Teen Titans Special #1

History

Adam Glass, best known at DC for launching the New 52 Suicide Squad, returned to the publisher after roughly five years away, specifically recruited to rebuild the Teen Titans following the upheaval of Scott Snyder's Justice League: No Justice and the Dark Nights: Metal event. Glass has described the Wolfman/Pérez New Teen Titans as a formative influence, particularly The Judas Contract, and set out to replicate that run's practice of introducing fresh, concept-driven characters alongside the franchise's legacy heroes — hence his pitch for Crush ('What if Lobo had a daughter?'), which DC editorial approved before he finished the sentence, according to his own account. The 48-page oversized one-shot was structured as three self-contained vignettes with primary art by Robson Rocha (covers and interior) and additional art and color work by Daniel Henriques and Sunny Gho, released on June 27, 2018, simultaneous with a companion Titans Special by Dan Abnett. The issue was later collected in the first Adam Glass trade paperback, Teen Titans Vol. 1: Full Throttle, alongside issues #20–24 of the ongoing series.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published June 27, 2018 (cover-dated August 2018) as a 48-page, full-color one-shot; part of DC's post-No Justice / 'New Justice' line-wide realignment.
• Written by Adam Glass with art by Robson Rocha; additional interior art and colors by Daniel Henriques and Sunny Gho; cover by Robson Rocha and Trevor Scott.
• Carries the first appearance of Crush (Xiomara Rojas), the half-Czarnian daughter of Lobo, created by Adam Glass, Bernard Chang, and Jorge Jiménez — though the issue contains only a preview/cameo sequence; most sources treat Teen Titans #20 (July 2018) as her first full appearance.
• Also carries the first appearances of Djinn (an immortal wish-granting spirit) and Roundhouse (Kid Flash's tech-savvy friend), both of whom became core Glass-era Titans.
• Narrative is structured as three character-focused vignettes: Robin confronts Black Mask, Red Arrow clashes with her mother Shado, and Kid Flash runs afoul of the Suicide Squad and is lectured by older Wally West.
• The issue deliberately displaces the Teen Titans from Titans Tower, establishing that Damian Wayne's team would operate from a clandestine new base — foreshadowing the secret underground prison (hidden from even Batman) that became the central moral tension of the Glass run.
• Takes place in continuity between Teen Titans Vol. 6 #19 and #20, bridging the end of the Benjamin Percy Rebirth run and the start of the Glass era.
• Collected in Teen Titans Vol. 1: Full Throttle (DC, 2019), which also includes Teen Titans (2016) #20–24.

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Variants (1)