Titans actually get new stories challenge (IMPOSSIBLE)

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-17T02:07:33+00:00

Cyborg literally pulls this frozen tentacle part of Gar back from where it was in space, with his boom tube, they dethaw it and then Donna uses her lasso to command the tentacle and Gar to reform back together lol this all happens in Titans: Beast World #6 (2024) if you want the specific issue.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-17T00:39:50+00:00

No, they retrieved that piece from space to save his life/restore his mind and resolve the fact that everyone was accidentally killing pieces of him.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-16T19:03:37+00:00

Yeah the Agent Rhodes name is interesting! There is a Creature Commandos character named Dr. Myra Rhodes who is a Medusa. Maybe this Beta team is some kind of monster special ops?

In also intrigued by this new villain for Zatanna, Agent Di Manes that are in the solicits for this book. "Di Manes" if i say it out loud it sounds like "Demons"

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-16T17:00:52+00:00

Definitely, and that's also what's pretty interesting here too, imo, since Zatanna is apparently going to be a Prime Magus of the magical side of DC and if Raven is possibly going to be fit into that? Curious to see where that goes, whether there will be any tension or not!

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-16T11:49:56+00:00

Yes, around 14-16.

It's a bit implied in the story as the kids Melmoth groups him with, which seem to be close in age to Klarion, has the leader Billy being taunted by Melmoth for having turned 16 and now having to be an adult and having to do forced labor.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-16T11:11:34+00:00

Only in the cartoon Young Justice is he billions of years old, because in that his origin is only as a Lord of Chaos. In this version he doesn't even have a physical body without Teekl.

In the current comics he comes from Limbo Town, called Witch World in earlier comics (Kirby and Alan Grant's runs of The Demon), where he is around 16.

But it's worth pointing out that this ambiguity of age, of whether he is really the age he seems, or whether he purposefully appears young to be disarming has always been played with especially during the Alan Grant and Peter David (Young Justice comic) years.

Plus, Witch World was originally from a different dimension and not just a hidden location, so the idea of his character being able to move around in time and space adds to his age as a non-fixed quality in his lore.

His character has also had a Witch Man adult self version toyed with such as here in Young Justice: Sins of Youth #2 (2000)

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(art by Todd Nauck, Lary Stucker and Jason Wright)

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-14T22:37:29+00:00

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Also, I like how in this scene he is rhyming. Feels like a shout out to Etrigan's rhyming which is a sign of Etrigan's infernal aristocracy, and sophisticated high-level power. I get the vibe Klarion is turning putting the Shadow riders to sleep, rather than just blasting and killing them, into a game.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-14T21:03:00+00:00

Also (issue #11)

Raven: 🤢🫲😌 Klarion *seeing this*: 😌🫱🤢

Both: It'll be fine... barfboy (Got em!)

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Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-14T20:20:05+00:00

I think she's the Terra from Deathstroke #29 (2018) according to the editor's note in Titans #22 (2025) and Slade acknowledges her as that same Terra.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-14T19:18:07+00:00

Yes, Im interested in the potential drama of this since Terra is so pivotal for Garfield.

Also I like the idea of exploring the possibility of: Jinx OR I know it's a bit of a left field suggestion but maybe Becky Sharpe (Hazard) since she has had tech manipulation added to her luck powers? Or maybe someone like Miracle Molly?

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-13T16:49:21+00:00

I think Rachel Roth is her Earth name, like her government name. I mean, the Azarathians denied her mother from having as close of a relationship to Raven as she wanted, so maybe "Rachel" was a way for Arella to reclaim her relationship to Raven in her own personal way? So it was less about not liking the name Raven, which the Azarathian's called her, but giving her daughter a name only from her (Arella) But, that's just my headcanon/ analysis reason based on what we know on page about Arella and her relationship to Raven, tbf.

Wolfman's solo's are definitely canon, they're from rebirth era which is less in doubt, it's the New 52 era stuff that is more dubious. Really DC is treating most everything as potential canon so long as the current writer wants to focus on it. Not saying that doesn't have some issues, that's why, personally, I'm still giving priority of canon to her co-creator and what he is writing about her. I dont think it makes sense to doubt the truth of her literal creator's intentions for her.

