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.
As I said last time, my first introduction to the Teen Titans was via the Cartoon Network show. Beast Boy always appealed to me, partly because of his sense of humor, and partly because his super power was becoming any animal you could think of. Granted, all his animals were green, but just the ability to be a human one moment and a bird the next was definitely a power fantasy of mine. So when I saw him on a book cover, I immediately knew I had to check the series out. Coming off of Raven's quick-paced introduction, I had my suspicions that this might be a flashback of sorts...but there was only one way to find out!
Honestly, this one was a bit disappointing in comparison to Raven's. Sure, it served the same purpose as Raven's story, introducing the character, having him discovering his powers, and setting him up for future installments. But, with Raven's journey starting with literally stopping her father from taking control, Gar's story was...a bit less impressive. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, just that I was a bit surprised when the book ended.
I'm happy to report that Gar is still the goofball we know and love. This story presents him as a bit less sure of himself, more using his jokes as a defense than being overly optimistic, which definitely hit me in the feels. Once again, these larger-than-life superhero characters are brought down to a relatable level, and I'm all here for it.
I do wish his powers had been given more of an explanation. The Young Justice explanation was that he'd been given a blood transfusion by a Martian (the Martians are prolific shapeshifters). Here, it's much less fantastical, but also extremely confusing. I mean, sure, comic books have been giving weird and wacky sci-fi explanations since before Peter Parker first got bitten by a radioactive spider, but this one just fell flat for me. It gives no explanation for how he can transform into multiple animals—especially animals he's never encountered before, as opposed to just one he's received DNA from (like from a bite or something)—or why some abilities were delayed til now, but others weren't (specifically concerning a cat in the first chapter).
Granted, this is just supposed to be an introduction to the kid, not a deep-dive into everything that makes him tick, but... I don't know, maybe I'm just too invested in shapeshifters in general. Maybe I just need to breathe and let the story go how it wants to go. It's not like there's gonna be a science quiz on superpower origins, or anything. And maybe they'll go more in depth later on, so I just need to give it a chance. I guess I just wish these books were longer so they could feel like more than just a chapter in a longer epic. Sure, 190 pages is way longer than a comic book, but it's not nearly enough to answer all the questions that come up.
And that extra length could have given us more Stella and Tank! Gar's best friends were a very welcome addition, since Gar's at his best when interacting with others, but they came off as a bit superfluous in the end. Tank especially, with discovering (in his Senior year!?) his own new issues, didn't play much of a role with Gar besides being a guy friend. And though Stella was definitely the brains of the group, she didn't do much more than badger Gar about how popularity was overrated and provide access to the local animal shelter. So, I guess they did have more time to shine, I just don't know if it'll matter in the long run. I hope it will, since it was nice to see them not be completely clueless about Gar, but I don't think I'll get my hopes up.
Going back to what I hinted at in the opening, I'm sorry to say I was completely off about my hunch. I thought that, maybe, Tommy from Raven's story would turn out to be Gar, and that this book was setting up how he and Slade met. Tommy just had so much in common humor-wise, looks-wise, and being so cute with Raven... Well, it's a yes to the later, but no to the former. There's no flashback as this book is set directly after Raven's story, so no non-linear storytelling, no secret identities, no lies between the two that they'll have to overcome. Which, on the one hand: yay! On the other hand...I hope we don't get a love triangle in the future!
One thing I do hope we'll see in the future is more of this art style—specifically the coloration. This time around everything was vibrant and there were no black-and-white backgrounds or characters. Again, I'm not sure if that choice for Raven was specifically because of her mental state and/or concentration on blocking things out, which wouldn't have fit Gar's perception at all, but I definitely preferred this fully-colored view.
Overall, Gar's story gave me more of what I loved, but left me utterly starving for more. The fact that it was another setup story made it feel like backtracking instead of furthering what Raven had established, and its under-explained "science" made me roll my eyes, but it also brought more personal depth to one of my favorite characters, so it definitely was worth it for me. Its improved pacing, artwork, and side character exploration definitely all worked in its favor, and fans will no doubt enjoy finding more familiar names and references to speculate over. And while the ending was a bit too soon for my liking, I assume that's mostly because I wasn't ready for Gar's story to end, rather than it actually being abrupt. I'm currently counting down the days til I can get my hands on the next installment, so you can bet I'll be back with more to report soon!
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