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Beast Boy |
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Formerly: Changeling
Alias: Gar Logan |
Titans Member
joined: DC Comics Presents #26 [1980] |
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| Beast Boy Quick Bio: Forced to undergo an experimental procedure to save his life, Garfield Logan gained the ability to transform into any sort of animal he could imagine. Green-skinned Garfield found a new family as Beast Boy, a junior member of the Doom Patrol. Beast Boy changed his name to Changeling and later joined the Teen Titans. Known once again as Beast Boy, Gar uses his trademark humor to diffuse the most dire of situations. |
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Beast Boy's substitute Titans team: Hotspot, Power Boy, Little Barda, Zatara and Raven from 52: WEEK TWENTY ONE [2006]. |
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| Gar recounts his origin story in DOOM PATROL #100 [1965] |
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| Rita Farr consoles Gar as he recounts his tragic origin in DOOM PATROL #100 [1965] |
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Mento meets Gar for the first time in
DOOM PATROL #102 [1966] |
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Secret Origins
Biologists Mark and Marie Logan took their toddler-sized son Garfield with them to the African country of Upper Lamumba, where they were conducting research on genetic codes. Gar came down with a rare tropical disease that was believed only animals could survive. In a desperate move to save his son, Professor Logan treated Gar with an untested machine which he originally developed to isolate the common genetic bond shared between humans and animals.
Gar recovered, but a side effect turned his skin green. A few years later, Marie Logan was threatened by a deadly Black Mamba snake, and Gar's desire to rescue his mother brought forth his powers, changing him into a mongoose. Several years later, his parents died in a boating accident, an incident which Gar still feels he could have prevented. After the death of his parents, Gar was raised by King Tawaba, a friend of the Logans and chief of the local tribe. Mobu, the tribe's witch doctor, had hated the Logans so much that he arranged for two Americans to kill Gar in exchange for Mobu revealing the whereabouts of a temple containing fabulous treasure. The temple collapsed and killed Mobu, but the two American looters rescued Gar and brought him back to the U.S. in order to force him to commit crimes for them. The two men eventually killed each other, and the courts set out to appoint a legal guardian for Gar.
It was decided that Gar's guardian was to be Nicholas Galtry, an evil man who was the attorney for the Logan estate. While the young Logan was missing in Africa, Galtry had embezzled funds from Gar's inheritance. When Gar was found, Galtry plotted to kill the boy and have all the wealth for himself.
Gar tries out for the Teen Titans in TEEN TITANS #6 [1966] |
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The Titans insist Gar get his guardian's permission in TEEN TITANS #6 [1966]
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Enter: Doom Patrol
Gar hated Galtry, but things took a change for the better when the boy met Rita "Elasti-Girl" Farr of the Doom Patrol and Steve "Mento" Dayton. Car tried to join the Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans, but was rejected from both groups because he needed his guardian's permission; Galtry was not aware of Gar's identity as Beast Boy. A bitter Gar happened upon an evil circus owner who immediately used Gar as his star attraction and thief. A hypnotized Beast Boy, in the shape of an albino baboon, mesmerized the crowds into turning over their money and jewels. The Teen Titans discovered the ruse and, after battling Gar as a giant gorilla/boa-constrictor, put an end to the criminal activities.
Eventually, Gar began working alongside the Doom Patrol, so Galtry secured the services of various villains in attempts to kill Gar and the Doom Patrol. Once Rita Farr and Steve Dayton were married, the couple adopted Gar after winning a court battle against Nicholas Galtry.
Enter: Beast Boy! The Doom Patrol meets
Gar Logan in DOOM PATROL #99 [1965]. |
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Beast Boy made his debut in
DOOM PATROL #99 [1965].
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Gar was allowed to work alongside the Doom Patrol and served well until the Patrol was killed by Madame Rouge and General Zahl. Needing a change of scenery, Gar left home and traveled to Hollywood where he became an actor in the television show Space Trek, 2022, playing an alien metamorph named Tork. Both Gar's acting ability and the show's episodes were less than memorable, and soon Gar found himself out of a job and looking for a place to stay.
Out of work after the series cancellation, Gar was reunited with his high-school girlfriend, Jillian Jackson, only to have the criminal known as Arsenal return and kidnap her. Trailing the armored villain to his castle hideout, Beast Boy discovered that the Arsenal was actually his former guardian, Galtry, who had hired the original Arsenal to eliminate the Doom Patrol and who had now usurped that costumed criminal's identity himself. His goal: to hold Jillian for ransom and regain the money he had lost when Gar Logan's guardianship had been taken from him. Gar was unable to attain the needed ransom money. Galtry then left him trapped in an airtight room while he attempted to get the ransom paid by Jillian's father instead. Escaping, Beast Boy battled Galtry/Arsenal, shattered the villain's armored costume, and defeated him.
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| Raven gathers the team in NEW TEEN TITANS #1 [1980]. |
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| Terra meets the Titans in NEW TEEN TITANS #28 [1983]. |
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Titans West
While on the West Coast, Gar became a member of Titans West. By that time, the human face portion of Gar's animal transformations was beginning to fade. His powers began to change him into all-green versions of animals, each with its appropriate face. However, Beast Boy's shape changing duration was now directly related to the size of the animal assumed: the smaller the animal, the longer he could stay that way; the larger the animal, the less time the shape could be kept, and the weaker Gar became, requiring more time between transformations.
