This week’s question:

What is your ideal Teen Titans team?

Paul answers instantaneously, “My ideal Teen Titans team:

• Tim Drake as…wait for it…the new Nightwing.  Primarily an aesthetic choice because of another member selection later.  Hell, given the whole Batman, Inc. idea, I would even be okay with ol’ Bruce Wayne making Tim a young Batman (maybe with a Batman Beyond-type suit?  Hell yeah!).Tim deserves to be the leader of the Titans and I get why he wasn’t in the team for a while but, seriously…he needs to jump back into the pond.  He’s got the smarts and the moves…he truly is the perfect leader for any team of his peers.
• Conner Kent (Con-El) – Superboy.  The strong guy of the team.  Not only that, the friendship he has with Tim makes for some great reading.  I’ve been a big fan of Conner for a long time, and I this he deserves a spot on the team.  I’d like to see him get a new costume, too…time to lose the t-shirt/jeans and get into spandex like the rest of the band.

• Damian Wayne – Robin.  Yup, Damian Wayne and Tim Drake on the same team – if you’ve ever read their banter in the pages of Red Robin, you’d understand why.  Damian Wayne lends an edge to the team – he’s not exactly a villain, but he’s certainly someone who’s going to push the team into arguments and unnecessary fights.  Plus, as the youngest person on the team, it’ll give him a chance to grow up a little bit to hang with the big kids.
• Cassandra Cain. Yeah, I know it seems like I’m loading this team up with Bat-characters, but I think Cassandra Cain needs to be back in the DCU.  Sure, she operates out of Hong Kong right now, which is great…but I think she needs some friends.  Not only that, I think she should take on a role other than Batgirl – almost like the DC equivalent of Ronin.
• Bart Allen – Kid Flash/Impulse – Despite the fact that Tim, Conner, and Bart have always been friends, I have always thought of Bart as younger … so it would be interesting to see what kind of friendship he builds with Damian Wayne, which might lead to some tension with Tim.  I’m really intrigued at how that would read.
• Jackson Hyde – Aqualad – I really don’t know much about the character, currently starring in Brightest Day, but I’m sure he’d make a fine addition to the team.
• Miss Martian – I enjoyed her short stint in the Teen Titans before and I like her as a character.  Plus, we should have at least two females on the team.

“I left off Wonder Girl.  I can’t lie…I’ve never been a fan of Cassie, but I’m sure the right writer can make her work.

“Might as well throw in my suggestions for creative team, right?  I want to say Fabian Nicieza and Marcus To, but then we’d be missing their awesome work on Red Robin.  Maybe Fabian Nicieza and Francis Manapul?  Or Geoff Johns, who had a stellar run on the Titans, and Francis Manapul.

“Oh, and by the way?  Wouldn’t mind seeing a Titans book with Huntress, Red Arrow/Arsenal, Ravager, Wally West Flash, Supergirl, Harley Quinn (since she’s a good guy now), Captain Marvel (Freddy Freeman), and Jade.”

Wayne yanks the mic away from Paul, “I love the era of Teen Titans when they first launched this current volume.  It is hard to not just give that lineup and say I’m done with it, but those characters have grown and moved on.

• Robin needs to be in there, but my hatred of Damian Wayne is well known.  I want Tim Drake for his cunning as well as his history with the rest of the team.  I would like a redesign of the Red Robin costume and a new name.  I don’t want him to take the mantle of Nightwing because I feel that he has earned something new that is his alone.  Red Robin obviously isn’t that.  Hands down Tim Drake is the leader of my Ideal Teen Titans team.
• We know so little about Miss Martian, but there is just something about that character that I love.  She has an innocence to her that hides a darkness she doesn’t want anyone to see.  Her look is what really sells this character I think.  With her wide powerset she fits so many roles on this team.
• Superboy should be there.  I like his friendship with Tim and his relationship with Wondergirl.  To me the Teen Titans are truly Titans and even though they are young they are tough.  Superboy helps round that out for me.
• Wonder Girl is there purely for her relationship with Superboy.  I enjoy that relationship, but don’t feel that she has been developed enough as a character to be interesting on her own.  She needs to be there for some tension early on, but I think I would like her to leave the tile after the first few arcs.
• I enjoyed the Mia Dearden Speedy and would like to see her back on the team.  She was an interesting character and I think the Teen Titans could use an archer.
• Kid Flash is a staple and the Teen Titans just need a Flash.
• Alright I’ll take the hazing and say it.  I want to see Batgirl on the Teen Titans.  If any character could gain something from being used in different kinds of stories it would be Stephanie.  I think as a character she could also use the training that comes with being a Teen Titan.  I want to see the akwardness between her and Tim Drake that is bound to come from working with your ex.  After Wonder Girl left the title I think it would be interesting to see another love triangle between her Tim and Superboy.  I would like to see her reaction to Superboy after the way he treated her when she was Robin for a short time.  Teen Titans has always had that high level of teen angst and since Young Justice it has been kind of like a soap opera.  I think Stephanie would work well in that environment.
• A new Lantern character.  I don’t think we have ever seen a Green Lantern in the Teen Titans.  We have in the Titans, but not the Teen Titans.  I would love to see a Lantern color other than green get highlighted as a hero and if he was one of the other corps he would not be beholden to the Guardians.  I think Blue or Indigo would fit well, but the idea of a good Yellow Lantern is so off the wall that I do like it.
• Oracle is not a teenager and wouldn’t fit as an active team member, but for a group that only really meets on weekends they need someone to coordinate and she is the best fit.  She knows what it was like to be a teenage Superhero and would do anything to keep one of them from getting hurt.”

Tim looks shocked, “A Teen Titans question? Hot damn!

• Blue Beetle: I love the Jamie Reyes character and he doesn’t get much run anymore.  I loved his appearances on the book in the recent past.  He needs to stay.
• Ravager: The fact no one has said her yet is just a crime.  She’s the perfect teen anti-hero to create drama in this team.
• Superboy: Without Conner, it just isn’t the same.  He belongs here.  In this incarnation, he’d be the leader.
• Damian Wayne Robin: Let’s be honest, he’d be the straw that stirs the drink.
• Red Devil: Yeah, I know he’s dead, but he was one of the few bright spots of the Teen Titans after 1 year later.  I am against bringing people back from the dead, just wishful thinking.
• Miss Martian: Fun character, genuinely a happy person, and a perfect foil for people like Rose and Damien.
• I love the Wayne’s idea of a young ring bearer.  Someone who for whatever reason didn’t get training with Io.  I’ll cosign that idea.  I’d even be ok if it was another Green Lantern.”

Aron sits up, “My ideal team of Teen Titans?  It looks A LOT like the current team. I’d keep Wonder Girl, Conner, Kid-Flash, and Ravager.  Beast Boy and Raven?  Off. The. Team.

“Who else would I add?

• Speedy (Green Arrow’s teen aged sidekick) and Miss Martian.

Yep.  That’s my awesome line up.”