BALTAZAR & AURELIANI ON THE TINY TITANS DEBUT

[MattBrady]

by Vaneta Rogers

As we found out in issue #50 of their title last year, the Teen Titans have a favorite TV show called, "Tiny Titans."

And this week, the little guys will debut in their own comic written by Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani. In Tiny Titans, the characters from the regular Teen Titans universe will be smaller versions of themselves, going to school together and dealing with villainous teachers and bullies.

An all-ages humor book with jokes aimed at both little kids and adults, the comic often plays upon the things that kids would do if they had superpowers. For example, one scene coming up in the comic has some of the girls using Cyborg as an Easy Bake Oven. Another shows the kids figuring out that it's no fun playing tag with Kid Flash.

Co-created by Baltazar and Aureliani, the two creators behind Patrick the Wolf Boy, Tiny Titans is the first title to launch in DC's new kids comics line. Announced by DC Coordinating Editor Jann Jones last summer, the imprint will feature three titles -- Tiny Titans, Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam, and Super Friends -- all aimed at a younger audience but accessible to adults as well.

As this week sees the launch of the new line and comic, we talked to Baltazar and Aureliani about what readers can expect from Tiny Titans. And although DC claims their motives are pure, we uncovered the creators' plot to take over the world one Tiny Titans reader at a time.

Newsarama: Let's start with the first issue coming out this week. Are you guys pretty excited?

Franco Aureliani: Aw, yeah.

Art Baltazar: Aw, yeah. It's crazy. Just in this last week, we have all these different store appearances and convention invites. It's all because of this comic. It's here, man.

NRAMA: So you're big stars now?

AB: Yeah. We can start charging money for sketches now. It used to be a dollar. Now it's going to be 30 bucks. [laughs]

NRAMA: What can you tell us about the first issue? Is it kind of an introduction to the Tiny Titans?

AB: It's an introduction to where they are -- the world they're in. It introduces the school. The city is called Sidekick City, so they go to Sidekick City Elementary. And we show the Titans Treehouse. And then the issue kind of lets you know that they're just kids. They're not like babies or anything. We didn't dumb it down. We just kept them the same and made them younger. There's no origin story or anything because everybody knows who they are.

FA: And then it jumps right into action. [laughs]

AB: Yeah, right. [laughs]

NRAMA: Are the Tiny Titans kind of a revolving group, or is there a core group of them?

AB: They're all the Teen Titans. All of them. Every Teen Titan who ever was could be in the book at any moment. Even the dead ones. We got permission: We can use them dead or alive.

NRAMA: Any dead ones in the first issue?

AB: No, they're all alive. For now. [laughs]

NRAMA: Do you have any guest stars show up?

AB: Yeah. You're going to see Barbara Gordon in the first issue. And she might be wearing a cape.

NRAMA: Might be?

AB: Probably. She'll probably be wearing a cape, the way I love her, you know? And I know there's a Justice League member on Page 1 who is kind of a surprise.

FA: He's not so tiny though. [laughs]

AB: He's regular size. But he's with a Tiny Titans member, trying to give him some instruction and direction.

NRAMA: So the premise is that they go to school, and they get together to hang out at the Titans Treehouse. And then there's a story in each issue?

AB: Yeah. There's a theme in each issue.

NRAMA: What's the theme in this week's first issue?

FA: It seems like so long ago that we wrote the first issue.

AB: Yeah, I know what's going on in issue #8. [laughs] Let's see... the first one is where we introduce Slade as the principal in school.

FA: They call him the Terminator because he's really mean.

AB: Yeah. All the villains are the teachers and the school bullies.

FA: And in the first issue, they try to recruit Barbara.

AB: Yeah, they wonder why Barbara Gordon was never a Titan. They're all confused. So they want to give her a call. Nobody has her phone number except Robin, and he gives them a hard time to get the phone number off of him, 'cause he kind of digs her a little bit.

They say, "Robin's got her phone number!" And he goes, "No, I don't!" "Yes, you do!" "No, I don't!" "Yes, you do!" So they finally get it.

NRAMA: So Robin kind of has a crush on Batgirl?

