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Terra II |
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| Alias: "Tara Markov" |
Titans Member
first appeared as Team Titan in New Titans #79;
joined New Titans in New Titans #0 |
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Terra II Quick Bio: Originating from the underground world of Strata, a young girl was injected with the first Terra's DNA in a mission to protect the earth. But "Tara Markov's" memories became tampered when she became a time-tossed member of the Team Titans. Terra II feared she was the original Titans' traitor - but ultimately proved her heroism when she sacrificed her life trying to stop Black Adam's worldwide rampage. |
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TERRA II |
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Secrets Of The Underground
The second Terra's origin is
explained
in TERRA (mini-series) #4 [2008]. |
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Prior to the birth of man, a sole survivor of an alien race crashed to earth. Because of his volume and mass, the long-dead alien's arrival altered the very shape of the world. Centuries passed, and the space god sank deeper into the earth. The suit that protected it from space travel also managed to preserve its DNA, which caused an entire civilization to evolve inside the space god's corpse. This underground world became known as Strata.
The Council of Elders within Strata observed the development of mankind's surface dwellers for many years. Seeing the potential danger they posed to the world, the Stratans sought to send a protector to the surface. The Quixium metal that alters the genetics of all Stratans can give a rare few the power to move the very earth itself. The Council selected a Stratan female with such power and altered her genetics by replicating the DNA from the corpse of the original Tara Markov and merging it with the Stratan female. This new "Tara Markov" was sent to the surface world, in the hopes that presenting a familiar face would help the Stratan female blend in with the super-human community.
This Terra's mission became sidelined when she was abducted by the Time Trapper, who sought to recruit sleeper agents in an elaborate scheme to preserve the timestream from the evil machinations of Extant. To this end, he recruited "Terra II" and gave her false memory implants as a future freedom fighter from 10 years in the future.
| Terra breaks free of Chaos, as her false origin is recounted in TEAM TITANS #1 [1992]. |
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| The Team Titans mysterious leader gives the order to kill Troy in NEW TITANS #80 [1991]. |
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Gar Logan and Deathstroke
react to the second Terra in
TEAM TITANS #1 [1992]. |
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Geo-Force meets the second Terra in
OUTSIDERS #17 [1995] |
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Terra and the Team Titans
The time-tossed terraformer was placed as a hidden sleeper agent 10 years in the future. In that future timeline, a power-mad god named Lord Chaos ruled supreme. His tyranny was challenged only by the Team Titans, a group of freedom fighters founded by a leader with mysterious ties to the Titans of the past. In this world, the time-displaced Stratan female believed she was a nameless orphan girl injected with the original Terra's DNA, which granted her earth-manipulating abilities.
The second Terra - an exact doppelganger for the first - was placed as a spy within the Team Titans. But "Terra II" eventually fought Lord Chaos' brainwashing and in turn, betrayed him. Now a trusted member of the Team Titans, Terra II continued to fight for freedom in the future.
Back to the Past
Shortly thereafter, the Team Titans leader gave the team a mission: travel 10 years into the past to stop Chaos from ever being born. To accomplish this, the Teamers were assigned to kill Donna Troy before she would give birth to the child who would become Lord Chaos. The Teamers successfully arrived in the past and came into conflict with the Titans. Donna gave birth to her son before the Teamers could intervene. However, the Titans and the Team Titans were able to stop Chaos and spare Donna's life at the same time.
After this, the Teamers found themselves stranded in the past, unable to return to their future. With nowhere else to go, they resided at Donna Troy's New Jersey farmhouse. The Teamers tried to find a place in this new world. Tara also found herself attracted to Changeling, who was rather unnerved by her appearance.
Geo-Force also sought out Terra II to discern if the girl was his sister, somehow back from the grave. Geo-Force wanted to believe this well-meaning heroine was in fact, his sister, but the evidence presented at that time suggested otherwise. Blood relation or not, Geo-Force was proud to regard the time-tossed teen as his sister, Tara. In fact, he surmised that she was a better person than his real sister ever was.
Fight The Future
Soon, the Teamers lives were disrupted by the time crisis known as Zero Hour. It was then revealed that the Team Titans leader in the future was the villainous Extant - who created a false future world so he could train meta-humans - The Team Titans - to act as sleeper agent assassins. His mad plan to manipulate the timestream was thwarted by the heroes, but the false timelines collapsed - and all the Team Titans were erased from existence.
Two of the Time Trapper's original sleeper agents remained unscathed: Tara Markov (Terra II) and Miriam Delgado (Mirage). Shortly after joining Arsenal's new Titans team, the Time Trapper sent an orb to Mirage and Terra, revealing they both originated from the present - their entire future-life constructed from false memory implants. Having played their role during the Zero Hour time crisis, Time Trapper was prepared to reveal their true origins. The Trapper explained: "Terra, you come from this time period. I found you moments befo--". At that point, Terra destroyed the orb, not wanting to know the truth about her past.
| Terra gets the shock of her life in NEW TITANS ANNUAL #11 [1995] |
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Identity Crisis
Curious about the Time Trapper's message, Terra visited the first Terra's graveside soon after, only to find an empty coffin! With this new information, Terra II feared she may actually be the original Titans' traitor.
