TEEN TITANS #14; March-April 1968; DC Comics; George Kashdan, editor;
featuring "Requiem for a Titan!" written by Bob Haney and drawn by Nick Cardy.
Review by Bill Henley
It's not often these days I get the chance to buy and read a Silver Age
comic I've never seen before. I picked this one up at a comics show this weekend
though (for a mere buck and a quarter for a reading copy), so I'll try
reviewing it even as I read it for the first time. I had seen the cover, however,
in DC house ads of the period, and it's a striking one by Cardy (I've said I
didn't care much for Cardy's cover work when he became DC's workhorse cover
artist for a while, but his covers were just fine on the titles he handled
himself, such as TITANS and AQUAMAN.) A shadowed figure of Robin stands bowed
in a graveyard, as ghostly figures of his three Titans teammates urge him
"QUIT, ROBIN....QUIT, QUIT!" and the story title "Requiem for a Titan" appears
on a tombstone.
The splash scene also takes place in a graveyard, but here Robin trudges
toward an open grave presumably meant for him (dragging his cape behind him, as
on the cover) as in the background we see tombstones marked "Kid Flash",
"Wonder Girl" and "Aqualad". And perched on a gnarled tree is a living gargoyle,
asking the Boy Wonder if he is ready for their "rendezvous". Yes, he is,
says Robin. "Then let it be done! Let the last knell sound for the Teen
Titans! HAH! HAH! HAH!"
The Gargoyle orders Robin to toss his cape into the grave before him, which
Robin does, and then his red tunic. Robin again obeys-- "Like whatever you
say, creep!"-- leaving him clad only in his green jerkin and shorts. But
Robin balks when the Gargoyle orders him next to remove his mask, exposing his
secret identity. "Shall I call back those who have already gone beyond?", the
Gargoyle asks. "You have no need of your secret identity where you are
shortly to go!" But when the Boy Wonder still hesitates to expose his face,
ghostly figures of Kid Flash, Aquaman and Wonder Girl appear, greeting him with
mocking words; ""Look at the kid, team! He's rockin' with fear!" "Check,
Twinkletoes...he's really got the cold and clammies!" "Not so high and mighty now,
eh Boy Wonder? By Hera, let's play chicken with the chicken!" Faced with
the spectral anger of his former teammates, Robin succumbs and removes his
mask, and the Gargoyle bids the ghosts begone. With a "mournful moan", Robin
says he is ready to "cross over", and his bare face undergoes a strange Jekyll
and Hyde like transformation from the normal features of Dick Grayson to a
more brutish and evil face. "Excellent! You are now prepared for the
journey!", says Gargoyle, and he fires a beam from a ring on his finger that causes
Robin's body to "melt and fade away", leaving only the remnants of his costume
lying in his grave. "The Teen Titans are embraced by Limbo.... and in Limbo
rule I, the Gargoyle!'
But how did all this happen? For a clue, we visit Titans Lair, which now
stands empty. (On a bulletin board are notes such as "Aqualad, stop tracking
water into the Lair", "Wonder Girl, your mother called, says don't forget to
polish bracelets", and "Kid Flash, don't be late for next meeting", along with
congratulatory notes from the Beatles, "from one fab four to another", and
President Lyndon Johnson (who in real life by 1968 was not exactly the toast
of the teenage set). Earlier, however, the team was present and engaged in
its usual playful banter, as Kid Flash proposes that the Titans form their own
rock group playing hits such as "I Wanna Hold Your Cape and Mask!" Wonder
Girl demurs, "UGGH! If you cats play like you joke, it'll be one farewell
performance after another!" But meanwhile, the figure of the Gargoyle appears at
a nearby TV station and demands a spot on "Titans Hookup", a TV show on
which people can appear to give messages to the Titans. (Can't they just use a
post office box, like the JLA?) Despite his bizarre appearance the Gargoyle
insists he has just as much right as anyone to appear on the show, and the TV
executives go along with it; "OK, put Mr. Goyle on the tube!" "Right! He's
socko in un-living color!" During his five minutes of TV fame, the Gargoyle
claims that he is an ex-convict who wears the weird disguise to hide his
identity-- and that he served time in prison on a false conviction because one of
the Teen Titans hid evidence that would have freed him. Seeing the
broadcast, three of the Titans angrily deny the possibility of any such wrongdoing,
but Robin wants to hear more. The Titans try to figure out if the Gargoyle
can be any of their former foes in diguise, but conclude he is not fat enough
to be Ding-Dong Daddy, too grammatical to be the Scorcher, and doesn't have
the right accent for the Mad Mod. As Robin remains mostly silent, the other
three become suspicious, wondering if the Boy Wonder, the team leader who does
all the detective work, could be guilty of hiding evidence. The issue is put
on hold as the Titans are called out on a mission, to stop an incipient riot
at the Bijou Theater among teeny-boppers outraged because a rock star didn't
show up. But when the arriive at the theater, they find the stage and the
seats empty-- except for the Gargoyle, who has laid a trap for the Titans.
