Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1275506-20150407201839

Yesterday I have finishing in reading Earth One: Teen Titan, and I find it worth reading.

The basic premise is that unlike the mainstream Titans, these teen heroes didn't became "heroes" by accident but by deliberation. Frankly it is copy right out of Marvel's Runaways and Wildstorm's Gen 13.

To sum it up: Starfire (as an infant) and her parents crashed landed on Earth following what appears to be an attack by someone or something which killed her father. The three are founded by members of STAR Labs consist of Dr. Elinore Stone, Slade Wilson, Rita Markov and her husband, and Steve Dayton. Starfire's mother apparently died and she is taken under STAR Labs' custody in which they use her an experiment. This experiment lead to Project: Titan, the effort to create super-humans based out of Starfire's genetics. So we have the scientists performing an unethical experiment in grafting the super-DNA into orphan infants Garfield (Changeling), Victor (Cyborg), Tera (Terra), and Joseph (Jericho).

The scientists adopted the babies and decide to wait and see for their powers to manifest in the coming years while their children remain ignorant of their origins. The story sets in modern day Monument, Oregon where the Titans live and where Project Titan is located in the local lighthouse. These kids and their adoptive parents have unique life situations:


 * Tera and Vic are the typical rebellious teens overburden by their single parents. In this case, Rita Markov (Tera's) is the drunk and deadbeat parent, and Dr. Stone (Victor's) is very platonic and domineering. Oh and the kids are in love together.


 * Garfield is the bright and intellectual kid who just skipped ahead in junior high and transfer to high school, while Jericho is very quiet (or so it seems). Unlike Tera and Vic, they have caring parents. Especially Garfield's as Steve Dayton genuinely loved his adopted son and even telling him the half-truth that he is adopted. Jericho on the other hand is the opposite of Tera and Vic, as he doesn't like Slade Wilson, who is a decent man and doesn't appear to like his past as Deathstroke.

The story kicks off when the now grown up Starfire want to be set free and make telepathic contact with the Titan kids and causing them to activate their powers. The kids are drawn together to figure out that their life is not exactly normal. Minus Jericho, they are frighten by what is going on. The most affected are Vic and Tera, and they managed to keep their heads together is each other.

While this is going on, Raven is introduce as a Navajo girl living in a reservation in New Mexico with her grandfather, who is a shaman. She is not exactly connected to the Titans but drawn to it by Starfire as her mystical powers are developing. It turns out that her grandfather foreseen this coming and introduce her to a mural he made, which is about the Titans and other possible characters that will gather together.

The parents are affected as well. Dr. Stone, however, is ecstatic but only see the kids as mere experiments for her "name in science" agenda. It eventually turns ugly as Dr. Stone also see the Titans as a danger to her experiment and must be eliminated. The other parents are appalled by the idea and apparently the whole Titan Project was not entirely agreed by the parents from the start which lead to Dr. Markov's "disappearance". Steve Dayton is the most vocal and threatened to call the police, but get shot in the head by Dr. Stone. Slade is forced to go along with Dr. Stone's plans because apparently he is blackmailed of his sordid history. However, Dr. Stone is informed by the head of Star Labs that Project Starfire will be terminated because of lack of results and that Starfire is rebelling.

Eventually, the Titans with Raven briefly helping against Slade and finally confronted Stone and the others at their Star Labs HQ to free Starfire, and they are not too please by the revelations. Jericho turns out to be a brainwashed backup plan by Dr. Stone to attack the other Titans. Slade finally turns against Dr. Stone but Jericho is fatally slit in the throat. As a result, Slade allowed himself to be possess by Jericho and under his thrall escaped to parts unknown. The remaining Titans freed Starfire, who kills Dr. Stone and promptly left the Titans much to their chagrin. Rita Markov, being the only survivor of Project Starfire, helps the Titans to escape with their newest member Tempest and the coordinates to a Project Blackfire which may lead to their answers. Raven is planning a way to somehow meet with the other Titans until she is found by Starfire. So Book One ends with "the story is just beginning" sort of thing. 