Shortly after this, the Titans group disbanded. Following that, Terra II took up residence in Markovia, the homeland of the original Terra. While staying in Markovia, Terra II had the Markovian scientists conduct a DNA test to discover, beyond a shadow of a doubt, if she was the original Terra. Her "brother" Geo-Force received the test results. He mercifully told Terra that the results are negative, when they were, in fact, postive.
Soon after, Gar Logan's obnoxious cousin Matt took it upon himself to hold a membership drive party for an all-new Titans West. Gar finally 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 LA was short-lived; Eventually, the new West Coast group of Titans dissolved before it even truly began.
| Terra fears the truth behind her DNA test in Titans Secret Files #2 [2000] |
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| Terra is brutally killed by Black Adam in WORLD WAR III: HELL IS FOR HEROES [2007]. |
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Rock Out
With the murders of Black Adam's innocent wife, Isis, and her brother, Osiris, The Black Marvel Family was destroyed. Seeking vengeance for those responsible, Black Adam cut a swath of destruction across the globe, igniting a world war.
In an attempt to stop Black Adam, Beast Boy and his rag-tag Titans team fought valiantly to contain his rampage. The battle had a terrible cost; Terra lost her life to Black Adam's fury. In the end, Terra proved she was nothing like the first Terra. She was a true hero.
Sadly, Terra II also died without learning her true origins. Since her death, a third Terra has emerged - a young girl named Atlee from the secret underground world where Terra II unknowingly originated.
Terra has control over the Earth and often flew on a chunk of rock to reach her destination. Terra can transform the consistency of earth and rock, cause earthquakes, tap into lava flows, and create shapes out of solid rock.
DC Secret Files, supplemented by titanstower.com
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New Titans #79 [1991]: Donna fades away with a mysterious figure [as part of a War of the Gods crossover]. Deathstroke, Dayton, Pantha, Phantasm and Arella plan their next move. Councilwoman Elizabeth Alderman begins her crusade against the Titans as a platform in her bid for mayor. A mysterious group of teenagers try to track down Donna Troy in an attempt to kill her. On the last page, one of those teenagers is revealed as Terra! This issue features the first appearance of the Team Titans. Story continued in New Titans Annual #7 [which establishes the backstory of the Team Titans].
New Titans Annual #7 and New Titans #80 [1991]: Waverider leaves an unconscious Nightwing to meet Joe Wilson, while in the future, a mysterious leader details his plans to his Team Titans: they will go back in time to eliminate Donna Troy before she can give birth to her son, who will turn out to be Lord Chaos. Lord Chaos vows to follow them to the past and insure his future.
New Titans #86-87 [1992]: The Team Titans continue to hunt Donna Troy while Lord Chaos, having seized control of a corporation, plots to stop them. Donna Troy learns she is pregnant. Terra II makes herself known to Changeling.
Total Chaos: New Titans #90-92, Team Titans #1-3, Deathstroke #14-16 [1992]: The Team Titans have been sent to the past to kill the pregnant Troia before she gives birth to her son, who could become a god-powered dictator named Lord Chaos in the future. The Team is defeated, and Troia, having lost her powers, gives birth to a normal baby boy. Mirage of the Team Titans kidnaps Starfire and impersonates her so that she can date Nightwing. Team Titans #1 is released in five different versions, but unlike variant cover gimmicks, all five are double-sized while selling for the regular price. Although all contain a common story, each also includes a different full-length origin story for a group member [Origins of Mirage, Terra II, Nightrider, Redwing and Killowat].
New Titans #0, 115 [1994]: Under government control, Arsenal leads a new team of Titans, including Impulse, Damage, Green Lantern, Darkstar, Mirage, and Terra. Government funded and based in New Jersey. Changeling betrays the team. First issue with new Titans members Terra II, Mirage, Impulse and Damage having already joined the team.
Outsiders #17 [1995]: Geo-Force comes to blows with Arsenal and Green Lantern when he demands to meet their teammate 'Terra', who looks exactly like his dead sister. Donna Troy [Darkstar] intervenes, breaks up the fight and convinces Terra II to talk to Geo-Force. Terra II tells Geo-Force she is not his sister, but before that can talk further she is captured by a giant robot. Geo-Force and the Titans later rescue Terra and learn she's been kidnapped by a Markovian group of scientists looking to duplicate her powers. Geo-Force and Terra II talk, and Geo-Force wants to get to know her, despite the fact she is not his real sister. Geo-Force later visits the first Terra's grave and tells her he is closer to the new Terra than he ever was with her.
