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This week’s DC purist thorn of pain comes from the new issue of TEEN TITANS, in which Wendy and Marvin, two characters birthed from the insufferable SUPERFRIENDS cartoon, return, only to be savagely slaughtered by Wonder Dog, who then feasts on their grisly remains.

That is how to do it! I understand that SUPERFRIENDS is a low point, not just in superhero history but the annals of animation (indeed, the name Margaret Loesch in the credits must be seen as one of the true harbingers of cartoon doom.) It is only fitting that Wendy and Marvin get what was coming to them.

Plus, let’s face it, if Grant Morrison or Alan Moore had written this issue, we’d all think it was genius.

85 COMMENTS

  1. Wendy and Marvin have been part of the book since One Year Later, and this issue completely took my by surprise! I thought it was a great twist. McKeever’s doing some good work on Teen Titans right now.

  2. Weny and Marvin were lame, sure … Wonder Dog was okay … but really, this looks lame, also. The writer, and the readers who like this, will probably snicker and swagger like they’ve got “street cred.”

  3. >> I understand that SUPERFRIENDS is a low point, not just in superhero history but the annals of animation >>

    Animation, perhaps, but the comic book — mostly by E. Nelson Bridwell and the great Ramona Fradon — was pretty darn good.

    kdb

  5. Sigh.

    I hate comics stories where the creators get rid of characters they’re embarassed of by killing them. Then when you call them on it they point to Alan Moore like it’s suddenly ok. It’s not ok, it’s just sad.

    That said, I agree with Kurt Busiek. That comic series was pretty darn good.

  6. Plus, let’s face it, if Grant Morrison or Alan Moore had written this issue, we’d all think it was genius.

    Alan Moore wouldn’t have written this. When he screws with a character, he at has a good reason. DC Comics, however, does it just for shock value, or, worse, for a cheap joke.

    And Morrison certainly doesn’t get a pass for everything he does. I don’t see anyone claiming “Final Crisis” is genius.

  7. @Franklin…. At the very least people would wait until the entire arc played out before calling it the worst thing ever and a symbol of all that is wrong with DC, the comic book industry and society at large.

    Wasn’t there a similar reaction when LitG reported that Catwoman’s baby was going to die? How did that turn out?

    And if Grant Morrison or Alan Moore had written this we would all call it genius.

  9. i don’t get it! O.o

    are you saying this is a good thing or a bad thing? is the comic good or bad? why was superfriends a low point, who the hell is M. Loesch and why do you hate her??

    So much anger, and so little explained……

  10. Life can’t always be easy, Michael. Then it would be like an episode of WALKER, TEXAS RANGER and not MURDER SHE WROTE.

  11. The “Superfriends” cartoon really was tripe, but Alex Toth’s designs and storyboards for the show were pretty amazing. I highly recommend Darrell MacNeil’s book on Toth’s animation work (I think it’s called “Alex Toth: By Design” and it has all of the character designs he did for Hanna-Barbera) to see just how terrific it really was.

  12. I’ve got to admit, whilst I’ve been a little disappointed with McKeever’s work on Teen titan, being a huge fan of his The Waiting Place, this issue was great, a really unexpected twist that worked so well because of the mundane build-up.
    Oh, and Dan? That’s a bit evil recommending Toth By Design, as it’s long out of print and goes for a fortune when it turns up infrequently online, due to Hanna Barbara not authorising it’s extensive reprinting of Toth’s beautiful model sheets for the shows he designed.
    Shame on you.
    I’ve got it, anyway…

  13. Oh, Steely Dan, if only that “Toth: By Design” book was remotely affordable. It goes for about as much as a car payment on eBay these days.

  16. I had started buying Teen Titans again to support Blue Beetle. (last issue was my first)

    However, I’m dropping it with this.

