Teen Titans: Titan's Children

{{DC Database:Storyline Template
 * Image                  = Titan's Children 001.jpg
 * ImageText              =
 * OfficialName           = Titan's Children
 * Aliases                =


 * Universe               = New Earth
 * Locations              = Titan; Metropolis: New Troy, Solar Tower; Colorado: NORAD, Cheyenne Mountain; New Jersey; Connecticut: Ivy University, Ivy Town


 * Heroes                 = Teen Titans: Atom, Argent, Prysm, Risk, Slager
 * Villains               = Psions; H'San Natall; Jugular
 * Others                 = Loren Jupiter, Neil Richards, Omen, Marty Pink


 * Origin                 = 1996
 * Titles                 = Teen Titans (Volume 2)
 * Collected              =
 * Creators               = Dan Jurgens; George Pérez; Gregory Wright; Digital Chameleon; Richard Starkings; Comicraft; Eddie Berganza
 * First                  = Teen Titans Vol 2 #2
 * Last                   = Teen Titans Vol 2 #3


 * HistoryText            =

Overview
Titan's Children is a three-part story-arc that kicked off the 1996 Teen Titans ongoing comic book series. It was written and drawn by Dan Jurgens, with ink work by Titans luminary George Pérez. In addition to being the first story-arc of the series, "Titan's Children" also introduced four brand-new characters: Cody Driscoll, Audrey Spears, Isaiah Crockett and Toni Monetti. Led by the Atom, these kids form a new team of Teen Titans by the conclusion of the story. This story also revived several Silver Age characters including Loren Jupiter and the now-reformed "Mad Mod", Neil Richards. Another key figure in "Titan's Children" is that of Omen. A mysterious hooded individual, Omen appears to share an empathic bond with the kids and is working alongside Loren Jupiter. Omen's true identity is not revealed at this time.

Synopsis
A sixteen-year-old girl named Audrey Spears is trapped in a virtual reality simulation on the moon of Titan. Her life as she knows it is an idyllic fairy tale setting patterned in the style of 1950s Earth sitcoms. She speaks of a boy named Cody Driscoll who wants to take her to the prom. Her "brothers" in this simulation make fun of her, although she has the loving support of her faux parents. From outside the VR chamber, two alien Psions named Jarn and Dorek monitor her progress. They are curious by her referenced to Cody, an actual teenage boy, and one of particular interest to the Psions.

On Earth, the real Cody Driscoll breaks into NORAD at Cheyenne Mountain on a dare. He sneaks into a monitoring station and watches their observation screens. Suddenly, he sees a flickering image of a girl named Toni Monetti momentarily flash before his eyes. Alarms begin to sound and Cody thinks that the guards have been alerted to his presence. In truth, the klaxons are in response to a UFO sighting. Startled, Cody accidentally exposes himself and begins running from the security team. He races inside a woman's locker room, but these women are heavily trained guards who easily beat him down.

In Metropolis, a man named Loren Jupiter consults with a mysterious cloaked figure known as Omen inside his Solar Tower skyscraper. Omen is uneasy and senses that the "targets" will soon be coming into their powers. Mister Jupiter assures Omen that he will do everything in his power to help them. Omen suddenly experiences a psychic surge and knows that a ship is approaching the Earth.

In Ivy Town, Connecticut, Mister and Mrs. Crockett drop off their sixteen-year-old son, Isaiah, at the steps of Ivy University. Isaiah has just received a full scholarship and is nervous about starting college at such a young age. His nervousness has physical consequences as his hands begin to suddenly glow red hot. Fortunately the super-hero known as the Atom (now regressed in age to a teenager) is present on the scene and tries to help him.

In New Jersey, Toni Monetti is having a pool party at her family's spacious estate. Toni's friend, Gayle, comments about how pale she is, and Toni confesses that no matter how much she is out in the sun, she can never get a tan. Toni is startled when she sees an image of Isaiah Crockett and Cody Driscoll in Gayle's sunglasses.

Back at the Solar Tower, Omen continues to perceive psychic impressions. Omen tells Jupiter that the aliens known as the H'San Natall have enslaved Psions to do their dirty work and have a deeply vested interest in Cody, Isaiah, Audrey and Toni.

Omen's fears bear fruit as the Psions teleport Cody, Isaiah and Toni onto their laboratory ship. What they don't realize is that the Atom has sneaked on board as well while hiding on Isaiah's person. The teens are rendered unconscious and placed inside the VR chamber where they become part of Audrey's fantasy world. In the simulator, they all meet one another and recount how they have each seen images of the other.

The Atom meanwhile fights against the Psions and breaks the kids out of the VR simulator. They try to find a way out of the laboratory. Toni's ability to generate blasts of silver plasma begin to develop and the other kids find themselves enhanced as well. Isaiah super-heats his hands and places them against a wall, melting it. He learns only too late however, that they are not inside a building, but a space ship. As the hull melts, Isaiah is pulled out into the vacuum of space.

