Welcome back to another edition of Demanded Characters. We continue to take a look at the great characters coming out of the Titans, the theme of the month. We first looked at a hero: beast boy, then villains: the Wilson family, so this week we will look at a character that is something of both: Terra.
Last week most would agree that the modern Ravager, Rose, is a must if you want to build a modern Titan, and Jericho is a must have for the classic team; but there was not much love for Grant Wilson.
The character of Terra was, from the start, a character meant to get the public’s attention. The team of Perez and Wolfman were always planning to kill her and make her as evil as possible, but hard to hate, because she would fluctuate between good and bad so often. Terra was a character on the edge, she was under age, sleeping with an adult assassin (Deathstroke), lying to a group of heroes, and a smoker. Not only was she morally ambiguous but she bordered on disturbing. As a reader you want to hate her and be disgusted by Slade’s actions, until you see her interact with Gar, then you feel sorry for her and want to get her out of the mess she has been pulled into. Her betrayal was much more personal because of her connection to the Titans. Wolfman and Perez always planned her to be the bad girl version of the Snow White Kitty Pryde. Terra turns on the Titans, revealing her true nature, only to lose control in a fit of madness. She tried to kill Deathstroke and herself, succeeding only in the latter.
Time would heal the wounds and a new Terra would appear in the DCU. This new Terra tried to leave the old mantel behind, forging a new reputation of a true hero. She thought she was a clone and fought along side the young heroes of the DCU. Thinking she was only a clone she fought hard to make up for the mistakes of the former Terra. She would be a hero, until she found out that she might be the original Terra. She was unsure and tried to redeem her past self’s mistakes. She again died a tragic death at the hands of Black Atom. A new Terra briefly appeared alongside Supergirl, but nothing much is known about this new dark-haired hero taking up the mantel of Terra.
So lets take a look at the outfits we have to choose from to get this confusing and tragic Titan.
I like to call this costume the “Santa’s little helper”. She looks almost reindeer-like and, while she was not in this outfit long, it deserves to be on the list.
Classic Terra is a figure that most of us would agree is a must have for a Perez era Titans team. Whether you are pitting the Titans against a villain or recreating the betrayal of the Titans with Slade standing by her side this version of Terra is a must have for Perez era fans.
The late 80’s and 90’s saw a new Terra, sporting a look that pays homage to the original costume but adds a leather jacket with pushed up sleeves and spiky hair leaving the bowl cut behind.
The classic yet updated look that she sports during Infinite Crisis is something that would look good in a more modern display. Something that I think DCUC needs to do is make sure that we not only can build a classic team but I’m sure new readers would love to see the modern Titans answer the call of Titans together.
The final look we have this week is the most recent look of the hero called Terra. She is young, scantily clad, and mysterious. Not much is know about this new Terra.
* Some pictures courtesy of Titian’s Tower and Comic Vine
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