In part 2 of the story, Robin orders the other Titans to attack the
Gargoyle, but they hesitate momentarily, and the Gargoyle exploits the pause by
charging that Robin is sending the others into danger when Robin, and only Robin,
is the one who deserves to be punished for sending him to prison unjustly.
Each of the other Titans wonders if Robin really is guilty and is exploiting
their loyalty, but before they can resolve their doubts, Gargoyle fires a beam
from his devil-faced ring which causes Kid Flash, Aqualad and Wonder Girl to
vanish. Gargoyle is chagrined that Robin didn't disappear as well-- "I
should have known the noble, superior Robin would be the last to fall to
suspicion!"-- but explains that the "doubt and suspicion" in his teammates' minds
gave Gargoyle the power to send them to Limbo, the realm where he rules. An
outraged Boy Wonder uses his circus acrobat skills to pursue the creeping,
leaping Gargoyle, but he is interfered with by the other Titans appearing one
after another, in giant phantom form, to attack him. "Destroy me--? Why? Why?"
Robin pleads to Aqualad, and is told, "Because that's our bag, Buster! We
from Limbo hate all in the real world!" Kid Flash chimes in, "Getting sent to
Limbosville was the best thing ever happened to us-- and the WORST gig that
ever happened to YOU!" Battered back and forth by his renegade teammates,
Robin is finally knocked unconscious by a falling sandbag, but as the Gargoyle
prepares to rip Robin with his claws, he is forced to flee by a fire
accidentally started during the fight. Disappearing along with his phantom Titans,
the villain leaves an unconscious Robin to be found and rescued by firemen
called to the burning theater. "He must be the lone surviving Titan!"
In Part 3, a ragged and despondent Robin knows that his teammates are not
really dead, but might as well be, existing in Limbo under the control of the
Gargoyle. Returning to Titan Lair, he wonders "how I can go it alone--
fighting crooks and creeps-- without the team!" (He seems to have momentarily
forgotten that he usually has another partner, name of Batman....) But as he
enters the headquarters, he finds that the Gargoyle and his phantom slaves have
already claimed it for their own lair. Gargoyle is amused when Robin dives
into a laundry chute-- "How droll, since he is already washed up!"-- but the
limbo-ized Titans know Robin actually has a secret escape route through the
chute. Wandering the city streets, the Boy Wonder finally remembers his other
team-up-- "I could go back to Batman with my tail between my legs! NO! That
would mean the end of the Titans forever! I've got to try it on my own!"
But alone and demoralized, the Boy Blunder loses one encounter after another
with petty criminals, until at last he is left beaten and humiliated as
police chase a gang he failed to stop. "There's only one thing left to do...."
and, as told in the first part of the story, he approaches the Gargoyle to
admit defeat and join the other Titans in Limbo, which his state of despair
qualifies him to enter.
But has Robin really given up? Now in the same oversized phantom form as
his teammates, he is at first greeted by them enthusiastically-- "He got
smart-- knew he was beaten!" "Now we can really put the real world up-tight,
serving groovy old Gargoyle!" But the Phantom Boy Wonder suddenly attacks his
erstwhile allies, booting Aqualad to the other end of Limbo with a dropkick, and
surprising Kid Flash with a judo throw. Wonder Girl takes him on with her
Amazon strength, but Robin manages to stay conscious until the Gargoyle
reappears to find out what's going on. Unchivalrically punching Wonder Girl out of
the way, Robin takes on Gargoyle, who is dumbfounded; "You tricked me!
Somehow you entered Limbo without becoming an evil servant of mine!" "Batman
taught me how to be a totally convincing actor!", Robin triumphantly explains.
He faked his Jekyll-Hyde transformation from good to evil in order to gain
access, via the Gargoyle's ring, to Limbo where his teammates were trapped.
