What do you think?
DC Anniversary Celebrations
Teen Titans: A Celebration of 50 Years
50 years ago, there was already a Justice League, comprised of the world's greatest heroes including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and The Flash. But what of their teen sidekicks Robin, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash? Hearing the groundswell of popularity for these heroes, DC Comics created the Teen Titans, an adolescent group of crimefighters whose presence completely changed the genre.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published November 11, 2014
About the author
Marv Wolfman
2,288 books310 followersMarvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 2, 2015
I got into the Teen Titans in the 80s and 90s, so it was great to revisit those decades. What makes this collection so cool is seeing the growth of the characters and the story lines as the times changed. Also-it contains the first comic that the original Teen Titans appeared in, before they were actually the Teen Titans.
July 17, 2015
Great summary/history on the Teen Titans
November 28, 2022
When there's trouble, you certainly know who to call...
TEEN TITANS!!
To this very day, Teen Titans is considered one of DC Comics' most beloved comix. If you are fans of the 2003-2006 American animated series Teen Titans (created by Sam Register), like me, you must read these comix! I know it has an issue for Teen Titans GO! (which I dislike and am truly aware of how much controversy it has gained, as it obviously deviates from the original series), as well as an issue for Tiny Titans (which also deviates strongly from the original series as well, only worse), but still, this collection is awesome! I loved the original Teen Titans as a kid, and I still do to this day. I always remembered seeing it on CN (Cartoon Network) and Kids' WB (which I miss so very much, along with Fox Kids), and always loving the characters and the kick-ass action. The TV series, interestingly, is based on the New Teen Titans comix that began in the early 1980s (some ishes of which are included in this collection). The second season focused on The Judas Contract arc, and the fourth season was based on The Terror of Trigon. In other words, each season focuses heavily on a specific Titan and their character development: Season One focused on Robin (my favorite original character) and his obsession with defeating Slade; Season Two focused on the temporary Titan Terra, whom Beast Boy falls in love with; Season Three focused on Cyborg (my favorite character in the New Teen Titans) and his grudge against the H.I.V.E. leader, Brother Blood; Season Four focused on Raven and her evil father, the demon lord Trigon; Season Five focused on Beast Boy and his maturing into a fine hero as foes from his past resurface to destroy all young heroes; and the feature film Trouble in Tokyo focused on Starfire and her relationship with Robin as the Titans face off against a Japanese crime lord and the foe that's controlling him; however, out of all the main characters, Starfire never got a whole season focused on her (the Trouble in Tokyo movie notwithstanding).
These comix offer a proper blend of humor and action, most of the humor being witty and hilarious. All the titans have their very own personality, making 'em unique in their own ways, hence they themselves get a lot of character development. The characters always use good chemistry, for the most part. The popularity of Raven in Teen Titans brought her so much new popularity that DC resurrected her in the comics. Several original villains were made just for the show, such as Billy Numerous, Cinderblock, The Amazing Mumbo, Control Freak and Red X; who would eventually make their way into official DC Comics canon thanks to the show. Some of the villains are rather likable, especially Jinx, who eventually turned good in the final season of the TV show. Slade is arguably one of the most terrifying villains in cartoon history, especially thanks to his manipulative nature and machinations.
This is an essential DC comix collection for all Comic Book Guys everywhere, especially if you love the Teen Titans TV show (but not Teen Titans GO!). You will want to read all ishes contained herein (while ignoring Tiny Titans and Teen Titans GO!). This is one of my all-time favorite superhero comix. Okay, now I'm only gonna say this once if you want to read this: BOO-YAH! HA! HA! It's GO! time now, so forget Teen Titans GO! now and make it to the nearest comic book seller and ask for this. Do. It. Now. (But don't do it if you think Teen Titans GO! is awesome...)
