Flashback Friday: Mas y Menos

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Mas y Menos!

Mas y Menos first appeared in the Teen Titans cartoon, beginning with the episode "Titans East, Part 1" (January 2005). They're speedsters who can only use their powers when they're touching, though this extends to touching something the other is also touching.

They first appear in comics in Teen Titans Go! #20 (June 2005), although this is a tie-in series to the show. They appeared in several issues of this series.

They debuted in the mainstream in Teen Titans #38 (July 2006), which established them as Titans during the 52/One Year Later gap year. This appearance would set the stage for all future appearances; they seem to only exist to cameo.

They appear on a screen in Teen Titans #66 (December 2008)...

Final Crisis #1 (April 2009) shows them in action for the first time, but only for two panels with no dialogue...

They're in Teen Titans #100 (August 2011), but only in a pinup after the main story...

And Multiversity: The Just #1 (October 2014) has them in a group shot at a pool party.

Not the most illustrious career, but at least they still exist in the post-Rebirth DC Universe (even if, right now, it's only on Earth-16).

Flashback Friday: Gizmo

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Gizmo!

Teen Titans was notorious for playing fast and loose with the designs of characters. So although Gizmo had already appeared in comics, beginning in The New Teen Titans #3 (November 1980)...

...when he appeared in the Teen Titans episode "Final Exam" (2003), it was in a greatly altered form. 

Gizmo kept the same appearance in the comics until February 2004, when he appeared in Teen Titans #8:

When he next appeared in Outsiders #12-14 (May-July 2004), however, he had an appearance closer to his animated counterpart.

And then in DC Special: Cyborg #5 (September 2008), he suddenly looks A LOT like his animated counterpart.

In the next issue, we learn this is Gizmo II, the original Gizmo's son (October 2008).

Gizmo II only appeared in a couple issues and hasn't seemed to survive the New 52. Gizmo's new appearance did for a little while, but he has since changed it. never got the full beard back, though.

Flashback Friday: Cinderblock

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Cinderblock!

Sometimes, like last week, canon immigrants go on to become major comics characters. Other times they're used exactly once and then never again. Cinderblock is an example of the latter.

Cinderblock is a villain that first appeared in the first episode of Teen Titans (July 2003).  He's your standard strong-but-stupid villain, a good physical threat to establish the Titans' powers and personalities right away.

Although he appeared in the tie-in comic pretty soon after that, in Teen Titans Go! #3 (January 2004)...

...he didn't make his canonical comics debut until Titans #17 in September 2009. And to date, that has been his only appearance.

Flashback Friday: Billy Numerous (and Everywhere Man?)

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Billy Numerous!

I figured since this week's main post was about Teen Titans, the Flashback Friday should be too! And I think this is a good way to go about it in general, so I'll try to keep it up. Won't make any promises; some weeks will be easier to do that with than others. But it'll always be on my mind. Anyway, let's get to it.

Billy Numerous first appeared on Teen Titans as a background character in the season 3 premiere, "Deception" (August 2004); his first full appearance was season 4's "Overdrive"(June 2005).  He's a student at the HIVE Academy - and therefore a villain - who can multiply himself...or divide himself, depending on how you look at it. Based on his costume, he clearly thinks of it as division.

He first appeared in comics in Catwoman #78 (April 2008) as a thug for a villain called The Thief that Catwoman had a personal vendetta against. He appeared again over the next two issues and then was never seen again. (Note: this image is from issue 80.)

...if only it were that simple. See, even when I first included Billy in the Teen Titans Super Post, I was unsure if he really counted. See, there's another duplicating character who wears red and white that he could just as easily be: Everywhere Man.

Everywhere Man debuted in The Batman episode of the same name (November 2006). Bruce Wayne's friend John Marlowe invented a duplicator called the Quantex and used it on himself, then his duplicate stole his identity and created more copies of himself to become an art thief. As you can see, Everywhere Man's outfit looks a bit closer to the comics character than Billy Numerous does.