The Psions grow agitated as they witness one of their experiments floating away into the vacuum of space. Unwilling to sacrifice their specimens, they quickly rectify the situation by transporting them back into the containment facility on Titan. Cody, Toni and Isaiah are hooked into the VR simulator and they begin sharing in the fantasy setting of Audrey Spears. Once again, the Atom manages to avoid detection. He sneaks about the laboratory and learns that the Psions are using sensory deprivation tanks to blend the kids’ minds into a locked dreamscape.

Inside the dreamscape, Cody, Toni and Isaiah still maintain their conscious minds, but their personalities are slightly altered to reflect the personality of their environment. They make contact with Audrey (whom they call Prys) and beckon her to leave her fairytale castle and join them. The Atom succeeds in making contact with them and convinces them to bolster their minds in order to awaken from the dreamscape.

The Atom then uses his pocket knife to shatter Toni Monetti's stasis tube. When she awakens, he convinces her to draw upon her newly awakened powers and fire plasma bolts at the other tubes, freeing the others. When they emerge, the other kids find themselves stronger and heartier than they were before. The fluids they had been submersed in allowed them to reach their full genetic potential.

The Psions send a robot sentry out to capture them, but Cody uses his enhanced strength to shatter it.

Audrey awakens and realizes that the environment she has known her entire life is gone forever. Pushed beyond anger, she uses her prismatic powers to kill the Psion known as Jarn.

Atom rallies the kids together and they take Dorek hostage. They force him to pilot a ship back to Earth. Dorek is frightened and tells them that the true architects behind these experiments are their masters, the H'San Natall. All of these kids have been selected at birth as part of a special experiment.

After they leave Titan, the H'San Natall enforcer, Jugular, tracks their ship and arranges to bring them back.

An enforcer for the H'San Natall known as Jugular follows the fleeing teenagers and their Psion captive back to Earth. They open fire on their ship, damaging one of its engines, forcing it to crash-land in the swimming pool at Toni Monetti's mansion. The kids all survive the crash and are elated to be back on Earth.

Meanwhile a witness to the crash place a call to reporter Marty Pink at the New York Daily Probe, a disreputable tabloid specializing in unorthodox noise stories. Pink decides to to investigate the crash site on his own.

At the Monetti residence, Toni and her new found friends meet her parents. Anthony Monetti is less than happy about the situation and belts out a string of profanities.

Jugular lands on Earth and tracks the kids down. He impales the Psion Dorek just as he is in the midst of explaining the children's origins to them. The kids snap into action and fight back, but Jugular's malleable body makes him nearly impossible to injure. Suddenly, Omen appears and teleports the kids to a safe location. Unable to finish them off, Jugular returns to his ship. From nearby, Marty Pink takes photographs.

The kids are taken to the Solar Tower where they meet Loren Jupiter and Neil Richards. Jupiter is one of the wealthiest men in the world and has prior experience working with kids, including the original Teen Titans. Aware of their powers as well as their alien/human background, Jupiter offers to provide the kids with shelter and training. The Atom agrees to stay to help them out, and the kids adopt costumes and code names. Isaiah Crockett becomes Slager. Toni Monetti calls herself Argent. Audrey Spears is Prysm, and Cody Driscoll - the ultimate risk taker is aptly named Risk. The five of them become the new Teen Titans.


 * Issues                 =
 * Teen Titans (Volume 2) #1
 * Teen Titans (Volume 2) #2
 * Teen Titans (Volume 2) #3


 * Vehicles               = Psion laboratory ship
 * Items                  = Bio-Belt; Robot sentry
 * Weapons                =


 * Notes                  =
 * Traditionally, the Atom is supposed to be in his early thirties. After the events of "Zero Hour" however, he was regressed in age to the physical maturity of a seventeen-year-old boy.


 * Prysm's real name, Audrey Spears, is not revealed during the course of this story-arc.


 * Trivia                 =
 * Prysm's dreamscape was patterned after famous 1950's Earth television programs including, Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It to Beaver, Lassie and Father Knows Best.


 * Atom often voices his displeasure about being associated with a group of "Teen Titans", citing that he was Justice League material.

Isaiah Crockett goes through several different code names throughout the course of his career. In this storyline, he chooses the name Slager, but soon changes it to Joto at the behest of his father.


 * Loren Jupiter first appeared in .


 * Neil Richards first appeared as the Mad Mod in .


 * CustomSection1     = Related Articles
 * CustomText1        =
 * 1996
 * Teen Titans


 * Titan's Children issues
 * Titan's Children image category
 * Dan Jurgens art gallery
 * George Pérez art gallery

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 * RecommendedReading     =
 * Links                  =