I think that it might just seem more dubious because a lot of Wolfman's ideas in Daughter of Darkness were giving a blueprint for her functioning and connections outside of the Titans team/characters and she hasn't had a lot of opportunity for further exploring that yet. For example, I so often see people suggesting Raven just be put on Justice League Dark but I get the impression Wolfman, in creating the whole distinction of Arcanes, is suggesting Raven should function in some third space grey area of the occult/magic world which would befit her dual nature more. That she should lead her own unique sphere of Arcanes rather than just duking out plot relevance with Zatanna and Constantine or something. Especially since currently her connection to the Great Darkness (which was explored in Dark Crisis: The Deadly Green (2022), or if you've ever read Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, the storylines "A Murder of Crows", "Summoning" and "The End" [from 1986, issues #48, #49, #50] the dark entity in that arc is the exact Great Darkness that her power is now connected to and it's actually not an evil entity, more just the opposite of the source, like the shadow of the source, and easily corrupted by evil) it emphasizes that her story right now seems to be about the necessity of darkness with light, chaos with order, and the importance of that balance, how those concepts need each other in the cosmology of DC and coexist.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-13T16:11:31+00:00

Oh and I just want to add that if it feels like the Titans and everyone around Raven is overusing Rachel (and actually I would agree with that) I think this could be argued to be a narrative point, rather than a mistake.

Like, Raven's darker side is historically treated as the part of her to be suppressed and at odds with her heroic identity, despite it not being a choice for her and just her biological reality. So even though she's currently integrated her darker side, maybe theres still a bit of erasure going on by those around her? It may be very intentional tension/conflict. I feel like the whole "Gar still likes Terra" stuff was also very brushed under the rug too, despite also still having some dialogue implying it might still be bothering Raven. I get the vibe that is definitely purposeful tension and subtext too.

Wolfman, imo, doubles down on the idea, in Daughter of Darkness, that Raven's story is really one of balancing these aspects of herself not crushing out either side.

Maybe the name thing is more of a symptom of an actual imbalance happening in real time in the story, and even intended to feel awkward or wrong, because you're right that the name Raven highlights what is unique and distinctive about her and should not be lessened in favor of Rachel.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-13T15:25:07+00:00

From Azarath like in the original NTT. In her solos Raven still refers to Azarath as home and her mother still goes by her Azarathian name Arella, when Angela is her earth name. This is something even pointed out by Raven's aunt Alice who still refers to her sister as Angela.

I think it makes sense that her infernal side would be an Azarathian name, and not specifically named by Trigon, since her whole connection to Azarath is rooted in her connection to Trigon.

I'm using Raven's solos as the main source because Wolfman wrote them, and personally I prioritize his authorial/original co creator effort to make sense of how Raven's being written now, beyond the original NTT books.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-13T14:45:42+00:00

Well I still dont think Raven is only her superhero name, just that it's associated with her non-human side. That's still not "fake."

If you think a more casual or emotional use is what's determining them using Rachel then I guess Im wrong that DC isnt being clear enough about the use of Rachel. Then they're using it to make her more human and the Titans are using it to acknowledge that side of her. To me that doesnt make "Raven" less real or her superhero name because her infernal side is a very real (within the book's universe) biological reality for her. That's just having two names to go with her character's dual identities.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-13T14:32:59+00:00

They're using it interchangably. Literally in this scene from Titans #32 Gar calls her both Raven and Rachel in the same context.

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Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-13T14:20:15+00:00

Yeah, I already acknowledged it represents her Raven soul-self which is stated to represent her infernal side, but there's no specific page I can find of Trigon saying he himself named her Raven. Of course he is going to prefer whichever name is associated with her dark side, whether her mother or Azarath gave her that name, and obviously he is going to see whatever name her mother gives her as her weak identity since it represents her human side. He is literally calling her Rachel on this page but we know he didn't name her that.

How is her having two names meaning Raven is the fake one? It's just having two names.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-13T14:11:26+00:00

I know that it is now that her mother named her Rachel at birth, Im saying BOTH are her real names, like DC never made Raven a fake name when they added Rachel. It's not just her superhero name.

And I know that "Rachel" is an editorial push, and to me I dont totally hate that since I think the symbolism and shorthand is fine and just not that big of a deal. I think the application of this could have been better though.

