But, that's not my point. Cassie Sandsmark was created as a young teenager. Robin was created as a pre-teen. In fact, all of the "Teen Titans" had to be bumped up a notch to meet the needs of the title. Aging these characters into full, physical maturity negates their point. We don't need Nightwing, we already have Batman. We don't need a zaftig Wonder Girl, we already have Wonder Woman. DC loves to de-unique their characters, but must it be carried this far?

JB said

We don't need Nightwing,

NNNNOOOOOOOOO!  Even when badly written he is one of my top 5 DC characters of all time.

Girls are maturing faster. they are menstruating earlier, and going through puberty earlier. and women as a whole are getting bigger up top.  and they are wearing more revealing clothes at a younger age.

Teens Before Their Time
With budding breasts and pubic hair, girls are developing earlier than ever. What's causing it? And what are the psychological effects?

When last I saw figures, that number for Black children born out of wedlock was up to 70%. That's not a problem, that a betrayal. You know me. I go mostly Ayn Rand on things like this -- everybody should take care of themselves. But here the system is not even allowing people to take care of themselves. They are crushed before they are even out of the starting gate.


* Finding their website was the first time I have ever heard of these people. I quote from them only because I know the numbers to be correct.

The oddiest thing about the Teen Titans is that Gar Logan became younger than he used to be. He was around Dick Grayson's age when they were teammates, now he's around Tim Drake's age. 

My comment on teen heroes having sex is that they shouldn't. I'm no prude, but heroes are supposed to be what we are not. We give into temptation, we do things that our parents wouldn't want us doing. Heroes are better than that. They wouldn't give in to a moment of weakness, because they are better than us. Peter Parker was in love, but we never saw him having sex with Gwen Stacey! It's okay for Connor and Cassie to be in love and bond as characters, but don't shortcut it by having them have sex.

But that is my exact point.  I as a teacher can get fired at the mere suggestion that these sexually active teens protect themselves.  Don't we have a social responsibility to give the students ALL of their options.  Its the marketplace of ideas, give them all the thought on the subject and have them decide for themselves as an educated society.

Oh -- and those of you who are reaching for your keyboards to respond by saying that kind of "will-he-won't-she" stuff gets "old" and the characters should "grow" and "mature" --- if you stick around long enough to notice this, you've stuck around too long. Accept the books/characters as what they are -- timeless fiction -- or move on.

JB said: "There is an internal reason why these characters should not be having sex -- it removes a layer of tension from the stories."

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I agree 100% with this. The chase or the romance of a relationship is what makes the story compelling. Once they have sex what's left? The tension is gone and you are stuck with what looks like the last couple of miserable seasons of Moonlighting or Frasier.

Thats why someone said sometime (and I don't remember who said it, if I did, I would quote them)  Characters in comic books should NEVER get married. 

1.  It breaks that tension that you build romaticaly.

2.  It becomes too easy to put them in a refridgerator.