Fans of theTeen Titanswill be shocked to learn that one of the most Iconic members of the team was almost left out DC’s latest series. The team’s brand is thriving, with theTeen Titans established as equal to the Justice Leaguein the main DC Universe, while a separate series of Young Adult graphic novels breathe new life into the characters, withTeen Titans: Starfireset to be the next entry in the YA anthology.
Speaking withComic Frontier, writer Kami Garcia offers new details about her and Gabriel Picolo’sTeen Titans: Starfire, featuring Cyborg in a supporting role. Starfire and Cyborg have had a close friendship in every iteration of the Teen Titans, but believe it or not,Cyborg was almost not included, as Garcia wasn’t sure if she could pay respect to the character as a non-black creator
“Initially, when I pitched the series, he wasn’t in my series because I wasn’t sure if other creators were working in this new kids’ space with DC. And I wasn’t sure that there wasn’t going to be another person, preferably always for me, who would have been a black creator/writer, to take him on and do kind of a first-person story of his. But since that didn’t happen, as our series was going on, there was no way I was going to leave him out. I didn’t want to write a first-person POV, where he was the entire star of the book. I feel like there are black writers who could do a better and more legitimate job of that. But also, I wasn’t going to have the one black hero in the Teen Titans not get to be in the group. He’s one of my favorites. So I was like, we can’t leave him out.
But how do I find a way to respect how I feel about him and include him? And what I realized kind of early on, as I was playing with this story, I knew I was going to bring him in. But then I was just like, what if he is the person that Starfire meets when she goes to this new place? And what if he’s sad that she’s not getting to hang out with her sister all the time, as she hoped in the summer, because she’s got this new boyfriend? Kira is like running around with this guy all the time. So I was like, this would be a great opportunity for her to actually, like, make a friend because you see that she goes to college locally. But you don’t hear that she has all these friends; her sister seems to be the one out there making friends.”
Kami Garcia Almost Left Cyborg Out of Teen Titans: Starfire
Garcia’s Decision To Include One of DC’s Most Famous Black Heroes Wasn’t Simple
The newTeen TitansYA depicts a young Starfireas she navigates complex family dynamics with the help of her friend Cyborg. In past comics and especially in the originalTeen Titansanimated series, Starfire and Cyborg were extremely close friends. On the show, they were able to relate to each other through similar experiences, namely when it comes to race (Starfire being an alien). Ironically, it was racial concerns that made Kami Garcia second-guess tackling a black character like Cyborg.
Garcia’s biggest concerns lay in whether or not it would be appropriate for her, a non-black creator, to adapt Cyborg into this continuity. This also explains why she didn’t create a solo character book for Vic Stone, like Beast Boy, Raven, Robin, and now Starfire. Garcia goes on to explain that if there ever was a Cyborg book planned, she would be open to handing that responsibility to a black writer. At the very least, she refused to leave such an iconic Teen Titan out of her version of the group completely.
Our Take on Cyborg’s Story Being Told By A Non-Black Creator
Are Garcia’s Concerns About Writing Cyborg Warranted?
Cyborg appearing inTeen Titans: Starfireallows the title character to actually make a friend outside of her more extroverted sister, as Kami Garcia explains above. It’s easy to see Garcia’s concerns, and it’s difficult to discuss whether or not her concerns will be valid for all readers. On one hand,there are ways for a non-black writer to tackle a black character in a way that not only pays respect to them, but also doesn’t have to be centered around race. Case in point: Garcia takes the right approach to that sensitive topic in this very book in how she decides to use Cyborg.
On the other hand,there are often aspects to a black character that become lost when race can’t be spotlighted by the creative team. As said earlier, even when it’s tackled subtly, Cyborg and Starfire bonding over his experience with race in the Teen Titans episode “Trog” proves to be a pivotal moment to their friendship. Without that race element, their relationship would not have resonated as strongly. It’s a complicated, layered debate that demands a space for a larger conversation, but theTeen Titans: Starfireswriter is thankfully aware of those layers, and determined to take a mindful approach to the nuances of that very conversation for DC’s future.
