WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Future State: Teen Titans #1, by Tim Sheridan, Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Alejandro Sanchez and Rob Leigh, on sale now from DC Comics.
Tim Sheridan -- the writer behind the two-part limited series Future State: Teen Titans and the upcoming Infinite Frontier ongoing series Teen Titans Academy -- says that as far as he is concerned, the two titles make up one story.
Future State: Teen Titans #1 confirms the deaths of Donna Troy, Wally West and Wallace West. During an exclusive interview with CBR, Sheridan confirmed that these deaths were not a result of Dark Nights: Death Metal, but something else entirely. "There are a number of grave markers all around the remains of Titans Tower," he said. "This raises a lot of questions about what happened at the tower, what happened at the island, and why these markers are here. What happened here that brought all this down?"
Sheridan continued, "When we come back into present-day continuity in Teen Titans Academy #1, there's a gleaming, beautiful Titans Tower and the promise of a great future. What we're showing you in Future State is that something went horribly wrong!" The writer further explained that in Future State: Teen Titans, multiple members of the eponymous team want to shoulder the blame for what happened, and that "[d]iscovering along the way what led to those grave markers and the collapsed tower is the fun of the story!"
When asked how closely the team we see in Future State resembles the one we see in Titans Academy, Sheridan replied, "The two series are both one as far as I'm concerned. I wanted to make sure readers got a tease of some of the characters they're going to be meeting in Teen Titans Academy, which is going to feature the older Titans we all know and love as well as the current roster and a few new faces."
Future State: Teen Titans #1 arrived earlier this week on Jan. 12, with the second and final issue slated to go on sale Feb. 9. Teen Titans Academy will launch its first issue the following month on March 23, with writer Sheridan and artist Rafa Sandoval returning to helm the ongoing series under DC's Infinite Frontier banner.
Written by Tim Sheridan and illustrated by Rafa Sandoval, Future State: Teen Titans #2 goes on sale Feb. 9 from DC Comics.