Among the DC characters, new and old, featured in Dan Mora's Future State promo art released today is a face that's familiar to some fans – though the character hasn't been seen in a mainstream DC comic book before.
Of course we're talking about Red X – a character straight from Cartoon Network's early '00s-era Teen Titans Go! animated series, seen nestled in the background of Mora's art, behind the new Wonder Woman (Yara Flor).
He's also mentioned in the solicitation for Future State: Teen Titans #1.
"When the original New Teen Titans formed a school to mentor and train young heroes, they wanted to help save the world," reads the solicitation – part of DC's Justice League family of Future State titles.
"Years later, Titans Tower is a monument to a graveyard of pupils lost in a terrible battle," it continues. "Returning to the site of their greatest failure, Nightwing, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg join Raven to plot a course to face off against the evil that destroyed their team and school."
"Loyalties are questioned and motives are suspect as the former teen heroes must turn to the mysterious Red X - a former student - for help. Don't miss the first comics appearance of this Red X, previously seen only in the hit animated TV series Teen Titans Go!"
The mystery of Red X's identity reflects the mystery that surrounded Red X on the show. When he first debuted as a mysterious villain, it turned out he was secretly Dick Grayson/Robin in disguise to infiltrate a villainous organization.
A new Red X surfaced later in the show with a new mystery tied to his identity – though the new Red X's secret identity was never revealed, and remains a subject of fan speculation to this day.
The character has not appeared an a DC comic yet - but his name was mentioned in 2009's Terror Titans #2, way back before 'The New 52.'
Future State: Teen Titans #1 is due out in January, among the first wave of Future State titles.
DC's Future State event also includes a whole family of Batman titles. Here are all the titles included in Future State's Batman line.
[Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly named Tim Drake as the original Red X.]
