An DC:UNG Teen Titans
Retrospective with Dan Jurgens
Hindsight is 20/20, as the saying goes. And now that Dan Jurgens' run on Teen Titans is officially over, I wanted to get his 20/20 opinions for the looking back perspective. How does he feel about his work on Teen Titans as a whole. So, I asked him.
DCUNG: Now that Teen Titans is over, what's you're overall feeling of the series?
DJ: That it was better over the long run that people might have thought at the beginning. The book was bashed for not being the book that Marv and George originally produced but we didn't have the same set of tools they did because we had to use all new characters. Frankly, the series might have been accepted better had it been called something different.
DCUNG: What moments stand out from the series as your favorites?
DJ: Pulling it all together in the beginning, the character shifts that occurred when we did the double-shot books and the final four issues. Issue 12's "Then and Now" was fun as well.
DCUNG: What would you have done differently if you had it to do over again?
DJ: When I was first approached about doing the Titans I insisted on having Dick and Donna as the feature characters, mentoring a new team. The book would have had a greater connection to the history of the Titans. In retrospect, I wish I'd stuck to my guns or not done the book at all. At the time, DC didn't want any previous characters in the book as they wanted something "new".
DCUNG: Looking back, it seems that the character changes or growths that happened in the Double Shot issues didn't stick completely, especially with Risk. What was the idea (other than increasing awareness of the book) behind those issues? Was it an idea you had as the writer of the series or more a marketing idea handed down from above?
DJ: I think some of those ideas would have stuck had the series proceeded another year. When we lost that opportunity we decided to do things differently in order to bring the series to a close.
DCUNG: Which of your Titans was your favorite? Why?
DJ: Argent. She's fun and perky and showed some real growth.
DCUNG: Which issue stands out as your favorite? Why?
DJ: I enjoyed the Annual and Atom/Impulse team-up a great deal. Both stories worked for what I wanted to accomplish.
DCUNG: Which issue stands out as your least favorite? Why?
DJ: Probably the first three issues, as one arc. In retrospect, I could have given the team a stronger kick-off had I done a more conventional story, such as having the characters in costume.
DCUNG: Ultimately, do you think adding Captain Marvel Jr. (the fan choice) to the roster did for the book what DC hoped it might?
DJ: No. But CM3 fans overloaded the voting process and made the character's choice somewhat illegitimate.
DCUNG: Had the series continued, what would have been you vision for the next 25 issues? New storylines? More roster changes? Guest-stars? More interaction with the other teens of the DCU? More revelations about Dark Nemesis?
DJ: We were heading toward a climatic war with the H'San Natall that would have involved much more of the DCU. Beyond that....I'll reserve comment on.
DCUNG: If, a few years from now, DC approached you about bringing Prysm, Risk, Argent and Joto back together as a team, would you be interested?
DJ: Perhaps, depending on the circumstances.
DCUNG: Looking ahead, what's going to be keeping you busy in the coming months that fans can look forward to?
DJ: Writing Thor and Superman, writing and drawing Superman: The Doomsday Wars and a few others that are too early to talk about.