a Teen Titans question

[ratcreature]

Uhm, I feel kind of dorky asking this, but how does Gar's costume work? If it was green I'd just assume that it is not clothes at all but part of him changing forms, but as it is it looks like he wears clothes when he's in human form, nothing when he's an animal, and the clothes just conveniently reappear. Of course I'm aware that he has to have a costume for extra-textual reasons, just like Hulk has to keep his silly ripped shorts, because they don't let superheroes frolic around naked in mainstream titles, but is there any explanation within the fictional reality?

Comments

[greenygal.livejournal.com]

Not as far as I know, unless the DCU has an equivalent for "unstable molecules." It's just part of the general physics muddle that surrounds Gar--his sudden increases and decreases in mass, his ability to talk in animal shapes, his frankly silly origin. I love him, don't get me wrong, but nobody's ever attempted to make his powers make sense.

Re:

[ratcreature]

Somehow the rest of it is easier to swallow for me. It would be easier if his ability had "magic" rather than "scientific" origins, too. For some strange reason I want even the bizarre DCU "science" to follow some logical rules, its magic less so.

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[greenygal.livejournal.com]

I long ago made the decision that I'd just ignore this kind of thing when it came to Gar (and many other characters, but he's a particular offender)--I know full well he makes no sense, but if I can get past that he rewards me with reams and reams of emotional trauma that I just can't resist, so. :)

You're right, though, that his powers would probably feel more plausible if they had a magical base, and there's even an African tribe in his origin that could have provided the effect with a little monkeying (pun intended :). On the other hand, I bet if his powers were magical he'd wind up taking on animal natures instead of just shapes (i.e., he would Thirst For Blood), and really he's got enough problems. :)

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[ratcreature]

Also DC already has Animal Man as a superhero more connected to the mythical side of animal natures, who can really turn into animals. Though as much as I liked the self-referential writing Grant Morrison did on Animal Man, in the internal logic of the DCU it caused Animal Man's origin and nature of his powers to become a total and confusing mess. (Also I'm not sure, is Animal Man currently alive? I haven't read the end of the Animal Man series, I stopped reading it after he founded his wacky religion of the Red.) I mean, most Vertigo stuff is kind of separate, but Animal Man started out as a regular DC character with plenty of connections to the main DCU after all.

So considering that, it's probably good that Gar's powers are quite different.