The New Teen Titans
After changing his name to Changeling on the advice of his public relations people, Gar became an official member of the New Teen Titans.
Dayton continued to perfect his helmet and helped out the Doom Patrol, until their deaths at the hands of Madame Rouge and General Zahl. Dayton vowed vengeance and spent much time and money in search of his wife's killers only to be captured by them. Several months after Dayton's disappearance, Gar Logan, now Changeling, asked Robotman to help him find Mento. The two old friends, plus Gar's new friends, the Teen Titans, rescued Mento from General Zahl and Madame Rouge; both villains died in the ensuing battle.
As a member of the New Teen Titans, Gar often felt insecure compared to the other older, more confident members. He often masked this insecurity with humor. Gar also forged a close friendship with fellow Titan, Vic Stone (Cyborg). Changeling's time with the Titans has had its rough spots. He fell in love with Terra, a sociopathic teenaged girl who was working for the Terminator. Terra pretended to like Gar while she infiltrated the Titans. After Terra died in battle, Gar went berserk with grief and sought revenge against the Terminator. Gar refused to acknowledge Terra's duplicity until he learned from the Terminator that it was Terra who had killed King Tawaba.
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| Mento is finally cured in NEW TEEN TITANS (second series) #34 [1987]. |
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Jillian Jackson returned from boarding school in Europe and re-entered Gar's life. She was able to ease some of his loneliness and bitterness following the death of Terra, they resumed their romantic relationship.
Sometime later, Gar's adopted father, Steve Dayton confined himself to a wheelchair and began using a combination of his mental powers and Promethium to create this new Patrol, which he called the Hybrid. The demented Dayton blamed Gar for the original Patrol's deaths, and used the Hybrid to attack Gar and the Titans. After a series of battles, Raven cured Dayton of his dementia and his cancer. Steve and Gar have resumed their father and son relationship, but Dayton forbade Gar from participating in any more of the Titans' adventures until his grades improved. Gar began to attend public school and took a leave of absence from the Titans.
Titans Hunt & Changes
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| Gar deals with his dark side in NEW TITANS #102 [1993] |
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Shortly after this, current and former members of the Titans were hunted and captured by the Wildebeest Society, for unknown reasons. The remaining Titans Nightwing and Troia (along with new allies Arella, Phantasm,
Pantha, Red Star and Deathstroke) found the Wildebeest lair and ultimately
destroyed the Wildebeest Society. This event is catalogued as "Titans Hunt." During the Titans Hunt, Cyborg was nearly destroyed, Titans Tower was demolished, and Raven seemingly perished. Also, in order to defeat the society, Deathstroke was forced to slay his own son, Jericho, who was tainted by Trigon's evil year ago through Raven.
As the Titans recovered from the event of Titans Hunt, exposure to the Mento helmet unleashed a new side of Gar – a darker side. Instead of taking the form of normal animals found in nature, Gar began to shape shift into strange demonic creatures – and found himself liking it.
Gar Corrupted
Raven later returned as a leather-clad evil avatar of Trigon; She planted ‘Trigon seeds' in Changeling, Supergirl, Magenta, Deathwing, and Thunder and Lightning. Under Raven's influence, Changeling attacked the Titans and helped Raven recruit other vessels to implant her seeds. Eventually, Raven and her demon allies came into conflict with the Titans. With the help of Phantasm, the Titans finally destroyed this evil incarnation of Raven (or so they thought). Gar was brought to S.T.A.R. Labs, where he could be purged of the ‘Trigon seed' that lay inside him.
Vic Stone - now known as Cyberion after merging with the planet Technis - was reunited with his former teammates as Raven returned to destroy her good self (which lay dormant in the body of Starfire, who had returned to Tamaran). To ferret out Starfire, evil Raven incited a conflict in the Vegan star system. As a result, Tamaran was destroyed along with the Technis. During the conflict, Gar was able to free himself from the ‘Trigon seed.' Since being purged of the demonic seed, Gar resorted to shape shifting into normal animals, rather than demonic creatures.
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| A new start in L.A. - as seen in BEAST BOY #1 [2000] |
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Titans L.A. Together! [from left to right]; Matt Logan, Bumblebee, Flamebird, Captain Marvel Jr., Beast Boy, Hero Cruz, Terra and Herald [Bushido not pictured].
From TITANS SECRET FILES #2 [2000] |
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The Titans were able to destroy evil Raven utterly, and restore good Raven into a new spiritual golden body. Starfire decided to rebuild her culture on a new planet; Raven, Minion and Garfield Logan elected to remain in space as traveling companions to Victor Stone, Cyberion.
Reunited
Frightened by Cyberion's total embrace of technology, Garfield Logan left his friend and returned to earth. Having collected a planet-size assortment of technological debris, Cyberion journeyed to Earth to turn its moon into a new Technis world and populate it with his Titans allies. The JLA and the Titans (including Gar) first clashed, then united, to prevent Cyberion from destroying the planet while saving Vic's soul and downloading it into Minion's morphing battlesuit, the Omegadrome.
