Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Bad Days: Justice League

Its a bad day when the Justice League gets shown up by the Teen Titans.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Nightwing Series Concept

The Teen Titans have had no shortage of failed pitches. After the failed Judas Contract movie, both Dick Grayson and Raven were also denied proposed live action TV series on the CW. Turns out the two were also denied the opportunity to star in an animated series. In 2009 a pitch was put in for a Nightwing series. By the looks of designs posted by the artist, the show would have had a less cartoony look than the Teen Titans series.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Teen Titans: The Judas Contract Movie Concept

In 2006, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract along with Superman Doomsday and Justice League: The New Frontier was one of the first titles announced for the direct to video line of animated DC features. After years of stalls, the title was officially revealed to have been cancelled in 2010. Citing lack of broad appeal in a Teen Titans movie, adult content, and potential rehash of the popular arc from the Teen Titans animated series, the film was shelved indefinitely to make way for the Batman: Gotham Knight and Wonder Woman titles. Alas, what could have been - and to think that to this day not even any designs from this potentially amazing project have been release. C'est la vie.

Super History of Superman: Teen Titans Go! (2013-)

Although Superman has not appeared as a character on Teen Titans Go! his presence has been felt. The Man of Steel is a reality in this universe inspiring such brands as Justice Java.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans Series Concept

In 1983, after the initial run of Super Friends was running down (before the rebranding as the Super Powers Team) Hanna Barbera once again flirted with a Titans series, this time the New Teen Titans. According to the Titans Tower website, Wonder Girl would have been group leader of Cyborg, Raven, Kid Flash, Changeling, and Starfire and storylines would have promised appearances from Trigon and Blackfire. Terra and Robin would have been absent; Robin having been licensed out already.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - Teen Titans Series Concept

The Titans Tower website is a better source for the scoop on this failed pitch, but back in 1974 around the time of the original Super Friends series, some art was commissioned for a Hanna-Barbera Teen Titans animated series featuring Wonder Girl, some sort of jungle themed Aqualad, Robin, Speedy, Kid Flash, and Lilith - who was apparently some sort of telepath that I have never heard of. Maybe Lilith will make her onscreen debut some day, but for the time being, its a shame this series didn't see the light of day. The Titans would have another false start a decade later before finally breaking through in another 20 years.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans Say "No" to Drugs

The year: 1983. The message: Say 'No' to Drugs. The heroes: The New Teen Titans. While I am not sure if this 60 second anti-drug message actually aired or not, if it had it would have contained the first onscreen appearances by several Titans including Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire, Cyborg, and... The Protector?

DC Nation Shorts in the Pipeline

By this point, 18 different series of shorts have aired in part or full on DC Nation, but I am happy to report that there are still more new ideas in the works. As just announced by TV Guide, among those yet to debut include Shazam! and Metal Men as well as a stylish black and white Batman series under the guidance of Bruce Timm. We have also been teased with Doom Patrol for over a year now and hints of a Doctor Fate series have also been heard.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans: Mayhem at First Sight

Mumbo is always welcome but with an added appearance by Mother Mae-Eye this was gold even before the musical number began.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans: Lightning Round

You can never have too much Control Freak, on the other hand, you can't have the Brain appear and not talk - his voice is the best part. And speaking of voices, sounds like Cyborg got a guest voicer this time around. Overall, this was a pretty clever and funny little short which may have been inspired by the classic Cheers episode where Cliff played Jeopardy and by luck had all his favorite categories. Thanks to Cyborg, Beast Boy was on a roll. Hopefully he didn't wager it all in the final round.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans: Bad Day

THE BIG 5-0! Its tough to believe that there have already been so many of these little nuggets and at this point, a third of the shorts belong to the New Teen Titans. Overall, the shorts have been a success and this one is an example of why the New Teen Titans shorts have been some of the most enjoyable. While Slade may be the most memorable Teen Titans animated villain, Trigon was a force to be reckoned with in his epic 4th season arc. Even if its for just a few seconds, its great to see him again and realize he was not forgotten. And doing what TT does best, the short takes one of the most potentially deadly villains of all time and gives him a comedic portrayal. Father of the year, he ain't.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans: Apprentice, Part 3

As a sequel to the two-part episode Apprentice, this episode had it all: Larry the Titan, Slade, Slikie... in drag!? Maybe things were taken a little too far with the whole make-out between Larry and Silkie in Starfire's underwear. I don't know whether to laugh or barf. But I do know this short is a keeper.It should also be mentioned that we got cameos by H.I.V.E. academy members Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth - and since we know Jinx reformed, this must have taken place before the series 5th season.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans: Groundhog Minute

Warp, the villain from the epic How Long is Forever? made his return in this short which had the Titans trapped in a looping minute. Even though the time skipping was short on laughs, the final reveal of the Titans having landed in the prehistoric age was satisfying... even if it doesn't make a ton of sense that next week they were back to modern day business as usual. Maybe Larry had something to do with their return to the present.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans: Kidz Korner 4 Kidz

This was the Titans version of a Sesame Street style "kidz" show. Although it was not the most successful effort from the shorts series, it was fun seeing a ton of cameos including one by the ever coy Wonder Girl.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans: Titanimal Kingdom

 

This short debuted during a dark period for DC Nation. The block was unceremoniously removed from Saturday mornings and after substantial fan grumbling, New Teen Titans shorts were given weekly online releases with the hope of holding fans over until the block returned. That put a lot of pressure on the fab 5 to deliver.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans: Titans in Love

Donde esta Silkie? One of the fun things about the New Teen Titans shorts has been trying to spy the Silkie Easter egg in each short. I enjoyed this short for its juxtaposition of romances as it cut between Raven's low key love affair to Robin's jealousy and desperation for Starfire. Cuter than cool, this was one of the better Teen Titans shorts and a big step up from Gamma Rays and You. Legend has it the two sub shorts were titled Language Lesson and Raven's Date.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans: Gamma Rays and You

After a bit of a summer hiatus, this was not the best short to get the old ball rolling again. I enjoyed Starfire's gag about super "powders," but the laughs were a bit sparse this time around. I didn't even really get the premise... something about outtakes from a PSA to warn of gamma ray exposure... This was begging for a Hulk homage. Oh well, at least I can be sure that the next time around the Titans are likely to deliver.

Crisis of Infinite Episodes - New Teen Titans: Red X Unmasked

Red X was one of my favorite characters from the Teen Titans series and the fact that his identity was never revealed was one of my main disappointments with the series. This short had me super excited - even though I feared it would just end up being played for laughs. So, even though this short was funny, poking fun at many of the speculated identities of Red X from Jason Todd, to Slade, to Alfred, to Batman, I was a bit let down that the true identity remains a secret. My money remains on Jason Todd though my suspicion of Silkie has ticked up a  notch. 

Wanna Hear the Teen Titans Go! Theme? You're in Luck

Thanks to Puffy Amiyumi and the Beastie Boys,we have us a new theme song for the Teen Titans Go! animated series. Yes, its quite a bit like the original, but like the characters themselves, shorter.

Watch the First Clip from Teen Titans Go!

No, this isn't your Dad's Teen Titans. Released this past weekend at Wondercon was the first clip from Teen Titans Go featuring Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg loosing various appendages battling Cinderblock while Robin waited in line at a Deli. This may give a bit of an idea of the flavor to expect from the show. Enjoy: