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While Marv Wolfman and George Perez did a lot to establish Gar in New Teen Titans, a lot of people forget Gar's origins. He was, in fact, created by Arnold Drake and Bob Brown for Doom Patrol. Bruno Premani was the artist, and in those early years, Gar's animal form was generally a normal colored animal with a green face.
Most people don't realize that, after the "Fab Five," Gar chronologically has been along the longest of the Titans characters (he debuted around five months after Donna Troy).
Right
clicking on some of the images and opening them in a new window will
give a larger view.
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In November, 1965, the Doom
Patrol found at their headquarters a lion print, a huge bird feather,
and a tuft of gorilla hair. The cover read "NEW! Meet Beast-Boy, the
wildest, weirdest teen tornado in comics history! See him try to blast
his way onto the team!" The usually observant Chief failed to immediately notice that Gar was green, but the rest of the Doom Patrol instantly decided that he was going to be a huge pain. The teen wanted only one thing, to join the Doom Patrol, and was given a chance to prove himself on a mission. Gar's origin appeared in issue 100, along with the first appearance of Galtry (his guardian), Gar's first costume and mask, and the first explanation of where Gar's clothes go when he changes shape (Robotman: Hey kid-- when your body changes-- how come your clothes disappear? Gar: They don't. Emanations from my body give the clothes natural camoflage! They match my skin!") The first letter Beast Boy fan letter in print appeared in the "Patrol Postscripts" of issue #101: "Dear Editor: The word is "RRRAWRR!" But definitely! Beast-Boy is the gearest, the most, the living end! Who cares if he's green! He's utterly FAB! By all means, bring him back! This story DEMANDS a sequel!... "Linda Hall, Salt Lake City" The editors replied: "When we introduced Beast-Boy, we hoped fans would dig him. The bulging mailbacks the postman leaves at our door every day testify they have. So now that Beast-Boy is in, we hope you got a charge out of his unique origin. There was never a kid like Beast Boy, and there never will be another."
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The Doom Patrol decides Gar's
status
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Doom Patrol 99, story 2, page 6
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The cover of Doom Patrol 102, Gar's first meeting with
Dayton, pretty much sums up their relationship for the rest of time:
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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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| For three issues, a group of heroes on the west coast are
brought together to save an aircraft carrier and a high-rise building.
Lilith tells Beast Boy, Golden Eagle, Hawk, Dove and Bat-Girl
that she believes that
it was more than coincidence that brought them together. The newly formed "team" traveled to the east coast and banded together with the Teen Titans to fight Mr. Esper. While it appears that Teen Titans West went their separate ways at the end of issue 52, later writers insinuated that the team continued to fight together intermittantly.
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