Beast Boy: Bio, Origin & History

Real Name: Garfield Logan

First Appearance: The Doom Patrol #99 (November, 1965)

Powers: Can change into any animal known to man. 

Affiliation: Doom Patrol, Justice League, Teen Titans, Young Justice

Did You Know? Beast Boy is the adoptive son of Elasti-Girl and Mento.

A Little History

At the tender age of two, Garfield Logan was taken to Africa by his parents Marie and Mark Logan. During the trip, Garfield contracted a rare disease that was believed to only be survivable by animals. In an attempt to save their son, the Logan’s treated Garfield with a machine that was developed to isolate the genetic commonalities between humans and animals. The treatment worked but not without drawbacks. As a consequence of the treatment, Garfield’s skin turned green. 

Fast forward a few years and Marie Logan was threatened by a Black Mamba snake. Already green, seeing his mother under duress triggered another ability in Garfield. This time, rather than turning another color, Garfield transformed into a Mongoose. 

Shortly after this event, both Garfield’s parents died…deaths which he believed he could have prevented. Without parents, he is raised by the Chief of the local tribe King Tawaba. It turns out that the tribes witch doctor, Mobu, hated the Logan’s more than any. Due to this, he asked two Americans to kill Garfield in exchange for the location of a temple. While in the temple, the walls collapsed killing Mobu. Instead of leaving Garfield to die, the two Americans rescued him and brought him back to the United States to commit crimes for them.

Eventually, the men wound up killing one another and Gar was left looking for a Legal Guardian. That Guardian turned out to be Logan Estate attorney Nicholas Galtry. As good as this sounds, it really wasn’t. While the Logan’s were in Africa, Galtry began embezzling funds from Gar’s inheritance. 

All wasn’t lost, however. 

Shortly after Galtry was appointed Legal Guardian, Gar met Rita Farr, Elasti-Girl and Steve Dayton, Mento. He tried to join the Doom Patrol but couldn’t due to him needing the approval of his Guardian. This wouldn’t stop him though. Gar did end up working alongside the Doom Patrol and eventually, after Farr and Dayton married, he was adopted by the two.