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Vox |
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Formerly: Guardian, Hornblower, Herald
Alias: Mal Duncan |
Titans Member
Joined: Teen Titans [first series] #26 |
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| Vox Quick Bio: Streetwise Mal Duncan was invited to join the Titans by Loren Jupiter. Mal later adopted the identity of the Herald when his girlfriend Karen Beecher helped fashion a dimension-opening Gabriel's Horn for him. When a horrible accident fused Mal's sub-sonic weapons to his body, he adopted the name Vox and joined the Doom Patrol. |
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ABOVE: Mal Duncan
RIGHT: Mal as Herald |
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Mal as Vox |
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Mal Duncan |
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Herald |
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Vox |
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Mal & the Titans
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BELOW: Mal makes his debut and defends his sister,
Cindy in TEEN TITANS #26 [1970].
LEFT: Mal joins the Teen Titans in that same issue. |
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Malcolm (Mal) Arnold Duncan met the Teen Titans on the streets of Harlem. The Titans were in New York in their civilian identities pending the resolution of the Dr. Swenson incident, when they saw Mal take on the Hell's Hawks, a racist gang that was hassling Mal's kid sister, Cindy. Seeing that he was outnumbered, the Titans helped out, and Mal began associating with them on a regular basis.
The Titans and the streetwise Mal slowly became friends. They exchanged secret identities with him and inducted him into the group. Once the Titans resumed their super-powered exploits, Mal felt out of place.
On one occasion, while the Titans were off on an overseas case, Mal fiddled with the Titans' new computer and accidentally released the Gargoyle, an old foe of the Titans, from Limbo. Although Mal drove him back into Limbo, the Gargoyle had already put a computer program into the Titans' mainframe that would give Mal the knowledge to construct the Gabriel Horn. Unfortunately, the program was also designed to open a rift from Limbo to Earth each time Mal, as the Herald, used the horn. Soon after this incident, the Titans disbanded.
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Karen Beecher makes her costumed debut as
Bumblebee in TEEN TITANS #48 [1977]. |
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Mal and Karen attend Donna Troy's wedding
in TALES OF THE TEEN TITANS #50 [1984]. |
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Here Comes Bumblebee
Between Titan groups, Mal met Karen Beecher, a librarian in New York. Together they developed the Gabriel Horn and fell in love. Mal also volunteered to keep the equipment running at Titans' Lair. Mal rejoined the second version of the Teen Titans as the Herald, and remained a member until the group's dissolution.
When the second version of the Titans broke up, Mal and Karen married and moved to the West Coast, where Mal became a novelist as well as the owner of a West Coast version of Gabriel's Horn, a nightclub where he sometimes played trumpet. This new place was located on Lombardi Street in San Francisco. The Farmingdale version of Gabriel's Horn was closed, and there is an unsubstantiated rumor that it is now a New Age crystal shop.
By the time the third version of the Titans was formed, the Herald had retired from super-heroics . Although he and Karen (Bumblebee) have assisted the Titans on a few cases, and even a short-lived revival of Titans West, he remained in retirement.
Mal later discovered a drawback to his Gabriel Horn; Gargoyle had corrupted Mal Duncan's computer-programed Gabriel's Horn, so that each time Mal used it, the fabric of limbo would be slightly torn. The cumulative effect would break the barrier between limbo and earth and free Gargoyle and Antithesis. The Titans discovered this, and Mal destroyed his Gabriel Horn, thwarting the evil pair once again
Herald aided the Titans again during the Technis Imperative conflict, which involved the Justice League as well as all Titans, past and present. Having collected a planet-size assortment of technological debris, Cyberion journeyed to Earth to turn its moon into a new Technis world and populate it with his Titans allies. The JLA and the Titans first clashed, then united, to prevent Cyberion from destroying the planet while saving Vic's soul and downloading it into Minion's morphing battlesuit, the Omegadrome.
During the battle, Vic recreated a virtual version of Mal's Gabriel Horn.