A New Start in L.A.
The original five Titans then decided to re-form the team. Changeling was asked to join, but he declined; Gar decided to find his way in the world on his own. He did return to aid the team during a conflict with the H.I.V.E. and Tartarus.
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Beast Boy finds a new direction in TEEN TITANS/
OUTSIDERS SECRET FILES AND ORIGINS [2004] |
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Everything old is new again! The Doom Patrol from
TEEN TITANS (third series) #37 [2006]. |
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Gar left the team to once again pursue his acting career. But he found his life in Hollywood was less than stellar. In Hollywood, it seemed that everyone recognized Gar Logan by his old code-name, Beast Boy. Since then, Gar has gone back to that code-name, whether he likes it or not! Gar was also framed for murder by Gemini, the daughter of Madame Rouge. Gar was cleared with the help of Nightwing and Flamebird.
Later, Gar's obnoxious cousin Matt took it upon himself to hold a membership drive party for an all-new Titans West. Gar reluctantly agreed to have the team re-form, and Titans West was re-dubbed Titans L.A. - with members that included Beast Boy, Flamebird, Herald, Bumblebee, Terra, Hero Cruz, Captain Marvel Jr. and Bushido. But Titans L.A. was over before it even began; No one had any real devotion to the team. Beast Boy once again found himself at loose ends.
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Beast Boy and Raven share a kiss in
TEEN TITANS (third series) #30 [2006]. |
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Teen Titans
Shortly afterward, a mysterious android from the future known as Indigo attacked the Titans and Young Justice, resulting in the apparent deaths of Troia and Omen. At Troia's funeral, Nightwing disbanded this version of the Titans. Meanwhile, members of Young Justice, especially Wonder Girl, felt responsible for the tragic deaths. This led Wonder Girl, Robin, Impulse and Superboy to form a new group of Teen Titans under the guidance of the more experienced Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy.
Beast Boy found himself acting as the mediator between the older and younger Titans, a role he readily accepted. Upon rescuing a reborn Raven from the clutches of the new Brother Blood, Beast Boy discovered a burgeoning attraction to his former teammate.
But before Raven and Gar could fully explore their relationship, Beast Boy was called upon to help the Doom Patrol in Prague. With the Titans in disarray after the events of the Infinite Crisis, Beast Boy elected to remain with the Doom Patrol - for the time being.
Garfield Logan can change his form into the shape of any animal he can visualize, thereby gaining that animal's strength and/or abilities. The larger the animal he becomes, the more energy it takes to maintain his form. Quick changes between animal forms also weaken him.
DC Universe Role-Playing Games: Sourcebooks and Manuals [ West End Games], DC Secret Files, supplemented by titanstower.com
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The Doom Patrol #99 [1965]: First appearance of Beast Boy. Doom Patrol headquarters is invaded by Gar Logan, a teenager with green skin and the ability to transform himself into any known animal. Dubbing him "Beast Boy," the Doom Patrol grants his desire to join them on a mission, and he manages to save the day.
The Doom Patrol #100 [1965]: Gar tells his origin story to the Doom Patrol.
The Doom Patrol #102 [1966]: The Chief recruits Mento and Beast Boy to help the Doom Patrol and the Challengers of the Unknown. Beast Boy meets Mento for the first time.
The Doom Patrol #104 [1966]: After much soul-searching, Elasti-Girl finally agrees to marry Mento.
The Doom Patrol #110 [1967]: Steve Dayton finds his legal case against Galtry for Beast Boy's guardianship crumbling, especially after Mandred breaks free of his imprisonment in Doom Patrol headquarters and learns Beast Boy's true identity as Gar Logan. The case is finally decided in Dayton's favor, however, when Elasti-Girl disguises herself as Beast Boy to make it seem that Gar and Beast Boy are two different individuals. Gar Logan is taken from the custody of Nicholas Galtry and adopted by Steve and Rita Dayton as of this story.
The Doom Patrol #112-115 [1967]: Gar relates his origin story in a back-up feature; Gar Logan's past was fleshed out, as the events that led to his green skinned condition and how he was orphaned in the jungle at a very young age were detailed.
The Doom Patrol #120 [1968]: Mento, Elasti- Girl, Gar Logan, and Gar's girlfriend Jillian Jackson become involved in a brawl at a discotheque, with humorous results.
Teen Titans #6 [1966]: Garfield "Beast Boy" Logan tries to join the Teen Titans and is denied entry due to his age and lack of permission from his legal guardian, Nicholas Galtry; First Gar Logan appearance in the Teen Titans.
Teen Titans #50-52 [1976]: Titans West, comprised of Golden Eagle, Flamebird, Hawk, Dove and Beast Boy, is formed by Lilith; Captain Calamity/Mr. Esper battles the two Titan groups. First appearance of Titans West in issue #50. First appearance of Beast Boy, Bat-Girl [Bette Kane] and Golden Eagle as Titans.
DC Comics Presents #26 [1980]: featuring a 16-page preview to New Teen Titans! The mysterious empath Raven invades Dick Grayson's dreams and shows him a glimpse of his near-future as part of the Teen Titans. First appearances of Raven, Cyborg & Starfire. Beast Boy now known as Changeling.
