Review: TEEN TITANS: BEAST BOY
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Kami Garcia
Artist: Gabriel Picolo
Colors: David Calderon
Letterer: Gabriela Downie
Reviewed by: Brad Filicky
Summary
Despite having an uncanny way with animals, Garfield Logan is your average teenager in most respects. He has a summer checklist he didn’t manage to complete. On that list includes things like working out to get bigger and stronger, getting a job that pays in pizza, and kissing his crush, Alana Simone. It seems Gar will do anything to impress the popular kids and up his social standing. After a series of pranks, it becomes clear that there is more to his connection to animals than he realized. As his popularity grows, so does his public profile. The attention he draws reveals family secrets, and a new visitor in town named Slade Wilson! Together, Beast Boy and his friends will have to rise to the occasion.
Positives
Kami Garcia is the perfect writer for these DC YA stories. Her Beautiful Creatures series is hugely popular and influential to the genre. She has been outspoken in her fandom for the Titans and it’s great to see her get to play in this toybox. The story in Teen Titans: Beast Boy has heart, humanity and relatability. And you don’t have to be a young adult to get it. The plot is straight forward, but always engaging. The characters are well developed and true. The dialog is natural. Never once did these characters act differently than most high school students would. We root for these characters.
Gabriel Picolo’s art is a thing of beauty. He captures the emotion with simple, yet confident linework. Gabriel, like Kami, is a fan of the Titans, and his love shines through. And the subtle green and blue coloring provides a very nice unifying theme.
Negatives
Lucky for us, it was announced before Beast Boy hit the stands that Garcia and Picolo will be releasing a sequel called Beast Boy Loves Raven in February (which will also act as a sequel to the Raven graphic novel). If not, this book may have felt like an incomplete story. It almost feels like the first chapter in something much larger. But, the story will continue!
Verdict
This is truly a work that Garcia and Picolo can be proud of. They did the characters they love proud. The characters are well developed and are honest representations of teenagers today. The art is a perfect companion to the script. Garcia has said she’s got ideas for all the Titans and I, for one, can’t wait to see what this team does next.
