About the Book
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Authors:
- Kami Garcia
- Gabriel Picolo
Cover Story: Transformation
BFF Charm: Let Me Love You
Talky Talk: Emphasis on Boy
Arty Art: Picolo Perfect
Bonus Factor: Girl Gamers
Anti-Bonus Factor: Animal Mistreatment
Relationship Status: Feelin’ It, Mama
Cover Story: Transformation
If you didn’t know why Beast Boy got the nickname Beast Boy, you might have an inking after seeing this cover.
The Deal:
Garfield “Gar” Logan has a bucket list for his senior year of high school, and much of it has to do with becoming more popular and less gangly, neither of which has happened so far—and Spring Break’s come and gone. He’s tried everything, save not taking the supplement his parents have had him on since he was a child.
After dumping the supplements down the toilet, Gar sees immediate improvements, but he also starts having some strange, animalistic, side effects.
BFF Charm: Let Me Love You
Gar is sweet, cute, innocent, and totally too preoccupied with being acknowledged by the popular kids. He’s so much better than them! I want to help him see that!
Swoonworthy Scale: 2
One of Gar’s bucket list items is to kiss one of the most popular girls in the school. But he doesn’t even really like her; the status of the idea is what’s most appealing. This is not a good reason to attempt any sort of relationship, much less one that could lead to real feelings—and real feelings getting hurt.
Talky Talk: Emphasis on Boy
In most incarnations across time and space TV and comics, Gar is portrayed as young, goofy, and more than a little naive. He means well but often bumbles through situations. He’s got a heart of gold, however, and strong values. (For example, he’s vegan.) Garcia writes him pretty perfectly, even if I did have to side-eye his misguided efforts to make people like him—although, now that I type that out, it fits with his personality quite well.
Garcia’s dialogue read as natural and realistic, and the snippy (out of love) conversations between Gar and his best friends Tank and Stella were delightful. It only took a few panels to fully buy into their friendship and this version of Beast Boy’s origin story.
Arty Art: Picolo Perfect
I was familiar with Picolo’s Casual Teen Titans series before the release of the first book in this comic series—and loved it—so I was very excited when I saw that he’d be doing the art for these books. He nails the youthful look of the Teen Titans, and his style is a great mix between comic and realism.
Bonus Factor: Girl Gamers
THEY DO EXIST.
(Gar’s BFF Stella s an accomplished gamer with a large online following. She doesn’t let Gar be an idiot (as much as she can). She has blue hair. I love her.)
Anti-Bonus Factor: Animal Mistreatment
There aren’t any graphic scenes of mistreatment, but there is talk of dog euthanasia—Stella works at a kill shelter—and animal testing, both of which are hard to stomach.
Relationship Status: Feelin’ It, Mama
You had me at “At least my hair looks killer,” Book, and there’s no looking back now. I’m all in and super excited to see where we go from here.
Literary Matchmaking
You don’t have to have read the first book in this series to enjoy this one, but I definitely recommend also checking out Garcia and Picolo’s Teen Titans: Raven.
Stuart Moore and Chris Wildgoose’s graphic novel adaptation of Marie Lu’s Batman: Nightwalker sees another young DC superhero pining after the wrong woman.
And Michael Moreci and Sas Milledge’s The Lost Carnival is another example of a young man trying to find his place in the world.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from DC Comics, but got neither a private dance party with Tom Hiddleston nor money in exchange for this review. Teen Titans: Beast Boy is available now.