New Titans Annual #11 [1995]: A YEAR ONE tale featuring Arsenal's Titans team. The Time Trapper reveals Mirage, Deathwing and Terra are all from this timeline. Mirage is a street urchin from Brazil. Terra destroys the Time Trapper's message before it reveals her origins, and later unearths the original Terra's coffin to find it empty. Minion adjusts to like on earth. Supergirl recounts how she first met Arsenal and when she was asked to join the 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. In another story, 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.
World War III: Hell Is For Heroes [2007]: The Titans - Beast Boy, Raven, Zatara, Offspring, Talon, Young Frankenstein, Hawk & Dove and Terra - confront a rampaging Black Adam in Greece. Black Adam brutally kills both Young Frankenstein and Terra. Death of Terra II.
Terra (mini-series) #3-4 [2008]: The all-new Terra is forced to take the wounded Geo-Force to Strata - the secret underground city where she was born - for medical aid. Once there, she explains her connection to the second Terra, as Geo-Force grants her permission to use the "Terra" name. To preserve the secrets of Strata, however, the Council of Elders are forced to erase Geo-Force's memories of his time in the underground world. Origin of Terra II and Terra III revealed in issues #3 and 4.
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Three Origins of Terra II |
One of the more controversial elements of the Team Titans was the inclusion of Terra, patterned after the character who died after betraying the Teen Titans. In her published history, Terra II would encounter origin convolusions that would make even Donna Troy's head spin.
Origin One: The Girl From The Future
| Lord Chaos creates a new Terra in TEAM TITANS #1 [1992]. |
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"All I can say is that this is somebody named Terra who has similar powers, though not identical. She looks the same, and answers to that name, but it's very clearly said in the last Titans Annual that this is not the same Terra. The explanations for all that are coming at some point-I've got them roughly worked out. It is not Tara Markov, [the Terra] who was killed. What she is and why she answers to the name Terra, how she got her powers and why she looks the same is all part of the story. Titans fans may get angry at things, but we we never lied to them."
– Marv Wolfman
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A 2007 convention sketch of Terra by NEW TITANS artist, Kerry Gammill,
who helped to introduce the Team Titans in NEW TITANS #80. |
The Origin: Ten years in the future, a group of freedom fighters known as the Team Titans were all that prevented Lord Chaos from ruling supreme. In an attempt to crush these rebels, Lord Chaos schemed to plant a spy in their group and infiltrate them from within. Chaos' men broke into a rebel hospital, and kidnapped a girl who bore a passing resemblance to the original Tara Markov. Chaos extracted the residual DNA from the first Tara's bones and injected it into the girl, giving her earth powers like the original Terra. His scientists then planted false memories in her brain, so she believed herself to be the daughter of Brion Markov. As a final touch, the doctors gave her plastic surgery, making her a dead ringer for the original Terra.
This "Tara Markov" was brainwashed into serving Chaos and planted in the Team Titans as a spy. Before she could reveal their location, however, the Team Titans discovered her duplicity. The Teamers cured tara's mind, thus freeing her of her false memory implants as the daughter of Brion Markov. And with the help of super-computer Prestor Jon, they also cured her of the DNA deterioration caused by Chaos' experimentation. Now free of her brainwashing, Terra II became a freedom fighter alongside the Team Titans.
Read It For Yourself In:
New Titans Annual #7
Team Titans #1 (Terra Edition)
The second Terra first appeared in New Titans #79 [1991] in a last-page shocker. It wasn't long before her origin was told in Team Titans #1 [1993]. Marv Wolfman was intrigued by the idea of a Terra doppelganger, but was adament about the original Terra remaining dead.
Origin Two: The Bitch Is Back
| Terra gets the shock of her life in NEW TITANS ANNUAL #11 [1995] |
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"The editor at the time [Pat Garrahy] insisted we do that story. I didn't want to, even though it was agreed on in advance the new Terra would NOT be related in any way to the old. I just didn't see any reason to bring it up again. At about this time I asked off the title. My contract brought me to issue #130 and I saw no reason to bring up the Terra situation again in the limited time we had. "
– Marv Wolfman
The Origin: The Time Trapper sought to recruit secret sleeper agents in an scheme to preserve the timestream from Extant's machinations. To this end, he recruited "Terra II" from the present, wiped her memories, and sent her ten years into the future for safe hiding. After helping the heroes prevent the cosmic cataclysm known as Zero Hour, Terra II was horrified to find the original Terra's coffin empty - and was then haunted by the fact that she was very likely the psychotic traitor to the Titans.
Read It For Yourself In:
New Titans Annual #11
Titans Secret Files #2
The first hints that Terra II was actually the original Terra started in New Titans Annual #11 [2005]. No doubt then-editor Pat Garrahy was intrigued with the notion of bringing back the original Terra - and exploring whether she was was truly "rotten to the core." But when the series ended with New Titans #130, the Terra identity crisis became dangling plot thread.
