Teen Titans: Beast Boy

July 1, 2020

Gr 8 Up-Garcia and Picolo reimagine Beast Boy, the green-skinned Teen Titan who can turn into any animal, as an undersize adolescent longing for the spotlight. Overlooked and self-deprecating to the point of self-defeat, 17-year-old Gar wishes he had a buffer body, romance with a popular classmate, and the adoration of internet viewers. His friends Stella and Tank derive acceptance and confidence from live-streaming video games and eating contests, respectively; Gar sees himself as merely their goofball sidekick. But when he decides to stop taking the daily supplement his scientist parents give him, an overnight growth spurt leads to a mature physique, attention from his crush, and the approval of the prank-obsessed social media crowd. He also starts to gain some strange powers-like a tree shrew, he can eat an incredibly hot pepper, and in gym class, he's as quick as a cougar. He begins questioning his parents (why were they making him take that supplement?) just as the shady Slade Wilson enters the picture. Gar's journey of self-discovery, including his friends' concerns with dyslexia and the mistreatment of laboratory animals, is believable and accessible. Picolo's art is crisp and angular; layouts rely on about four to five panels per page in wide shapes, as well as large spreads that use smaller bubbles to emphasize characters moving within them. The plot ends on a cliff-hanger, with a couple of plot hooks suggesting a sequel. VERDICT Gar the high schooler takes his first clawed steps from insecurity to gregarious performer in this adventure that pairs well with Garcia and Picolo's Teen Titans: Raven.-Thomas Maluck, Richland Lib., SC

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2020
A high school senior works to reinvent himself and inadvertently discovers his mutant superpowers. Garfield Logan is a self-deprecating 17-year-old with green-streaked hair and an obsession with working out and eating so he can bulk his way up to becoming popular with girls. It's almost the end of the school year, and nothing on his bucket list has been accomplished: He doesn't have the girl, he doesn't have the income from the pizza job he wants, and he is very much on the outside of the in crowd. Fed up with being alternately ignored and bullied by the cool kids, Gar completes an outrageous dare that instantly gains him a following and new nickname, Beast Boy. Precariously balancing his new popularity and some unexpected physical transformations with maintaining his true, close friendships, Gar successfully goes with the flow until things get dangerously out of hand. This follow-up to Teen Titans: Raven (2019) serves its purpose in providing an origin story for Beast Boy and connecting the series storylines with recurring characters but without the high-stakes action, intrigue, and depth of the former. Although the visuals are dotted with bursts of brightness and creative framing, the story is weakened by outdated language, insufficient character development, and a scattered plot. A neurodivergent character is identified within the text while racial diversity is represented in illustrations. A quick read for fans. (author and illustrator forewords) (Graphic fiction. 14-18)

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September 1, 2020
Grades 6-8 DC continues their Teen Titans line of origin stories with a focus here on Beast Boy. Garfield wants to be bigger, but no matter how much he eats or exercises, he can't seem to gain weight or bulk. When Gar decides to research the supplement his parents have been giving him, he learns that it's interfering with his pituitary gland, and after throwing it away, he becomes bigger and stronger in mere days. Once he becomes part of the in crowd due to his size and pranks, his crush begins to notice him, but there's also a lurking, shadowy figure who promises to answer all of his questions?especially after Gar, now known as Beast Boy, discovers he can morph into animal form. Picolo's beautifully expressive artwork relies on a muted color palette that focuses on greens. The speech bubbles are easy to follow, set in a mixture of traditional panels and gorgeous splash pages of Gar's transformations. A great choice for both new and seasoned DC readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)