New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 3. (New Edition) Hardcover – July 31, 2018

Teen Titans Omnibus volume 3 starts off with the Judas Contract, which is considered by many to be one of the best storylines in the history of DC comics. It’s memorable in that you have a member of the Teen Titans turning on the team at the behest of Deathstroke. In my opinion, this story has a ton of potential but I think Marv Wolfman screwed it up. The problem is that Terra is established as a villain well before the start of this story arc. She isn’t even a conflicted villain, she’s just an awful person. I will give Wolfman some credit, he successfully made Deathstroke a multifaceted character which is rare in superhero comics. It was also interesting that he made Terra a fully unrepentant character and the reaction of the Titans at her betrayal felt genuine.This is the third volume and I’ve complained in the past about Marv Wolfman’s excessive use of expository dialogue and unfunny humor that severely dates these stories. Even in this volume, he makes references to Chevy Chase, Jennifer Beals (twice) and clown Emmet Kelly, who was long since dead by 1984. However, Wolfman has toned down the humor and by this point the series was running on all cylinders. These aren’t just heroes fighting evil doers. The Titans are fully fleshed out characters with friends, families and lives outside of crime fighting. In previous volumes, I found Changeling (Beast Boy) to be exceptionally annoying but Wolfman’s drives home that fact that nearly everyone he has cared about, including his parents, the Doom Patrol and now Terra have all died. He begins to develop a violent, even murderous streak following the death of Terra but it’s understandable. Each of the Titans bear some pain but none can compare to Raven’s whose father is a literally a demon who has killed hundreds of billions of souls. I compare the characterization of these 30+ year old comics to comics today, written by some of DC’s popular writers, and there is no comparison. This is truly some of the greatest characterization in the history of DC comics and many modern writers should study these stories to figure out how to make compelling characters.In 1984, DC started a new imprint that was produced on higher quality “Baxter Paper”. These comics were premium priced, but they went big. In the case of The Legion of Super Heroes, they faced an existential threat from a new, massive Legion of Super Villains. In the case of the Titans, it starts off with a huge 5 issue return of Raven’s father, Trigon the terrible. Wow, this one is intense. Wolfman goes all out and it really elevated the Baxter Paper comics to another level and I still remember this storyline from when I read it as a teen. If I had one complaint, it’s that after the amazing event the series REALLY slows down and the Titans basically go into angst overload. I get that Wolfman is trying to show the pain that results from their war with Trigon but MAN does he hammer the point home.The Teen Titans have been around a long time but there is a reason current incarnations generally feature this roster and not the roster from any other era. As far as comics go this is arguably the Titans peak. I didn’t love everything about the stories, in particular I found Wonder Girl’s husband Terry Long to be incredibly annoying with his sheer perfection. Wolfman gets a little crazy with the pathos of the Titans but he does manage to get you to care about his characters which is something not many writers seem capable of doing. If you want the best that the early DC Modern Age offers you can’t do much better than the Teen Titans.

Yet another brilliant omnibus from DC with a lot of excellent comics for a fairly decent price and high-quality book. Totally recommended if you are a New Teen Titans Fan. Had many of these when they came out (and gave them to friends etc) so it is nice to have them all again in one place.

Esta edición no solo nos trae la conclusión de la saga de "Judas Contract" sino que también tiene los primeros números de "The New Teen Titans" serie 2 que marca la despedida de George Perez. George Perez es una de mis dibujantes favoritos y estos últimos números de despedida son de lo mejor que ha dibujado, ya que además de los trazos también entinta estos números. Como sabemos todos los que hemos leído este comic, este marco toda una época por el tipo de historias desarrolladas por Wolfman, bastante adelantadas para su época, con un desarrollo de los personajes que iba más allá de mostrarlos en batallas con el villano de la semana. Imperdible para los fans, más si tomamos en cuenta el hecho de contar con “Judas Contract” y su atípica resolución final.

Fantastic omnibus. Good binding. Excellent colour reproduction.Wolfman and Perez at the height of their game.A must have for Titans fans!

Sempre é um prazer ler clássicos desses grandes artistas.

Continua a excelente saga dos Titãs de Pérez e Wolfman, com a excelente qualidade dos ominibuses da DC.