The storyline was brought up again in Titans Secret Files #2. In one short story written by Geoff Johns and Ben Raab, Terra II gets a DNA test to determine whether she is the "real" Terra or not. Sparing his sister the troubling news, Geo-Force tells her the result is negative, even though the tests reveal a positive match. At the time, there were plans for a Titans L.A. 8-issue maxi-series by Geoff Johns and Ben Raab. When asked about Terra II's true identity, Geoff replied, "We were going to deal with them in Titans L.A. -- part of the main focus of the mini. Unfortunately, it's been left open-ended. Hopefully another writer will pick up on it someday."
Origin Three: She Came From Beneath
The second Terra's origin is
explained
in TERRA (mini-series) #4 [2008]. |
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"DC wanted a new Terra. [...] Somehow, we're going to figure out how all those Terras tie together. We came up with a real basic premise. They are all connected. Their powers are all the same, but their attitudes are completely different."
– Jimmy Palmiotti
The Origin: The secret underground world of Strata, growing concerned with the potential danger of the surface world, sought to send a protector to the surface. The Quixium metal that alters the genetics of all Stratans can give a rare few the power to move the very earth itself. The Council selected a Stratan female with such power and altered her genetics by replicating the DNA from the corpse of the original Tara Markov and merging it with the Stratan female.
This new "Tara Markov" was sent to the surface world, in the hopes that presenting a familiar face would help the Stratan female blend in with the super-human community. This Terra's mission became sidelined when she was abducted by the Time Trapper and given false memories as a future freedom-fighter, in an elaborate scheme to preserve the timestream.
Read It For Yourself In:
Terra (mini-series) #3-4
The all-new Terra was co-created by writing partners Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and designed by artist Amanda Conner. With black hair and a sunny disposition, this new Terra was a conceptual departure from the first two identical-looking smart-mouthed blondes. So what connection does this hew heroine have to Terras past? The honest answer is.... none, at first. "We brought in the idea for a new character and after a few months of back and forth we were asked [by Dan Didio] if we could take elements from that character and apply her to bringing a new Terra to the DCU," explained Terra co-creator Justin Gray.
The truths behind the all-new Terra were eventually revealed in her own self-titled mini-series in 2008. Terra #1-4 explained the origins of Terra III and Terra II, as both were revealed as originating from the secret underground world of Strata.
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Team Titans Series Overview
Team Titans #1 to 24, September 1992 to September 1994
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| The Team Titans - From DC Cosmic Teams Card Set, 1993 |
The Future Is Now
The "Titans Hunt" storyline included the introduction of the Team Titans, a group of time-tossed teenagers from a bleak future ruled by Lord Chaos. Introduced in New Titans #79 [1991], a mysterious group of teenagers was trying to track down Donna Troy in an attempt to kill her. On the last page, the Team Titans membership is revealed: Mirage, Redwing, Nightrider, Killowat - and Terra! This last page shocker was followed-up in New Titans Annual #7, where the alternate future world of the Team Titans was established. Given orders by a mysterious leader, The Team Titans were sent back in time to eliminate Donna Troy before she could give birth to her son, who will turn out to be Lord Chaos. The Teamers' arrival in the present is detailed in New Titans #80.
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A 2002 convention sketch of Terra
by TEAM TITANS artist, Kevin Maguire. |
When the Team Titans were created for the 1991 New Titans Annual, writer Marv Wolfman said he had no idea that the group would get their own title. Editor Jonathan Peterson suggested that the annual feature Nightwing leading a Titans group in the future. "I didn't just want to have him lead a group fighting Monarch, and I realized it would be more exciting to develop a parallel story," recalled Wolfman. "Rarely can you come up with many characters all at once that work, but in this case, all the characters and their origins jelled quickly. It was very much like when I did the original Teen Titans group. They came one right after another. The Team Titans were all designed by [artist] Tom Grummett, and we realized we had more than an annual story. There was immediate interest at DC, because the characters worked. So, we figured out a way to bring these characters back into our present."
The Team Titans continued to track Donna Troy in New Titans #85-89 [1992], as Terra II made herself known to Changeling - while Mirage made her own plans to win the heart of Nightwing. As Donna's pregnancy accelerated, it led into a final three-way conflict with the Team Titans, New Titans and Lord Chaos. Team Titans #1-3 featured a crossover with New Titans #90-92 and Deathstroke #14-16 called "Total Chaos." The Team Titans first clashed and then teamed up with the Titans to ultimately defeat Lord Chaos.
Team Titans was written by Marv Wolfman and #1-3 featured art by Kevin Maguire. Later, art chores were assumed by Phil Jimenez with issue #7. Wolfman left the title with issue #12.
