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"Don't get too attached my young friend.. I saw her first."
- SladeOriginally aired: Jan. 24, 2004 Written by Amy Wolfram
Directed by Ciro Nieli
The Titans meet Terra, small teenage girl with big powers. Gifted with amazing earth-moving abilities, Terra can make rocks fly, mountains crumble, and the ground tremble beneath her feet. At first, it seems like this hip,funny, young hero might make a great addition to the team. But Terra has a secret ... a terrible secret. And only Slade knows the truth. Will the Titans' new friend put the whole team in danger?
Ron Perlman as Slade
Ashley Johnson as Terra
First appearance of Terra
Producer David Slack on TERRA: "I've really enjoyed working with Marv [Wolfman], who's a great writer. And we've done our best at every turn to honor the spirit in which that original comic book was created. Like the stuff we did with JUDAS CONTRACT. For a lot of reasons, we couldn't do what they did in the comic book exactly. For one thing, they did it very well so what's the point in doing it again? But we were able to find our way of doing it that fit our show and I think we still honored what that character of Terra was: a lost, mixed up teenage girl whose a lot stronger than she realizes."Producer David Slack on reading and adapting the "Judas Contract" comic book storyline: "Oh yeah. [I read it] Cover to cover, multiple times. That's the first thing I do when I'm going to work on something Marv [Wolfman] has done [in the comic book series]. I dig in deep and really look at the way they had done it. The JUDAS CONTRACT stuff is so well done and so interesting. It was a joy researching that. So we looked at that, and Glen and I made the choice to have one writer work consistently on the whole arc. And Amy [Wolfram] had done such a good job on her episodes in season one - plus, since it was a female character, we wanted a female perspective".
"So Amy went and read the JUDAS CONTRACT and Glen reread it. Then we sat down and talked... what were some of the things we can use from it, what were some things we wanted to change, who was 'our' Terra vs. theirs. Obviously, the biggest change is that the Terra that Marv and George wrote is just a bad seed. Not even just a bad seed - but she's evil. She's not a good person. We were more interested in showing things from Terra's point of view a little bit more. That sometimes people can do very bad things, but not be a completely bad person. That was where we thought out story was - and that opened it up to tell to a six year old audience. Because some of the Terra/Slade relationship stuff in JUDAS CONTRACT is a little too hot for TV. "
"So we used what George and Marv had done as huge, huge stepping stones. I've said this before at conventions: We're standing on the shoulders of giants here. We couldn't ask for better source material than the stuff that Marv and George created. "
Writer/Story Editor Amy Wolfram on Terra: "Definitely in the comics she was a little bit darker - a little bit more grown-up - than we went [laughs]. We approached her as being someone who wasn't sure what she was - or what she wanted. And someone who was not in control of her powers. So she was looking for that help. Someone to give her guidance, whether it was someone who was good or bad. And she was an interesting character because I think in a lot of ways, she was real. Because she wasn't sure of everything. All the other Titans have a sense of who they are. But with Terra, we got to see her figure out who she was. "
Terra first appeared in NEW TEEN TITANS #26 and 28 [1983]. Much like the animated version, she's a troubled and confused girl. She appears to be forced to be working for terrorists until the Titans take her in. Beast Boy specifically reached out to Terra. Terra also had problems controlling her powers, particularly when enraged.Also in the comics, Deathstroke [Slade] takes a particular interest in Terra. More notes on Slade and Terra as season two progresses...
For more information on the comic book versions of the characters - including many images - visit titanstower.com's meeting room page.
By introducing Terra, TEEN TITANS embarked on its darkest tale. TERRA is definitely the calm before the storm. The episode itself is an artful mix of comedy, tragedy and a sense of dread for what is to come.
It starts off innocent enough; Terra gets a splashy debut and befriends the Titans. There’s a lot of inventive super-deformed bits with Terra settling into the tower and becoming the object of Beast Boy’s affections.
Seeing Terra as a very powerful yet insecure girl, it’s hard not to take an immediate liking to her. And that’s the general idea. By the time Slade starts poisoning her mind, we’re already hoping she gives him a faceful of dirt.
The animated series is playing Terra as more sympathetic; We see she is capable of good things. Which makes her inevitable fall from grace even more heart-wrenching. A great start to the Terra arc. Grade: A