Note: First appearance of the furry Beast.
The Beast, otherwise known as Dr. Hank McCoy, is featured for the first time in his furry form! And is taking on a solo adventure! Check it out!
A blue-furred monster stalks a seemingly-decent security guard outside a genetic research lab. The "security guard" starts to break into the lab causing the monster to attack. The intruder pulls a gun and starts shooting, despite the monster articulately demanding he not shoot. This scares the intruder into shooting more. The monster is angered by the shots and even more so by the arrival of soldiers on the scene. Fleeing into the research lab, the creature considers himself safe, though he is frightened by the sound of the soldiers' gunfire killing the intruder. Slowly, disconsolately, the creature heads further into the lab, into the office of Hank McCoy. It is Hank McCoy!
Hank looks at the clock and learns it is later than he thinks, which infuriates him even more. Incredulous, he realizes he can never return to his normal, human appearance. Spotting a picture of the original class of X-Men, Hank throws it in ire, declaring his formal life an entire waste for he is now, truly, nothing but a beast. With tears in his eyes, Hank remembers his final day at Xavier's mansion, saying farewell to the X-Men. The farewells made it harder for him to leave, but the others would not let him sneak away. Hank was offered a position at the Brand Corporation, working mostly independently for a Mr. Grant, though also working with a Professor Maddicks. The Brand Corporation is more impressively supplied than SHIELD. Hank feels right at home almost immediately. Maddicks's assistant, Miss Linda Donaldson, helps smooth Hank's transition, especially with the cantankerous Maddicks. Soon Linda and Hank's relationship blossoms into romance. Hank realizes that he is finally growing up from the awkward teenager he was as an X-Man - he's now just a man.
Weeks into his research into mutation, Hank discovers the secret to his own mutation. Before he can confirm his findings with Mr. Grant, he overhears Professor Maddicks on the phone preparing to eliminate him. In order to take care of it, Hank figures he will have to hide his identity using his new genetic discovery. His concoction turns him into the blue-furred monster seen at the beginning of the issue. The longer he is in this form, he realizes, the more instinctual he is (and less intellectual), confirming his self-assessment as truly a Beast. After his flashback, Hank continues his self-reproach until he turns his anger against Maddicks. Maddicks has his own problems, as whatever secret organization he works for is about to execute him. McCoy interrupts, ironically saving Maddicks's life temporarily. McCoy is about to kill Maddicks himself, but his reason finally overrides his anger. He flees the scene and does not see Linda Donaldson shoot Maddicks herself. She is a member of the secret organization, too. Hank McCoy ponders his condition, wondering if he is truly a man now that he is truly the Beast.
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