To this very day, Teen Titans is considered one of DC Comics' most beloved comix. If you are fans of the 2003-2006 American animated series Teen Titans (created by Sam Register), like me, you must read these comix! I know it has an issue for Teen Titans GO! (which I dislike and am truly aware of how much controversy it has gained, as it obviously deviates from the original series), as well as an issue for Tiny Titans (which also deviates strongly from the original series as well, only worse), but still, this collection is awesome! I loved the original Teen Titans as a kid, and I still do to this day. I always remembered seeing it on CN (Cartoon Network) and Kids' WB (which I miss so very much, along with Fox Kids), and always loving the characters and the kick-ass action. The TV series, interestingly, is based on the New Teen Titans comix that began in the early 1980s (some ishes of which are included in this collection). The second season focused on The Judas Contract arc, and the fourth season was based on The Terror of Trigon. In other words, each season focuses heavily on a specific Titan and their character development: Season One focused on Robin (my favorite original character) and his obsession with defeating Slade; Season Two focused on the temporary Titan Terra, whom Beast Boy falls in love with; Season Three focused on Cyborg (my favorite character in the New Teen Titans) and his grudge against the H.I.V.E. leader, Brother Blood; Season Four focused on Raven and her evil father, the demon lord Trigon; Season Five focused on Beast Boy and his maturing into a fine hero as foes from his past resurface to destroy all young heroes; and the feature film Trouble in Tokyo focused on Starfire and her relationship with Robin as the Titans face off against a Japanese crime lord and the foe that's controlling him; however, out of all the main characters, Starfire never got a whole season focused on her (the Trouble in Tokyo movie notwithstanding).
These comix offer a proper blend of humor and action, most of the humor being witty and hilarious. All the titans have their very own personality, making 'em unique in their own ways, hence they themselves get a lot of character development. The characters always use good chemistry, for the most part. The popularity of Raven in Teen Titans brought her so much new popularity that DC resurrected her in the comics. Several original villains were made just for the show, such as Billy Numerous, Cinderblock, The Amazing Mumbo, Control Freak and Red X; who would eventually make their way into official DC Comics canon thanks to the show. Some of the villains are rather likable, especially Jinx, who eventually turned good in the final season of the TV show. Slade is arguably one of the most terrifying villains in cartoon history, especially thanks to his manipulative nature and machinations.
This is an essential DC comix collection for all Comic Book Guys everywhere, especially if you love the Teen Titans TV show (but not Teen Titans GO!). You will want to read all ishes contained herein (while ignoring Tiny Titans and Teen Titans GO!). This is one of my all-time favorite superhero comix. Okay, now I'm only gonna say this once if you want to read this: BOO-YAH! HA! HA! It's GO! time now, so forget Teen Titans GO! now and make it to the nearest comic book seller and ask for this. Do. It. Now. (But don't do it if you think Teen Titans GO! is awesome...)
September 12, 2021
I love these collections. It's so cool to see how the a certain character (or, in this case, team of characters) changes over the decades. And boy, has Teen Titans seen its fair share of changes! I loved the short history lessons introducing each section, and I walked away from this book with some books/writers/story lines of which I want to read more. (Particularly Geoff Johns' Teen Titans and I want to get back into the original Young Justice--I only read one volume and keep meaning to read more and just haven't.) It's a shame, though, that "Teen Titans Go!" is a part of the Teen Titans legacy. I read the comic, which the introduction explained introduced younger audiences to the characters, but... so did the very first comic in this book. The difference? One treated kids like they had intelligence and the other... is honestly just straight up annoying. (Guess which is which.) Alas... at least there are still strong Teen Titans stories still going. (Even if I don't love everything DC is doing with the characters *cough*Damian*cough* at least it's not... "Teen Titans Go!" *shudders*)
May 28, 2021
I'm giving this collection three stars because there was some good stories in there - but I'm also not giving this more stars because they literally had 50 years of comics to choose from and I honestly think this is not a good collection. There are way better stories with the Teen Titans that could have been featured here (for example, instead of Judas Contract ft. pedophile Slade Wilson) and they could have also made more sense.
I am glad they are doing these celebration collections but they could put a bit more effort into it.
I am glad they are doing these celebration collections but they could put a bit more effort into it.
May 25, 2021
Wonderful as a crash course on the history of Teen Titans. Contains notable stories and their various lineups.
March 22, 2018
Teen Titans: A Celebration of 50 Years is a compilation of some of the most notable Teen Titans stories over the years to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary debut of one of the most famous teams in the DC Universe (2014). Over the years, there were many teams named Teen Titans and for the most part, I liked most of them. Each team is distinctive and showcased a myriad of characters that I wouldn't have normally want to read about.
Growing up, Teen Titans have always been one of my favorite teams – more than even the Justice League. For one thing, Robin has been for the most part the leader of the team and I've always been a Robin fanatic. Secondly, they're a group of superhero/vigilante heroes that banded together to hang out and to fight crime, which resonated more with me than any other team.