Wolfman later reflected on his Team Titans tenure in a titanstower.com interview: " Jonathan Peterson asked me to do a one-shot annual featuring these alternate universe characters. I came up with them for a one-shot only and somehow they get put into their own book. Had I known that was going to happen I would have spent a lot more time working on them so they could sustain a book. I never thought they should be their own title as they were a one-note concept. The Team Titans title was not one of my favorites. I did like the individual members, though, and I really liked what I did with their origin stories. It's just the book itself never should have been published."
X-Force-Fitting The Team Titans
Extant's manipulations of the
Team Titans unfold in ZERO HOUR [1994] |
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Jeff Jensen and Phil Jimenez co-wrote the book starting with #13 until its cancellation with #24 [1994]. The last few issues of the book featured art by Terry Dodson.
The book seemed to be conceived as an answer to Marvel's popular X-Force, with its teenage warriors and tough drill sergeant mentor/leader (Battalion subbing for X-Force's Cable). The concept never caught on with readers and the book was ultimately canceled. The Team Titans' fate was revealed in Zero Hour, where their timeline collapsed, thus erasing all the characters from existence (except Terra, Mirage and Deathwing).
Jimenez later reflected of his Team Titans tenure on an AOL chat: "I signed on to do a particular kind of self-aware, kitschy project while the higher ups wanted the new X-Force - and everything we had planned got screwed up by Zero Hour - none of which were particularly good for the team, DC Comics, or my career. We had originally intended to explore various things with the Team; Mirage's psycho pregnancy; Killowat's subtle racism, the possibility that Terra was a lesbian earth elemental. Kole was Marv's doing, not mine and we had to explain her away. In our original plan, the Team Titans were from an alternate time line and Terra was that time line's Earth elemental and she was going to be a lesbian."
"Mirage was going to go nuts during her pregnancy, and try to shape change it out of existence and it would be invulnerable to that, and she'd eventually kill herself. Mirage was never a favorite. But I found the drama of her after-rape period ripe with possibilities."
"We were going to explore the Joker's Daughter angle. We were going to find out that the Joker's Daughter was insane - that her memories of the Titans (now non-continuity) were just ravings in her head. She was going to steal the Time Commander's hourglass and reshape Manhattan into the island that she remembered, recreating a 70's world of heroes, villains, and icons that the Titans would find themselves in."
Alternate Futures
The Team Titans seemed full of possibilities - and missed opportunities. Kole returned in the pages of Team Titans only to mysteriously disappear. Phil Jimenez's plans for the book were contrary to DC's vision. The Joker's Daughter appeared in issue #13 - and was never seen again. And then there's the Team Titans leader...
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A 2004 convention sketch of Terra
by TEAM TITANS artist, Phil Jimenez. |
The idea of Monarch as the leader of the Team Titans seemed like a last minute Zero Hour shuffle - and it was. Phil Jimenez revealed as much, "We were told to write that this second Kole, as well as nearly every other character we introduced in Team Titans, was a creation of Extant/Monarch, in order to lead the Titans down the path they would need to be super-powered assassins. So Kole was nothing more than an Extant-created construct."
But who was intended as the original Team Titans leader? It was actually the much-loathed Danny Chase. "That was part of the idea of making Danny Chase tolerable," editor Jonathan Peterson admitted in a 2005 interview with titanstower.com. "We could make him like John Conner from Terminator 2. He goes from whiny kid to leader of the rebellion."
Perhaps the most interesting angle to the Team Titans was editor Jonathan Peterson's original plan, " I thought, if Marvel has X-Men and New Mutants, we should do the same, so Marv said, “Okay, so we’ll have a new Teen Titans,” and then Kevin Maguire suggested we alter it, and call it Team Titans. "
"[...] I wanted to get the Teen Titans back, so I explained my whacked out idea. I really wanted Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Changeling, Raven, Starfire and Cyborg back to what they were originally, so I wanted to do an alternate dimension or timeline, and I turned to Kevin and said “You get to launch an all-new Titans book and design them from the ground up.” Not only that, but this alternate universe would have an alternate young Robin, and alternate young Starfire and all the rest. The plan for Team Titans was a secret one. With the first Team Titans Annual, or at the end of the first 12 issues, I told Kevin he would then be re-launching the Teen Titans with alternate versions of the core-seven members."
"My plan there was to have those members slowly grow in those twelve issues. They would grow or move on or be phased out. That would lead into the first Annual. That Annual would introduce our alternate [universe], younger Teen Titans. The book would change it’s title to Teen Titans and feature the alternate, younger versions of those core-seven Titans. That was the plan."
Short List of Notable Appearances
Team Titans #1-24
Team Titans Annual #1-2
New Titans #79-80, 85-92
New Titans Annual #7
Deathstroke #14-16
Zero Hour #0-4
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The Tale of Three Terras
In 1983, DC Comics introduced a powerful and tragic character with Terra. In 1991, DC shocked readers with the "return" of Terra - or was it? In 2007, DC introduced a third mysterious Terra. So, what's the story behind all these Terras? And how are they connected? Read on, mudslingers....
