Synopsis
Garfield Logan has spent his entire life being overlooked. Even in a small town like Eden, Georgia, the 17-year-old with green streaks in his hair can’t find a way to stand out-and the clock is ticking. Senior year is almost over. If Gar doesn’t find a way to impress the social elite at Bull Creek High School, he will never know what it’s like to matter. Gar’s best friends, Stella and Tank, can’t understand why he cares what other people think, and they miss their funny, pizza-loving, video game-obsessed best friend.
Then Gar accepts a wild dare out of the blue. It impresses the popular kids, and his social status soars. But other things are changing, too. Gar grows six inches overnight. His voice drops, and suddenly, he’s stronger and faster. He’s finally getting everything he wanted, but his newfound popularity comes at a price. Gar has to work harder to impress his new friends. The dares keep getting bigger, and the stakes keep getting higher.
When Gar realizes the extent of his physical changes, he has to dig deep and face the truth about himself-and the people who truly matter-before his life spirals out of control.
Review
After bringing us the brilliant Teen Titans: Raven, it would have been crazy for DC Comics not to double-dip with the team of Kami Garcia and Garbiel Picolo.
There was pure electricity to Garcia’s words and Picolo’s art in that first book which made it nigh on impossible to put down. I read it cover-to-cover sitting in JFK airport after New York Comic Con last year and have been eagerly awaiting the release of this follow-up ever since.
So having read Teen Titans: Beast Boy, I’m glad to say that re-teaming the pair has been like capturing lightning in a bottle. This second book, almost entirely standalone from Raven, is equally as engaging and demanding of your time.
Once again I found myself unable to book the book down as we follow Gar through a very personal journey. Garcia has crafted a story which feels in no way like a retread of Raven. Gar’s journey has some similar milestones but follows a completely different path.
Where Raven’s story started out with heartbreak, Gar’s story is much more lighthearted. He comes from a happy family. He has a solid friendship group at school. But he has yet to discover the power which lies within himself.
There’s an inbuilt sense of humour to Beast Boy which feels perfectly pitched for Gar. It’s part self-deprecating, part geeky and entirely familiar to any reader who has been through puberty. Gar’s insecurities about his body feel perfectly normal for any teenager. The subject of body image is perfectly tackled by both Garica’s words and Picolo’s imagery throughout the book.
Like Raven, Beast Boy is a wonderfully low key story about acceptance. For Raven it was about learning to deal with inner demons. For Gar it’s more about dealing with his place within society. Despite two close friends in Tank and Stella he still desperately seeks acceptance from the “cool” kids in his school. Part of that is about bulking up to capture the attention of Alana, the girl of his dreams. It all feels like familiar territory and is a joy to read from start to finish.
The simple narrative of Teen Titans: Beast Boy also makes the book easily accessible to its target audience. There’s plenty for readers of all ages to gain from reading it. But for the YA audience this is an important coming-of-age story. It also handles Gar’s metahuman abilities perfectly. Picolo uses some inspired artwork to show changes in his basic DNA as a precursor to his shapeshifting.
Tying in to Raven the plot introduces Slade Wilson as someone from Gar’s parents past. His appearances is part of the catalyst for Gar discovering the childhood illness which lead to him developing his abilities. As with Raven, Slade isn’t the one pulling the strings. There’s a puppet master who is clearly part of a larger plan for the characters in the future.
It feels right for the character to give standalone adventure such as this, rather than cross him over with Raven too quickly. With the next book being Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven it will be interesting to see how the two characters’ worlds intersect.
Gabriel Picolo’s artwork is once again fantastic. He has a beautiful way of focussing on the important details within a scene without overloading the environment with too much detail. Beast Boy is more colourful than Raven which used highlight colours to draw the eye, but it does use Gar’s trademark green as a brilliant accent.
Beast Boy perfectly builds upon the aesthetic of Raven. Together the pair feel like a cohesive series which is unique to everything else which is on the market right now. Not to jump ahead but I can’t wait to see what he could do with Starfire… and Cyborg… and Robin!
Verdict
With Teen Titans: Beast Boy Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo have once again struck gold. Their retelling of Gar Logan’s origin story is a heartwarming and hilarious coming-of-age story set in the DC universe.
8/10
Teen Titans: Beast Boy is written by Kami Garcia with artwork by Gabriel Picolo.
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