Titans Just Gave Beast Boy's Powers The Ultimate Upgrade

Gar Logan has always been one of DC Comics most powerful shapeshifters, but Titans #1 established a new benchmark for his powers as Beast Boy.

Warning: contains SPOILERS for Titans #1. Beast Boy is one of the most powerful shape-shifters on Earth-Prime, but the first issue of Titans firmly established his true potential. Gar Logan is often underestimated because of his prankster ways and joking attitude. However, the green-skinned goofball has the heart of a true hero and is as strong as he is versatile.

Beast Boy's strength was showcased in Titans #1 by Tom Taylor, Nicola Scott, and Annette Kwok. The newly reformed Titans were summoned to the site of a nuclear power plant, where Titano the Super-Ape was on a rampage. Nightwing suggested that Starfire and Donna Troy (as the team's heavy hitters) should tackle the giant monster, while the rest of the team evacuated the facility and prevented a meltdown. However, Beast Boy insisted that he could handle Titano, explaining that Starfire had recently shown him photos of an extinct apex predator from one of the moons of Tamaran, which he thought would be uniquely suited to fighting Titano.

Related: Interview: New TITANS Creative Team Tom Taylor & Nicola Scott

In short order, Beast Boy transformed into a giant humanoid lizard creature that was the same size as the massive Titano. Saying that "I just don't know when I'll ever get a chance to do this again," Beast Boy engaged Titano and wrestled the super ape into submission. While it was Starfire and Donna Troy who ultimately put Titano down for the count, Beast Boy proved more than capable of keeping the massive Titano away from the power plant until the facility was evacuated, and the reactor shut down safely.

While this scene was largely played for laughs, with Beast Boy becoming a legally distinct Gar-zilla that did not directly resemble any other famous giant monsters, the scene still spoke to just how strong Beast Boy truly is. Titano the Super Ape was originally a Superman villain, whose size and strength gave even the Man of Steel problems. While Beast Boy is nowhere near as powerful as Superman, it is still impressive that he managed to tank a villain that regularly challenged the Man of Steel, however briefly.

Beyond establishing an upper limit for Beast Boy's powers, the kaiju battle with Titano also affirmed his unique status among DC Comics' shape-shifting heroes. Most stretching and shape-changing metahumans have to maintain the same mass since they are just reshaping their bodies. Beast Boy doesn't have this limitation, as he rewrites his DNA at the cellular level to actually transform into a green version of whatever creature he wants to be. He can become as small as an amoeba or, as his battle with Titano in Titans proved, as large as a building. This versatility makes Beast Boy far more powerful than many might think.

Titans #1 is available now from DC Comics.