Pointing out that Gargoyle stripped him of his cape and mask but not his
Utility Belt, our hero tries to use its weapons against the villain, but its
gadgets malfunction under the influence of Limbo, and the belt itself is severed by
Gargoyle's claw. Making a desperate leap to retrieve the belt, Robin wraps
it around his arm to serve as a shield against Gargoyle's claws-- and with
the claws momentarily stuck in the belt leather, Robin pulls out a tiny pair of
pliers and smashes the Gargoyle's devil-ring. Since only the ring gives the
Gargoyle the power to remain in Limbo (we never find out for sure whether
Gargoyle is a real supernatural creature or the human villain he once claimed
to be) he and Robin are swept away out of the Limbo dimension. Gargoyle winds
up who knows where-- "guess his evil vibrations kept him stranded between
here and Limbo!""-- while Robin finds himself back on Earth, along with the
other Titans, who remember nothing since encountering Gargoyle at the theater.
Baffled by the sight of four graves with their names on them-- not to mention
Robin's semi-dressed condition without cape, mask and vest-- they demand an
explanation. "You'd never believe it, Wonder Chick!"
Not a bad story in concept, but weakened by the pseudo-hip jargon and by the
other Titans being too quick to become suspicious of Robin. It represented
a change from the earlier "superhero beach party" type Titans stories towards
the weird and creepy. The change was sidetracked by a move toward
"relevance" during Dick Giordano's editorship, but the last few issues of the original
TITANS series, edited by Murray Boltinoff and again written by Haney, moved
much farther towards the then-popular weird genre.
Among the contemporary comics spotlighted in house ads in this issue are
SECRET SIX #1, BATMAN anniversary issue #200, and INFERIOR FIVE ("DC's New Brand
of Humor is Coming YOUR WAY!") The letter column features short snatches of
letters and I don't recognize any familar letterhack names....one of the
readers calls for Superboy to make an appearance with the Titans, to which the
editor replies, "Only one thing wrong with that idea....Superboy is Superman
when he was a boy, years before the Titans were born!" (Wonder if Kevin
Honohan, then of Charlestown, Mass., is still around to see Superboy join the
Titans at last.....?)
featuring "Requiem for a Titan!" written by Bob Haney and drawn by Nick Cardy.
Review by Bill Henley
It's not often these days I get the chance to buy and read a Silver Age
comic I've never seen before. I picked this one up at a comics show this weekend
though (for a mere buck and a quarter for a reading copy), so I'll try
reviewing it even as I read it for the first time. I had seen the cover, however,
in DC house ads of the period, and it's a striking one by Cardy (I've said I
didn't care much for Cardy's cover work when he became DC's workhorse cover
artist for a while, but his covers were just fine on the titles he handled
himself, such as TITANS and AQUAMAN.) A shadowed figure of Robin stands bowed
in a graveyard, as ghostly figures of his three Titans teammates urge him
"QUIT, ROBIN....QUIT, QUIT!" and the story title "Requiem for a Titan" appears
on a tombstone.
The splash scene also takes place in a graveyard, but here Robin trudges
toward an open grave presumably meant for him (dragging his cape behind him, as
on the cover) as in the background we see tombstones marked "Kid Flash",
"Wonder Girl" and "Aqualad". And perched on a gnarled tree is a living gargoyle,
asking the Boy Wonder if he is ready for their "rendezvous". Yes, he is,
says Robin. "Then let it be done! Let the last knell sound for the Teen
Titans! HAH! HAH! HAH!"
The Gargoyle orders Robin to toss his cape into the grave before him, which
Robin does, and then his red tunic. Robin again obeys-- "Like whatever you
say, creep!"-- leaving him clad only in his green jerkin and shorts. But
Robin balks when the Gargoyle orders him next to remove his mask, exposing his
secret identity. "Shall I call back those who have already gone beyond?", the
Gargoyle asks. "You have no need of your secret identity where you are
shortly to go!" But when the Boy Wonder still hesitates to expose his face,
ghostly figures of Kid Flash, Aquaman and Wonder Girl appear, greeting him with
mocking words; ""Look at the kid, team! He's rockin' with fear!" "Check,
Twinkletoes...he's really got the cold and clammies!" "Not so high and mighty now,
eh Boy Wonder? By Hera, let's play chicken with the chicken!" Faced with
the spectral anger of his former teammates, Robin succumbs and removes his
mask, and the Gargoyle bids the ghosts begone. With a "mournful moan", Robin
says he is ready to "cross over", and his bare face undergoes a strange Jekyll
and Hyde like transformation from the normal features of Dick Grayson to a
more brutish and evil face. "Excellent! You are now prepared for the
journey!", says Gargoyle, and he fires a beam from a ring on his finger that causes
Robin's body to "melt and fade away", leaving only the remnants of his costume
lying in his grave. "The Teen Titans are embraced by Limbo.... and in Limbo
rule I, the Gargoyle!'