New Teen Titans #1 [1980]: After invading his dreams, the mysterious empath Raven incites Dick Grayson to form the New Teen Titans for the eventual purpose of defeating her demonic father, Trigon.
New Teen Titans #13-15 [1981-1982]: Changeling, Steve Dayton, Robotman and the Titans search for the killers of the Doom Patrol.
Tales of the New Teen Titans #3 [1982]: 4-issue mini series. As the Titans take a break on a camping trip, the new members reveal their origins. The origin of Changeling.
New Teen Titans #26 [1982]: After the Titans return, Kid Flash goes home to Blue Valley and Changeling meets Terra on top of the Statue of Liberty, which she is trying to destroy.. First appearance of Terra.
New Teen Titans #28-30 [1983]: Changeling captures Terra and brings her to Titans' Tower, where she claims that she has been committing crimes for terrorists who are holding her parents captive; Terra and the Titans confront her parents' supposed captors. Terra suddenly decides that she wants to be a Titan. Terra joins the Titans in issue #30.
Tales of the Teen Titans #42-44, Tales of the Teen Titans Annual #3 [1984]: Terra gives her collected information on the Titans to Deathstroke, who captures each of the teen heroes and delivers them to the H.I.V.E.
Tales of the Teen Titans #54-55 [1985]: The Terminator is put on trial, with Judge Adrian Chase presiding; The Terminator is sentenced to a year in jail, where an enraged Changeling attacks him; After a second confrontation, the two part company on speaking terms; Slade Wilson considers retiring.
JLA/Titans: the Technis Imperative #1-3 [December 1998 to February 1999]: Former Titan Vic Stone threatened to carry out his Technis Imperative and turn the earth's moon into a new Technis world. The JLA and Titans first clashed, then united to save the earth and Vic Stone.
Beast Boy #1-4 [2000]: Gar Logan returns to L.A. and is framed for murder in a mini series written by Ben Raab and Geoff Johns, with art by Justiniano. The series features the introduction of Gemini (daughter of Madame Rouge) and bounty hunters Fear & Loathing. Nightwing and Flamebird guest star.
Teen Titans #13-15 [2004]: "Beast Boys and Girls," Part 1-3: An entire school has been infected by the rare virus Sakutia - the disease that transformed Gar Logan into Beast Boy. Now the Titans are out to cure the kids, and the parents are out to hang Beast Boy - for being contagious! But the real culprit is Dr. Samuel Register, who has transformed himself into the shape-shifting Zookeeper. First appearance of Samuel Register in issue #13. First appearance as Zookeeper in issue #14.
Teen Titans [third series] #30 [2006]: During a rematch with Brother Blood, Raven and Beast Boy share a kiss.
Teen Titans (third series) #34-37 [2006]: One Year Later, it's "The New Teen Titans!" A new year of exciting adventures begins with the "new" Teen Titans and the bizarre Doom Patrol!
Beast Boy Timeline: Closing the “One Year Later” Gap
DC's "One Year Later" event occurred March of 2006. In Teen Titans #33, Superboy and Nightwing are in the thick of the Infinite Crisis world-shattering event. With Teen Titans #34, a full year has passed since the Crisis. The events of that "missing year" were revealed in various DC books throughout 2006-2007. Here’s a list of major events revealed during the “Missing Year:”
 The Titans aid the heroes during the Infinite Crisis. While saving the universe from Superboy-Prime and Alexander Luthor, Superboy is killed in battle. [IC #1-7] With Superboy, Wonder Girl, Robin, Kid Flash, Starfire and Cyborg gone, Raven and Beast Boy try to keep the Teen Titans together. [TT #34]
Raven and Beast Boy have adopted new costumes. [52w21]
Beast Boy's rag-tag team of Titans - Raven, Power Boy, Little Barda, Zatara and Hotspot - meet Luthor's new Infinity, Inc. team of "heroes." During the battle, Infinity member Eliza Harmon dies. At Eliza's funeral, Hotspot, Little Barda and Power Boy quit the team. Unknown to the heroes, Eliza's death was caused by Luthor himself. Sensing something is awry, Gar offers his help to Steel in investigating Lex Luthor. [52w21]
Raven and Beast Boy hold a membership drive for the Teen Titans after their ranks have been depleted. Outside Titans Tower, many would-be Titans and current-Titans gather for the team, including Argent, Flamebird, Mirage, Red Star, Joker's Daughter, Captain Marvel Jr., Aquagirl II, Kid Devil, Talon, Miss Martian, Bombshell, Offspring, Young Frankenstein, Mas Y Menos, and Molecule. Osiris arrives to join, only to have Captain Marvel Jr. doubt his intentions. After pleading his case, Osiris is granted probationary membership. [52w32]
Osiris mentions that Argent and Molecule just went through an "awful break-up." He also mentions a recent Titans mission where the team helped Kid Eternity stop the Keeper's plans for controlling the dead. [52w34]
The Titans - Beast Boy, Raven, Offspring and Aquagirl - assist a group of heroes to contain the destruction caused by the "Rain of Supermen." Offspring recovers at Plastic Man's side after saving over 20 people. [52w35]
The Titans - Beast Boy, Raven, Offspring and Aquagirl - assist Steel in assaulting Lexcorp and exposing Lex's manipulations. [52w40]
Beast Boy offers Natasha Irons membership in the Teen Titans, but she turns him down. [52w47]
Black Adam ignites World War III. [52w49]
The Titans - Beast Boy, Raven, Offspring, Talon, Young Frankenstein, Hawk & Dove and Terra - confront a rampaging Black Adam in Greece. Black Adam brutally kills both Young Frankenstein and Terra. [ WWIIIp3: Hell is For Heroes]
The Titans gather with Donna Troy, Arsenal and all the heroes to battle Black Adam. [WWIIIp4: UNITED WE STAND, 52w50]
Robin returns and rejoins the Teen Titans. The only active members are Beast Boy, Ravager and Kid Devil. [TT #34]
Beast Boy quits the team to aid the Doom Patrol. [TT #34]
"One Year Later" begins. The Teen Titans and the Doom Patrol team up to stop the Brotherhood of Evil. [TT #35-37]
For a complete timeline of the "one year gap," click here.