    The main reason I read DC books is the legacy characters and family dynamics of the titles. I get a kick out of really obscure characters being rescued from Publishing Limbo and showing up to have fun and enjoy life. I do not buy DC books to see characters constantly mutilated, violated, and abused. If I did that, I’d be more into Marvel I suspect. Life is hard enough, I want to enjoy comics, I read them to be entertained, not to always be depressed and subjected to just sheer freaking pointless cruelty.

    I had a similar problem with Titans East, I was going to buy it, then found out what happened in it. I’m not sure what audience DC is after with this weird aping of slasher flicks and snuff films. But I am not that audience.

    It’s a reject from bad-90’s land. I just….

    Look I’m not calling for anyone’s head. I don’t like it. That’s cool other people might, but I’m not going to buy it. And for the record I would have disliked it if Morrison wrote it to (but you’re right, I probably would give Alan Moore the benefit of the doubt and find some way to make excuses for it)

    However what really makes me angry… the fact that a more happy, accessible, innocent book like Teen Titans Year One actually suggested readers try out Teen Titans and Titans is just distasteful and offensive. That’s just obscene.

  17. I have to disagree on this.

    Superfriends was not a lowpoint in superhero history. I would argue that the cartoon introduced a whole generation of non comic book readers to the Justice League, and although basically kids stuff, it was a step up from live action spoofery such as Batman.

    Superfriends was a start, and it led to Challenge of the Superfriends which pitted the JLA against the Legion of Doom. for a kid that show made Saturdays the most exciting day of the week.

    Arguably the perfect representation of the League on the Cartoon Network would not have existed without first the seed of the Superfriends already planted. Superfriends may have been just as important to making Justice League happen as Batman: The Animated Series or Superman: Animated Series.

    In reference to the Teen Titans, well what do you expect from DC comics? The company that things the best thing they can do with Mary Marvel is to make her an evil bondage queen? The more DC does crap like this the more I save money by simply hacking the titels from the subscripition list. I haven’t bought Teen Titans because DC cancelled Young Justice, the superior, fun title. Speak with your wallets, I always say. It’s the only way DC listens.

    P.S. I agree with Mr. Busiek, the comic book tie-in of the Superfriends without question rocked. It also allowed for the creation of Fire and Ice, and led to their inclusion in the Keith Giffin, DeMatteis, Maguire League.

  18. Why, oh why, couldn’t Gleek have killed the Wondertwins instead?

    Oh, and for the record, CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS ruled back in the day. Anyone who says otherwise has no soul.

  19. Oh, Steely Dan, if only that “Toth: By Design” book was remotely affordable. It goes for about as much as a car payment on eBay these days.

    Really? I should sell mine.

    @Richard Pachter, who says: (And “Final Crisis” is genius.)

    No. It isn’t. It’s not even a proper story, and no one who hasn’t read the last two years of awful DC weeklies knows what the hell is going on and why Mary Marvel is out of character.

  20. Nothing annoyed me more as a kid than that Wendy and Marvin era of the Superfriends. I found them infantile and unwatchable, even as a child.

    For that reason alone–the rest of the story, or its quality, be damned–I think the little bastards got what was coming to them. Now if someone will put down the dog, we’ll be in good shape.

  21. @Franklin Harris Says: “no one who hasn’t read the last two years of awful DC weeklies knows what the hell is going on and why Mary Marvel is out of character. ”

    Aha!

    Now, I understand your problem.

    Never mind, then.

  25. >>>No. It isn’t. It’s not even a proper story, and no one who hasn’t read the last two years of awful DC weeklies knows what the hell is going on and why Mary Marvel is out of character.

    “out of character”? What is this “out of character” of which you speak?

    Over my vacatio nI was reading an interesting book called “Watchmen” and on the very first page it introduced me to a wonderfully fresh character named “Ror-schach.” I had never heard of him before but he has definitely picqued my interest.

    Franklin, I love ya, but we need to get past the idea of anything being in or out of character and for new readers and get into the idea of good characterization period, in order to get those new readers.