But then, once I was able to look at the actual comics themselves, a new wrinkle appeared. Two of this three appearances do name him, and they don't call him Billy Numerous or Everywhere Man. They call him Repro.

So now I have a choice to make: is he Billy Numerous or Everywhere Man? Is he both, or is he somehow neither and it's just a coincidence that there are THREE duplicators dressed in red and white running around various versions of the DC Universe? This is what I've decided: I was right all along and he is, in fact, a combination of the two characters. And since he's a combination, the writer gave him a new name to not unduely favor one character over the other. His outfit is also a mixture of the two characters, with the mask of Billy Numerous and the stripe of Everywhere Man.

If you have information that refutes this, please let me know. Until then, no one can tell me otherwise (including the writer, who I asked years ago)!

Character Spotlight: Joystick(?)

Teen Titans was more successful than anyone could've ever predicted, and its legacy is still being felt today. It led to the relaunch of the Teen Titans comics series, which has been published ever since. It was followed by the New Teen Titans shorts on DC Nation, which led to Teen Titans Go!, which led to Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, the first theatrically-released animated movie from DC since Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (when I talk about success, that's the level I'm talking about: Batman The Animated Series successful). And it also left its mark on DC continuity in numerous ways that I've covered before.

The interesting thing to me is that mark is usually simply a change in design. Although the show introduced a number of characters - Red X, Punk Rocket, Kyd Wykkyd, and Brushogun, to name just a few - those characters don't often make the jump to comics. The only ones I can think of are Cinderblock and Mas y Menos. But now we can add Control Freak to that list...or so I thought when I wrote this back in October. It turns out to be much more complicated than that. But first I should probably tell you a little bit about who he is.

Control Freak first appeared in the season 2 episode "Fear Itself" (February 2004). He is essentially The Simpsons's Comic Book Guy if he were a supervillain, and has reality warping powers thanks to his special remote control. He would go on to have major roles in five more episodes, and cameoed in several more. He considers himself to be the Titans' archnemesis, although that's clearly not the case.

It took 15 years (almost to the day), but he finally made his comics debut in Teen Titans Annual #1 (January 2019)...or did he? I’ll explain. Usually my posts are written months in advance, and this one is no exception. And when I wrote it, I was basing it on the following solicitation:

Control Freak is clearly mentioned. It also mentions Joy Stick, a character from Teen Titans Go! #41 (March 2007). The story of this issue is that several daughters of supervillains show up to attack Steel City. The first is Joy Stick, the daughter of Control Freak, as seen below. Of course, but the end of the issue, we learn that all these "daughters" are actually Kitten, the daughter of Killer Moth, trying to get his attention.

So...despite what the solicitation says, the actual issues contains sort of a combination of the two characters: a male named Joystick (no space) who can control people, but seemingly not reality itself like Control Freak can.

Normally I’m not sure I’d even count a character like this, but I’m willing to this time because the solicitation makes the intention clear.

Appearance Spotlight: Tempest (post-Rebirth)

DC's Rebirth initiative has two goals, which at first seem at odds with each other, but seem to be working so far. The first is to shake up the majority of their line, taking their books in new directions that feel fresh. The other is to make it feel more like the pre-New 52 DC Universe by bringing back fan favorite characters, iconic outfits, and popular backstories. I guess there's also a third category that falls in between these two, which is adjusting their books to better match popular adaptations. This falls under that third category.

When Aquaman's sidekick, Aqualad, first appeared in the 60s, he looked like this:

As the Teen Titans grew up, they took on new superhero identities and changed their appearances. Aqualad became Tempest in a miniseries of the same name (1996), and he adopted a costume that was similar to a blue one Aquaman had started wearing, but keeping the red color scheme that was associated with him.

In 2003, the Teen Titans got their own animated series. Although Aqualad was not a member of the team, he did appear in the first season and made several appearances after that. However, his look was much different from anything seen in the comics at that time.

Tempest did not appear in the New 52 for several years, not until Aquaman #42 (July 2015). This version wears a blue version of his classic Tempest outfit, which makes sense as it contrasts Aquaman's warmly colored outfit, just like Tempest's red contrasted Aquaman's blue.

