Titans In Love:
Lilith & Gnarrk
She was a mysterious teen psychic in search of her past. He was a gentle cave boy thrust into the future. And together, these two crazy kids found love.
It all began in Teen Titans #33 [1971], where the Teen Titans attempted to domesticate the time-tossed cave teen. Lilith was able to reach Gnarrk telepathically, and she sensed a warmth and kindness in him despite his gruff exterior. When the confused cave-boy fled Jupiter Labs, Lilith found her “poor, bewildered frightened baby.”
Gnarrk reappeared in Teen Titans #39, where Lilith’s soothing influence cooled Gnarrk’s cro-magnon rage. By that time, it seemed Lilith and Gnarrk were a solid couple, as Lilith cooed, “He’s a real cool civilized cat, my Gnarrk is.”
Gnarrk did not reappear until years later, when the Teen Titans encountered the new Titans West group in Teen Titans #50-52 [1977]. In that tale, it was revealed that Lilith and Gnarrk were engaged to be married. Although Lilith was a member, Gnarrk was not considered a part of the West Coast based team. He actually objected to Lilith’s involvement in the group altogether. “You coulda gone to the cops instead of hooking up with this bunch, ” Gnarrk snarled. “How many times I gotta tell ya I don’t want my fiancee playin’ like she’s Wonder Woman? You coulda been hurt bad!” Lilith countered, “But I wasn’t — and I helped save a lot of people. Stop being so overprotective!”
The only former Teen Titan who did not attend the wedding of Donna Troy and Terry Long (Tales of the Teen Titans #50 in 1984), Gnarrk apparently died under unrevealed circumstances sometime after his last appearance.
When the Titans’ past was altered by the history-shattering Crisis on Infinite Earths, Lilith and Gnarrk’s story was altered as well. Gnarrk’s revised origin was told in New Titans #56 [1989], where Lilith used her powers to establish a mental rapport with a mysterious cro-magnon kid encased in ice. The two fell in love through their psychic link, even as Gnarrk remained in stasis at S.T.A.R. Labs. Within a year, the mysterious light in Gnarrk’s chest faded and he died.
In the Titans Hunt limited series in 2015, Gnarrk returned and his Pre-Crisis history was restored as part of DC's reality-shifting "Rebirth" event. Lilith Clay began to remember the Titans’ past history and galvanized her former teammates to battle their old adversary, Mr. Twister. Returned to the land of the living, will the groovy redhead and cool-cat cave boy find love again? That remains to be seen.
Continuity glitches aside, Lilith and Gnarrk’s original love story remains one of the sweetest courtships in Titans’ history.
Romantic Reads:
Teen Titans [1971] #33, 39
Teen Titans [1977] #50-52
New Titans [1989] #56
