Beast Boy Review, Audacity Book Club

By Nic Daniels

Welcome back, audacious readers!

Hope you guys are feeling refreshed and relaxed in this new year, making (or possibly breaking) your goals. Last month, we went back in time in a Tokyo café with Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. This month, we’re experiencing a different kind of blast in the past with the graphic novel, Teen Titans: Beast Boy by Kami Garcia & Gabriel Picolo.

Garfield Logan is a late bloomer. And by late, I mean class-started-thirty-minutes-ago-and-his-alarm-didn’t-go-off-yet late. He’s shorter, slower, and feels overall less than everyone around him. While he has loving parents and friends, Garfield is tired of being in the background in his neighborhood and school. He wants to be more than just the small kid with the green hair streak. He’s ready for change. So, when he finds out his “supplement” pills are stunting his growth, he throws them down the drain, and begins to change—drastically. Not only are his body and confidence levels quick to catch up but also a secret that has loomed over him his whole life…yes, he turns into animals. And, yes, I still think it’s cool.

This graphic novel was such an easy and enjoyable read. It was fun to go back to such a familiar character while reading a new take on Beast Boy’s origin story. Even better, it does so without relying on nostalgia. I feel like a lot of the remakes we see today lean too heavily on the inside jokes, symbolism, etc. instead of giving new content with the same vibe, like this one.

Kami Garcia makes Beast Boy feel authentic to his original character. He’s a gamer, awkward while trying to be funny, a little whiny, but overall, a caring person, especially when it comes to animals. Even when involving them in his school pranks, he makes sure they’re not harmed and tries to give them better environments (for better or worse; he is in high school). And even though Garfield is a good person, it doesn’t stop him from making bad decisions or selfish decisions because he wants attention, which we can all relate to (thank you, social media & teen angst).

The main thing I liked about this book is that we get to see what makes Beast Boy who he is. You see him in regular settings—high schools, friends, and family—versus seeing him as just a hero or focusing only on his powers. You see how being an outsider affects him and how he’s aware of his popularity being a temporary thing but embraces it anyway. While it’s not cool to abandon your friends for people that wouldn’t look your way twice, I can’t fault him for wanting to live in the moment.

And we can’t ignore the awesome art that Gabriel Picolo produces. It’s a step away from the very detailed—almost too detailed—comic art style that I see from DC, making everything feel fresh. I also love how the style is a mix between the bright cartoon style and muted, watercolor backgrounds. It’s not only eye-catching but truly allows the characters to standout, especially Beast Boy’s transformations in his signature green.

All in all, this book is a cool but delightful coming-of-age story. It’s a great companion to the first comic of the series, Teen Titans: Raven, and also a nice setup for the sequel, Beast Boy Loves Raven (both of which I recommend if you like this one).  I hope you guys enjoyed this fun read to kick off the year. What did you think? What other characters would you be excited to see later in Beast Boy’s story? As usually, let me know all the thoughts about all the things.

Until next time, don’t forget to read audaciously!