Graphic Novels - Teen Titans Vol. 3: Beast Boys and Girls

Greetings and salutations! I'm back with another installment of Graphic Novels, concentrating on the stuff by Geoff Johns. Today, I'll be doing volume 3 of Teen Titans: Beast Boys and Girls.

I found this tpb a few days ago at Rick's Comic City in Donelson. The price wasn't bad. I'd probably pay the same if I got it online. Anyway, the book itself is split into two different stories. The first is actually a Beast Boy miniseries that came out a few years prior, and the next story is an arc from Teen Titans #13-15.

I'm not going to go into too much detail about the first story, since it really doesn't tie into what's going on with this iteration of the Titans. It's not a bad miniseries, though. Pretty much what happens is that Gar goes back to Hollywood to restart his career and he get framed for the disappearances of his former co-stars from the hit TV show Space Trek. Nightwing (Dick Grayson) and Flamebird (Bette Kane) also make appearances in the miniseries. If you're a fan of Beast Boy/Changling, check this out. The artwork is well done by Justiniano (yeah, weird name), and the writing is done by both Ben Raab and Geoff Johns. I may cover the story itself one day, but not today. I'll just leave you with something that would make PETA (?) mad:

The writing for the other part is still done by Geoff Johns, with the penciling being all done by Tom Grummett. So here we go...

Part One
The first few pages show Gar's origin in how he became the Green Machine. We start out in Africa. Gar's parents are (or were, they died sometime later) scientists studying life in the jungle. The other doctor, Samuel Register (by the way, creative last name) is telling the couple to leave Gar, who's 6 years old at the time, outside and away from his work. Yeah, I already don't like Register. So, his mom takes Gar outside to play. While playing with his toys, Gar sees a green monkey. He tries to reach for it, but the monkey goes nuts and bites him. His mom rushes him back into the tent and attempt to save his life. it turns out that the green monkey carried some sort of disease called Sakutia, a rare and deadly disease. His parents do something, and by the miracle of science, Gar's cured.......and is now green. Oops?

We skip to the present day, where Vic and Gar are at the St. Luke's General Hospital with the same doctor from the last two volumes. Vic is having all the Titans get checked out because that were bit by Brother Blood and they were all drenched in blood or something like that. Gar isn't too happy being needled and what not, and then it comes out that Gar has never been sick. Suddenly, he sneezes. Uh-oh?

We skip to Grattan Elementary School, where some boy is not feeling too well. The nurse checks him out and suddenly, he turns green.

Well, that's strange.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Titans (minus Tim and Conner) are taking a break from all of the hero stuff and hanging out on the street waiting for Vic and Gar. Cassie and Starfire are talking about Raven going off on her own. Suddenly, Raven appears, tells them not to worry, and shows them her new tattoo on her lower back. Bart also has a new Green Lantern tattoo on his shoulder, but suddenly it disappears. It turns out that since Bart has a fast metabolism, his body heals fast and takes his tattoo as being a wound. That really sucks, by the way. Anyway, everyone checks out clean from their physical, while Gar isn't looking too well.

Cassie hears her name, starts thinking it's Ares,and looking at a window. Raven comes up to her and tells her that she is feeling Cassie's feelings for Conner. It turns out that Cassie knows that Conner is hiding something, but she doesn't know what it is. Plus, he didn't want his blood checked by the Titans.Raven tries to console her, and something strange happens:

I was wondering what was going on here.

Meanwhile, in Gotham City, we see Stephanie Brown, the new Robin......wait, what? Oh yeah, I forgot about this. Anyway, Conner shows up and looks perplexed as some of you might be. He of course is being a jerk about it and is also trying to find Tim. The two scuffle when Batman (drawn by Jim Lee) shows up. Conner asks Batman for Tim's address. He says no and tells Conner to look for himself since he has the power to do it.

Meanwhile, in San Fran, the group of Titans pass by that school and the unthinkable happens:

Well, that's another thing that's weird.

The Titans spring into action. Another little girl turns into a rhino. Then, a herd of green buffalo come running toward them. Vic calls out to Gar to transform and do something, but Gar notices something different:

I'm cured? Yes!......I mean, Uh-oh...

Part Two
We start out with a young boy on an operating table. A figure is telling him to look at a picture of a monkey. The boy turns into a green monkey or chimp, I really can't tell. Then, the figure comes at the monkey/kid with a knife. Uh.....creepy?

It's Saturday and we're in San Fran. It turns out that every child under 13 has turned into an animal of some sort. The rare disease known as Sakutia has become airborne, infecting the kids. As a side effect, the virus has reversed the effects that give Gar his powers and appearance. Doctor Rovin (that's his name!) gives Beast Boy an examination and tells him that he may be the cause of the airborne disease. Gar doesn't feel too happy. Dr. Rovin refers him to a specialist named Doctor Samuel Register. Garfield remembers Register from when he was little.