AB: Robin likes Batgirl, but he also likes Starfire. Starfire likes Robin a little more. But Batgirl thinks Robin's cute.

But she doesn't understand the shorts. The green shorts. [laughs]

NRAMA: I don't think any of us do. [laughs]

AB: Well, Batman does though. [laughs] He knows the reason for the shorts.

FA: He designed them and makes him wear them, so he must know.

AB: But we'll find out in the next All-Star Batman, won't we? [laughs] I don't mean to plug it.

FA: Plug it! It's a DC book!

AB: Yeah! It's got one of the Teen Titans guys in it! Read All-Star Batman and find out the mystery of the shorts!

NRAMA: Can you tell us any of the other villains besides Slade that we'll see in this issue?

FA: Trigon. He's the evil substitute teacher demon.

AB: And Dr. Light's the science teacher. And in Issue #2, they battle the Frightful Five. So there's going to be bad guys probably in every issue.

FA: But when they battle, it's always more of a battle of wits.

AB: Yeah, there's no fighting. It's smark-alecky kind of stuff.

NRAMA: You've got characters like Kid Flash and Robin, but do we know their secret identities?

AB: No. Kid Flash is just Kid Flash. But we do know that Robin is Dick Grayson-Robin because he becomes Nightwing. And because he wears those green shorts and hangs out with Alfred.

FA: That was a big plot twist for us, when Robin became Nightwing. But Dan Didio gave it away in one of his DC Nation columns. He told everybody that Nightwing was on the cover of the book. So he ruined one of our biggest storylines.

AB: [laughs] Yeah! It was an event too, without even being a crossover. It was just an event. And he ruined it.

NRAMA: Just like the controversy about him giving away the ending of 52, telling everyone about the multiverse.

AB: Yeah! And this is bigger! This is Tiny Titans! [laughs]

I made the mistake in our last interview of telling everybody that Tiny Titans fits into the multiverse because it's Earth 53. And it got all over the internet and people believed me. [laughs] And people were writing to me. They were like, is it true? Earth 53? And I'm like, "No!" Don't listen to what I say. I just say stuff when it's funny.

FA: You can't take anything we say seriously.

NRAMA: Well, it's obvious you guys have quite a sense of humor, and I'm sure that helps when you're writing this comic.

AB: Yeah, when we're talking about the story, if we're not laughing, we don't use it. If we don't laugh at our stories, we don't put them in. More work needs to be done if it's not making us laugh a lot. That's how we would work on Patrick the Wolf Boy. If we weren't laughing when we were finished writing them, then that story wouldn't go in the book.

NRAMA: We talked to you before about your background, but for people reading about you for the first time, how did you two start working together on Patrick?

AB: We met up on a mountain, I think it was. [laughs]

FA: It was in New Hampshire. So everything's on a mountain.

AB: We met at a comic book show.

FA: Art was living out in Connecticut and working there at the time, which is only about 20 minutes from where I live. And we did crossovers with our characters.

NRAMA: What characters were you doing at the time?

AB: Franco was doing Weirdsville at the time, and I was doing The Cray-Baby Adventures. That's what they call old school, retro stuff right there.

FA: Classical, even. [laughs] And after we did a couple crossovers in our own books, we came up with Patrick the Wolf Boy.

AB: Yeah, it was fun working together. And we'd come up with sketches all the time of different characters, and we would always write stories based on what we drew. Then when we looked at Patrick, both of us loved that character and we just started writing comics. Writing Patrick comics and selling a whole bunch of them.

FA: You know, I've collaborated with other people, but Art is one of the most creative, easy-going guys to work with, which is why I think our working relationship has lasted... oh, god, how long now?

AB: Since 1998. Ten years, sir!

FA: Yeah! We do our own books. But we've worked together on and off for 10 years. It's a great relationship. I wouldn't be behind the table at conventions with any other guy.

AB: Yeah. We love each other.

NRAMA: Aw. That's appropriate with Valentine's Day coming up.

FA: And we're also married.

NRAMA: Uh...

FA: But not to each other.

AB: Yeah. [laughs] So it just proves that comic book guys? Geeks can get chicks.