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Mal learns the Gabriel Horn was tearing apart the doorway to limbo
in SECRET ORIGINS ANNUAL #3 [1989]. |
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| Mal's new Gabriel Horn from JLA/TITANS #2 [1998] |
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Later, Beast Boy's obnoxious cousin Matt took it upon himself to hold a membership drive party for an all-new Titans West. Gar reluctantly agreed to have the team re-form, and Titans West was re-dubbed Titans L.A. - with members that included Beast Boy, Flamebird, Herald, Bumblebee, Terra, Hero Cruz, Captain Marvel Jr. and Bushido. But Titans L.A. was over before it even began; No one had any real devotion to the team.
Karen and Mal lived in San Francisco and made themselves available when the Titans needed them. Mal ran a small restaurant and coffee house called The Buzz, while Karen continued to work at S.T.A.R. Labs as an engineer and designer for non-lethal weapons.
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Mal's transformation into
Vox is explained in TEEN TITANS
(third series) #36 [2006]. |
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Doomed
When Troia gathered together a team of heroes for a space mission during the Infinite Crisis, she recruited Herald and Bumblebee. But during their mission, Karen and Mal became irrevocably transformed. Herald's sub-sonic weapons blew up in his face, which required his vocal chords and lungs to be replaced with circuitry. Unable to speak, Mal assumed the codename Vox and found his dimension-opening Gabriel Horn was now a part of him. Meanwhile, Bumblebee was irradiated with a strange kind of energy which caused her to shrink down to six-inch height. Trapped at this size, the diminutive heroine must take special meds to keep her tiny heart from going into cardiac arrest.
Bumblebee and Vox may not have survived their transformations without the intervention of the Chief, the mysterious genius who founded the bizarre super-team known as the Doom Patrol. Rescued from near-death, Bumblebee and Vox elected to join the Doom Patro and stay at Dayton Manor in Prague.
Herald constructed the Gabriel Horn, with the help of Karen Beecher (Bumblebee). The horn is able to open portals through space. Herald is also skilled in hand-to-hand combat.
When a horrible accident fused Mal's sub-sonic weapons to his body, the attributes of the dimension-opening Gabriel Horn became a part of Mal himself. Unable to speak, Mal's bionic circuitry can control sound and open space portals by speaking through his cybernetic implants.
Secret Origins Annual #3 [1989], DC Secret Files, supplemented by titanstower.com
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Teen Titans #26-27 [1970]: Mal joins Mr. Jupiter's training program and learns the Teen Titans' secret identities in this story. After training in Mr. Jupiter's survival course, the former Titans are assigned to a field exercise: to survive in "Hell's Corner," a tough inner-city neighborhood. Mal is recruited by the Titans and joins Mr. Jupiter's program, but feeling unworthy, tries to prove himself by stowing away aboard an experimental rocket flight. The other Titans undertake a space flight and retrieve Mal. Malcolm "Mal" Duncan's first appearance in issue #26. Mal joins the Titans.
Teen Titans #35 [1971]: Second Story: While the Teen Titans are on an overseas case, Mal is minding Titans' Lair when the Gargoyle is accidentally released from his banishment in Limbo; Mal proves himself a hero by sending the Gargoyle back.
Teen Titans #45 [1976]: Mal receives Gabriel Horn and becomes Hornblower. Mal, after an argument with the other Titans, is caught in a blast set by the Wreckers and finds himself in a contest for his very life with Azrael, the Angel of Death. He believes this to have been a mere hallucination until he awakens to find himself in possession of a mystic horn given him by the angel Gabriel. Gabriel's horn, when blown, gives him unspecified powers to use whenever the odds are against him in battle. First appearance of Karen Beecher, Mal's girlfriend.
Teen Titans #48 [1977]: First appearance of Karen Beecher as Bumblebee.
Tales of the Teen Titans #50 [1985]: Donna Troy and Terry Long wed this issue. Appearances by just about every Titan, past and present.