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Beast Boy's Doom Patrol History
Enter Beast Boy
With Beast Boy, Drake introduced a new twist to the school of kid super-heroes. In a back-up feature pencil by Bob Brown in Doom Patrol #99 (Nov., 1965), the Doom Patrol first encountered Gar Logan. As the Chief astutely noted, he was a typical teenager in all things save one, though it took Robotman to point it out to the Chief: Beast Boy was lime green.
His complexion was a side effect from the source of his powers. In Africa, his father conducted many experiments on the local animals, hoping to further the limits of scientific knowledge. But, as a toddler, Gar contracted Sakutia, a malaria-like disease that only a species of green monkey could survive. Using his latest invention on his son, Gar's father devolved the boy, changing him into a green monkey, thus saving his life. But when he was returned to his human state, Gar's skin remained green. And he soon learned that the ray had caused a second side effect. He could now change himself into any animal form, although his face stayed green even as an animal. (When Gar was reintroduced as The Changeling in the New Teen Titans, his power was changed subtly: his entire body would remain green, even in its animal form.)
Tragically, Gar's parents died trying to escape from a flood and the boy ended up in the hands of a guardian named Galtry. Galtry, however, did not have Gar's best interests at heart. Instead, he connived to get his hands on the vast fortune contained in the trust fund Gar's father had left him. Galtry was a Dickensian figure whose stinginess and greed made life miserable for Gar. Gar realized he was being used and so became bitter and was portrayed as obnoxious, argumentative, and sarcastic. It was in the Doom Patrol that Gar hoped to find the family he so sorely needed.
Drake summed it up: ". . . Beast Boy's constant banter could be excused.. . he had just cause to be angry."
Purple Gar
Back in his Doom Patrol days, Beast Boy wore a purple full-head mask to disguise his green face -- a dead giveaway that he was the famously green Gar Logan, adopted son of the world's fifth-richest man. This was deemed necessary because Gar was a minor, and the DP could get in trouble letting him hang around in dangerous situations. And besides, secret identities were in vogue. But he's always been green.
In his '60s incarnations, Beast Boy would turn into animals with a human face -- and sometimes not. But they were all colored like real animals. When he was introduced in the '80s Teen Titans, suddenly he turned into only green animals. I presume, without any other information available, that this was a creative decision to visually distinguish the character.
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Mento meets Gar for the first time in
DOOM PATROL #102 [1966] |
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Enter Mento
Mento's [Steve Dayton] third appearance was Doom Patrol #102, (Mar., 1966), featuring the Challengers of the Unknown and the DP's green-skinned protégé, Beast Boy. The cover blurb, heralding Beast Boy and Mento's first encounter, summed up their future relationship perfectly: beneath Beast Boy it said "That teen tornado, that junior juggernaut, that - 'rotten kid - "' Mento interrupted. Similarly, Beast Boy added his own estimate beneath Mento's blurb, "that mind-master, that psychic dynamo, that - 'pot-headed nut."'
From then on, Mento appeared in nearly every issue, primarily because of his marriage to Rita in Doom Patrol #104 (June, 1966). In keeping with the unconventional tone of the book, the guy actually did get the girl. But not quite like he'd hoped. Rita's devotion to the Doom Patrol and super-heroing did not diminish in the least after the wedding - much to Steve's displeasure. So he began participating in the DP's regular adventures - at least that way he could stay close to his wife!
Naturally enough, the Brotherhood of Evil did all that it could to prevent Steve and Rita's union - and so did Larry and Cliff. For the occasion, Mento sported a new helmet and outfit (his first was rather unappealing, but this new one wasn't really any better). Wedding guests included a representative contingency from the JLA, the Teen Titans, and Bob Hope's "cool" Super-Hip.
Mento's increased involvement must have driven his insurance agent to drink, as at least on one occasion (Doom Patrol #108, Dec., 1966) it appeared that the DP and Mento were indeed dead. However, the constant threat of death didn't seem to bother Mento as much as the DP's junior member, Beast Boy. And things got markedly worse when Steve and Rita adopted Gar Logan...
