A foundational member of the Teen Titans and the Justice League, Cyborg has been a part of many DC events throughout the years. He’s been of great help to his teams and even was a key part of saving the world. Despite this, he has yet to be at the forefront of his own story and has been stiffed many times over.
Where many of the Teen Titans got a chance to grow up and experience a key part of their childhood, Cyborg had that chance stripped from him at the beginning. Pushing him into the Justice League was a move made too soon. It put him in situations that rushed development, and he never really got to have more done for him.
Cyborg was created in 1980 to form The New Teen Titans, featuring the talents of Marv Wolfman, George Pérez, Dick Giordano, Romeo Tanghal, and Mike DeCarlo. He was young then, as was the rest of the team, and he got to shine during their formative years. Vic’s past was revealed during Tales of the New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman, George Pérez, Brett Breeding, Adrienne Roy, and John Costanza. With his mother gone and animosity held against his father, the Teen Titans were all that Cyborg had left for a chance to really grow into himself. However, that was stripped away when suddenly he was rushed through development to create the perfect hero and placed into a new Justice League lineup as a young adult.
After saving the world with the Justice League, he finally did get some development during Cyborg (2015) by David F. Walker, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Adriano Lucas, and Rob Leigh. A glimpse into the personal life of Vic Stone showed just how much this sudden rush of attention he received from being on a team such as the Justice League may have harmed him. This run gave him a chance to show the world who he was, and finally, come to terms with who he is and what he can do. His internal struggle with his human and machine side is worth exploring, especially as he tries to reconnect with a childhood he barely even got, and makes amends with his lost mother and father.
Now a part of the Titans, Cyborg could still have a chance to shine like his friends and teammates. Nightwing, Arsenal, and Wally West's Flash, alongside others, got their chance at development with the Titans, and when they left it was on their own terms. It’s Cyborg's turn to finally get the treatment he deserves from the Titans, and perhaps once he’s done he can leave to be on the Justice League again. Even now, though, Vic suffers from a literal loss of individuality stemming from a plot where he merged with Beast Boy. So once again he is shoved to the side, labeled as a character whose development has been stunted by his past Justice League membership.
The rush to add him to the Justice League lineup erased an essential part of development for Vic and doomed him to a life on the sidelines. Developing as a child is an essential part of any character’s story, so he should have gotten that chance in the Teen Titans. The time to develop his growth from teen to adult has since passed with the sudden transformation he went through to become a member of the Justice League. But fans and writers alike hope that Cyborg will have a chance to finally get the development he deserves with the Titans.