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25,000 pageviews - Grey Beast

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Just a sketch of Beast is his original furry form to celebrate my 25,000 pageview milestone and thank everyone for their support!

It should be common knowledge, even though I'm constantly surprised by how many comic fans don't seem to realize it; but when Hank McCoy originally mutated into his furry form, back in 1972, his fur was grey in color, not blue (Amazing Adventures #11). His fur actually changed color, from grey to black, 4 issues later (Amazing Adventures #15). The comic specifically refers to his fur as being grey, then black, but never blue.

I'm pretty sure Beast changed from grey to black for the same reason that Hulk changed from grey to green: limited technology made grey a very unpredictable color using the old 4-color printing process on cheap newsprint paper. In fact, the grey Beast looks to be more of a light purple in color in most panels, blue in others, and occasionally his fur even has a slightly pinkish hue. It was never really consistent and seemed to change depending on what colors were being printed around him; so I'm convinced that's the reason why it was changed.

I don't think there was ever a point where his fur changed to blue in color (pre-X-Factor) and I kind of think it was always intended to be black. It's just that the standard method of depicting highlights for black hair, in the pre-computer coloring days, was to use blue ink. Over time, though, I guess the artists, writers and fans just kind of accepted his fur as being blue and that became the standard.

It's also interesting to note that Beast had no claws or fangs at this point.

Also, a big pet peeve of mine is when people claim that Beast has "Wolverine-hair." That's simply not true. Beast had this hairstyle, along with a nearly instantaneous healing-factor and an almost uncontrollable bezerker-rage, over 2 years before Wolverine was even created. Beast's healing-factor diminished significantly when his fur changed color; but you could almost make the argument that the grey Beast was the prototype for Wolverine. So, Beast does not have "Wolverine-hair." Wolverine has "Beast-hair." ;)

Anyways, here's my depiction of the grey Beast from back in the days when he was being marketed strictly as a monster, not a charismatic hero. Kind of an interesting point in the character's history, but I'm glad it didn't last too long. :)
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DopplegangerExpress's avatar
This reminds me of a panel where Hank and Logan were in the bathroom together styling their hair, with Logan using his claws.