Back-Ups
The final back-up series began in Doom Patrol #112-115 (June, 1967), and highlighted the background of Beast Boy. Gar Logan's past was fleshed out, as the events that led to his green skinned condition and how he was orphaned in the jungle at a very young age were detailed. He was taken under the wings of two opportunistic diamond thieves and then briefly served as a gorilla general in an anthropoid army run by another crazed ex-Nazi. However, Beast Boy's fate was not as positive as Larry or Cliffs, for it was Galtry who ultimately found the boy.
The Girlfriend
Jillian Jackson is introduced in Doom Patrol #99 as a classmate of Gar's. Jillian next appears in Doom Patrol #118, where she becomes Gar's girlfriend. She also appears in Doom Patrol #120. Her next appearance is in Tales of the New Teen Titans mini-series #3, where Gar's origin is retold, and more insight into Gar and Jillian's relationship is given.
The above information courtesy of http://captaincomics.net and Amazing Heroes.
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George Pérez on Gar Logan
 Gar's Personality:
"His use of humor also reveals that the anger is still there, Now the weapon is different, Instead of anger, he uses humor, The character obviously has a lot to be bitter about. One point we're taking advantage of is that he is a 16-year-old boy, The way a 16-year-old reacts is very, very unpredictable. In his case, he wants to belong so badly that humor is the only way of doing it. How many times, as teenagers did we do a lot of stupid things, say a lot of stupid things, like, make ourselves seem better than we are just so we can belong, In a sense, Terra is something of an exaggeration of that whole thing, but in a different way, Just how different we were shown in the third annual."
Redesigning Gar:
"Len [Wein] was the one who mostly did the modifications for Changeling's costumes. I had that little fake belt buckle put in the middle. It was just the basic design of Spider-Man's costume, and so we had to put trunks on him, and that little belt buckle in there, just to break that area of white, because it was obviously going to be attributed to the old, original costume. And my one big suggestion for Changeling was that I was not going to have his hair come onto the character, whatever creature he'd turned into, and the fact that we could have a green face on a regular body, I thought that was rather silly. So we decided to go with the full green character. [...] When he was Beast Boy, he would turn into, take an example, an orange tiger with a green face, and his own hair. There was this green face on the top of an animal."
Drawing Gar:
"Changeling, good comic relief, fun to draw - except when you're drawing all those animals 'cause you'll constantly get into other references - I like his rubbery face, his very expressive face."
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Marv Wolfman on Gar Logan
 Creating the Dynamics of the New Teen Titans
"Raven was shy and introverted and found it difficult to confide in others. Starfire was outgoing and pure, lusty emotion. Wonder Girl, once again, was directly in the middle. The same kind of triangle was created for the guys. Robin, later Nightwing, was the level-headed and capable leader who, because he was kept on a tight leash by Batman, often felt inadequate for the task at hand. He also had a need to prove himself to Batman. Because everyone in his life had died on him, Changeling believed he had very little to offer anyone and covered it up with an outward bravado. Cyborg was a logical scientist type who rejected that approach to become an angry young man. Nightwing's logical approach to life and anger toward his "parent" was shared by Cyborg while his feelings of inadequacy were shared by Changeling. Cyborg and Changeling had also been physically altered by their parents, and that helped bring them together."
"The characters were created so they would play off each other, but they were still only words on paper. They needed to have real life breathed into them. That happened when George Pérez came onto the scene."
Marv Wolfman talks about Gar Logan - [from Comics Journal #79-80 - 1983]
Gar's Powers
DECKER: Can Gar Logan change into absolutely anything and use his animal form for convenience?
WOLFMAN: No. If I understand the character correctly, in terms of his powers, and that's picking up off the Doom Patrol stuff, he can only change into animals. Yes, I know the next question is, ‘Can he change into a person because a person is an animal?"
DECKER: It would have to be a green person, though.
WOLFMAN: It would have to be a green person.
DECKER: He could probably do Brainiac 5.
WOLFMAN: Yeah, I would tend to doubt it. I would rather keep him as an animal. The original serum that his real father, Mark Logan, created was to solely tie in the genetic code between humans and animals. I assume that's the only shape he could take. Yes, we have him turning into a Gordanian in issue 24, 25. Some levels, I'll extend myself, but I won't have him turn into other people.
DECKER: Well, there was one scene where he was turning into animals that didn't even exist that were supposed to be projections of his mind.
WOLFMAN: Yeah, he was going insane at that particular time, and he normally could nor do that. I've since established, because even there I thought it was getting out of hand, that he can't do anything very large and stay in that size or even shape-change afterward very easily. It would be several days before he could make a shape-change after becoming a Tyrannosaurus Rex, which I'll probably never do again. I'd rather keep it small. I have to ask myself after I've made a mistake like that, where the mass comes from. I'll accept where the mass goes, like when he turns into an insect, but I don't see how he could become a Tyrannosaurus. So I'm going to try to avoid that in the future. That's again, the learning process. If you stick to the past solely because it's been done, I think you hurt yourself in the long run. You have to learn the strengths and weaknesses of the characters, and work around that and adapt your characters to their strengths and weaknesses.