  26. Alex Toth: By Design apparently didn’t get all the permissions it needed from Hanna-Barbera or else Toth believed he owned the publishing rights to the drawings. At any rate the book premiered a few years ago at an SD Comicon and by the end of the convention dealers had been forced to pull it from sale, the book was withdrawn from distribution and has never been made available again, except by those people who bought it in the few days it was available from the publisher. No official explanation for what happened has ever been made, so far as I know. Even the documentary on Toth on the Space Ghost dvd doesn’t mention it.

  27. Legitsquare said:

    “I do not buy DC books to see characters constantly mutilated, violated, and abused. If I did that, I’d be more into Marvel I suspect.”

    I’ve not taken a survey, but I get the impression that in the last 20-odd years DC’s done more character-mutilating than Marvel has.

    The reason is simple:

    They’re number two.

    They try harder.

  28. Oh, and not only would I not think this was “genius” if Morrison or Moore did it, but very likely, Morrison and Moore wouldn’t do it, because they’re not hung up on proving to the people who picked on them in high school that superheroes are “serious” and “adult.”

  30. I’d rather read a comic about an angry dog that eats super-heroes than Teen Titans, but hey, I’ve never seen Alex Toth’s original designs for the Super Friends. Who knows what I’d think if that weren’t the case.

  33. My brother and I got in an argument about the Marvin of Marvin and Wendy. In the cartoon, did he a) have no superpowers at all, b) have the ability to jump pretty high, c) simply think his jumping high was a power?

    As for the comic panel printed above, I am sad that DC has this time put a dog between me and my arousal at witnessing the fear and death of some nice comic book character woman.

  34. It’s funny how that issues made both Marvin and Wendi Interesting, and now they are dead. As for as the super-friends…it’s seem like many people dislike it, yet they have ALL seen it. Sure the ones with Marvin and Wendi weren’t great. The others I enjoy very much, and it’s what got me in to comics. I’m sure it has gotten many of us into it as well. Sure it’s wasn’t the stuff we have now but it was all we really had as far as DC superheroes go. But what Do I know? I enjoyed when Scooby-Doo and Batman team up. LOL.

  36. So Wendy and Marvin are dead too?

    Isn’t Didio full editor of the Titans now?

    Well, there’s no shocker there and … oh, boo hoo.

  37. Another lame ass comic by DC, written and drawn by lame creators who don’t like certain characters and now want them killed off. Probably a Dan Didio idea as all his others are shit as well. An embarassment for sure all around. Glad I stopped reading comics for the most part, they suck and this is why…not just the killing but the tone.

    And no, if Grant Morrison wrote it, it wouldn’t be genius…All his recent stuff sucks ass.

    I’m disappointed in the Beat championing the killing here, but guess they are lame too.

  38. The Beat: “Franklin, I love ya, but we need to get past the idea of anything being in or out of character and get into the idea of good characterization period, in order to get those new readers.”

    There is no good characterization if characters are written in a manner that they wouldn’t normally behave, which some term as ‘In Character or Out of Character’.

    Example In Character: Superman doesn’t cuss or kill.
    Example Out of Character: A cussing Superman slaughters a villain.

    While it hasn’t been so blatent as what I stated above, using Superman as the easiest example, basically, DC has been doing what you suggested: ignoring what’s perceived as In and Out of character when it comes to writing their characters, which is why they are at such a disconnect with the audience; Readers can’t make heads or tales of many of DC’s characters.

    Frankly, I’m very surprised at your suggestion Heidi, especially Considering that you worked with the Master of Characterization: Marv Wolfman, for so long.

  39. “out of character”? What is this “out of character” of which you speak?

    Over my vacatio nI was reading an interesting book called “Watchmen” and on the very first page it introduced me to a wonderfully fresh character named “Ror-schach.” I had never heard of him before but he has definitely picqued my interest.

    Franklin, I love ya, but we need to get past the idea of anything being in or out of character and for new readers and get into the idea of good characterization period, in order to get those new readers.