Secret Origins Annual #3 [1989]: Dick Grayson's dream are invaded by the Antithesis, who seeks to break Dick's spirit so that he will remain in Limbo; Dick survives with the help of old and new Titans alike. The Special gives a post-Crisis history of the Titans, including some revamps and revisions. Includes: First Appearance of Flame-Bird (Post-Crisis ret-con of Bat-Girl); First Appearance of Herald (Post Crisis ret-con of Hornblower and Guardian); First Appearance of Golden Eagle's new costume; Includes Who's Who entries for Flamebird, Golden Eagle, Bumblebee, The Herald, Antithesis, and Gargoyle. First Post-Crisis version of Mal Duncan.
Hawk & Dove Annual (second series) # 1 [1990]: featured a brief reunion of Titans West. A mysterious note to Dawn Granger leads to Hawk and Dove teaming up with the old Titans West crew, with Hawk, Dove, Flamebird, Bumblebee, Mal, Golden Eagle and Chris "Dial H" King forming a rag-tag Titans West team.
The Titans Secret Files #2 [2000]: It's the debut of Titans LA in an astonishing all-new Special. Whether he wants it or not, Beast Boy finds himself saddled with a new West Coast branch of the Titans. But it may be the new team's final appearance as well if Fear and Loathing and the madcap Harlequin have their say. First Titans L.A. Titans LA members include Beast Boy, Flamebird, Herald, Bumblebee, Terra, Hero Cruz, and Captain Marvel Jr.
Teen Titans (third series) #34-37 [2006]: One Year Later, it's "The New Teen Titans!" A new year of exciting adventures begins with the "new" Teen Titans and the bizarre Doom Patrol. Bumblebee and Vox first seen as members of the Doom Patrol in issue #35. Their transformations are explained in issue #36.
Herald/Vox Timeline: Closing the “One Year Later” Gap
DC's "One Year Later" event occurred March of 2006. In Teen Titans #33, Superboy and Nightwing are in the thick of the Infinite Crisis world-shattering event. With Teen Titans #34, a full year has passed since the Crisis. The events of that "missing year" were revealed in various DC books throughout 2006-2007. Here’s a list of major events revealed during the “Missing Year:”
 Donna Troy leads a group of heroes on a mission in outer space during the Infinite Crisis. After a horrible accident with the Zeta Beam, Starfire, Cyborg, Herald and Bumblebee are missing in space. [IC #1-7]
Herald, Bumblebee and Cyborg return to earth with several lost heroes; Herald's Gabriel Horn has merged in his body while Red Tornado's speaker apparatus has become imbedded in his chest. Bumblebee has shrunk to 6 inches high. Cyborg has been merged with Firestorm. [52w4-5, TT #36]
After Mal Duncan and Karen Beecher partially recover, the Chief invites them to join the Doom Patrol as Vox and Bumblebee. [TT #36]
Black Adam ignites World War III. [52w49] Black Adam takes down the Doom Patrol - Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, Robotman, Mento, Vox and Bumblebee - in Italy. [WWIIIp1: A CALL TO ARMS]
"One Year Later" begins. The Teen Titans and the Doom Patrol team up to stop the Brotherhood of Evil. [TT #35-37]
For a complete timeline of the "one year gap," click here.
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Crisis Ripples in the Titansverse
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| THE TEEN TITANS: PRE-CRISIS |
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The Crisis on Infinite Earths: It was the end of everything! Countless universes were erased from existence in a spreading tide of antimatter unleashed by the Anti-Monitor, a being of undiluted hate birthed at the moment of creation. Watching helpless as the otherworldly Spectre grappled with the Anti-Monitor, those heroes witnessed the rebirth of a single universe, with one Earth and one unified reality. In the final conflict, the Anti-Monitor sent this reborn Earth to the antimatter universe, where the greatest assemblage of super-humans ever known ended his threat for all time - though continuity in the DC Universe was forever altered in his wake.
Many Titans characters' histories were altered by continuity-changing CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. Most notably, Donna Troy. Also affected were Dick Grayson, Lilith, Mal Duncan, Harlequin, Gnarrk, Bat-Girl/Flamebird, Golden Eagle, and Kole. Other characters have had elements of their back stories refined, but nothing has been severely altered or negated [such as additions like the Flash Year One arc or speed force revelations].
