Titans Tower
 Titans Tower as seen on The Titans #34 (December 2001) | |
| Notable characters | Teen Titans |
|---|---|
| First appearance |
original: DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980) hologram: The Titans #1 (March 1999) current: Teen Titans (vol. 3) #1 (September 2003) |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
Titans Tower is a fictional building in the DC Comics universe. Its various incarnations have been home to the superhero team called the Titans. Although the location and actual look of the tower has changed throughout the various series, there are a few defining characteristics, such as always being shaped to resemble the letter "T".
First tower
The first tower was built by Cyborg's father, Dr. Silas Stone, after his son's accident. It was sited on an island in the East River, New York City. This tower was used as the headquarters for the team throughout The New Teen Titans and New Titans series. At one point, it was destroyed by Trigon, but rebuilt to Dr. Stone's design with some enhancements. It was eventually and ultimately destroyed by the Wildebeest Society in New Titans #76 (June 1991). Because the Titans had fallen out of favor with the local authorities, the tower was not rebuilt.
Second tower
The second tower was built in the same location by Cyborg himself in the JLA/Titans miniseries. It was not an actual tower, but a hologram, with the real headquarters far beneath the ground. This was done to confuse supervillains and to keep them from attacking the real base. It was the team's base during the 1999–2002 Titans series, before being destroyed by a villain named Epsilon. This incarnation of the team disbanded before the headquarters could be rebuilt.
Third tower
The current Titans Tower is located in San Francisco It was again designed by Cyborg, and was built by the city council, in exchange for which the Titans are responsible for dealing with the city's supervillains. This tower resembles Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece Fallingwater.
The outside of the tower features a sculpture commemorating the founders of the Titans, Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Wonder Girl and Speedy. While the sculpture appeared to crumble in Infinite Crisis #5, Teen Titans vol. 3, #33 depicted the sculpture still standing.
Memorial
The current tower houses a memorial for fallen Titans. It contains statues of almost all of the dead Titans, including those who had served with the team very briefly. However, it did not include Phantasm, Gnaark or Jason Todd, who were also Titans for a very short period of time.
In Teen Titans vol. 3, #29, Jason Todd entered Titans Tower and fought Tim Drake, the current Robin. The fight spread throughout the tower and eventually led to Jason finding the memorial. Angered at himself not having a statue (despite inclusion of other brief Titans such as Kole), he destroyed Donna Troy's statue. In issue #30, Jericho's statue was destroyed likewise. Ironically, both of these characters had returned from the dead in one way or another since the current series began.
The following Titans were memorialized:
- Aquagirl (Tula)
- Dove (Don Hall)
- Golden Eagle
- Hawk (Hank Hall)
- Jericho (statue destroyed, resurrected by Raven)
- Kole
- Omen
- Terra
- Troia (statue destroyed, recently resurrected)
Infinite Crisis
It is yet unknown if any of the destroyed statues will be repaired, or if new statues will be added for the recently deceased Titans who died during Infinite Crisis, listed below.
The following former Titans have been killed over the course of Infinite Crisis:
Several other Titans have disappeared and their current statuses are not known.
One Year Later
A statue of Superboy, who died during Infinite Crisis, has been placed outside Titans Tower, in addition to his memorial in Metropolis. A statue of Bart Allen in his Kid Flash uniform was placed next to Superboy's after that character's death, as well. Following the resurrections of both characters, Superboy destroyed both statues so as to alert the world that both he and Kid Flash were back amongst the Titans.
During the "Blackest Night" crossover, the Tower was enveloped in rock, severely damaging it.
The Hall of Mentors
In Teen Titans vol. 3, #17, the Titans traveled to the future where an additional wing was added to the tower featuring a "Hall of Mentors" with statues of the mentors of the Titans. It featured Max Mercury for Kid Flash, Ares for Wonder Girl, Superman and Lex Luthor for Superboy, and a destroyed statue of Batman for Robin. It also features statues for Geo-Force, Dove II, Grace, Metamorpho and Green Arrow.
The Hall of Mentors was featured in Teen Titans #37. This version, however, features pictures of the Titans and their mentors, except for Kid Devil, who had to attach his own picture to one of Blue Devil.
Titans Compound
In the one shot Titans East Special #1 (January 2008), Cyborg has apparently re-built a base on Titans Island in New York Harbor, where he intended to train a new team of teenagers. The new base, unlike previous Titans HQ's, appears to be only one story high, lying flat on the island, in the shape of a stylized 'T'. The full-extent and design of the new Titans base was never properly developed unfortunately, as soon after the team was assembled, they were attacked by a resurrected Trigon. Following the defeat and Trigon and his sons, the new team of adult Titans have moved into the new Titans Compound in New York.
Other versions
Titans Tower also appears in the Teen Titans animated series. That version of the Tower functions much like the current one, as a training arena for the Titans as well as living quarters. A similar version is built for the Titans East, but it has been built on the side of a cliff, not on an island. Also the tower is located somewhere off the California coast. In the animated film Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, a map is zoomed in and the tower is revealed to be near California (possibly near San Francisco, the comic book counterpart's current location).
Titans Tower appears in the Teen Titans Go! animated series. Dissimilar to the original Titans Tower, the outward appearance is more squat and cartoon-like. The windows have been merged into a solid panel. The tower is repeatedly partially or completely destroyed throughout many episodes, but the damage doesn't carry out through the series.
The future version of the Tower seen in the "Titans Tomorrow" arc has the sculpture of the founders replaced with a sculpture of the Titans at the time of the arc.
References
- a Daniel, Tony (2006). "Hall of Mentors". Retrieved 2006-03-20.
External links
- TitansTower.com - History of Titans' headquarters
