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The Protector |
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| Alias: Jason Hart |
| Titans Ally |
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| Protector Quick Bio: High school student Jason Hart became alarmed at the nation's growing drug problem. Allied with the Teen Titans, resourceful Jason became the crime-fighter known as The Protector and took to the streets to wage a war on illegal narcotics. |
In DC Who's Who Update 1987 [1987]: DC Comics gives The Protector his own Who's Who entry (below), in an attempt to reconcile his appearance, although he never appeared outside the Drug Issues in any serious way.
History: Young high school student Jason Hart watched helplessly as his young cousin, Ted, slowly became a drug addict. Nothing Jason or any member of his family could do would convince Ted that he was wasting his life, ruining his health and getting involved in criminal activities with disreputable people. Ted distrusted his family intensely because of a past wrong he felt they'd inflicted on him, and tried to stay away from his relatives altogether, plunging himself into his new lifestyle all the more.
Desperate for sway to show Ted that he was in deep trouble, Jason Hart remembered that his cousin was once a big comics fan. He thought that if a family member couldn't talk to Ted, maybe a Batman-type super-hero could. He adopted the guise of the Protector, seeking to help his cousin.
The masquerade backfired, however, when, through a long chain of events, Jason had to pretend to actually be a super-hero, and actually protect his cousin from drug dealers who were looking to exploit Ted.
When the story eventually broke, it came to the attention of Nightwing, who rewarded Jason with an honorary membership in the New Teen Titans, and an intensive training course that would make him equal to the task of working with that heroic team.
Additional Note: A character who looked like the Protector attended Matt Logan's membership drive in Titans Secret Files #2.
The Protector possesses no super-powers and carries no weapons. A skilled fighter and an agile athlete, he is similar in prowess and stamina to Nightwing, although he lacks the experience and cynicism of his mentor.
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Drug Awareness Giveaways
The New Teen Titans #1 (Drug Awareness Giveaway) (1983)
Story by Marv Wolfman with art by George Pérez.
The New Teen Titans #2 (Drug Awareness Giveaway) (1983)
Story by Marv Wolfman with art by Ross Andru.
The New Teen Titans #3 (Drug Awareness Giveaway) (1983)
Story by Marv Wolfman with art by Adrian Gonzales; scripted by Joey Cavalieri.
Drug Awareness Giveaways: The Teen Titans has definitely become a phenomenon! The US Government saw the potential of the characters and along with DC and other corporate sponsors published three anti-drug comic books which have been sent all across the United States. Other countries have asked for those books to be published in their languages. This comic is a special giveaway intended for distribution in schools, and published in cooperation with the President's Drug Awareness Campaign.
Hanna-Barbera Anti-Drug Commercial [1983]: "Sometime this season you'll be seeing The Titans all over the TV tube. Tying in with our special anti-drug comic, Hanna-Barbera will be unleashing a one-minute Titans anti-drug cartoon spot which should be shown on all three networks, most likely during Saturday morning. There will also be 30-second and 20-second version of the public service announcement. We received a call from their design department, asking for a whole slew of George's designs, so the Titans should look just about perfect."
DC Who's Who Update 1987 [1987]: DC Comics gives The Protector his own Who's Who entry (above), in an attempt to reconcile his appearance, although he never appeared outside the Drug Issues in any serious way.
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. Terra finally finds out exactly who she is...though the truth may not be what she wanted to hear. Geo-Force learns her DNA matches the original Terra! Contains profile pages showcase the new Titans lineup, and new villains - including the Hangmen and Epsilon. Additional Note: A character who looked like the Protector attended Matt Logan's membership drive in the Titans LA story.
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Character design for
the animated Protector |
Marv & George on the Protector
1983 saw the publication of a very special Teen Titans book. It made its debut, not on newsstands, but as part of a kit distributed to schools around the country. The kit was co-produced by DC Comics, Inc., and the Keebler in President Reagan's drug awareness campaign. Its goal was to inform schoolchildren (in particular, fourth graders) about the dangers of drug abuse.
In place of Robin, a character called The Protector served as Titans' leader.
Marv Wolfman: "One problem cropped up with the book as Wolfman and Titans artist George Pérez began work on it: Robin, the leader of The Teen Titans, couldn't be used. "This book was being sponsored by Keebler, and Robin was already licensed by Nabisco. So I came up with a new character, The Protector. We already had the art done, so Dave Manak did all the corrections to turn Robin into The Protector. He looks pretty much as I envisioned him, except where his costume is purple, I had originally wanted black."
George Pérez: "But the only other change was that Robin was drawn and inked as leader of the TEEN TITANS because of an incredibly ridiculous bit of trouble with licensing. Keebler, the cookie company, was sponsoring the first drug book, and through the licensing of superhero cookies, Robin was licensed to Nabisco. So we couldn't use Robin on a Keebler-licensed product, even though it was a totally different type of marketing. Dave Manak - who was editing that book - whited out the entire costuming on Robin and drew this costume they quickly designed, and renamed him The Protector. So you have The Protector doing all the Robin-type things, like flying the T-jet, and giving all the orders - and who is this guy? Every single pose he's in, that was Robin in the original pose. Anyone who has the original artwork can see all the whiteout on that Protector figure and, if you hold it up to the light, you' can see Robin's costume underneath."
DC Comics later gave The Protector his own Who's Who entry (above), in an attempt to reconcile his appearance, although he never appeared outside the Drug Issues in any serious way.
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The New Teen Titans Anti-Drug Commercial
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An ultra-rare cel from the New Teen Titans commercial.
The character designs for the proposed animated series
would have looked something like this.
[click on image to enlarge] |
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1983 saw the publication of a very special Teen Titans book. It made its debut, not on newsstands, but as part of a kit distributed to schools around the country. The kit was co-produced by DC Comics, Inc., and the Keebler Company for use in President Reagan's drug awareness campaign. Its goal was to inform schoolchildren (in particular, fourth graders) about the dangers of drug abuse.
Originally, the head of the White House drug program approached DC because he had wanted to use one of their better-known characters such as Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman. But those characters were tied up in other projects at the time. Instead, DC recommended The New Teen Titans, the company's best-selling title. The program heads were shown Wolfman's two-issue story dealing with runaway children and were impressed. Best of all, they realized The Titans would appeal most strongly to the age group they wished to reach.
Hanna Barbera produced a 60-second anti-drug spot in the early eighties using these six characters. It was the only animated appearance of the New Teen Titans.
Marv Wolfman, from New Teen Titans #41 letter's page: "Sometime this season you'll be seeing The Titans all over the TV tube. Tying in with our special anti-drug comic, Hanna-Barbera will be unleashing a one-minute Titans anti-drug cartoon spot which should be shown on all three networks, most likely during Saturday morning. There will also be 30-second and 20-second version of the public service announcement. We received a call from their design department, asking for a whole slew of George's designs, so the Titans should look just about perfect."
The commercial also included the Protector, who appeared in the anti-drug comic book.
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