The Teen Titans return to DVD with the first six episodes from their second season.  The show continues its run of strong shows in this season.  There's a lot of action, a good amount of humor, and even a few touching scenes.  A fun show that's guaranteed to bring out the comic geek in everyone.

The series is based on the revamped version of the Teen Titans comic that came out in 1982.  The Titans are five teenagers living together in Titan Tower.  Batman's sidekick Robin is the unofficial leader of the group. (Batman is never mentioned in the series though.)  Cyborg, half machine and half human, provides the muscle of the group, and Beast Boy, who can change into any animal, (previously a member of the Doom Patrol,) provides a lot of the comic relief.  The group is rounded out by a pair of women; Starfire an alien who can fly and shoot power blasts from her hands, and the contemplative Raven, a mystic with the power to levitate objects and create solid shapes with her mind.

The season kicks off with a very good show, How Long is Forever.  While battling a villain from the future, Warp, Starfire gets sent ahead twenty years in time.  She discovers that, with her missing from the group, things haven't gone so well for the Titans.  They've split up and all of them are living pretty miserable lives.  Can Starfire get the old friends talking again, and is there anyway to get back to her own era?

This was the best episode on the disc.  I really enjoyed seeing how everyone turned out in the future, and was very happy to see that they kept everyone's personalities the same.  The way that they worked in the "friends are important" lesson was good too.  It wasn't overdone and corny like most cartoons.  This was a great start to the season.

Beast Boy gets in trouble in Every Dog Has His Day.  After annoying all of the other members of the team, Beast Boy roams around town and eventually ends up in the park in the shape of a dog.  He's surprised when bumps into another green dog, but even more surprised when a UFO captures him.  It appears that the other green dog was an alien's pet but after seeing what Beast Boy can do, the alien decides that he'd much rather have him as a pet.

A new superhero is introduced in the next episode.  Terra is a girl who has amazing powers.  She can levitate rocks and make them do her bidding.  She'd be a great addition to the Titans, but the supervillain Slade also has his eye on her too.  Terra has a secret though, one that has kept her on the run for years.  If it is ever discovered, will the Titans still want her around?

Cyborg gets a chance to shine in the next episode, Only Human.  When Atlas, a robot from a video game, comes to life and captures most of the Titans, it's up to Cyborg to beat the fighting robot.  The only problem is that this robot is stronger and faster than the half-human cyborg.  Is there anyway he'll be able to triumph?   This was one of the lamer episodes on the disc.  They never explained how the video game character came to life, and no one seemed to think it was all that strange.   Atlas was a pretty dumb antagonist too.  This show usually has interesting and defined villains (like Control Freak in the following episode), but this guy was very generic.  Ultrastrong bad guy who treats his lackey like crap. *Yawn* Haven't we seen this all before?

The Titans battle a great villain in Fear Itself.  Control Freak is "a couch potato with a remote control" who attacks a video rental store because Star Wreck V, movie that reunites the entire original crew, isn't on their store's recommended list.  While spouting several sci-fi cliches, he fights the Titans and is quickly defeated.  Back at home, Beast Boy screens a horror movie, the scariest movie ever filmed.  All of the Titans had a great time being scared with the exception of Raven, who "doesn't get scared."  That night Titans Tower gets attacked by the same villain from the movie and, in true horror movie style the heroes get picked off one by one...

This parody episode was a lot of fun.  There were a lot of laughs and some great take-offs on horror films.  I especially liked Beast Boy's prediction that the comic relief always gets picked off first.  (He was right, much to his chagrin.)

The disc ends with A Date With Destiny, a show that has a good mix of humor and action.  When the Killer Moth's daughter, Kitten, doesn't have a date to the Junior Prom, daddy promises to get Robin to take her.  He unleashes a swarm of mutant killer moths on the town, calling them off only when Robin agrees to the date.  This infuriates Starfire to no end, but there's not a lot she can do about it.  While Robin is escorting the spoiled Kitten to the dance, the other Titans try to locate the Killer Moth, but can they do it before it's time for the goodnight kiss?

These shows are just as entertaining as the first season episodes were.  They are action filled, but the characters have real personalities.  There is a good amount of humor and the occasional touching scene that works well.  A very enjoyable show that both kids and adults can enjoy.

This DVD includes the first six episodes from the second season on a single disc enclosed in a dreaded snapper case.  The episodes are presented in their original production order.

One odd thing, there are no chapter stops in the middle of the episodes. It would have been nice if they had included one after the opening credits and again half way through the show.

Audio:

There is an English stereo track on this DVD as well as stereo dubs in Spanish and French.  The sound was very good for a TV show.  The explosions and fight scenes were fairly dynamic and there was some use made of the front soundstage.  There wasn't any noticeable hiss or other common audio defects.  There were also subtitles in English, French and Spanish.

Video:

This show looked pretty good.  The fullscreen image was bright and clear, with nice looking colors and sharp lines.  There was a little bit of aliasing, causing some curving lines to have a stair-step effect, but this was minimal.  A nice looking show.

Extras:

There are two bonus features on this disc.  The first is a look Inside Titans Tower, a six-minute tour of the tower, showing all the levels and what is housed on each floor.  The Arachnid Challenge is a game where you have to help Robin capture a villain.  It's very simple and won't be a challenge even to young kids.  There is no 'prize' for winning.

Final Thoughts:

While I wish that they would release it in season sets like they did with Batman, I'm content with getting six episodes on a disc.  It could be worse, they could be releasing three episodes at a time like the Justice League.  This is a really good show, that has a lot of action and humor.  Highly Recommended.