TEEN TITANS CARTOON

TEEN TITANS (2003 - 2006). Cartoon Network.

The Teen Titans comic book featured the junior partners of the members of the Justice League of America and debuted in the sixties. In the eighties the group was reinvented as the New Teen Titans, and really took off in popularity. This cartoon series, aimed at younger viewers, took the members of the New Teen Titans -- including newcomers Starfire, Raven and Cyborg -- and made them "cuter," especially shape-shifting Changeling, who was once again called Beast Boy as he had been originally and became the most popular character on the cartoon, beating out team leader Robin [of Batman and fame]. Oddly, the show utilized some of the villains and story arcs of the twenty-year-old -NTT comic book series, including Deathstroke, the Terminator and his pawn Tara, and --- most interestingly -- the well-voiced, disembodied Brain [pictured] and his Brotherhood of Evil, who first appeared in the classic Doom Patrol comic of the silver age [wherein Beast Boy was also introduced]. These episodes, which even brought back the members of the Doom Patrol, had a more serious tone than that of the rest of the series. Many of the scenes on the show were taken directly from the comic book. In general, however, the series had a veneer of silliness, anime-type faces. a hideous theme song, and relatively mediocre animation.NOTE: To learn more about the original Teen Titans and the Doom Patrol, see The Silver Age of Comics.

Verdict: In general: **. Doom Patrol episodes: ***.