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The New Teen Titans Omnibus #5
The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 5
The New Teen Titans era reaches the finish line in the fifth massive collection of the historic 1980s series! The latest omnibus collection of Marv Wolfman’s celebrated run includes the climactic stories before The New Teen Titans relaunched as The New Titans. See the final battle between the Titans and the Hybrid, Starfire framed for murder by Wildebeest, Mother Mayhem giving birth to Brother Blood’s “Blood Child,” and Hammer and Sickle targeting Red Star for death!
Collects The New Teen Titans #32-49, The New Teen Titans Annual #3 and #4, Tales of the Teen Titans #91, Secret Origins #13, Secret Origins Annual #3, and Infinity, Inc. #45.
Collects The New Teen Titans #32-49, The New Teen Titans Annual #3 and #4, Tales of the Teen Titans #91, Secret Origins #13, Secret Origins Annual #3, and Infinity, Inc. #45.
744 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1989
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About the author
Marv Wolfman
2,308 books306 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.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 8, 2021
I've been working my way through this for a while and reading along with the podcast Titan Up the Defense. While Marv Wolfman primarily wrote or at least contributed to most of these issues it doesn't totally hold together as a modern comic story arch might. Instead, you get the ebbs and flows of story, from the low, lows of the introduction of Danny Chase, the Scappy Doo of the Teen Titans, to high, highs like issue #32's stand alone murder mystery "Trivial Pursuits." Danny Chase aside, and full disclosure, he is a truly awful character, there are far more highs than lows and the art caries the day throughout.
February 27, 2023
(This review is posted on the Omnibus Vol. 5 to represent reading the entirety of the series. Overall, this series is being rated 4.25 stars out of 5)
The New Teen Titans are in many ways the ONLY Teen Titans for fans all over the globe. Many would argue that they are in fact the best iteration of the team to date, and - give or take a Superboy here or a Wonder Girl there - there hasn't been a better lineup. Wolfman and Perez obviously created this team, and deserve praise for their series in that the characters are strong and entertaining, however it suffers from a poor aging that tends to be inevitable with comics - which is why they are often reinvented. The stories only don't fully hold up for a few minor reasons. For one, the ages of the characters are said to be one thing, but exhibited as another. While we are reminded that the oldest members of the Titans are only 19 (going into 20), members like Dick and Donna act and speak as if they are in their 30's - which could be attributed to their "mature characters", sure, but nonetheless feels as if the writers only kept up the charade of them being "teenagers" for the namesake only. Continuing the age issue, we see several Titans have birthdays, however Changeling inexplicably stays 16 no matter how many in-universe years pass, clearly to keep him as the "kid" joker of the group. Other recurring themes and issues include - but are not limited to (and in no particular order of severity - large age gap relationships, Slade Wilson (~50) and Tara Markov's (16) sexual relationship (!?!), hokey plotlines, and frustratingly unnecessary character conflicts (i.e. Starfire and Nigthwing's almost breakup, Cyborg's will-they-won't-they with Sarah Simms, and the grandly bizarre love-triangle with Nightwing, Starfire, and Raven - which admittedly saved itself with a good resolution). However, if one can graze over these standout issues in the modern day, overall the good outweighs the bad. Raven stands brightly as one of the series most intriguing characters, and the transition of Robin to Nightwing has now become legendary. When the arcs were bad, they were boring. But when they were good they were amazing. Jericho, Slade Wilson's youngest son, will surprise readers as an unexpected favorite of the team, and once he is officially joined the reader will almost forget what it was like before he was part of the Titans. Most, if not all, of the major playing villains were very interesting and fun to engage with, like Komand'r and Trigon, although some were rather exhausting and indeed the cause of the aforementioned frustrating plotlines (Brother Blood, for example). What really makes this run shine, though, is the overwhelming themes of comradery, love, and friendship throughout the issues. The very most engaging parts of the stories were the little interactions and relationship developments within the Titans members. Watching Cyborg and Changeling's friendship blossom, Starfire and Nightwing falling in love, Donna Troy's wedding with Terry Long, and Raven's struggle with figuring out who she is were some of the most riveting parts of the entire publication. Within the New Teen Titans existed the beautiful bones of something that could be remade (and improved) for every generation, and have been. Over the years the Titans have only gotten better and better, and have never stopped striking a chord with people young and old. Marv Wolfman and George Perez are to thank for that, and so the hats are off to you, gentlemen. Thank you for the greatest found-family story in comics.
