Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Oh Yeah, That Forum: The Titans X-Men/New Teen Titans ( 1982 )

In which the teams' respective line-ups from 1982 battle Deathstroke, Darkseid, and a resurrected Phoenix. By Chris Claremont, Walt Simonson, and Terry Austin.

I haven't contributed a lot to the Titans forum because I'm only familiar with the first few years of the Wolfman era. Anything before or after than, I'm pretty much lost, but I wanted to post about this stand-alone special because it's a personal favorite.

This is one of the few X-related stories I can still read today. Chris Claremont manages to rein in his worst tendencies, and he appears to have paid attention to Marv Wolfman and Len Wein as far as not mis-characterizing the Titans.

Walt Simonson is one of the few heavily stylized artists that I really like, and I think this may be some of the best art he has ever done. Terry Austin and longtime X-colorist Glynis Oliver certainly add a lot, but it's really Simonson's show, down to the cute details like Kitty Pryde wearing a Snoopy T-shirt in one panel.

From what I understand, there was supposed to be a sequel, written by Wolfman and drawn by George Perez, but nasty inter-company feuds over the proposed JLA/Avengers team-up prevented any more DC/Marvel team-ups from taking place for more than a decade.

Just reread this one...fun read with great art.

Someone told me that Claremont try to put in continuity this crossover during his S7 run.

I loved this crossover book! I knew almost nothing about the Titans, being a big X-Men fan back in the day but the characters that struck me were Darkseid and Deathstroke the Terminator. I hadn't seen either of them before, but they were so friggin' cool in this book! I actually bought some Titans books because they featured Deathstroke (which lead me to buying "Vigilante" but I never really got into "TT"). I can't help but think that if they did this book now, there'd be a long drawn out bloody battle between Wolverine and Deathstroke.

Good point. Things were so much better in X-Men (and in comics in general) when Wolverine was just a team member, instead of a solo star. And IMO, when they tried to make him a "deeper" character so that he could carry solo stories, they ruined him.

Off-topic...one of the few Wolverine appearances from the last 20 years that I like was in Hulk #340, by Peter David and Todd McFarlane. Wolverine spends most of the issue refusing to fight the Hulk, doing his whole ridiculous "I'm older and wiser and more mature and more philosophical" shtick until the Hulk finally pushes him too far, and the berserker is back!

Mmm, I liked this crossover!! It was confusing in some ways (at the time I hadn't read anything Titan-related yet and didn't really know who Darkseid was) but now -- golden. My favorite part was Gar and Kitty, the youngins, and their cute chemistry. (Kitty always gets a guy in the crossovers -- she got Wesley in the TNG one too.)

Anyway, it was fun cuteness and I enjoyed it muchly!! Good times in the old school of pre-company meltdownage.

That reminds me I really need to get a copy of this I've only read it once. When Kitty's not around to get the guy in the crossover Jubilee does, remember her & Tim Drake's thing?

I read this a few years after it came out. I was 11 I think. At the time I thought it was the biggest thing EVER. I have it at home...read it atleast once a year. Love it.

I'm a huge Simonson fan and I was a big Teen Titans and Uncanny X-Men fan when it came out...it was HUGE for me.

Ohmygod, Gramps has two copies of that book, he bought a second, and I believe a third at one point because the center pages fell out of the first and second copy he bought. I know one copy is sealed and has never been opened.

I think that was a common problem with that crossover.

I bought this twenty years ago. I don't think I've read it since the 80s.

I remember a large panel where the two teams meet. Kitty is hiding behind someone. Kid Flash says something like "So you're (Colossus) Russian?" and Storm replies along the lines of "And I am African. Does it matter?"

I also remember the chair. The book ends with it, right?

Can't remember Deathstroke in this story for the life of me, which is odd, because he's the one villain of the three that I knew well at the time. Dark Phoenix...knew the general gist. Darkseid...nope, nothing or next to it. I didn't know who Metron was then. Barely do now. Man, I really didn't have a handle on this, did I?

Ahh, maybe I'll have to haul it out again.

Wow, I'm glad to see there's so much for this story.

It would be great if today, someone did an out-of-continuity sequel, with all the characters the exact same way as they were back then (except for Wolverine's costume -- I like the yellow one better.) Sort of like Alan Davis's Nail stories.

Mmm... I loved that. It was so hilarious. They did it in two of the three LSes too. Well, kinda. The second one was more of a 'tying it up' thing. But, yeah. I fangirled over it some.

I don't believe I've read this since I bought it hot off the CBS shelf in 1982.

I've still got it though... maybe it's time for a reread.

One interesting page in this story (I think this was the issue) was when Starfire heard Colossus speak Russian. She says something along the lines of "Oh, wow! A new language" and then kisses him. At that point Nightcrawler adds "Ah, Sprechen ze Deutsch" (or similar) in hopes of getting Starfire to kiiss him.
One of those classic moments.

Hard to believe the 30th Anniversary of this team-up is just around the corner.

I say we celebrate it in this thread all over again.

This thread inspired me to pull this comic out of storage. First off, props to me for managing to keep my copy in near mint condition for nearly 30 years. It even smells new!

Claremont, of course, knew how to write the X-Men. What impresses me most is how well he captured the spirit and personalities of Wolfman's Titans. Simonson's work is brilliant. I especially love his take on Robin. The man clearly still trapped in the boy's costume with body language that communicates that he is no longer a child.

I also love the image of Storm creating a small thunderstorm to water her houseplants. It's an image that always comes to mind when I think of the character.

Nice review, Jerry. Thanks.

The art is full of Easter Eggs like the Storm panel you mentioned. My personal favorite is Kitty wearing a Snoopy shirt.

As someone who read both the Teen Titans and the X-Men at the time, this crossover was geek heaven for me.

I haven't seen my copy for many a year (buried in a box, somewhere), but I remember the scene where Cyclops unleashes the Phoenix Force on Darkseid, and Darkseid has adopted a relaxed pose, with his arms behind his back, as if he has not a care in the world... That was a very strange posture, I thought, for a character that might be about to get atomized, but it made Darkseid seem, to younger me, utterly badass, that he found this potential annhilation merely curious.

It kind of made an interesting parallel between Darkseid and Metron, both of whom, in the face of oblivion, would be more likely to take a closer look, than to run away.

These were by far my favorite books at that time and still hold a substantial place in my heart.

and Walt Simonson throws it down, can't wait for his Legion issue.

Die! Die!

Ah, such a classic.

Colossus - "Bozhe moi!"

Starfire - "Ooh, a new language to learn!" <Smooch>

Kitty = "Harrumph!"

Nightwing = "Uh, don't mind her. Starfire learns new languages through physical contact. Sometimes she gets carried away..."

Nightcrawler - "Fraulein sprechen sie deutch?"

Click pic for more info!