But then Rebirth happened. Tempest is still wearing blue, but as you can see, his new outfit his clearly inspired by his animated one. It debuted in Titans: Rebirth #1 (June 2016).

52 Shake-Up: Artemis

"52 Shake-Up" is a series focusing on DC's New 52. Posts get a 52 Shake-Up tag if it's an already existing canon immigrant who now exists in the New 52 as well, or if it's a previously existing character who was changed so drastically by the New 52 to fit a version of themselves in another medium that they could be mistaken for being a canon immigrant.


You'd be forgiven for thinking that the archer named Artemis first appeared in Young Justice (2010), but she didn't. She actually first appeared all the way back in Infinity Inc #34 (December 1986) as a villain who was the daughter of Golden Age villains Tigress and Sportsmaster, just like Infinity Inc were the children and proteges of Golden Age heroes. In Young Justice she's likewise the daughter of Sportsmaster but trying to be a hero (or is a mole pretending to be a hero; it's been a while since I've seen the show)...at least until she becomes Tigress in season 2.

In the New 52, she makes two brief appearances. The first is in Teen Titans #8 (April 2012), where she's seen wearing a rugged version of her Young Justice outfit. She also has the blonde hair and long ponytail of her animated counterpart. She dies during "The Culling" crossover, but is later revealed to have been revived along with the rest of the teens "killed" during the Culling.

Appearance Spotlight: Static

I've mentioned Static before on this site in the DCAU Super Post, but I recently found out some new information about him, so I'm removing him from that post and giving him his own.

Static, aka Virgil Hawkins, first appeared in Static #1 (1993), published by Milestone Media. Like most superpowered people in Dakota, he got his powers in an event called the Big Bang, but whereas the others were generally gang members and criminals, he was a smart kid who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In 2000, Milestone Media adapted Static into a show on the Kids' WB called Static Shock. As it was a Saturday morning cartoon, they made it more kid-friendly and a little brighter, which included a more standard superhero costume for Static:

In 2001, Milestone and DC published a miniseries called Static Shock: Rebirth of the Cool. Although a sequel to the original Static series, this time he wore his animated outfit. The costume actually first appeared in printed form on the cover of Static Shock: Trial by Fire, which was published in anticipation of the animated series, it does not appear in the book itself.

Static Shock season 3 (2003) saw a number of changes to the show, including Static's outfit, as seen below:

In December 2008, Static made his first appearance in DC Comics proper, in Terror Titans #3, wearing his season 3 (and 4) outfit. This signaled the merging of the Milestone and DC universes, a move which had already happened in the DC Animated Universe during Static Shock season 2. 

The DC/Milestone merger survived the New 52 and Static was one of the first 52 series launched, but it only lasted eight issues. Milestone Media has since announced plans to relaunch, and what that means for their characters appearing in the DC universe remains to be seen.

Starfire's New Look! (Plus Some Info About Her Old Looks)

In June, DC Comics is going to re-organize their line, cancelling all but 24 books and launching 20 new books (plus four miniseries). The goal is diversity in genre, tone, style, character, and creator, and unlike The New 52, which also seemed to strive for diversity, I think they'll actually succeed this time.

One of the new series being released is Starfire, and they also released some promotional art for it:

From the looks of this art, I think it's a safe guess that this book will be targeting teen girls, who happened to grow up on the Teen Titans animated series, which premiered July 2003. In the show, Starfire looked like this:

It's not a 1:1 match, but the overall look is the same. They got rid of the collar, added sleeves, and changed the skirt to shorts, but it still has the silver accents and gauntlets (which are even the same shape), the thigh-high boots, the crop top, the straight hair, and perhaps most tellingly, the pupils in her eyes. 

For comparison, I've added her previous looks below. These first two are from The New Teen Titans (1980) and Titans (1999). They don't really look anything like the above photos except being purple:

These next two are from Teen Titans (August 2003) and Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011). As you can see, and as I've mentioned before on the Teen Titans Super Post*, Teen Titans took her back to her original costume but added her thigh-highs from the show and sort-of straightened her hair, and the New 52 version on the right is just a mess, but kept the thigh-highs and added the silver accents from the show.