The New Teen Titans are in many ways the ONLY Teen Titans for fans all over the globe. Many would argue that they are in fact the best iteration of the team to date, and - give or take a Superboy here or a Wonder Girl there - there hasn't been a better lineup. Wolfman and Perez obviously created this team, and deserve praise for their series in that the characters are strong and entertaining, however it suffers from a poor aging that tends to be inevitable with comics - which is why they are often reinvented. The stories only don't fully hold up for a few minor reasons. For one, the ages of the characters are said to be one thing, but exhibited as another. While we are reminded that the oldest members of the Titans are only 19 (going into 20), members like Dick and Donna act and speak as if they are in their 30's - which could be attributed to their "mature characters", sure, but nonetheless feels as if the writers only kept up the charade of them being "teenagers" for the namesake only. Continuing the age issue, we see several Titans have birthdays, however Changeling inexplicably stays 16 no matter how many in-universe years pass, clearly to keep him as the "kid" joker of the group. Other recurring themes and issues include - but are not limited to (and in no particular order of severity - large age gap relationships, Slade Wilson (~50) and Tara Markov's (16) sexual relationship (!?!), hokey plotlines, and frustratingly unnecessary character conflicts (i.e. Starfire and Nigthwing's almost breakup, Cyborg's will-they-won't-they with Sarah Simms, and the grandly bizarre love-triangle with Nightwing, Starfire, and Raven - which admittedly saved itself with a good resolution). However, if one can graze over these standout issues in the modern day, overall the good outweighs the bad. Raven stands brightly as one of the series most intriguing characters, and the transition of Robin to Nightwing has now become legendary. When the arcs were bad, they were boring. But when they were good they were amazing. Jericho, Slade Wilson's youngest son, will surprise readers as an unexpected favorite of the team, and once he is officially joined the reader will almost forget what it was like before he was part of the Titans. Most, if not all, of the major playing villains were very interesting and fun to engage with, like Komand'r and Trigon, although some were rather exhausting and indeed the cause of the aforementioned frustrating plotlines (Brother Blood, for example). What really makes this run shine, though, is the overwhelming themes of comradery, love, and friendship throughout the issues. The very most engaging parts of the stories were the little interactions and relationship developments within the Titans members. Watching Cyborg and Changeling's friendship blossom, Starfire and Nightwing falling in love, Donna Troy's wedding with Terry Long, and Raven's struggle with figuring out who she is were some of the most riveting parts of the entire publication. Within the New Teen Titans existed the beautiful bones of something that could be remade (and improved) for every generation, and have been. Over the years the Titans have only gotten better and better, and have never stopped striking a chord with people young and old. Marv Wolfman and George Perez are to thank for that, and so the hats are off to you, gentlemen. Thank you for the greatest found-family story in comics.
January 27, 2024
The V5 Titans Omnibus is sadly a disappointment.
The main problem is that there's nothing of particular note in this whole volume. It's just episodic adventures. The epics that were some of what made NTT great are missing. Meanwhile, we get tons of soap opera instead, which certainly was an element of NTT, but most of it was more interesting than what we get here.
The closest you get to a big story is the Wildebeast saga, but not only is it episodic itself, showing up here and there, but there's nothing conclusive about it! (Nor is the Wildebeast a particularly interesting foe, in part because we know so little about him.)
The one bit I like is the Dial "H" for Hero two-parter, but that's mainly because I'm a big Dial "H" for Hero fan. And that story is frustratingly inconclusive too.
Danny Chase shows up is this volume, and most people hate him, but really is he much more annoying than Gar when Gar's being a little brat? Giving a youngster for some of the Titans like Dick to be an older brother to is kind of fun.
Sadly, DC doesn't seem interested into advancing into the New Titans era, which would kick off with the epic that's missing here: Who is Wonder Girl? C'mon DC, there's a couple more volumes of Wolfman Titans to publish!
The main problem is that there's nothing of particular note in this whole volume. It's just episodic adventures. The epics that were some of what made NTT great are missing. Meanwhile, we get tons of soap opera instead, which certainly was an element of NTT, but most of it was more interesting than what we get here.
The closest you get to a big story is the Wildebeast saga, but not only is it episodic itself, showing up here and there, but there's nothing conclusive about it! (Nor is the Wildebeast a particularly interesting foe, in part because we know so little about him.)
The one bit I like is the Dial "H" for Hero two-parter, but that's mainly because I'm a big Dial "H" for Hero fan. And that story is frustratingly inconclusive too.
Danny Chase shows up is this volume, and most people hate him, but really is he much more annoying than Gar when Gar's being a little brat? Giving a youngster for some of the Titans like Dick to be an older brother to is kind of fun.
Sadly, DC doesn't seem interested into advancing into the New Titans era, which would kick off with the epic that's missing here: Who is Wonder Girl? C'mon DC, there's a couple more volumes of Wolfman Titans to publish!
March 1, 2023
It was good to read, but bitter sweet as its the last one they didn't continue the omnibus after this one, nice to see Raven have some character development beast boy seems to be a bit too much in the back though.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews