The Ravagers: Howard Mackie, Ian Churchill, Norm Rapmund, Hi-Fi, Dezi Sienty, Peter Steigerwald

Remember Beast Boy? Turns out…no you don’t. I’m so on the fence with this issue. See, I really didn’t like it. The base of the story, the core of it, is good…but the writing, the dialog, the execution is just messy. On the other hand, it’s SO good to see Beast Boy back in action that I still found myself reading through the whole issue.

So Gar’s origins are COMPLETELY wiped out from the preboot universe. Forget the green monkey. Forget Sakutia. Forget even the doctor dude who worked with the Logans and tried to kill Gar later (in Geoff Johns’ run of “Teen Titans,” I can’t remember his name). No, his powers are all made by NOWHERE, that beautiful plot device that can solve any problems. Also, Gar’s brown-haired instead of blonde. Man, you just took the complete overhaul, didn’t you, Gar?

So Harvest, and a new NOWHERE member, Non, tap into Gar’s genetic abilities and realize that he’s reaching into an energy source to access these different animals. This, obviously, is in reference to The Red…the place/energy that serves as the connection of all flesh on the planet. This also accounts for Gar’s change in color from green (preboot) to red. Because people would be far too confused if Beast Boy was green and didn’t turn into different plants. Though they might as well have ruined that much about him too.

Looks like Harvest, Non, and Omen are also working on unlocking Terra’s potential too. So the connection between these iconic characters goes back to even their origins. Terra is a fighter of a character…you know, like ALL the female characters we’ve seen in the Colony since the Culling crossover. Why couldn’t she have been the weak one, afraid of her potential, and Gar had to step up and be her protector? Is DC THAT afraid of portraying a weaker female? Because it’s not totally unrealistic. Oh, apparently, “despite her past” Terra’s a fighter. So she has reason to be this way. Pfft. Still a cop-out.

We then get glimpses of the other team members, Thunder, Lightning, and Ridge. —Wait, Ridge? Wasn’t he a Ravager already? Didn’t he help lead the strike against the Legion Lost? Wait, no, this must be way earlier, because Harvest mentions that Rose isn’t ready yet, either. So wait…that means…Gar, Terra, Thunder, and Lightning lived in the Colony for YEARS before the Teen Titans shook things up? I guess that’s semi-believable…but it throws Harvest’s whole “HAHA I planned for all this to happen!” nonsense right out the window.

Harvest even hints at it at the end of the issue, saying that soon, his others will be unleashed, which will cause more others to be released. I mean, what the actual f#*$? If there’s ever a time to NOT be cryptic, it’s now. A Zero Issue, a special thing that only happens once, is the perfect opportunity to actually reveal something about your master plan or whatever. But no. Is Mackie even in on it? On whatever Lobdell and DeFalco planned?

I don’t know what’s going on with the art in The Ravagers, but someone likes having these characters naked. A lot. Practically all of issue #3 saw Thunder and Lightning - supposed brother and sister - nude. This issue starts out with Gar in a banana hammock, and he also ends up naked by the end of it, too. I guess it’s not a terrible thing, but it’s just overtly noticeable, like Mackie or Churchill were trying to get them as bare as possible. Beyond that, Beast Boy looks good, and that’s a plus for this issue. Only thing that’s actually wrong that I kept noticing was that, panel-to-panel, page-to-page, Beast Boy’s either wearing shoes or not, inexplicably.

The Ravagers #0, the verdict: I have to cast my vote on the negative side, overall. While it was awesome seeing Gar again, one of my more liked characters from the preboot, it was also upsetting to see him so different. Sure, he looks good, and he does wear the iconic suit for a few pages, but it’s just too much in the end…too much change for the Changeling. The dialog is atrocious in places, with obvious mistakes in sentence structure and dialog (c’mon, editors Darren Shan and Eddie Berganza, get it together!), and that damn Harvest character just won’t stop bugging me with his inane babbling.

(Photo Source: iFanBoy)