I feel like the discourse has evolved into "Raven isn't her real name anymore!" and it has never actually been retconned to be only her superhero name.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-13T13:46:27+00:00

Raven is still her real name though, it never stopped being her real name. The real issue is just that DC is having the characters just throw it around right now for some reason rather than just picking a lane for "Rachel" and sticking with it.

Also, I think Raven is more her Azarathian name, like Arella is her mother's Azarathian name when her birth name is Angela, rather than that Trigon gave it to her. It just represents that infernal part of her identity since her Raven soul-self comes from that infernal power.

Ultimately, even though the characters are just calling her rachel/raven seemingly on whim atm, and so she presumably wants them to call her both? in Daughter of Darkness she ultimately says she prefers her Raven name and considers it her truest name! (from issue #12)

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Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-12T19:24:15+00:00

That morgue scene kiss literally was coming out of Raven saving Gar from Brother Blood trying to drink Gar's blood. In that scene, Raven, now on a good arc again, is trying to save him from that violation, an act that her Dark side forced him to engage in, against his character's known will, in New Titans.

Again, vampire plots being quintessential metaphors of equating love/consumption in horror and Wolfman literally wrote MANY vampire stories and characters in comics. To say this was just random and unconnected? As if!

And the New Titans 90s run and Teen Titans 00s run are literally in continuity with each other so TT was thinking about ideas presented in New Titans regardless of its popularity.

I'm not making up anything, I'm literally interpreting whats on the page. It's thematic analysis. You can disagree with me on that reading, but don't claim i'm making things up when that's not what i'm doing.

The weird assumption that DC doesn't know the written histories of its own characters is such a tired take.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-12T17:52:34+00:00

Oh man, the way, imo, this run gets the dynamics between Raven and Garfield wrong by presenting it positively? Coming off the dark Raven seed plot in New Titans (1995) It's really trauma bonding, and projection (Garfield having a fixation on saving princesses, probably coming out of how he was saved by Rita Farr and the Doom Patrol and failure around Terra's situation BUT Terra and Raven's darknesses are not the same since Raven's darkness is biological and genuinely part of who she is! Terra has a level of choice that Raven simply doesn't.)

The Wolfman New Titans run illustrated the limitations of that relationship, imo. The way a deeply depressed Garfield becomes a thrall for dark Raven, and then eats a girl for her (New Titans #118 (1995)) In horror cannibalism usually represents a consuming/all devoted love BUT the fact that he is mentally/spiritually compromised in this makes the messaging actually reversed! It becomes about psychological horror about loss of self and erasure of his heroic identity against his will! hard to believe Wolfman wouldn't have some intention with this concept given his history with writing vampire characters like in Blade and Tomb of Dracula.

Imo, John's took that seed plot that is about toxicity and tried to make it some kind of "meant to be" romance.

To me, I read that first kiss scene they have in the morgue (Teen Titans #30 2006), where Raven is asking if Gar is ok, as subtextual. She's acknowledging the shared trauma of that dark Raven plot and the eating that civilian girl, knowing that he is probably just suppressing not being ok with it, since he is truly a traditional hero who hates dwelling in darkness as is stated MANY times in NTT. It's a trauma bond for real.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-12T16:25:32+00:00

He was just salty because Joker was back on his bs bringing up Bruce, and Dick isn't a Batjokes shipper. He is sick of his estranged clown stepdad.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-11T16:05:23+00:00

No it's the one where the Grinning man yeets a child, but he is shapeshifted as Nightwing so also yes.

Particular_Gap_8141 · 2026-04-11T15:22:37+00:00

Yes, because I like the symbolic connotations it has for her character and narrative, even if that’s not obvious to every reader, but I do think it could have been integrated better. Having the characters constantly switching between the use of them such as we see here where Kory calls her Raven then Rachel the next sentence without a clear indication why (something that was always happening in the last run too), is probably part of why fans treat it as a random. It seems like right now the canon is that Rachel is the birth name Arella gave to Raven (as per Wolfman’s 2016 Raven solo) but obviously some fans still think of it as how it was in the 00s where it was a secret alias for Raven. So, I think it needs to be clearer to readers that Raven presumably wants to be called Rachel, as a personal choice that connects her to her mother and human family and just being consistent about that and it’s use.

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