FA: [laughs] Yeah. If we can do it, you can do it.

AB: We got chicks to give us babies.

NRAMA: Do you ever use anything your kids do in the comics? Is your family an inspiration for Tiny Titans scenes?

FA: Absolutely. My son is running around in green underwear and a yellow cape right now.

AB: Yeah. I've got my little green shoes on right now. And my wife's wearing a mask.

FA: My son keeps asking me why he has to wear the costume every day, but I told him, look, I work for DC now.

AB: [laughs] And my son keeps saying, "Daddy! Are you done drawing me? Can I move yet?"

NRAMA: Now, you guys used to live close to each other when you first worked together, but now Art lives in Chicago while Franco lives on the East Coast. So how do you work together on this comic?

FA: Phone calls. Emails.

AB: And sometimes at conventions after schmoozin' or eatin' burgers, we'll go back to the hotel room and sketch out some stuff too. Once convention season starts, we see each other once a month, so it works out.

FA: Yeah. Then after convention season, I fly out to Chicago every weekend. [laughs]

AB: Yeah, right. By "fly" he means "call."

NRAMA: We've heard Jann Jones talk about the goal of this book and others like it in this new kids line, trying to provide DC Comics that are appropriate for younger kids. But from your point of view, what is it that you're trying to do with the Tiny Titans? What is the goal of doing a comic like this?

FA: To get everyone in the world to read it.

AB: Yeah. We've been trying to take over the world with cartooning, but it's real hard to do. If we can do it with one person at a time who reads this comic, I think we have a better chance. I think I got 10 people in Florida at the convention two weeks ago. So I think I have 10 people on our side right now.

NRAMA: We'll see what we can do to help you out with some Newsarama readers. But that's one thing -- our readers aren't kids, but the adults who read Newsarama would enjoy this comic too, wouldn't they?

FA: I make my kids go to your site every day. I sit them in front of the computer and force them to read it.

NRAMA: Do you? Then I need to watch what I say.

FA: It's true. You've got to be careful. No, see.. I'm going to get in trouble. I don't really make my kids do that.

NRAMA: But I guess if you guys are laughing at it when you're writing it, then it's something adults can enjoy too?

AB: Yeah. It's got all kinds of things that comics readers will find funny. But you have to just have fun with it. I know some people are going to be upset when they see two Wonder Girls together, or like, Barbara Gordon with Kid Devil. But just have fun. It's kind of like the Teen Titans meet Peanuts.

FA: We do things for all ages. All the adults know these characters, so it's going to be funny to them to read these situations. And then we do things specifically for kids, like when Wildebeest shows up.

AB: [laughs] Yeah. They call him Little Willie. He gets his teeth brushed and his hair washed. Yeah. I'm not going to reveal much more, but it's about being clean.

FA: It's about hygiene. [laughs]

AB: Yeah, 'cause how do you think a guy named Wildebeest would smell? [laughs] You know? He's got to stink!

FA: See? We're actually performing a public service! We're educating these kids!

NRAMA: You guys got this gig from DC Coordinating Editor Jann Jones, who now edits the comic. How has it been working with her on this?

AB: Jann Jones rocks. She's the reason for the season.

FA: She's the awesome-ist chick ever.

AB: She's awesome-licious. She's full of awesome-sauce.

FA: She's the best boss I've ever had ever.

AB: I want her around forever. Wherever she goes, we'll follow her.

FA: She'll probably get a restraining order, but we'll follow her wherever she goes anyway.

NRAMA: Is there anything else you want to tell people about Tiny Titans?

AB: Just that you've got to read the issues. Buy two and give them to your friends. And they're the best comics that you'll ever read during breakfast. And if you're ever at a convention and you see us, you've got to yell, "Aw yeah, Titans!" real loud.

FA: Aw yeah, Titans!

AB: You don't even have to be near us. As long as you see us, we want to hear you from across the room. You have to scream, "Aw yeah, Titans!"

[Kilowog]

AW YEAH TITANS!!!!

Looking forward to this one!

[Arreo]

Wow That really made me Laugh, Lookin' forward to it.

[Crisisfilms]

This series looks like a lot of fun. Can't wait to read it!