The First Terra:
Tara Markov |
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The first Terra appeared in the classic New Teen Titans #26 [1982]. Changeling met Terra on top of the Statue of Liberty, which she was trying to destroy. A confused and troubled runaway, Terra (Tara Markov) was persuaded to seek sanctuary at Titans Tower in New Teen Titans #28 [1983]. In issue #30, Terra even joined the group as a full-fledged Titan.
Although smart-mouthed and full of attitude, Terra charmed her way into Changeling's (and readers') hearts. Only Raven sensed something was disturbing about the girl's backstory. In the pivotal New Teen Titans #34 [1983], the mud hit the fan. After staging a battle with Deathstroke, Terra later met with him in secret, revealing herself as his accomplice in his contract with the H.I.V.E. Readers were stunned - and that's just the way Marv Wolfman and George Pérez planned it all along.
Marv recalls, "George and I knew exactly where it was going. She was set up specifically to make the readers think that we were doing a Kitty Pryde story [laughs], and then suddenly switch it on them when it was revealed she was a traitor. Lead the readers to think that she was going to reform, as every person has ever done here. Then, of course, not only not have her reform, but have her die. The reader was, we hope, taken by surprise."
Readers were indeed taken by surprise. Terra remained a member of the team, as readers were still left in the dark about Terra's motivations. The events of New Teen Titans #39 [1984] made it even harder for fans to believe that Terra may be a sheep in wolf's clothing. In that issue, a tarted-up Tara was shown plotting the Titans' demise while enjoying a post-coital smoke. Terra was literally sleeping with the enemy. And after a brutal training excercize with Slade, Terra denounced "cute girl super-heroes" and vowed to kill all the "sanctimonious do-gooders." Suddenly, hopes for Terra's reform seemed slim, at best.
George Pérez even designed Terra in a way that would mislead readers: "I deliberately used all the things to make her as likeable and cute as possible, so people would never believe we were going to kill a sixteen-year-old. And she was a sixteen-year-old sociopath. She was one of our cleverest gimmicks; we deliberately created her in order to lead everyone astray."
The final pages of NEW TEEN TITANS #34 [1983]
revealed Terra as a traitor. |
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Terra and Slade plot against the Titans in
NEW TEEN TITANS #39 [1984] |
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The story culminated in the classic "Judas Contract" 4-parter in Tales of the Teen Titans #42-44 and Tales of the Teen Titans Annual #3 [1984]. Terra gives her collected information on the Titans to Deathstroke, who captured each of the teen heroes and delivers them to the H.I.V.E. Eventually, the group was rescued by Dick Grayson (in his debut as Nightwing) and Jericho. During the battle, Terra loses her tenuous grip on sanity, and not even Raven could ease her troubled mind. Ultimately, Terra's own rage consumed her, as she buried herself in a mountain of debris.
Marv later reflected on the storyline in his online "What The--?" column: "Only mistake I think I made with him is having [Deatshtroke] have a physical relationship with the 16 year old Tara Markov. That was wrong. [...] George and I wanted a Titan who betrayed the others. We also wanted to play against every reader conception of who characters are. George and I knew her whole story before we began and we knew she would die. We set the story up with her trying to destroy the Statue of Liberty to show she was the bad girl, but we knew if George drew her as a cute kid everyone would simply assume she would be "turned" from the dark side because that's the way it was always done which is why that wouldn't be the way we did it. Tara was insane and stayed that way right until the moment she died."
And she was indeed dead.
If there was any doubt, the latter's column of Tales of the Teen Titans #47 [1984] put it to rest, in Marv's own words: "We received a number of letters pointing out that Terra's brother, Geo-force, had died and because he was buried in the earth he was able to return to life. The assumption here is that Terra, too, will soon be leaving the grave for a return visit. Sorry, but young Tara is gone. To the literally hundreds of you who begged us to bring her back - we can't. This death is not reversible."
"To those who understood her death or at least accepted it, thank you for your comments. A little over 2 years ago, George and I worked out the full Terra storyline, including the finale. We'd been working toward that story all that time, trying to make certain that we didn't, in the meantime, fall so in love with our character that we decided to reverse her ultimate fate. It was hard, almost impossible, not to care for Terra even though we knw how evil she was. Sometimes, just sometimes, mind you, certain characters take on a life and existence of their own despite anything you do. Terra was one of those characters."
"At any rate, Terra is gone and we go on. But the effects of Terra's death are far from over, and they will continue to haunt the Titans for months to come."
Or, perhaps, years to come. Eight years later, to be exact.
