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One of the biggest surprises to come out of this year's ComicsPRO was an all new Teen Titans comic from DC. Part of their Next Level line of comics, the book will introduce a new generation of superpowered youths led by none other than Jason Todd, AKA the Red Hood. But for some fans, it wasn't the cast that stood out the most about this announcement, it was the way in which they were drawn, with many pointing to the obvious manga influences on the new line of characters.

And according to series artist Daniele Di Nicuolo, those fans are right on the money.

Italian comic artist Di Nicuolo, who co-created recent Marvel favorite Jeff the Land Shark, recently took to social media to address a fan that had pointed to his Teen Titans designs as an example of "the animefication of American cartoons in real time."

"Hi!" Di Nicuolo said, "It’s me, the artist on the new Teen Titans series, and this is the perfect spot to say: I’m class ‘87, I grew up with manga and anime, USA comics entered my life as inspiration for doing comics pretty far in my life. I’ve been always heavily influenced by Japanese media."

That said, Di Nicuolo also wanted to make it clear that what he was doing wasn't just an imitation of the anime/manga he grew up on, but a kind of "hybrid style" between that and modern US comics.

"I believe that art inspires art," the artist concluded, "And as there are more manga-anime inspired western artists, there are also great artists with a more “classic” style.There’s room for everyone!"

DC's Teen Titans #1 is expected sometime summer of 2026.

Need more? Here's our picks for the best DC Comics stories of all time, and here's a list of all the free DC comics you can look forward to as part of this year's Free Comic Book Day and Comics Giveaway Days.