See Secret Origins Annual #3 [the post-Crisis origin of the team], New Titans #50-55 [Who Is Wonder Girl?] and New Titans #56 [a Titans flashback with Gnarrk] for the major post-Crisis revisions that effect the Titans-verse.
Golden Eagle: Golden Eagle's costume has been retroactively revised. Also, rather than receiving his gear from Hawkman (as detailed in Justice League of America #116-117), the origin of Charlie Parker's Golden Eagle armor remained a mystery. These changes are detailed in Secret Origins Annual #3. A revised Who's Who entry appears in that same issue.
Mal Duncan Continuity Clarification
Mal Duncan, Pre-Crisis:
1. Received the mythical Gabriel's Horn from the Angel Gabriel, and became the costumed hero, Hornblower.
2. Assumed the costumed identity of The Guardian for a time.
Mal Duncan, Current Continuity:
1. Developed the Gabriel Horn with his technical-minded girlfriend, Karen Beecher - and became the Herald.
2. Never assumed the costumed identity of The Guardian.
Mal Duncan Pre-Crisis History
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Mal as the Guardian in
TEEN TITANS #44 [1977]. |
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Mal Duncan [Pre-Crisis] is also known as The Guardian(II) and Hornblower
First appearance: Teen Titans #26
Origin: Teen Titans #26 (as Mal); Teen Titans #44 (as Guardian II); Teen Titans #45 (as Hornblower)
A seemingly ordinary young resident of "Hell's Corner," a tough inner-city neighborhood, Mal Duncan possessed no special powers beyond his quick wits and the pugilistic skills he had developed as an amateur boxer when the Teen Titans first encountered him while on a mission under the direction of Mr. Jupiter. Despite his initial feelings of unworthiness, the black youth was recruited by the team and joined Mr. Jupiter's special program, figuring prominently in subsequent Titans cases.
During the first period of Titans inactivity, Mal was selected to keep watch over the group's headquarters and equipment until such time as they should resume operations. It was during this two-year period that he met and became engaged to Karen Beecher. When the reassembled Titans were captured by Dr. Light, Mal used a strength-increasing exoskeleton and the costume once worn by Speedy's late uncle to take on the identity of the 1940s super-hero, the Guardian, and to rescue his teammates. Soon afterward, he was given a magical horn by a being calling himself the angel Gabriel, which bestowed unspecified mystic powers upon him when blown. He briefly assumed a second costumed identity as the Hornblower using this weapon, but dropped this role when the magic horn mysteriously vanished, and when it became known that Mal and Hornblower were one and the same. Resuming his Guardian identity, he remained active with the Teen Titans until they disbanded for the second time.
Sometime after this, he and Karen helped Jimmy Olsen and the Newsboy Legion determine the fate of Jim Harper, the original Guardian, and learned how the former hero's uniform came into the possession of his nephew, Speedy. Mal, as the Guardian, has teamed with Karen, in her identity as the Bumblebee, but both eventually retired from super-heroics
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 Mal, the Non-Super Titan
In 1968, Dick Giordano edited the TEEN TITANS. Change was everywhere.
In TT #25 (February, 1970) the Titans failed to prevent the killing of Dr. Arthur Swenson, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Their guilt over the failure was further magnified by the reactions of their adult counterparts in the JLA, who virtually accused them of the murder. At that point, Mr. Jupiter, "the richest man in the world," entered the Titans' lives with an opportunity to absolve themselves of their guilt: he asked the Titans to give up their costumes and powers and to come to work with him "to challenge the unknown in man... the mystery of riots, prejudice, greed." Robin declared he had a previous commitment to go to college "to find out for myself what I want to be" and so left the group. The others-Wonder Girl, Speedy, Kid Flash, and guest-stars The Hawk and The Dove-left with the mysterious Lilith to undergo training in Jupiter's survival course.