*as I've repeated the entry with more complete information here, I'll be removing it from that page

52 Shake-Up: Protector and Mas y Menos

The below picture is from the recently released The Multiversity: The Just #1 (October 2014). Multiversity is Grant Morrison's tour through the multiverse, and The Just presents Earth-16, a world that's part Kingdom Come, part Young Justice (the series), and 100% 90s DC. It's a world where our generation of superheroes did their job so well, the only left for the new generation - made up mainly of teen heroes and forgotten 90s characters - is to fight each other and party. They're celebutantes more than superheroes.

This picture is of one of those parties, and you can see some of the members in attendance are Protector (star belt in the middle) and Mas y Menos (far left and far right). Protector appeared as an ersatz Robin in some Teen Titans PSA comics before becoming an official member for one issue, while Mas y Menos are speedster brothers that first appeared in the Teen Titans cartoon before showing up as Teen Titans members during the One Year Gap...also, I think, for one issue. Whether or not these characters exist on Earth-0 is left to be seen, and they probably don't, but they definitely exist on Earth-16, and that still counts.

Edited to Add (7/6/21): Protector appeared on Prime Earth in Heroes in Crisis #3 (November 2018). He died in issue 6, though his most recent appearance was in The Flash #771 (June 2021) as a corpse.

Character Spotlight: Protector

Protector (real name: Jason Hart) first appeared in "New Teen Titans Drug Abuse Awareness" #1, a 1983 PSA comic sponsored by Keebler. Protector was a stand-in for Robin, who was licensed by Nabisco at the time. He became a real deal member of the Titans in Team Titans #24 (September 1994), which happened to be the last issue of the series, so he never appeared again. He's made some cameos here and there, such as in the Infinite Crisis hardcover (2006), but never had much of an impact.

"Teen Titans" Super Post!

As we've seen, if a tv adaptation is popular, you can guarantee that it will have a strong impact on canon.  And as you'll see below, Teen Titans is no exception:

Cinderblock

Gizmo

Red X

Red X first appeared as an undercover identity for Robin in the Teen Titans episode "Masks" (2003), and later, in the episode "X" (2004), somebody steals the costume and begins using the persona for himself.  In Terror Titans #2 (January 2009),  Red X is mentioned as a thief the team is looking for.

Billy Numerous

Mas y Menos


Teen Titans also affected the looks of several characters and introduced some other ideas as well:

Beast Boy

 Left: Beast Boy's original look
Middle: Beast Boy's look on Teen Titans
Right: Beast Boy's One Year Later look, beginning with Teen Titans #34 (April 2006)

Cyborg 2.0

 Left:Cyborg
Middle: Cyborg on Teen Titans
Right: Cyborg 2.0, from the Titans Tomorrow storyline (December 2004)

Hot Spot's name and look

 Left: His original appearance (as Joto)
Middle: His look in Teen Titans
Right: His current look

Originally using the name Joto (Swahili for "heat"), he was called "Hot Spot" when he appeared on the Teen Titans cartoon - presumably because it's more easily associated with his powers (and, according to Rorshach_42 on the CBR forums, "Joto" is a slur in Spanish).  When he joined the Teen Titans during the One Year Gap (Teen Titans #34, April 2006), he also used the name.

Bumblebee

Left: Bumblebee's original look
Middle: Bumblebee on Teen Titans
Right: Bumblebee as she appeared One Year Later, starting with Teen Titans #34 (April 2006)

HIVE Academy

The HIVE Academy first appeared in the Teen Titans episode "Final Exam" (2003) as a training ground for supervillains.  In DC Special: Cyborg #6 (December 2008), Gizmo II was mentioned to have formerly been a student there.

Teen Titans' Hometown

Despite the Titans' usually being based out of New York City, the animated series (July 2003) put them in an unnamed city on the West Coast that felt a lot like San Francisco.  In Teen Titans #1 (September 2003), the team moved to San Francisco proper.