Gar's Personality
WOLFMAN: Well, Changeling is young, and we don't have a lot of winners in the group, which is bothersome to me, outside of Wonder Girl, Starfire - Cyborg is getting there. Changeling puts on a big pretense because he wants to be like the others. He is three years younger than Cyborg and there is a difference between 16 and 18, where there isn't much between 18 and 25. So he's pretty much a braggart about most of the stuff he says. His romantic escapades are pure fiction. The Changeling mini-series story is the only one where I go out of my way to show that what he says isn't really what happens. But that's been my attitude from the very beginning. What he's been saying for a 16-year-old kid is totally outrageous. And if it weren't for the fact that everyone knew he was just talking through his hat and that he's 16, they wouldn't put up with it.
MacDONALD: If he's only 16, why doesn't he go to school?
WOLFMAN: He does. We haven't shown it yet. It's one of the problems of moving the stories along as quickly as we have, we haven't lingered as much. I've tried to make no story last more than three issues, usually two issues, and one of the problems has been in not showing their private life enough. At least these characters have private lives. Very often in the team books, you don't know what they do outside. We have to do a little bit more on Changeling and we have, to do a little bit more on Wonder Girl. We're starting Wonder Girl now, finally. We're moving her. In issue #30, Terry Long proposes to her and we are going to be doing some changes in her soon.
MacDONALD: And the guy who was running Changeling's father's company seemed to be coming to Changeling for advice...
WOLFMAN: The Questor character. The father was gone and by rights, by whatever they set up, Changeling was the next one to agree to things and he didn't want to.
MacDONALD: Well, for a 16 year old kid...
WOLFMAN: I have to tell you, some of the stuff that we did in the very early issues I would love to forget because there were a lot of mistakes. You learn the characters as you go on, and you work out the story structure. You become more familiar with writing each character. I'd love to forget that happened. I'd love to forget that Starfire learned the language by kissing Robin [laughter]. It made things too convenient. But I don't mind that they are there, and I wouldn't edit them our, but I don't think I'll refer to a lot of that stuff ever again.
Limitations
MacDONALD: What possible rationalization is there that Changeling cannot change into a human?
WOLFMAN: The fact that the people who created Changeling said that? [laughter]
MacDONALD: There is none?
WOLFMAN: There is none. George and I have talked about this and said that even if he could turn into a human, he'd turn into a human who was green, so unless he was becoming the Hulk, it wouldn't make much sense. We'd rather just keep it to animals, for whatever reason. He was bitten by a monkey and he was injected with this monkey juice [general laughter].
Hey, we didn't create him. The only thing I wanted to do when I used him was to change his name because I though Beast Boy was a really stupid name, and to handle the character for fun, with the underlying problems that he has, because he had this really awful origin. Every set of parents he ever had were killed. So we try to avoid that and put that away and say he only turns into animals and the larger the animal, the fewer changes he could make because it tires him out faster, but those are things that came about later.
George and I didn't think in those terms. We had him turning into dinosaurs and all sorts of things in the early issues and he keeps changing into stuff. Later on, we decided that we would only allow him to change into certain mass and at that point, if it's too large, he can't make another change for 24 hours or until he recuperates. So again, these are things you learn. All series do that. I mean, in The X-Men, Moira MacTaggart began as a housekeeper and now she's a doctor, so you get a complete change and it's probably better for the strip. But you have to do those things.
More on Gar
MacDONALD: What about Changeling?
WOLFMAN: Changeling will probably undergo the biggest change [laughter] because of what happens with Terra. We will probably be bringing back his old girlfriend. Despite the fact that I've had Changeling serious at times, I've been playing him more as a punctuation mark or point to the joke. And he's been there to serve whatever I needed for that panel. As opposed to being more realistic in a superhero vein. So we'll be making slow changes with him based on the Terra storyline. And he won't be spouting off constantly, every line won't be a Woody Allen one-liner or whatever else. We're trying to lace that with some sensibilities.
MacDONALD: l've been meaning to ask you, you meant his humor to be terrible, I hope. [Laughter)
WOLFMAN: [Laughter] Oh, of course. A 16 year old kid has got to have bad humor. There are a couple of lines he's done that are good, but most of them have been pretty bad.
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Gar Logan Grows Up: A Titan's History
Early Beast Boy days: Doom Patrol #99-121, Teen Titans #50-52
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| A 2007 convention sketch of Changeling by George Pérez. |
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| A 2004 convention sketch of Beast Boy by Teen Titans artist Mike McKone. |
Drake summed it up: ". . . Beast Boy's constant banter could be excused.. . he had just cause to be angry."
Beast Boy is a brash, girl-crazy teenager who never seems to stop making wisecracks and awful puns, somewhat like Robin the Boy Wonder. Gar especially enjoys hurling insults at villains that he is entangled with in combat. Gar carries around a lot of hurt but covers it with his humor and cockiness. During his time with Titans West, Gar has a girlfriend, Jillian Jackson, who is very supportive of and loyal to him.
Gar the insecure wiseacre: New Teen Titans #1-59, New Teen Titans (second series) #1 - New Titans #54
George Pérez: "His use of humor also reveals that the anger is still there, Now the weapon is different, Instead of anger, he uses humor, The character obviously has a lot to be bitter about."