In the following issue, they were joined by Mal Duncan, the first black Teen Titan. But non-costumed, non-super-powered Titans were apparently too drab for the readers because by TT #28, the changes were partly reversed, with the costumes, Robin, and even Aqualad all returning.
Mal remained a non-powered Titan until the series was cancelled with TEEN TITANS #43.
Though gone, the series was not forgotten. The issues of DC SuperStars and Super-Team Family reprinting Teen Titans stories sold so well that Managing Editor Joe Orlando convinced DC's new publisher, Jenette Kahn, that, the team deserved a second chance. In late 1976, the series resumed with #44 (November) featuring a story by Paul Levitz and Bob Rozakis.
The team consisted of Robin, Speedy, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Mal (as The Guardian) and, with #45, Aqualad. In the revival issue, it was revealed that the group had broken up when Mr. Jupiter "closed up shop." (This was the new series' only mention of him.)
As Robin stated, "those of us with individual careers had to pursue them." The boy wonder had remained in college, Wonder Girl still lived with Sharon Tracy, Speedy had recovered from his addiction to heroin (Green Lantern #85-86), and the others had continued life as usual. The whereabouts of Lilith, Gnarrk, and The Hawk and The Dove were said to be unknown.
During the period the group was disbanded, Mal had checked weekly on the equipment that had been donated to the Titans by Mr. Jupiter. It was during one of those checks that the Titans' emergency signal was activated and so brought the group together once again. The signal, it turned out, had been part of a trap laid by Dr. Light so that he could capture the Titans and use them as bait in a scheme to destroy the Justice League.
Mal Gets Super
'With an exo-skeleton (first seen in Batman #192) and the original Guardian's costume (both from the Titans' souvenir collection), Mal became The Guardian. In his new super-heroic identity, Mal easily defeated Dr. Light and rescued his fellow Titans. This was a highly effective story. It reintroduced the characters and simultaneously rekindled interest in the series. By having the Titans battle a mainstream DC villain, Levitz and Rozakis gave the story a more realistic feeling as well.
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A 2005 commission of Mal as Guardian
by 1970's Teen Titans artist, Rich Buckler. |
With the next issue, Julius Schwartz took over as editor with Bob Rozakis, by himself, as the book's regular writer. This series, the second reincarnation of the Titans and the fourth major editorial shift, emphasized characterization and continuity more than any series previously. This Is also the most maligned Titans sequence-unjustly so, I feel.
Teen Titans #45 continued to develop the characters, especially Mal. He was given a girlfriend, Karen Beecher, and a superpower of his own. In a battle with Azrael, the angel of death, Mal won the ram's horn, or shofar, of the angel Gabriel. He was told that by blowing It he would become the equal of any opponent, but that he should use it only when the odds were against him.
In his first outing with the Titans, the Hornblower (as he came to be known) helped to prevent the Wreckers, an adult street gang, from blowing up the Wayne Foundation building. Bruce Wayne's reward was the financing of a new headquarters for the Teen Titans.
In Teen Titans #49 (August, 1977), the Titans' disco, Gabriel's Horn, finally opened. Mal switched back to his identity as The Guardian, saying that "too many people know that Mal Duncan-alias The Hornblower-is a member of the Teen Titans" but secretly thinking that he couldn't tell the others "the real reason for the change-that my horn has been stolen." That plotline, though, was never resolved.
Teen Titans #s 50-52 made the Titans into a 20th Century Legion of Super-Heroes. The Titans East (Robin, Speedy, Wonder Girl, Mal, Bumblebee, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Harlequin) met the Titans West (Hawk, Dove, Lilith, Gnarrk, Beast Boy, Golden Eagle, and Bat-Girl). But the budding plans for the Titans East /Titans West were nipped; #53 (February, 1978) was to be the final issue. As previously noted, it revealed the origin of the Titans and so did not follow up the theme of the two groups of Titans.
Sometime after this, Mal and Karen helped Jimmy Olsen and the Newsboy Legion determine the fate of Jim Harper, the original Guardian, and learned how the former hero's uniform came into the possession of his nephew, Speedy [Superman Family #191-193].