Short list of notable appearances:
New Teen Titans #26, 28-39
Tales of the Teen Titans #40-44, 55, Annual #3
New Teen Titans (second series) Annual #1
Batman and the Outsiders #5
World's Finest #300
The Second Terra: "Tara Markov" |
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In 1991, Jonathan Peterson took over as editor of New Titans. Feeling the title had become complascent, Peterson wanted the "shake things up" in a bold new storyline that would offers massive changes, shocks and surprises. New characters would be introduced, and older characters would be given massive overhauls. The ambitious storyline - dubbed "Titans Hunt" - began in New Titans #71 [1991].
During a "Titans Summit" with the entire creative team, everyone was encouraged to brainstorm bold ideas for the series. Peterson recalls, "They went through lists of Titans stuff they could redo or bring back, and then we thought, we could bring back Terra!" Peterson adds, "Bringing her back was interesting because that was Marv's idea. I remember Marv saying the death of Terra was one of the biggest mail surges. We definitely wanted someone in Team Titans to anchor the group to Titans history, and that was the first one Marv latched onto and ran with."
Terra's "return" began in New Titans #79 [1991], where a mysterious group of teenagers stalked Donna Troy. The last page revealed one of those 5 mysterious teenagers was none other than Terra! The storyline was continued in New Titans Annual #7 and New Titans #80 [1991], which introduced the Team Titans, a band of freedom fighters from 10 years in the future.
Marv was entertained by the idea of using this new Terra: "I also liked how she could upset the apple cart in the present: What it does to her relationship with Changeling, what it does to Deathstroke-who had a 16-year-old kid for a lover for a brief time, back when he was a little more vicious; what it does to everything! Terra is a wild card, because even she doesn't know some of her own programming, or who she was in her time period. I was pleased with the character's addition from the shock value to the readers to making it work correctly without bringing back the original Terra or making her [the Outsiders'] Geo-Force's daughter. This uses everything."
So if the new Terra wasn't the previous Terra, then who was she? And why did she look exactly like Terra? The answers were revealed when the Team Titans were launched into their own series. Terra's origin was revealed in Team Titans #1: A nameless orphan girl was injected with the original Terra's DNA and planted as a spy within the Team Titans. In a twist of fate, this Terra chose the right path and joined the Titans to become a freedom fighter. Marv recalls: "The Terra from Team Titans was - as stated - some kid the villain kidnapped and physically and mentally altered her into looking and acting like the original. But she was NEVER the real Terra."
This remained true for the duration of the Team Titans series, which ended with #24. With the onset of Zero Hour, many DC series were restarted and relaunched. In an effort to streamline the Titan franchise, the entire Team Titans timeline was erased, leaving only Terra and Mirage as surviving members. Both former Teamers joined the Titans in New Titans #0 and #115.
The Time Trapper reveals the truth: Terra, Mirage and Deathwing are from this timeline!
From NEW TITANS ANNUAL #11 [1995]. |
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While Marv was insistant that the first Terra remain dead, New Titans editor Pat Garrahy had his own ideas. In New Titans Annual #11, the Time Trapper appears and tells Mirage and Terra they did not originate from a false future timeline, but from the present timeline instead. Before the Time Trapper can reveal the second Terra's origins, she destroys the mesage orb recording. Plagued with doubt, Terra 2 unearths the original Terra's coffin and finds it empty. The story seemed to suggest that Terra 2 was actually Terra 1, somehow still alive and wiped of her memories. The news leaves Terra 2 shaken and disturbed. Could she somehow be the psychotic, original Tara Markov?
Marv Wolfman later revealed the genesis of the plotline: "The editor at the time [Pat Garrahy] insisted we do that story. I didn't want to, even though it was agreed on in advance the new Terra would NOT be related in any way to the old. I just didn't see any reason to bring it up again. At about this time I asked off the title. My contract brought me to issue #130 and I saw no reason to bring up the Terra situation again in the limited time we had. "
With New Titans canceled with issue #130, Terra 2's next major appearnce was in the pages of The Titans Secret Files #2 [2000] - in not one, but two stories. In one short story written by Geoff Johns and Ben Raab, Terra 2 gets a DNA test to determine whether she is the "real" Terra or not. Sparing his sister the troubling news, Geo-Force tells her the result is negative, even though the tests reveal a positive match. In the second story, Gar's cousin Matt Logan holds a membership drive for a new Titans West Coast team. Terra joind the new team - dubbed Titans L.A - along with Beast Boy, Flamebird, Herald, Bumblebee, and Captain Marvel Jr. and Hero Cruz.
At the time, there were plans for a Titans L.A. 8-issue maxi-series by Geoff Johns and Ben Raab. The two Secret Files stories served as a tease to that. Geoff Johns revealed in a 2002 interview with titanstower.com: "Ben and I had pitch in for a Titans L.A. maxi-series that never got off the ground. It would've been fun, but it's dead. dead. dead." When asked about Terra 2's true identity, Geoff replied, "We were going to deal with them in Titans L.A. -- part of the main focus of the mini. Unfortunately, it's been left open-ended. Hopefully another writer will pick up on it someday."