Due to his powers, Changeling is easily one of the most powerful Titans. He still has some growing up to do, though. Gar's clowning around appears to be a defense against all of the rotten things that have happened in his life, yet he sometimes finds himself resenting his role as the Titans' wise guy. Gar's anger and more serious side erupts in New Teen Titans #13-15, where the Titans, Mento & Robot Man help avenge the deaths of the Doom Patrol. Gar is a girl chaser but does more chasing than catching. He teasingly flirts with Kory and any other attractive female he sees. In battle, Gar still makes wisecracks, including put-downs directed at his enemies.
Marv Wolfman notes: "Of the guys I like Changeling because I like writing that sense of humor type stuff, I enjoyed it when I did Spider-Man too."
Changeling's time with the Titans has had its rough spots. He fell in love with Terra, a sociopathic teenaged girl who was working for the Terminator. Terra pretended to like Gar while she infiltrated the Titans. After Terra died in battle, Gar went berserk with grief and sought revenge against the Terminator. Gar refused to acknowledge Terra's duplicity until he learned from the Terminator that it was Terra who had killed King Tawaba.
Marv Wolfman explains: "Changeling will probably undergo the biggest change [laughter] because of what happens with Terra. We will probably be bringing back his old girlfriend. Despite the fact that I've had Changeling serious at times, I've been playing him more as a punctuation mark or point to the joke. And he's been there to serve whatever I needed for that panel. As opposed to being more realistic in a superhero vein. So we'll be making slow changes with him based on the Terra storyline. And he won't be spouting off constantly, every line won't be a Woody Allen one-liner or whatever else. We're trying to lace that with some sensibilities."
Gar the student: New Titans #55-71
George Pérez: "We're going so kind of yank the rug out from under him when Steve Dayton gets tired of Gar's lackadaisical attitude towards his education. We've played up Danny's education in that he goes to school, but we have to remember that Gar does too. The difference is that Gar takes tutoring. Unfortunately for him, the gravy train stops. He's going so have to go to school like everyone else because Steve Dayton is sired not just of underwriting his education, but of underwriting his education when Gar's not taking it seriously."
"We've decided that Gar's best subject is zoology, because he studies animals so that he can change into them. He can't change into an animal just by thinking about is. He has so know what it looks like. Beyond that though, his education is shot to Hell. This will give him a greaser opportunity so be with Jillian, since they're going so the same school, but is will also make him deal with peer pressure. He's also turning seventeen."
Gar only served as a reserve member for New Titans #55-71... where the Titans Hunt began.
Titans Hunt & Aftermath: New Titans #71-96
Gar was abducted by the Wildebeest Society, and was eventually freed by the remaining Titans and their new allies. Gar was shocked to find Cyborg was now a silent, brain-dead storm-trooper. Even more shocking was the emergence of Terra II - a dead ringer for the original!
Unleash the Dark Side: New Titans #97-114
Exposure to the Mento helmet unleashed a new side of Gar – a darker side. Instead of taking the form of normal animals found in nature, Gar began to shape shift into strange demonic creatures – and found himself liking it.
"The Mento helmet will blow Gar's powers; he now changes into fantasmagorical, Lovecraftian, Clive Barker-ish creatures," Wolfman explains. "He can still become real animals, but he finds it more painful than becoming these imaginary creatures."
Evil Gar: New Titans #114-130
Evil Raven continued her reign of terror; She planted a demon ‘Trigon seed' in Changeling [New Titans #114] , who attacked the Titans and helped Raven recruit other vessels to implant her seeds. Eventually, Raven and her demon allies came into conflict with the Titans. With the help of Phantasm (who had now reformed himself, sensing he was needed), the Titans finally destroyed this evil incarnation of Raven (or so they thought). Gar was brought to S.T.A.R. Labs, where he could hopefully be purged of the ‘Trigon seed' that lay inside him.
Some time later, Gar broke out of his captivity in S.T.A.R. Labs and escaped. Vic (Cyberion) was reunited with his former teammates as an evil version of Raven tried to destroy her good self (which lay dormant in the body of Starfire, who had returned to Tamaran). To ferret out Starfire, evil Raven incited a conflict in the Vegan star system. As a result, Tamaran was destroyed along with the Technis. During the conflict, Gar was able to free himself from the ‘Trigon seed.' Since being purged of the demonic seed, Gar resorted to shape shifting into normal animals, rather than demonic creatures.
His Own Way: Titans Secret Files #1 and Beast Boy #1-4
The original five Titans then decided to re-form the team. Changeling was asked to join, but he declined; Gar decided to find his way in the world on his own. Gar left the team to once again pursue his acting career. His life so far in Hollywood has been less than stellar. Work isn't coming as easily as he'd hoped, and he's already made a few enemies. In Hollywood, it seemed that everyone recognized Gar Logan by his old code-name, Beast Boy. Since then, Gar has gone back to that code-name, whether he likes it or not!
Teen Again: Teen Titans #1-present
Beast Boy finds himself acting as the mediator between the older and younger Titans, a role he readily accepts. Gar has begun taking acting classes in San Francisco, though he claims this is more for fun than anything else.
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