Teen Titans #21
Teen Titans (Vol. 3) #21 opens the three-part 'Lights Out' arc — a direct sequel to Identity Crisis — that reintroduced Dr. Arthur Light as a genuinely menacing villain after years as comic relief, his memories of his crimes fully restored and his powers unshackled. The issue also marks Mia Dearden's (Speedy's) first full integration into the active Titans roster, with her near-disclosure of her HIV-positive status planted here as a slow-burn character thread that would pay off across subsequent issues. Taken together, these two threads exemplify Geoff Johns's approach to his entire run: treating legacy characters with brutal seriousness while layering new members with real-world personal stakes. The issue sits at the bridge point between Identity Crisis fallout and the gathering storm of Infinite Crisis, making it a structural keystone in DC's mid-2000s interconnected continuity.
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Published February 16, 2005 (cover-dated April 2005), the issue was written by Geoff Johns with pencils by Mike McKone, inks by Marlo Alquiza, and colors by Jeromy Cox, under editors Tom Palmer Jr. and Eddie Berganza. Johns had been shepherding this volume of Teen Titans since its 2003 relaunch — itself a response to DC publisher Dan DiDio's push to rehabilitate the Titans as a marquee franchise alongside the then-airing Cartoon Network animated series. The 'Lights Out' arc was conceived as an explicit follow-up to Brad Meltzer's Identity Crisis, which had retroactively made Dr. Light into a serial predator whose mind had been magically lobotomized by the Justice League; restoring his full faculties and memory became Johns's vehicle for exploring the moral aftermath of that revelation within the younger generation of heroes.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Issue title: 'Lights Out (Part I of III) – The New Kid'; cover date April 2005, on-sale February 16, 2005.
- Written by Geoff Johns; penciled by Mike McKone; inked by Marlo Alquiza; colored by Jeromy Cox; edited by Tom Palmer Jr. and Eddie Berganza.
- First issue of the three-part 'Lights Out' arc, a direct Identity Crisis tie-in that reintroduces Dr. Arthur Light as a serious threat with his memories and full powers restored after years of being a lobotomized joke villain.
- Mia Dearden (Speedy) undergoes her first active training session with the Titans in this issue, establishing her as a new team member; she is about to disclose her HIV-positive status when a crisis interrupts — a plot thread seeded here and resolved over the following issues.
- Dr. Light takes over the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, defeats and captures Green Arrow as bait, and specifically demands a rematch against the Teen Titans alone, refusing any JLA or Outsiders involvement.
- Starfire appears in this issue as a member of the Outsiders rather than the Teen Titans, reflecting the post-'Graduation Day' team restructuring.
- The Titans contact former members across both the Outsiders and the JLA for potential backup, assembling the large multi-generational cast (JSA, Doom Patrol, Outsiders members) indexed for this issue.
- The 'Lights Out' storyline and Johns's broader run on Teen Titans (Vol. 3) #1–50 are collected in the Teen Titans By Geoff Johns Omnibus (2013 and 2022 editions, ISBN 978-1401236939 / 978-1779515452).
Cast · 40 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Mia Dearden's first day with the Teen Titans ends with the Titans in a showdown against Dr. Light for the life of Green Arrow.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).