A card for DC's VS Trading Card Series:
Terra 2's final costume. |
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The DNA match - along with the empty coffin - seemed more proof that Terra 2 was indeed Terra 1.
Marv Wolfman, in a recent interview, weighed in on the subject of Terra: "By the way, she IS dead. I don't know what other writers will do with her - if anything - but if they want to honor the original series they will leave her dead."
Terra 2 would never learn the answers to her mysterious past. As she still pondered her own identity, yet a third Terra made her debut in the pages of Supergirl #12 in 2007. To pave way for another rock-slinging teen heroine, Terra 2 met her abrupt demise in World War III: Hell Is For Heroes [2007] at the hands of Black Adam. In the end, the second Terra proved she was nothing like the first Terra. She died a true hero.
Short list of notable appearances:
New Titans #79-80, 85-96, 100, 0, 115-130
New Titans Annual #7, 11
The Titans $ell-Out $pecial #1
Team Titans #1-24
Team Titans Annual #1-2
Titans Secret Files #1-2
Deathstroke #14-16, 45, 46, 48-50
Outsiders #17
Zero Hour #0-4
Teen Titans (third series) #17-19
World War III: Hell Is For Heroes
Supergirl #12 [2007] finds the Girl of Steel down in the dumps - and no match for a monster that's using her emotions as a weapon. This looks like a job for a Terra, a mysterious new hero whose very steps make the ground tremble to make her presence known to the world. Hey, wait a sec... new hero? Wasn't she dead? And wasn't there another one? Good questions.
The all-new Terra was co-created by writing partners Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and designed by artist Amanda Conner. With black hair and a sunny disposition, this new Terra was a conceptual departure from the first two identical-looking smart-mouthed blondes. So what connection does this hew heroine have to Terras past? The honest answer is.... none, at first. "We brought in the idea for a new character and after a few months of back and forth we were asked [by Dan Didio] if we could take elements from that character and apply her to bringing a new Terra to the DCU," explained Terra co-creator Justin Gray.
Jimmy Palmiotti talked about the origins of the all-new Terra on a STUN! (http://stunpodcast.wordpress.com) podcast: "DC wanted a new Terra. [...] Somehow, we're going to figure out how all those Terras tie together. We came up with a real basic premise. They are all connected. Their powers are all the same, but their attitudes are completely different."
"The new Terra sort of has the sensibilities of Superman. [...] She has a real super-hero sensibility. There's no doubt [in her mind], unlike the other two Terras, who both had some psychological stuff going on. In this mini series, we explain them out. We explain who they are, where they came from and what they have in common with the new Terra. And then we say, "go." So by the [last] issue, we launch her out. And that's for another writer to work on her in another book."
The truths behind the all-new Terra were eventually revealed in her own self-titled mini-series in 2008.
The third Terra was actually a young girl named Atlee who was born in the underground world known as Strata. The Council of Elders, believing the surface world could pose a threat to them, sought to send its own protector to the surface. The Quixium metal that alters the genetics of all Stratans can give a rare few the power to move the very earth itself. Atlee had such geo-morphing skills that she was selected as Strata's protector - a role she takes quite seriously.
The second and third Terras are explained
in TERRA (mini-series) #4 [2008]. |
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It was also revealed that the second Terra was Strata's first protector. The Council selected a Stratan female with earth-moving abilities and altered her genetics by replicating the DNA from the corpse of the original Tara Markov. This new "Tara Markov" was sent to the surface world, in the hopes that presenting a familiar face would help the Stratan female blend in with the super-human community.
There were some initial ideas about "explaining away" the mental instability of the first Terra - as well as connecting all theTerras and Geo-Force to Strata. In Terra #2 and #3, Atlee makes some comments about how the combination of Quixium with human DNA could cause mental instability, as it did in the first two Terras. This element was changed by the time issue #4 was written. Justin Gray explains: "The second Terra was from Strata the first [was not]. Terra 1 stays as she is in DC Universe: Last Will & Testament [2008]. The brain damage was part of the initial story before DC Universe: Last Will & Testament that connected all three Terras and Geo-Force to Strata, the book needed to be changed to reflect DC Universe: Last Will & Testament, the double ship made changes to issue #2 impossible. It happens and we all did what we could to make it work."
The creators of the all-new Terra hopes new and old fans will give her a chance. Explains Jimmy, "We're beyond trying to please all of the people on this one and are focusing on how what went before would nicely fit into what we are establishing now. It's a wonderful jigsaw puzzle that makes sense once all is said and done. [...] it will be a roller coaster for Terra's original fans and we hope an exciting and visually appealing story for all new comers.
Justin adds, "We've been working with Terra for months and months trying to find and develop what's special about her. In the end it was a very simple angle, make Terra a superhero with plenty of emphasis on heroism."
Short list of notable appearances:
Supergirl #12
Terra (mini-series) #1-4
Terror Titans (mini-series) #1-6
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