From: tyg@HQ.Ileaf.COM (Thomas Galloway)
Subject: DC: TITANS: '92 Editorial Plans
Reply-To: tyg@HQ.Ileaf.COM (Thomas Galloway)
Organization: Interleaf, Inc.
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 92 23:08:30 GMT

The following information was obtained from the DC Editorial Presentation
book for '92. It was produced for distributors and dealers, and this should
be kept in mind where I quote some of the hype/marketing direction for some
items. Books are spoiled in various levels of detail, usually just future
guest stars and general plot directions, so the meat is after a ^L

This post deals with Titans universe books, and contains substantial spoilers.
I figure it's a public service given the constant "Really, just keep reading,
it's going to get really good, promise" hype on the letters page to show
just what will be coming up. To summarize, there'll be a Team Titans book
featuring the future Titans, a Hybrid book featuring the team created five
years back in the Blue Beetle crossover which hasn't appeared since, a
one-shot titled Titans Sell Out, and a Nightwing mini-series, 

DEATHSTROKE will be frequently crossing over with the other Titans titles
this year, and will result in the spinoff of the new Hybird book. New costume
for him too.

HYBRID is by Len Wein and Art Nichols and features Steve Dayton and the Hybrid
who were created way back in the Titans/Blue Beetle crossover circa '87 and
who haven't appeared since. New members will include Chiller, Delphi, and
Kodiak. Hybrid #1 will spinoff from Titans #94, Team Titans #6, and
Deathstroke #18.

NEW TITANS has all the stories that Jonathan Peterson keeps telling us to
just wait for...well, now you can decide for yourself if it's worth it.
#88-90 will have Mirage infiltrating the Titans and the Titans capturing
Redwing. #90 crosses over with Deathstroke #14 as he breaks into STAR while
Mirage tries to free Redwing from there. This leads into Team Titans #1.
These three issues are part of a 9 issue storyline ending in Team Titans #3
dealing with the Donna Troy/Chaos matter. At the end, Troia will go to  
Team Titans while Terra, who has the hots for Gar, will go to New Titans.
Other characters will return, including a revamped Speedy who's a "master of
all weapons". Cheshire is behind a revitalized Brotherhood of Evil which
starts up in #93 and crossovers with Deathstroke and Hybrid. #94 starts
a three issue arc with Red Star returning to Russia to get a personality, er,
to try to cure Cyborg, but ends up with him applying for U.S. citizenship.
Hints about who Pantha is will be dropped as she mutates into a more catlike
appearance. Nightwing will somehow convince the world that he and Dick Grayson
are two separate people in #95 and 96 so he can openly date Starfire (boy,
that'd sure have me convinced they're two separate people...not). Also,
Wildebeest goes to nursery school (yeah, right. Can you say "liability
insurance" boys and girls?) and Raven will return...but as a "sexy murderous
siren out to the destroy the Titans". Oh, also a Titan dies in #94.
September will see a trade pb of New Teen Titans #1-6 and the preview from DC
Comics Presents.

NIGHTWING gets a four issue mini- by Art Thibert and Pam Winesette as writers
and Thibert as artist. It's unscheduled, but will include Starfire being
kidnapped, Dick having what amounts to a breakdown, fights Batman, and gets
retrained by Bats in how to be "a true dark avenger of the night". He
and Starfire both get new looks (Dick loses the ponytail, but Starfire 
gets one as well as apparently switching hairdressers to whoever Wolverine
uses...but then Dick seems to be seeing the same one that Jaime Madrox uses,
so it evens out). At the end he proposes to her and a '93 wedding is planned.

TEAM TITANS is listed as being by Wolfman and Maguire, but this is somewhat at
variance with Maguire's statements which had him drawing and writing a third
Titans book called Rogue Titans which isn't listed. Anyway, this is the book
about the Teen Titans from the future. #5 will have them enrolling in school
sans secret identities, with #6 having them search out their current selves to
see what their lives might have been like. A new member Battalion, will join
when Terra switches books. He'll be attracted to Donna (despite mention of
Terry still being around) and is described as "one of the strangest, fiercest
and most blodthirsty of characters seen in the DC Universe". Oh joy. In the
Hybrid entry it's mentioned that there's another death in TT #6. Scheduled
for August.

TITANS SELL OUT [insert your own joke here, this is too easy] is a one-shot
by Wolfman and various artists scheduled for October. The idea is that both
teams of Titans try to improve their public image by hiring a PR firm. This
results in a Titans Saturday morning cartoon and various stuffed dolls 
[insert Starfire joke here] and other merchandise. These take off, and while
they improve the public image, they don't help their private lives.

It's notable that all of these books will be crossing over and dependent
on tight scheduling and books coming out on time.

"This must be the Red Sox' year. Statistics of the last 75 years prove that
the Sox always win the World Series one year after a Russian revolution."
  --Dan Shaughnessy
tyg  tyg@hq.ileaf.com

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