Justice League: No Justice May Change the Titans' Lineup

The recently announced Justice League: No Justice four-issue event series is supposed to bring the teams of Justice League, Justice League of America, Teen Titans and Titans together. The only problem is that the Titans are nowhere to be found on the event's rosters. Representatives of the Justice League and Teen Titans have been placed on four specialized teams alongside their greatest villains, but with the likes of Nightwing, Donna Troy and Wally West missing, how are the Titans supposed to be involved here?

It's extremely easy to miss, but if you look closely at Francis Manapul's interior art, the Titans are there. When Brainiac seemingly has a vision of the future, it's the Titans that the Brainiac robots have just defeated. You can see the entire team fallen at the feet of the machine apocalypse. It's admittedly not a lot to go on yet, but if the heroes aren't going to be part of the new Justice League teams, the other logical role they may be playing is as the event's sacrificial lambs.

Many of the biggest comic book stories have started off with the decimation of a familiar team of superheroes. The incident that kicked off Civil War in 2006 was the death of the New Warriors, and the 2008 Titans series opened with the destruction of Cyborg's Teen Titans East squad. It's pretty basic storytelling technique that swiftly establishes the seriousness of the story being told: Open with an event of massive shock, and give the characters motivation to act.

Maybe the team doesn't ultimately die, or at least they don't die in this timeline, but the complete annihilation of the Titans, a team made up of second-generation heroes, could get the No Justice party started in a hurry.

The End is Nigh

Titans/Teen Titans continuity has been a mess since the beginning of the New 52, and DC has had to jump through a series of hoops just to get the franchise back to some semblance of familiarity. Rebirth took a major step in the reestablishment of the brand, but key runs (we're looking at you, Marv Wolfman and George Pérez's New Teen Titans) have remained largely in limbo.

Since Cyborg's current origin has been firmly planted with the Justice League, it would be impossible for all Teen Titans continuity to still work. As a result, we have a familiar Teen Titans team run by Damian Wayne/Robin, and a Titans book that seems to simply work as a catch-all for any other Titans character without a place to go. Now, with the reveal of No Justice, it seems like the days of Titans are numbered.

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Until we see solicitations for the May issue, we're going to guess that the book is coming to an end relatively soon. In recent issues, the Justice League has decided to intervene in Titans' business, citing a laundry list of perceived failures, determine the team needs to be shut down. Despite Nightwing's initial protests, he eventually gave in and has disbanded the team pending an investigation.

This story has continued in "Titans Apart," where several team members continue to try the heroic game in the face of the shutdown. It felt like this was just a continuation of the story, but it might be time to wonder if the title is just holding water until official cancellation. Issue #20 is an homage to New Teen Titans #39, and indicates that the team may be going their separate ways. The storyline then seems to culminate into April's Titans Annual #2, which would be an awfully convenient way to conclude the series with No Justice happening in May.

Timing is Everything

Speaking of convenient timing, it shouldn't be ignored that DC is planning to launch a Titans live action television series in the near future. The team is set to include Dick Grayson, Starfire, Beast Boy and Raven, a roster similar to the traditional New Teen Titans. With the exception of Nightwing, everyone else is expected to show up in No Justice. This gives DC an opportunity to realign its Titans franchise and create a title that can tie in with the show, possibly adding even more characters from the TV series to the comic's reformed team, like Hawk and Dove.

A new Titans title featuring a similar cast to the television show would allow the Teen Titans title to feature younger characters more fitting of the descriptor "teen." It would also give the current cast of Titans a chance to move to other books and truly grow. For instance, Garth could go to Aquaman, Arsenal to Green Arrow and Wally West to The Flash (depending on how the upcoming "Flash Wars" event pans out, that is). The absence of the Titans from No Justice may seem alarming at first, and the team may not enjoy the next few months of their lives, but it doesn't have to mean bad news going forward.