    See??? Now Heidi is acting out of character!

  42. That’s such an intense image, wow. Great art.

    Can you imagine if people today were introduced to Superman for the first time with just a single image? The internet would be ablaze with ridicule at a muscular guy wearing spandex and his underwear on the outside.

    If you don’t like violence, fine. If you don’t like that your character got killed, fine. But if you’re calling this lame, just based on that picture above, then your opinion shouldn’t matter. It’s not informed, and it’s irrelevant.

    Oh, and Final Crisis is genius.

  44. “to be savagely slaughtered by Wonder Dog, who then feasts on their grisly remains”

    Wonder Twins Unite!! This time they will be wonder poo…

    WONDER-ful

  45. um totally ‘kewl’ like they’re messin’ with my mind man! wowy wow wow he had me going HERE, but took me THERE, man.

    I’m sorry this is lame. Not offensive, just lame. Its not like these characters were ever sacred cows. It’s not even as edgy an idea as i’m sure they thought it was. It’s just silly.

    Also if Moore or Morrison were to have done this it would have been cool, because it would have been the eighties.

  47. I’d like to take this time to note that Eddy Barrows clearly rules. (Ruy Jose doesn’t seem half bad either.) The man does not half ass. He could do some great work in the horror genre, but I don’t mind admitting that I enjoy him drawing the kind of gory, messy superhero violence McKeever’s been writing on Titans.

    All of this, I’m sure, makes me a terrible person. But hell, I’m reading superhero comics to begin with, there’s obviously something wrong with me.

  49. Loesch gave us Muppet Babies and the Dungeons & Dragons toon. Loesch was directly responsible for the 90s Batman & X-Men series’, the Tick, the 90s’ Spider-Man toon… All were approved by her as head of the Fox Kids Network.

    How the hell are any of THOSE a bad thing?

  50. I sometimes watched cartoons such as SUPERFRIENDS, TMNT, and CAPTAIN PLANET AND THE PLANETEERS years ago. I can’t say that any episode of the cartoons was ever offensive; they all had occasionally interesting moments–I wasn’t a member of the target audience, in any case. It would never have occurred to me to kill any character in the cartoons out of dislike or spite, or otherwise, I might like to see the cast of SCOOBY-DOO devoured by zombies, because of all the damn fake monsters they gave me and other sappy viewers when the cartoons originally aired.

    All of which is to say, why were Wendy and Marvin brought into TEEN TITANS in the first place? That was probably a mistake–and if they were grossly misplaced, I’d have preferred that the writers forget about them, rather than make them a target of derision. I still have bad memories of seeing a writer sarcastically kill off Warner’s “Bloodstone” (Gerber in RAMPAGING HULK #8?); whether he actually disliked Bloodstone or just wanted to give the story some zing, the overall effect was unpleasant.

    There are fans going ga ga over Marvel’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, even though it features Rocket Raccoon and Groot, characters from Giffen’s STARLORD miniseries, which was, essentially, a failed parody. There’s not really much difference between having Rocket Raccoon and Groot in GotG and placing Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam in JLA. Characters are appropriate for a story, or they’re not. If they’re not appropriate for the story, then publishing the story with them present was a mistake by the writer and editor both.

    SRS

  53. “All of which is to say, why were Wendy and Marvin brought into TEEN TITANS in the first place?”

    Ask Geoff Johns? Since the current creative team wasn’t party to that decision, and creative direction has a habit of changing with new writers, artists, and editors? Of which Teen Titans has a whole bunch? (McKeever is only into his third arc on the book, Barrows and Jose their second, and DiDio only got back into the business of editing books directly recently.)

    Also, from Barrows’ blog: Original pencils and inks.

    Don’t front people. Even if you object to the subject matter, you can’t knock the hustle.

  55. “And Morrison certainly doesn’t get a pass for everything he does. I don’t see anyone claiming “Final Crisis” is genius.”

    Am I the only person loving Final Crisis? I think it’s crossover genius, at the very least!