But how did all this happen? For a clue, we visit Titans Lair, which now
stands empty. (On a bulletin board are notes such as "Aqualad, stop tracking
water into the Lair", "Wonder Girl, your mother called, says don't forget to
polish bracelets", and "Kid Flash, don't be late for next meeting", along with
congratulatory notes from the Beatles, "from one fab four to another", and
President Lyndon Johnson (who in real life by 1968 was not exactly the toast
of the teenage set). Earlier, however, the team was present and engaged in
its usual playful banter, as Kid Flash proposes that the Titans form their own
rock group playing hits such as "I Wanna Hold Your Cape and Mask!" Wonder
Girl demurs, "UGGH! If you cats play like you joke, it'll be one farewell
performance after another!" But meanwhile, the figure of the Gargoyle appears at
a nearby TV station and demands a spot on "Titans Hookup", a TV show on
which people can appear to give messages to the Titans. (Can't they just use a
post office box, like the JLA?) Despite his bizarre appearance the Gargoyle
insists he has just as much right as anyone to appear on the show, and the TV
executives go along with it; "OK, put Mr. Goyle on the tube!" "Right! He's
socko in un-living color!" During his five minutes of TV fame, the Gargoyle
claims that he is an ex-convict who wears the weird disguise to hide his
identity-- and that he served time in prison on a false conviction because one of
the Teen Titans hid evidence that would have freed him. Seeing the
broadcast, three of the Titans angrily deny the possibility of any such wrongdoing,
but Robin wants to hear more. The Titans try to figure out if the Gargoyle
can be any of their former foes in diguise, but conclude he is not fat enough
to be Ding-Dong Daddy, too grammatical to be the Scorcher, and doesn't have
the right accent for the Mad Mod. As Robin remains mostly silent, the other
three become suspicious, wondering if the Boy Wonder, the team leader who does
all the detective work, could be guilty of hiding evidence. The issue is put
on hold as the Titans are called out on a mission, to stop an incipient riot
at the Bijou Theater among teeny-boppers outraged because a rock star didn't
show up. But when the arriive at the theater, they find the stage and the
seats empty-- except for the Gargoyle, who has laid a trap for the Titans.
In part 2 of the story, Robin orders the other Titans to attack the
Gargoyle, but they hesitate momentarily, and the Gargoyle exploits the pause by
charging that Robin is sending the others into danger when Robin, and only Robin,
is the one who deserves to be punished for sending him to prison unjustly.
Each of the other Titans wonders if Robin really is guilty and is exploiting
their loyalty, but before they can resolve their doubts, Gargoyle fires a beam
from his devil-faced ring which causes Kid Flash, Aqualad and Wonder Girl to
vanish. Gargoyle is chagrined that Robin didn't disappear as well-- "I
should have known the noble, superior Robin would be the last to fall to
suspicion!"-- but explains that the "doubt and suspicion" in his teammates' minds
gave Gargoyle the power to send them to Limbo, the realm where he rules. An
outraged Boy Wonder uses his circus acrobat skills to pursue the creeping,
leaping Gargoyle, but he is interfered with by the other Titans appearing one
after another, in giant phantom form, to attack him. "Destroy me--? Why? Why?"
Robin pleads to Aqualad, and is told, "Because that's our bag, Buster! We
from Limbo hate all in the real world!" Kid Flash chimes in, "Getting sent to
Limbosville was the best thing ever happened to us-- and the WORST gig that
ever happened to YOU!" Battered back and forth by his renegade teammates,
Robin is finally knocked unconscious by a falling sandbag, but as the Gargoyle
prepares to rip Robin with his claws, he is forced to flee by a fire
accidentally started during the fight. Disappearing along with his phantom Titans,
the villain leaves an unconscious Robin to be found and rescued by firemen
called to the burning theater. "He must be the lone surviving Titan!"
