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Teen Titans #6 cover
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Gar appeared in Teen
Titans #6, trying to join the team. Tthe Titans consisted of Robin,
Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, and Aqualad. The Teen Titans insisted
that he
couldn't join without his guardian's permission. However, as Gar
was
hiding his powers from Galtry, this was impossible. Feeling
rejected,
Gar became involved with "Baltzer, the Beast Master" and his
circus. A
hypnotist used Gar as a "relay" to hypnotize the crowd, stealing their
valuables. The Teen Titans intervened, freed Beast Boy and captured the
crooks.
The team left Gar's membership up to the readers in a write in vote.
Since Gar didn't appear in Teen Titans until Teen Titans West appeared,
the results are obvious.
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Gar wanted
acceptance.
the problem was, he wasn't getting it from the Doom Patrol. To
Robotman and Negative Man, Beast Boy was just an annoyance. Even
Elasti-Girl lost her temper with him a few times.
The actual problem, though, wasn't that the Chief didn't want Gar
around. This was the 1960's, and Gar didn't have permission from
his
legal guardian to be hanging around. Without this permission, the
Doom
Patrol could get in trouble for letting a minor be in such dangerous
situations.
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Teen Titans #6, p. 4
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Teen Titans #6, p. 2
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Teen Titans #6, p. 4
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Teen Titans #6, p. 5
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The green teen
decided
that perhaps he'd have a better chance of getting acceptance by
appealing to other teen heroes - namely the Teen Titans.
In these days, the Teen Titans consisted of Robin 1, Wonder Girl 1, Kid
Flash 1, and Aqualad. Speedy 1 was NOT a member at this time.
Gar made an impressive entrance into Doom Patrol headquarters, so of
course his appeal to the Teen Titans had to make an impact as well.
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However, the problem
was
the same. Gar was a minor - and he needed to have his guardian's
permission to join the Teen Titans as well. Each of the Titans
had the
permission of a legal guardian to be a member of the team.
Needless to say, Gar wasn't happy. He went off on his own and
wound up
joining a circus. His first venture into showbizness wasn't
without
problems.
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Teen Titans #6, p. 6 and 7 - click
image for larger version
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Teen Titans #6, p. 9 - click image
for larger version
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Note the title "The
Fifth
Titan". Gar did have a chance to become the fifth member of the
team
(instead of Speedy 1) at the end of the issue. Readers were asked
to
write in and vote. Sadly, they must not have voted Gar in,
because he
remained part of the Doom Patrol and didn't make an appearance in Teen Titans again until Teen Titans #50.
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| Teen Titans #6, p. 24 - click image
for larger version |
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 Teen Titans
#50 marked another new chapter in Gar's life - the beginnings of his
Teen Titans West era. A second group of teen heroes (Beast Boy,
Golden
Eagle, Hawk 1, Dove 1, Bat-Girl 1 [now Flamebird], Lilith, and Gnaark)
banded together to fight a crisis occurring on the west coast while the
regular Teen Titans (Robin 1, Wonder Girl 1, Aqualad [on reserve status
at the time], Speedy 1, Kid Flash 1, Harlequin, Bumblebee, and Guardian
[later Herald, now Vox]) team fought similar problems on the east
coast. East met West over the next few issues. Originally
Teen Titans
West was supposed to be "temporary", but in later chronologies and
retcons the team reportedly stayed together for a few months.
Both the
East and West teams eventually disbanded. Shortly after that,
though,
Robin 1, Kid Flash 1, Wonder Girl 1, and Beast Boy (who changed his
name to Changeling) joined up with newcomers Raven, Starfire, and
Cyborg to form the New Teen Titans.
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Teen Titans #50, p. 1
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In these issues, Gar
continues to wear a mask, though he's lacking the
purple full face part. I almost wonder if the mask here (since
he's
obviously not hiding his powers on the TV show) is part of his
"costume" for Space Trek 2022. |
Click the thumbnails below
for a larger version of the page.
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Teen Titans #50, p. 9
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Teen Titans #50, p. 12 |
Teen Titans #51, p. 1 |
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| Teen Titans #51, p. 2 |
Teen Titans #51, p. 4 |
Teen Titans #51, p. 8 |
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Teen Titans #52, p. 7
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Teen Titans #52, p. 17 |
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