  57. Is no one else primarily offended because this is just a rip off of Osiris/Sobek from 52? And they were ven telegraphing their unoriginality in the same panel?

    Just me, then? ok. carry on.

  58. This was just atrocious. What do we get out of this issue? An offpanel death, then several pages of a defenseless woman screaming in terror until she is slaughtered by an enormous dog wearing a cape. Did we really need to add another count of sexualized violence against females to DC’s rap sheet? As the previous poster remarked, “Classy.”

    What really gets me is that these characters don’t even have an out for resurrection. They are only human, after all. No speed force, no Martian trickery, no yellow sun, just dead.

  61. Scanned this at the comics shop. Was more surprised over Miss Martian’s recovery after that gladiator thing. No feelings over Wendy and Marvin. At least the Super Twins still exist. Oh, and just like Ms. Beat, Wendy and Marvin still exist in the Kingdom Come universe, as do the Cosby Kids.
    Superfriends, like Land Of The Lost, was repeated every summer. IT WAS A SATURDAY MORNING CARTOON. All it had to do was fire our sugarcrusted neurons for a few hours! And We Loved It! I could wax nostalgic over the Krofts, Shazam, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends…
    Friends, go buy and read Superman/Batman #51. The scene with Robin is worth the price of the comic! Alfred has some good lines, too.

  62. Whit —

    People say ‘cuss’ when they are referring to someone who speaks with a foul mouth, foul language… Fu**, bi%ch, etc.

    Many people pronounce it as ‘cursing’ but that could be mistaken as someone putting a hex on someone.

    To differentiate between the two, I used the term ‘cuss’.

    Of course, you completely overlooked the point to nitpick on a word in the post instead of commenting on the post itself.

    Whit, you’re a witty guy.

  63. How many people decrying this panel actually read the issue? Seems like not many have…

    Sounds about right for comic book outrage.
    ————–

    Yep…

  64. Hopefully, when I read my issue, all will be explained…. ;)

    And, I’ve never been a fan of TWR or MSW! :)

  65. @brett Says: Of course, you completely overlooked the point to nitpick on a word in the post instead of commenting on the post itself.

    Whit, you’re a witty guy.
    ——–
    Well, thanks, Brett, I’m gosh-darned pleased as punch. Gee willikkers! Jumpin’ Jehosephat!!

    The “point” is hardly worth commenting on. Being upset because a superhero “cusses” is a little tough to take seriously.

    But that’s just me. You can be as outraged as you wanna be, Bubba.

  66. I doubt that anyone can cite a story in which a character’s demise, resulting from the writer’s disdain for or hatred of that character, actually works. If a character concept is solid, then the treatment of that character should make use of the character’s theme. If the character concept is obviously flawed or invalid (continuity error), then the character isn’t worth using in a story. A comics writer might be faced with a situation in which he has several characters that he doesn’t want to use, but that doesn’t justify trashing them simply to get rid of them quickly.

    If a writer left a formula romance incomplete, and another writer decided to finish the story by having the female lead and her husband to be killed gruesomely in a car accident, would that be brilliant? Hardly. There are reasons to think that formula fiction generally is junk, but that opinion doesn’t consider individual stories.

    If the character’s demise was part of a larger point–destroying, say, the Marvel Universe, in order to recreate it with a better framework–then the story might work as constructive criticism.

    SRS

  69. That is “How to do it”? If you mean how to get me to drop a book? Yep.

    Just sad.

    Normally I’d be against ruining the end of of story but this was vile as soon as it came out.

  70. That is “How to do it”? If you mean how to get me to drop a book? Yep.

    Just sad.

    Normally I’d be against ruining the end of of story but this was ruined as soon as it came out.

  72. (James Van Hise) “Alex Toth: By Design apparently didn’t get all the permissions it needed from Hanna-Barbera or else Toth believed he owned the publishing rights to the drawings. At any rate the book premiered a few years ago at an SD Comicon and by the end of the convention dealers had been forced to pull it from sale, the book was withdrawn from distribution and has never been made available again, except by those people who bought it in the few days it was available from the publisher.”