In Part 3, a ragged and despondent Robin knows that his teammates are not
really dead, but might as well be, existing in Limbo under the control of the
Gargoyle. Returning to Titan Lair, he wonders "how I can go it alone--
fighting crooks and creeps-- without the team!" (He seems to have momentarily
forgotten that he usually has another partner, name of Batman....) But as he
enters the headquarters, he finds that the Gargoyle and his phantom slaves have
already claimed it for their own lair. Gargoyle is amused when Robin dives
into a laundry chute-- "How droll, since he is already washed up!"-- but the
limbo-ized Titans know Robin actually has a secret escape route through the
chute. Wandering the city streets, the Boy Wonder finally remembers his other
team-up-- "I could go back to Batman with my tail between my legs! NO! That
would mean the end of the Titans forever! I've got to try it on my own!"
But alone and demoralized, the Boy Blunder loses one encounter after another
with petty criminals, until at last he is left beaten and humiliated as
police chase a gang he failed to stop. "There's only one thing left to do...."
and, as told in the first part of the story, he approaches the Gargoyle to
admit defeat and join the other Titans in Limbo, which his state of despair
qualifies him to enter.
But has Robin really given up? Now in the same oversized phantom form as
his teammates, he is at first greeted by them enthusiastically-- "He got
smart-- knew he was beaten!" "Now we can really put the real world up-tight,
serving groovy old Gargoyle!" But the Phantom Boy Wonder suddenly attacks his
erstwhile allies, booting Aqualad to the other end of Limbo with a dropkick, and
surprising Kid Flash with a judo throw. Wonder Girl takes him on with her
Amazon strength, but Robin manages to stay conscious until the Gargoyle
reappears to find out what's going on. Unchivalrically punching Wonder Girl out of
the way, Robin takes on Gargoyle, who is dumbfounded; "You tricked me!
Somehow you entered Limbo without becoming an evil servant of mine!" "Batman
taught me how to be a totally convincing actor!", Robin triumphantly explains.
He faked his Jekyll-Hyde transformation from good to evil in order to gain
access, via the Gargoyle's ring, to Limbo where his teammates were trapped.
Pointing out that Gargoyle stripped him of his cape and mask but not his
Utility Belt, our hero tries to use its weapons against the villain, but its
gadgets malfunction under the influence of Limbo, and the belt itself is severed by
Gargoyle's claw. Making a desperate leap to retrieve the belt, Robin wraps
it around his arm to serve as a shield against Gargoyle's claws-- and with
the claws momentarily stuck in the belt leather, Robin pulls out a tiny pair of
pliers and smashes the Gargoyle's devil-ring. Since only the ring gives the
Gargoyle the power to remain in Limbo (we never find out for sure whether
Gargoyle is a real supernatural creature or the human villain he once claimed
to be) he and Robin are swept away out of the Limbo dimension. Gargoyle winds
up who knows where-- "guess his evil vibrations kept him stranded between
here and Limbo!""-- while Robin finds himself back on Earth, along with the
other Titans, who remember nothing since encountering Gargoyle at the theater.
Baffled by the sight of four graves with their names on them-- not to mention
Robin's semi-dressed condition without cape, mask and vest-- they demand an
explanation. "You'd never believe it, Wonder Chick!"
Not a bad story in concept, but weakened by the pseudo-hip jargon and by the
other Titans being too quick to become suspicious of Robin. It represented
a change from the earlier "superhero beach party" type Titans stories towards
the weird and creepy. The change was sidetracked by a move toward
"relevance" during Dick Giordano's editorship, but the last few issues of the original
TITANS series, edited by Murray Boltinoff and again written by Haney, moved
much farther towards the then-popular weird genre.
Among the contemporary comics spotlighted in house ads in this issue are
SECRET SIX #1, BATMAN anniversary issue #200, and INFERIOR FIVE ("DC's New Brand
of Humor is Coming YOUR WAY!") The letter column features short snatches of
letters and I don't recognize any familar letterhack names....one of the
readers calls for Superboy to make an appearance with the Titans, to which the
editor replies, "Only one thing wrong with that idea....Superboy is Superman
when he was a boy, years before the Titans were born!" (Wonder if Kevin
Honohan, then of Charlestown, Mass., is still around to see Superboy join the
Titans at last.....?)