This anthology is divided into five sections, separate mainly in part by team rosters. The first part is dedicated to the original Teen Titans – the very first team – the Fab Five, led by Dick Grayson as Robin; the second part focuses on the second Teen Titans also lead by Dick Grayson as Robin and eventually Nightwing; the third part splits its focuses on the third Teen Titans led by Ray Palmer as The Atom and Young Justice led by Tim Drake as Robin; the fourth section features the next generations of Teen Titans led by Tim Drake as Robin; and the final section is a hodgepodge of stories featuring the team in various incarnations throughout the DC Multiverse.
I do not envy the story selector's job – it must have been a Herculean Task and then some. The difficulty of choosing issues for this collection is to showcase the team as a whole evenly, which for the most cases it does somewhat successfully. Most stories features one of the teammates as lead with most of the other teammates as backup – it is fairly rare that there are stories that feature just the team itself.
Story selection was problematic at best – even with four hundred pages it doesn't give the scope to let us know the various teams better – it gives us a taste, but nothing more. In some cases, the stories chosen were a part of a larger story arc which begins or ends with a cliff-hanger with no information on how they got there or left hanging on how it will end. This collection is more of an introductory offering of each era of the team to propel the individual to probe further on their own.
The compilation seems really sporadic of the seventeen stories featured: four issues were dedicated to the original Teen Titans and the second Teen Titans led by Dick Grayson as Robin and Nightwing respectively; three issues (four if we count Teen Titans #100 from section four) were dedicated to the team led by Tim Drake and one issue featured for Ray Palmer's team, Young Justice, Tiny Titans, the animated Teen Titans cartoon and the New 52 first team.
All in all, despite of the sporadic nature of the anthology, it was in the end, a somewhat successful collection of most things Teen Titans.
Growing up, Teen Titans have always been one of my favorite teams – more than even the Justice League. For one thing, Robin has been for the most part the leader of the team and I've always been a Robin fanatic. Secondly, they're a group of superhero/vigilante heroes that banded together to hang out and to fight crime, which resonated more with me than any other team.
This anthology is divided into five sections, separate mainly in part by team rosters. The first part is dedicated to the original Teen Titans – the very first team – the Fab Five, led by Dick Grayson as Robin; the second part focuses on the second Teen Titans also lead by Dick Grayson as Robin and eventually Nightwing; the third part splits its focuses on the third Teen Titans led by Ray Palmer as The Atom and Young Justice led by Tim Drake as Robin; the fourth section features the next generations of Teen Titans led by Tim Drake as Robin; and the final section is a hodgepodge of stories featuring the team in various incarnations throughout the DC Multiverse.
I do not envy the story selector's job – it must have been a Herculean Task and then some. The difficulty of choosing issues for this collection is to showcase the team as a whole evenly, which for the most cases it does somewhat successfully. Most stories features one of the teammates as lead with most of the other teammates as backup – it is fairly rare that there are stories that feature just the team itself.
Story selection was problematic at best – even with four hundred pages it doesn't give the scope to let us know the various teams better – it gives us a taste, but nothing more. In some cases, the stories chosen were a part of a larger story arc which begins or ends with a cliff-hanger with no information on how they got there or left hanging on how it will end. This collection is more of an introductory offering of each era of the team to propel the individual to probe further on their own.
The compilation seems really sporadic of the seventeen stories featured: four issues were dedicated to the original Teen Titans and the second Teen Titans led by Dick Grayson as Robin and Nightwing respectively; three issues (four if we count Teen Titans #100 from section four) were dedicated to the team led by Tim Drake and one issue featured for Ray Palmer's team, Young Justice, Tiny Titans, the animated Teen Titans cartoon and the New 52 first team.
All in all, despite of the sporadic nature of the anthology, it was in the end, a somewhat successful collection of most things Teen Titans.
July 26, 2017
A retrospective celebrating the many iterations of Teen Titans it gave some history as well as the comics in a nice compilation to give you an idea of how and where it all began and how it has continued through the years.
September 6, 2017
Fine overview, not of interest to non-fans.
January 21, 2018
Review to come.
October 17, 2019
The book is so awesome I love it so much
November 12, 2019
A fascinating look at how the title has grown and developed over the years. Very interesting, though those looking for complete story arcs will be frustrated.