Early Retirement
Shortly after the second version of the Titans broke up, Mal and Karen married and moved to the West Coast, where Mal became a novelist as well as the owner of a West Coast version of Gabriel's Horn, a nightclub where he sometimes played trumpet. This new place was located on Lombardi Street in San Francisco. Mal and Karen attended Donna Troy's wedding in Tales of the Teen Titans #50.
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HERALD v DR. LIGHT
Art by Ariel Olivetti |
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Post-Crisis Revisions & The Destruction of the Gabriel Horn
Secret Origins Annual #3 featured the post-Crisis origin of the Titans. In that issue, Mal discovered a drawback to his Gabriel Horn; Gargoyle had corrupted Mal Duncan's computer-programed Gabriel's Horn, so that each time Mal used it, the fabric of limbo would be slightly torn. The cumulative effect would break the barrier between limbo and earth and free Gargoyle and Antithesis. The Titans discovered this, and Mal destroyed his Gabriel Horn, thwarting the evil pair once again.
In Secret Origins Annual #3, George Pérez told the post-Crisis history of the Titans. Pérez: "I'm writing a Secret Origins Annual of the Titans, while Marv writes the Titans Annual. My origin will establish the post-Crisis origin of the middle Titans; the one with Golden Eagle and Bumblebee. I'll establish who existed and who didn't, what powers they had, and how visually they might be different." Written by George Pérez with art by a series of artists (including Tom Grummett, Kevin Maguire& Karl Kesel, Colleen Doran & Romeo Tanghal, among others). The Special gives a post-Crisis history of the Titans, including some revamps and revisions. Includes: First Appearance of Flame-Bird (Post-Crisis Ret-con of Bat-Girl); First Appearance of Herald (Post Crisis Ret-con of Hornblower and Guardian); First Appearance of Golden Eagle's new costume; Includes Who's Who entries for Flamebird, Golden Eagle, Bumblebee, The Herald, Antithesis, and Gargoyle. It also details the group's history from the very beginning to present day in a story involving Antithesis and Gargoyle. This story takes place soon after The New Titans #56.
Hawk & Dove Annual [second series] # 1 (1990) featured a brief reunion of Titans West. A mysterious note to Dawn Granger leads to Hawk and Dove teaming up with the old Titans West crew, with Hawk, Dove, Flamebird, Bumblebee, Mal, Golden Eagle and Chris "Dial H" King forming a rag-tag Titans West team. Flamebird suggested reforming the team, but no one was interested.
A New Gabriel Horn: Mal Gets Super Again
In JLA/Titans #1-3, Herald aided the Titans again during the Technis Imperative conflict, which involved the Justice League as well as all Titans, past and present. Having collected a planet-size assortment of technological debris, Cyberion journeyed to Earth to turn its moon into a new Technis world and populate it with his Titans allies. The JLA and the Titans first clashed, then united, to prevent Cyberion from destroying the planet while saving Vic's soul and downloading it into Minion's morphing battlesuit, the Omegadrome.
During the battle, Vic recreated a virtual version of Mal's Gabriel Horn. Mal was free to become a super-hero again.
Doomed
Donna Troy led a group of heroes on a mission in outer space during the Infinite Crisis. After a horrible accident with the Zeta Beam, Starfire, Cyborg, Herald and Bumblebee were missing in space. Herald, Bumblebee and Cyborg returned to earth with several lost heroes; Herald's Gabriel Horn had merged in his body while Red Tornado's speaker apparatus had become imbedded in his chest. These events were detailed in Infinite Crisis #1-7 and 52: Week 4-5.
The rebooted Doom Patrol team made its debut in Teen Titans (third series) #35-36 [2006], when the Titans located Beast Boy – who had since returned to the Doom Patrol - at the bizarre Dayton Manor in Prague. Original members Robotman, Negative Man, Elasti-Girl, the Chief, Mento and Beast Boy were recently joined by former Titans Bumblebee and Vox (formerly Herald).
