to make a show that was different," he said. "Titans was meant to be a bit of an experiment." He thinks of it as a combination of the Nick Cardy 60's era and the Wolfman/Pérez 80s era.

Glen answered a few questions from the crowd. A fan asked about how the special webisode postopia.com episode came about. Glen wasn't sure where it began, but he did say "we'd love to try to get that on one of the DVDs." Another fan asked if Batman would ever appear on the show and Glen answered, "No. It's not happening." Ditto on an appearance from Wonder Girl. "I wish we could do Wonder Girl," he noted. Licensing issues are preventing an appearance from Donna Troy in any form! Glen cited Robin as his favorite Titan.

Glen did give some teasers about season five. "The line-up will be expanding," he explained. He also mentioned that Doom Patrol will be appearing, as will Ding Dong Daddy. Glen mentioned there's no word on whether or not there will be a season six of Teen Titans.

Geoff Johns mentioned that he had conversations with Sam Register when the tv show was in development. When he found out the cartoon team was going to be based on the West Coast, he decided to do the same thing in the comic book series. A fan asked "What were the reasons behind killing Omen?" and Geoff answered cryptically, "I don't know. But characters don't always stay dead..." Another fan asked where Donna would be after the Crisis. Geoff couldn't say what team she would be on. But he did say she plays a very important role in Crisis. Geoff also mentioned his favorite Titan was Cyborg.

I asked what we could expect in the upcoming year of TEEN TITANS, and Geoff offered some hints: The line-up will be shaken up a bit. There will be new members, some revisions of current teen characters, and a change in direction after the Crisis. Red Hood will be showing up in #29 looking for Tim. Nightwing will be showing up for two issues around #31-32. Doom Patrol will be appearing [which begs the question... "WHICH Doom Patrol?]. And finally, Titans East is coming! But don't expect Titans East to have their own series--- it will all be part of the book. Geoff said that he thought after almost three years, the book needed to be shaken up a bit. And he was excited to introduce some new elements to the mix.