December 16, 2019
I love Teen Titans but I think this volume needs better editing. There are some quite good stories from that series to be included in this anniversary edition.
November 25, 2014
***Won in a GoodReads First Reads giveaway***
What this collection of stories is trying to do is celebrate the Teen Titans. In doing this various stories from the past 50 years are collected. However, in some cases the books collected are parts of larger arcs, beginnings with cliffhangers, or sequel parts with no info on the background. As such, we as the reader experience the Titans in fits and starts.
There are some stories that are complete but overall I would say this collection is an introduction and nothing more. One cannot sit down and read cover to cover and expect a coherent thread. In fact as the timelines and eras jump forward, new characters are added, costumes change, names of characters can change even. It gets a bit confusing with only a small one page introduction into each era provided.
The art is reproduced very nicely and the stories for what they are seem interesting, but in the case of the latter issues, the story barely gets off the ground before its on to the next depiction of the Teen Titans evolution.
I would use this 50th anniversary issue as a way to have a glimpse into the art and storytelling style of each era and from there, one can pick and choose which path to read...be it original, or the New 52 variety. Overall it just seemed like this was a presentation of breadth vice depth for each story and even at 400 pages, I never really got a great feel for any one group of Titans, unfortunately.
Comes with nicely illustrated dustjacket over glossy white boards with illustration on cover. Endpapers depict the original and most recent group of Teen Titans separately.
What this collection of stories is trying to do is celebrate the Teen Titans. In doing this various stories from the past 50 years are collected. However, in some cases the books collected are parts of larger arcs, beginnings with cliffhangers, or sequel parts with no info on the background. As such, we as the reader experience the Titans in fits and starts.
There are some stories that are complete but overall I would say this collection is an introduction and nothing more. One cannot sit down and read cover to cover and expect a coherent thread. In fact as the timelines and eras jump forward, new characters are added, costumes change, names of characters can change even. It gets a bit confusing with only a small one page introduction into each era provided.
The art is reproduced very nicely and the stories for what they are seem interesting, but in the case of the latter issues, the story barely gets off the ground before its on to the next depiction of the Teen Titans evolution.
I would use this 50th anniversary issue as a way to have a glimpse into the art and storytelling style of each era and from there, one can pick and choose which path to read...be it original, or the New 52 variety. Overall it just seemed like this was a presentation of breadth vice depth for each story and even at 400 pages, I never really got a great feel for any one group of Titans, unfortunately.
Comes with nicely illustrated dustjacket over glossy white boards with illustration on cover. Endpapers depict the original and most recent group of Teen Titans separately.
November 25, 2014
This graphic novel is an amassed collection of all the best of the teen titan comics. There are even little notes about what is going on or who someone is in some of the issues. This comic really does celebrate 50 years of this comic. I would recommend this for people who love to read graphic novels or for the people who don't experience them often. It is perfect for anybody who likes to spend their time doing something delightful. I absolutely love this and it was enjoyable to the very last page.
September 25, 2017
This was a good read as I prepare to get into the Titans after Rebirth. It covered the first Teen Titans story (Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad only), the 1980's run and a couple of re-inventions after that.
I particularly enjoyed seeing this collection hit the highlights- the first ever Teen Titans story, the end of the Judas Contract storyline and other major events in Titans history.
I particularly enjoyed seeing this collection hit the highlights- the first ever Teen Titans story, the end of the Judas Contract storyline and other major events in Titans history.
November 21, 2014
i received this book for free through goodreads first reads.
Awesome!
I have to say that after this i am now more into comics than i was before. looking forward on reading the teen titans comics. comic book store, i'm coming!
Awesome!
I have to say that after this i am now more into comics than i was before. looking forward on reading the teen titans comics. comic book store, i'm coming!
July 8, 2014
DC had the chance to tell or retell some really good Teen Titan stories. Instead they pull a chapter out of a story here or there so nothing is complete.
November 13, 2014
If you love the Titans this is a great book to pick up !
December 4, 2014
An excellent book looking back at the last 50 years of DC Comics. I am not a comics fan but I have to say that this is a fascinating book.Great pictures. A must for any comics an.
September 26, 2015
love it
June 15, 2016
*sigh* My childhood.
April 23, 2017
Awesome
All these stories will make you love the teen titans more than you already do and I would highly recommend this book to anyone I know.
All these stories will make you love the teen titans more than you already do and I would highly recommend this book to anyone I know.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews