Tiny Titans (2008) 27

Happy Father’s Day.

Sit back, relax and wait for the coals to warm before tossing on the red meat of choice as the male population – with one or more children – celebrates its day.

Sonora Smart Dodd is the founding father with the day commemorated the third Sunday of June.

This year Four Color salutes the harried husbands who work through the day and still find time to play in the evenings. Who bring home the bacon, sometimes even frying it up in a pan, and never, never letting anyone forget they’re a man.

Tiny Titans (2008) 27

Taking the spotlight for 2022 is Teen Titan Raven’s father, Trigon.

First introduced, in a cameo, in New Teen Titans issue two, he made his official, first full appearance in New Teen Titans four.

The Marv Wolfman/George Perez creation is a demon from an alternate dimension. He mated with Raven’s mother, Arella, as part of a ritual for the Church of Blood. Their pairing produced a child with empathic powers.

While Trigon is a less than perfect example of what a father should be, he was highlighted in issue 27 of the Tiny Titans. The June 2010 cover-dated issue serves as a Father’s Day issue for us.

The premise for the issue has Raven as a reluctant babysitter for Kid Devil. Kid Devil was originally a Blue Devil wannabe.

Anyway, Raven must wrangle the bitty demon. Trigon finds the miniature hell spawn adorable and offers to help. The weekend becomes a series of one- and two-page jokes as Trigon appears much like the domesticated fathers of the 1950s sitcoms.

Kid Devil is returned to Blue Devil and all ends well.

Tiny Titans is the creation of Art Baltazar and Franco Aurliani, running 50 issues. It was honored with the Eisner Award for Best Series for Kids twice, in 2009 and 2011 respectively. As described on Wikipedia, “Tiny Titans stars alternate versions of DC Universe Characters, primarily those from the Teen Titans series. It is set in a kid-friendly, elementary school environment. Issues typically consist of several individual stories as opposed to one cohesive storyline.”

Again, Happy Father’s Day. Don’t forget the reason for the day. They grow up too fast.