I remember losing it when the Teen Titans YA graphic novel series was announced years ago, especially when Gabriel Picolo, my favorite illustrator, signed on to do it. Fast forward and I’ve finally gotten around to reading Beast Boy and let me tell you, Kami Garcia and Picolo have a way of bringing your childhood characters to life in ways that make you feel like a kid discovering storytelling again.
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 Chosen Ones–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, don’t understand why he cares what other people think. They miss their funny, pizza-loving, video game-obsessed best friend. Then Gar accepts a wild dare out of the blue. It impresses the Chosen Ones 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.
Garfield Logan finally gets his time to shine! Everyone loves Beast Boy, but sometimes it feels like comic and TV writers just don’t give him the attention he deserves. One of the first things I noticed about this book was the nuance Garcia and Picolo gave to Gar. They even talk about it in the foreword! Gar is tired of being ignored and mocked, but will still play into the jokes made about him to at least try and reclaim some part of them. At the end of the day, his character really just wants to be seen and appreciated for who he is. It’s a nice depth to see from him, especially since so many people know him from his happy-go-lucky character in the 2003 TV show. In addition Gar, we get new characters in his friends Stella and Tank. I loved seeing them dealing with their own problems alongside their concern for Gar, and vice-versa with Gar too. At first, I was concerned about Stella being written as “not-like-other-girls”, but that was quickly resolved once it was shown her dislike of them stemmed from shallow relationships and passivity, not femininity. The inclusion of Tank’s journey with discovering he has dyslexia was also a nice touch and added depth to his character. DC tends to be hit or miss in how it represents teens (ex. the success of Young Justice (1998) versus the 2019 run), but Garcia gets it right with this one.
You can’t talk about graphic novels without discussing the art. And, oh my god, the ART! Like I’ve said before, I’ve been a fan of Picolo for a while, ever since I first followed his Icarus and the Sun series on Instagram, but he really brings a sense of modernity and youth to the story with his character designs and illustration style. I think the part that blew me away the most was how he and Garcia chose to depict Gar’s transformations. The DNA and general anatomy imagery was super interesting and delved more into the sci-fi aspects of his character origins. It’s a great contrast to the first book, which centers on Rachel Roth and her more fantastical powers.
The only drawback to this book is that it’s a set-up narrative. Much like its predecessor, Teen Titans: Raven, we’re spending most of the time getting introduced to Gar and his life before superheroing. The long-term plot is still developing, so the story we get here, while interesting and impactful, doesn’t have stakes that tie into the overarching narrative, which is dealing with Slade/Deathstroke and H.I.V.E. The storyline really picks up in the next volume, Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven, so this book and the first one are basically prologues. There’s nothing wrong with that, but for readers who’re more in a series for its long-form narratives, this book may feel more like a filler episode.
Kami Garcia is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author. She is the coauthor of the BEAUTIFUL CREATURES series, which has been published in 51 countries and 37 languages, with over 10 million copies in print. In 2013, Beautiful Creatures released as a feature film from Warner Brothers. Kami is a cofounder of the YALLFEST kid lit book festival and the author of five solo novels, including her Bram Stoker Award-nominated novels Unbreakable and Unmarked (THE LEGION series) and The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos. Kami’s first graphic novel Teen Titans: Raven, with artist Gabriel Picolo, is the first book in her TEEN TITANS series for DC Comics and the adult series JOKER/HARLEY: CRIMINAL SANITY, from DC Black Label.
Gabriel Picolo is a Brazilian comic artist and illustrator based in Sao Paulo. His work has become known for its strong storytelling and atmospheric colors. Picolo has developed projects for clients such as Blizzard, BOOM! Studios, Harper Collins, and DeviantART.
Garcia and Picolo’s next book, Teen Titans: Robin, is slated for release in spring of 2023.
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