[Stratus]

This looks like fun, I'm totally trying it out.

[Simon HGC]

I'm so getting this.

Maybe I'll give it to my three year old.

Maybe I'll keep it for myself....

[thefourthman]

I just came by to pimp the review group thread which is covering this book. Here's my review!

[lonesttarr]

I not only want this book for my son, I want a sketch too! I'd pay 30 bucks at a convention for one! Y'all come to WizardWorld Texas and I'll be first in line to get one!

[ljacone]

I went to my comic shop this morning, and within 45 minutes of opening they had sold out. I have never read a Titans comic in my life and I was cheesed off that I couldn't get a copy -- my shop already has a reorder list! DC may have a hit on their hands!

[Batmite79]

I can't say I'm 100% sold on the series, but I'll definitely be checking #1 out. Hopefully it has enough to keep an adult entertained*



*Though, admittedly, I am a Powerpuff Girls fan, so keeping me entertained may be slightly easier

[OM]

...You know, I wonder just how long it's going to take Bill Watterson to start suing both Marvel and DC over the obvious Calvin and Hobbes knock-offs.

[skip]

Art and Franco rule, been there since Cray Babies where in space!

[LaughingJak]

Originally Posted by OM

...You know, I wonder just how long it's going to take Bill Watterson to start suing both Marvel and DC over the obvious Calvin and Hobbes knock-offs.

I don't see it.

[luckybucky]

With all due respect to the creators, I'm not looking forward to this book at all. It's just so derivative, and clearly more of a satirical take on these characters for older readers... which, oh yeah, is drawn in a style little kids might like. It's just one big Teen Titans in-joke, and I don't see anyone but Teen Titans readers getting it.

The comic I want to buy and read my little boy is the new Super Friends. (Ironically, despite being modeled after a toy line, the creator seems intent on making it about what kids like in hero stories.)

The comic I want to buy and read myself is the new Shazam! (I still hold that it's set on Earth-5.)

[KyleCowstar]

AWWWWW YEEEEAAAAAHHHHH, TITANS!!!!!!!!!!!

[artiepants]

looks great, the art is amazing!!!

my only gripe is since they are basically strip format, seems like a waste of space to have an entire page dedicated to 1 "strip", when you could have 3 strips on a page without losiing really anything.

[Xysmurf]

What do you get when you cross Our Gang with the Superfriends?!?

...and Deathstroke is the principal, that's awesome!!!! That's setting the Tiny Titans for lots of adventure.

[I-Ching]

Great concept...LOVE the artwork...kudos to DC for not only thinking outside the box but for putting out a title that is good old fashioned clean fun and comic enjoyment.

Not sure if this will hold my attention as an ongoing but I definitely want to check out the first issue.

[Michael Heide]

Originally Posted by OM

...You know, I wonder just how long it's going to take Bill Watterson to start suing both Marvel and DC over the obvious Calvin and Hobbes knock-offs.

Huh? ..........

[Sluggo]

I am all over this and I can't wait to read it with my daughter.

[Sluggo]

Originally Posted by Michael Heide

Huh? ..........

Cynicism. What are you gonna do?

[M. Bloom]

Teen Titans meets Muppet Babies? Sure, I'll give it a shot.

[tralfaz]

hmmm.. love the art. the writing, not so much. It just feels extremely dumb. Not dumbed down, but dumb. The story with Gar trying to play with the puppy just didn't work, and the story with Robin asking why Speedy calls himself Speedy was a dud.
The writer should take a look at those Mini Marvel strips and the Franklin Richards comics, those work.

[StripedTiger]

Originally Posted by OM

...You know, I wonder just how long it's going to take Bill Watterson to start suing both Marvel and DC over the obvious Calvin and Hobbes knock-offs.

*checks the previews again* Nope. Just not seeing it...and what does Marvel have to do with this preview?

[Gordon McAlpin]

...You know, I wonder just how long it's going to take Bill Watterson to start suing both Marvel and DC over the obvious Calvin and Hobbes knock-offs.

I totally see his point: Because Bill Watterson was the first person ever to draw comics about a kid with dots for eyes.

...