Cool Chibi Beast Boy Cake

This awesome Beast Boy Cake was made by my good friend Jean from Cakes with Character.  The cake features the Teen Titans Go! version of Beast Boy and Beat Boy transformed into a cat.  The cake board is blue with a large Teen Titans Go! logo.

This cool cake makes me want to do the Beast Boy Cat Dance!

This Teen Titans Go! Cake features a chibi version of Beast Boy.  He has large pointed ears, messy hair, and a snaggletooth.  His costume is primarily purple (a color which plays in an important role that I’ll explain later).  I think my favorite part of the cake is the cat version of Beast Boy.  The cat’s facial expression is just wonderful.

Since Beast Boy’s first name is Garfield, this must be Garfield the Cat!  Do Jon and Odie know about this?

Beast Boy’s history is really interesting.  While Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg were all created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez for the New Teen Titans, Beast Boy has actually been around since 1965.  That’s surprising because Beast Boy doesn’t look that old!

In 1963, a very different superhero team first appeared.  Unlike other superhero teams, this team was lead by a man in a wheel chair and the team consisted of misfits.  Being misfits caused them to be alienated by society.  That team was…

The Doom Patrol. What you thought I was going to say the X-Men?

Oddly enough, both the Doom Patrol and X-Men premiered in 1963.  In fact, the Doom Patrol appeared first.  Doom Patrol was published by DC Comics and the X-Men by Marvel Comics.

See Elasti-Girl? Not the one from The Incredibles, that’s Elastigirl.  Same name, but without a Dash – He probably ran off screen real fast.  Next to Elasti-Girl is a character with purple skin and a yellow mask. Believe it or not, that’s Garfield Logan, aka Beast Boy, aka Changeling. 

Just like the original X-Men, the Doom Patrol was too ahead of its time and wasn’t very successful. In the late 1960s, Marvel stopped creating new X-Men comics books.  Issues 67 thru 93 were reprints.  The Doom Patrol wasn’t so lucky.  In their final issue, Doom Patrol #121, the Doom Patrol died.

Notice who isn’t on this cover? Beast Boy.

In Doom Patrol #121, the Doom Patrol sacrifices themselves to save a tiny fishing village in Maine.  It is a classic story because the Doom Patrol willing chooses death to save the lives of innocent people and the bad guys win.  DC comics wisely chose not to have Beast Boy one of the characters in issue 121.  This issue was already shocking enough without a kid also dying.

Beast Boy didn’t appear again for nine years.  When he does reappear, it is as a member of Teen Titans West.  Notice that this time, Beast Boy has green skin and a modified version of his Doom Patrol costume. 

I’ve never understood Teen Titans West.  This version of the Teen Titans comic book didn’t sell well and was canceled right after Teen Titans West was created.  You don’t usually create spin-offs for poor selling titles.  Beast Boy and the Teen Titans West appeared for three issues and then the Teen Titans comic book was canceled.

They say the 3rd time is a charm and in Beast Boy’s case that was certianly true.  The 3rd team Beast Boy joined was the New Teen Titans.  This comic book was so popular that it became DC Comics best selling title, even outselling Batman!  While he’s had his ups and downs, Beast Boy has been featured regularly since this issue appeared in 1980.