Unable to speak, Mal assumed the codename Vox and found his dimension-opening Gabriel Horn was now a part of him. Meanwhile, Bumblebee was irradiated with a strange kind of energy which caused her to shrink down to six-inch height. Bumblebee and Vox may not have survived their transformations without the intervention of the Chief, the mysterious genius who founded the bizarre super-team known as the Doom Patrol. Rescued from near-death, Bumblebee and Vox elected to join the Doom Patrol and stay at Dayton Manor in Prague. Bumblebee and Vox are first seen as members of the Doom Patrol in Teen Titans #35. Their transformations are explained in issue #36.
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Bob Rozakis on Mal Duncan
Bob Rozakis on Mal Duncan [from a titanstower.com interview]
titanstower: How did you decide on the team line-up?
Bob: It was pretty much decided based on the previous incarnation of the book. I added Karen Beecher (the Bumblebee) so that Mal would have a love interest.
titanstower: What were your plans for Mal? He changed quite a bit - from The Guardian persona, to Hornblower, then losing the Gabriel Horn (a plot point that didn't get resolved during your run...)
Bob: The resolution of the horn plot was to have been that Mal had hidden it himself because subconsciously he did not want to be a superhero. The Guardian identity was introduced in the first issue -- co-written by Paul Levitz and myself -- but when Julie Schwartz took over as editor with he second issue, he decided to dump that plotline, so we came up with the Gabriel's Horn identity.
titanstower: How did you come up with the idea for Bumblebee?
Bob: As I said, I had wanted to introduce a love interest for Mal and added Karen. Then we decided to make her into a superhero. And I had been planning to play with the concept that she got more and more into the idea of being a hero as Mal moved further and further away from it.
titanstower: So would Mal eventually give up super-heroing all together?
Bob: Yes, that was my plan... though at some point the Bumblebee would have gotten into some sort of situation that would have required Mal to be a hero once more.
Bob Rozakis on Mal Duncan [from The Titans Companion, 2005]
TTC: In the first issue with Julie Schwartz as editor, Mal stopped being the Guardian. Why did that happen?
BR: Julie hated the idea of using the Guardian costume and just making him a retread of a ‘40s character. Which was rather amusing, considering that Julie invented the Silver Age based on doing retreads of a bunch of ‘40s characters. But he decided he wanted to do something different with him, and that’s where we came up with the Gabriel’s Horn thing.
TTC: That issue had some pretty heavy topics in it for a quote unquote “kid’s comic.” The whole scene with Mal fighting the Angel of Death wasn’t exactly your standard super-hero fare.
BR: No, not really. [laughs]
TTC: You didn’t cut Mal much slack during your run. If he lost a single fight, he was dead!
BR: Well, that’s true. But I guess it made him tougher, right? What doesn’t kill you makes you tougher?
TTC: How were you going to resolve the mystery of Mal’s missing horn?
BR: He had hidden it himself. Subconsciously he did not want to be a super-hero. He did not want to be Hornblower. And as I remember, that costume that got designed for him was downright ugly, and who would want to be seen in it? But the resolution was going to be that he had hidden the horn himself, but he didn’t realize that he had done it.
TTC: Where did the idea of giving him Gabriel’s Horn come from, anyway?
BR: That was something Julie came up with.
TTC: He eventually ended up becoming the Guardian again, so I guess Julie must’ve changed his mind by then.
BR: I think Julie may not have been the editor by that point. It might’ve been Jack Harris by then.
The above excerpt is from The Titans Companion by Twomorrows Publishing.
Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the New Teen Titans, The Titans Companion is a comprehensive look at the history of the ultimate teen team - over 200 pages in all! From their early days in the 1960s as a team of teen sidekicks through their best-selling days in the 1980s and beyond, this book explores the history of the team through the eyes of its creators! Interviews with Marv Wolfman, George Pérez, Nick Cardy, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, and others reveal the evolution of the series over the years. While artwork by Cardy, Pérez, Adams, Garcia-Lopez, and many more illustrates each era of Titans history! To order the book, click here .
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