Teen Titans #15

That this story was taking place in groove-tastic 1968 is pretty obvious when you take a gander at the splash page:

The Titans are trying to track down a teenage runaway named Ken Matthews. They check with a mystic named Eddie the Guru, who runs a place called the "Drop-Back-In Place". Via a scene change, we learn that Ken is working for a distinctly unhip guy named Tram the Trucker, delivering packages of stolen goods. A few moments later, Ken is caught by the police right in front of the Titans. Robin lets us know the coolness quotient of cop-lovers:

Just then, some bikers "blast the scene", picking fights with the hippies:

The Titans make short work of kayoing Captain Rumble and his buddies, but in the meantime, Ken has split and the Titans take on the task of finding out who's responsible for using runaways to deliver stolen goods. But since they don't fit in with the local freaks, they take on new identities and guises:

Good grief! I remember when I was a kid, the first time my mom used the word "cool" in a sentence. Even back then I knew that adults trying to be "with it" were about the least cool thing around.

There follow several sequences where Tram the Trucker's thugs are trying to track down poor Ken and his girlfriend, but the latter are always saved at the last minute by one of the Titans. Adding to the complications are the bikers, who get into the mix periodically. The story culminates at a huge "happening" where all three groups battle it out. Even the hippies get with the violence scene when provoked:

And in the end:

On the letters page, we learn that Dick Giordano is the new editor of Teen Titans, taking over for George Kashdan. Giordano promises a new direction, and this issue delivered it in spades. There are certainly some cringe-worthy moments, but that's the way it went even when Marvel went out of its way to be hip. It's odd, but these comics seem more dated than the button-down early-1960s' style books. The art by Nick Cardy (correction: Elias/Cardy as pointed out in the comments by Martin O'Hearn) is very pleasing and Bob Haney delivers a better than usual (if slightly padded) script.

Update: Blog into Mystery also covered this issue a couple months ago.

Single Issue Review: Teen Titans #19

This was the beginning of the "hip" new Teen Titans, and in some ways it worked, but in others you can only shake your head in amazement. The story begins with a rather nervous-looking young man approaching the "School of Criminology" with a proposal:



Pretty efficient way of setting the stage, but it also fails to impress us with the major villain for the issue.

Speedy shows up at the Teen Titans' headquarters. There are two cases requiring the attention of the youngsters, and Speedy does the math in his head quickly:



That's pretty cool; Speedy comes off well. Together, he and Wonder Girl head for a school in New England, where prejudice has reared its ugly head, with fights between Jews and (presumably) Christians. They help to break things up:



But are captured by Sepastopol, who taunts them with his snazzy new uniform:



Note to villains: Do not incorporate the color pink into your costume. And for God's sake, don't wear a dunce cap!

In the second part, Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad arrive just in time to prevent a bunch of farmers from attacking some kids who've created a discotheque in a barn. But once again, it's just a pretext to capture them.

With all the Titans now captured, Punch decides to call the principal of the School of Criminology. Even Speedy senses this is rather foolish:



With the Titans quickly freed, all that remains is for the mop-up:



Damn, that Gil Kane could draw a punch!

Comments: Obviously an exceedingly silly story, this issue nonetheless has plenty of charm. The hip new Speedy goes over well and the storyline flows right from the opening panel. Thanks to writer Mike Friedrich, the teen characters talk like teens of the late 1960s (and not like teens of the 1950s), with the exception of one "Daddio" which did make me cringe. I don't think Sylvester Sepastopol ever returned in the DC universe.