The rest of the Titans try to find every child who has been transformed into an animal. They run into some disgruntled parents, who blame Beast Boy for what's happened. The crowd gets rowdy, and Raven ......swallows their emotion and eats their anger (eh?), which calms the crowd down. Wonder Girl and Starfire are a little worried.

Uh......I don't get it, nor do I want to.

Meanwhile, Superboy uses his powers to find Tim, as well as spy on thousands of Gothamites and hear them complain about the city. (Hmm.... R. Kelly thinks Gotham City is fine. I guess it's just him.) He visits Tim, who confirms that he has in fact retired as Robin. What happened was that his dad found out and went overboard about it. Plus, Tim didn't want to be a superhero for the rest of his life. Superboy doesn't approve this and of the new Robin, but Tim enforces the notion that he wants to live a normal life. Superboy isn't convinced that Tim is ready to leave the hero life behind and leaves the house.

Back in California, the rest of the Titans chase down one child who has transformed into a humpback whale. Cassie loses her lasso, gets knocked out, and is thrown into the water. Ares grabs her lasso and teleports her to his weapon room. Cassie then says something that I've been thinking since he appeared in the book:

Yeah "God of War"! What's up with that? If you want to spy on someone, try Starfire!

.....Well, now he wants to be this guy!

At the hospital, Gar looks in a mirror. Doctor Register comes in and tells him that he looks like his father. They talk and Register pulls out a dart pistol and shoots Gar with it. It turns out that Gar is not the carrier of the airborne strain of Sakutia as he had believed. Register peels away some of the skin on his face revealing purple scales. Register is the carrier and the cause!

Run! It's a V!!! AHHHH!!!

Part Three
In the ocean, Aquaman and Aquagirl hear the cries of the humpback whale. Unfortunately, they can't help because they have their own problems to handle, namely a submerged city called Sub Diego.

We are at the hospital. Register explains that he did not mean for the disease to go airborne and make every kid and himself sick. He stole the disease from the CDC and experimented on it to get results. He gets the disease and every kid get sick. So now, Doctor Register wants to get a hold of Garfield's mutated gene structure, which may hold the cure to the Sakutia infection. Suddenly, Cyborg bursts into the hospital room and begins fighting Register. Register transforms into a serpent and they dive out of the window.

Meanwhile, Ares talks to Wonder Girl. Ares encourages her to properly learn the nuances of her new lasso, and warns her that something big is coming which will greatly alter her life. After teleports her back to the ocean, Ares hopes that the gods will be with Cassie .....and Donna Troy(Eh? Ain't she dead?).

On the streets of San Francisco, Doctor Register shape shifts into a T-Rex and goes on a rampage.

The Titans do what they can against the P'Oed Barney. Raven goes and heals Gar again, getting the poison out of him Garfield realizes that the only way to stop Register is with another changeling. He convinces Dr. Rovin to shoot him up with a shot of the mutated Sakutia sample. Gar Logan transforms once more into Beast Boy, The Green Machine! Oh yeah!

It's Puff the Magic Dragon vs. Barney! Place your bets!

Beast Boy shifts into the form of a green T-Rex and begins wrestling about with the purple dinosaur form of Dr. Register. They fight in various forms of animals. Once Gar gets in close, he transforms into a Sydney Funnel Web spider and knocks Register out with a dose of venom.

With Gar back in his normal form, the cure for the mutated viral side effects becomes airborne. By the following day, Doctor Register and the children of San Francisco revert to their normal forms.

The following Monday in Gateway City, Cassie is trying to throw her lasso away. Raven comes up and they talk. It turns out that Raven consumes heightened emotions, but she has control of that now. Raven then asks Cassie to teach her how to dress and act normal. Raven does this because.......she's starting high school.

5 weeks later, Conner is at the farm looking for his glasses and harassing cows when Tim calls. Tim has come out of retirement. Conner's happy.

Apparently the even-numbered Robins have bad luck because the Stephanie gets killed between those 5 weeks. Yeah. Big bummer. But don't worry, she got better.

.........
Well, that's the end. Is it a good read. Yeah. It concentrates on an underused character. Plus, we see another side of Gar, not the comic relief version we sometimes get, but that's not a bad thing. The artwork's pretty decent as well, but I have one complaint: Why does Gar look 16? He's supposed to be 19. Anyway, both stories in the tpb are pretty decent and are worth some attention.

Next Time: The Future (echos) and the aftermath of a Crisis...an Identity Crisis.