    By Design was published in 1996, and I bought mine in Rory Root’s Comic Relief store sometime in 1997 or ’98 when I was working in a Berkeley animation studio. I’m really glad I got it, as it’s an absolute inspiration to read through. It’s pretty darned expensive now, but worth the money if you can get it.

    Greg Espinoza

  73. “Heidi’s comments on this thread demonstrate once again why she’s had such a middlingly mediocre career in comics.”

    Cheap shot, Bill. Heidi’s doing just fine. How’s your career?

    Greg Espinoza

  75. I think the most outrageous part of this story is that the writer had Wendy try to hide in the refrigerator.

  76. Heidi. WTF! How can you say that!!!!!!!!!! Insufferable! WTF!!!!! Alex Toth spits on you from the GRAVE! That first series of Super Friends is eminently watchable and rewatchable for so many reasons. This show had more impact on the environmental movement in the US than just about anything, ever. The conscience of an entire generation was forged by this show! It may seem a little slow, and yes the backgrounds do repeat overmuch, but that show had heart and soul like few others. Wendy, Marvin and Wonderdog were perfect gateway characters for the young viewer to identify with like the Doctor’s companions on Doctor Who. I suppose you prefer the Wonder Twins! The animation might not be very animated, but the actual content of the show, like a few other poorly executed products of that and later eras was well written (Return to the Planet of the Apes is so much better then the later movies, but it never moves.) There are so many levels to enjoy that show on, and I am disappointed that you dismiss it out of hand like that. Obviously I hold this show dear, if not, in fact sacred, but it had a heart that so few shows do. It was earnest in its premise in a somewhat naive and hopeful way like so much of what came out in the early 70s. A spirit that had been so thoroughly crushed by the cynicism of the 80s and beyond. Shame!

  77. It’s funny. Marvel Comics has been hacking at Skrulls all summer long in the most gruesome manner – heck every page of a Marvel book these days has a Skrull being killed, yet, no one complains.

    Two non green looking characters are killed by a giant dog, and suddenly, there’s a crisis at DC Comics…

  79. Alan Moore would not have written this. If he did, it would not be in this kind of book. I’m wondering just for what audience this kind of book was made for, indeed, I’m wondering what kind of audience a lot of superhero comic books today are made for . It certainly CAN’T be for an 8 year old me, who would have been traumatized at seeing something like this.

    By all means do all this stuff in other comic books (I’m all for dog skull cracking in Watchmen, or brains blowing apart in Preacher, tits, ass and man rape in LOEG), but if you sexify the X-Men and do this kind of thing in Teen Titans, something is seriously, seriously wrong.

  80. Teens. They’re marketed to teens. Sexed up action comics about outsider with insane potential are for teens. That’s who they should be marketed to by the by.

  82. I don’t understand this knocking of Superfriends. The brilliant Ted Knight was the narrator, and you always learned a valuable lesson. I actually preferred them and the Wonder Twins to the later Challenge of The Superfriends nonsense starring the supervillains and superheroes like Indian Man and Black Man. The Toth styled artwork was superior too. Once Ted Knight left the show lost much of its charm.

  84. “It’s funny. Marvel Comics has been hacking at Skrulls all summer long in the most gruesome manner – heck every page of a Marvel book these days has a Skrull being killed, yet, no one complains.”

    There have been online complaints of sorts, notably about Clint Barton gunning down Skrulls in SECRET INVASION #5, but the quality of writing in the SI miniseries (and some tie-ins, e.g., Ms. MARVEL) is so poor that it’s impossible to take events as depicted seriously. Except for the fact that Marvel is publishing the material, SECRET INVASION might as well have been written by a crime fiction enthusiast who’s trying to do superheroes and aliens without ever having read SF.

    SRS

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