Been out of comics for awhile. What has happened to Beast (Henry McCoy)? Last I had read an X-men comic he was blue and furry but he didn't look like an animal. Can anyone give me some info? When? Why? Please? Thanks

It was a secondary mutation that kicked in when he was seriously injured. I'm not sure exactly what happened though coz I've never read it. Hopefully someone else can give you more info.

the mutant gene in some mutants keeps evolving over time. this is referred to as the secondary mutation. another example of this is Emma Frosts diamond form. There are many others as well

First time I can remember seeing the cat face was during the Morrison/Quitely run on New X-Men.

it was Civil War for me. I had stopped reading Uncanny around issue 145 and he was still his old blue self

Apparently it happened was during the X-Treme X-Men series #2-4. Or so says Wiki.

Hmm. Ok. Definitely looks odd. Thanks for the info.

Yes it happened in X-Treme X-Men, after the fight with Vargas. He was mortally wounded in the battle and was on the verge of death. Sage (squee my favorite) went to his hospital room and used a power, that until then was unknown, to push his mutation to the next level. Which gave him a bit of a healing factor and his more cat like appearance.

Isn't hanks blue and bestial (not feline) appearance a result of him using drugs or chemicals to cure his natural mutation of enlarged extremities and agility? Knowing this it stands to reason that his although his newer feline appearance is due to Sage's tampering but also a result of his prior experimentation on himself.

Depends on who is writing the story at the time. Yes according to his back story Beast's blue fur and animalistic look are due to his own experimentation. But if Sage was able to further his mutation on a genetic level, it would seem that eventually he would have wound up that way anyway.

The whole secondary mutation thing is a device they invented to ramp up the powers of mutants when they need to. Look at how many mutants are so different from when they first started. Beast, IceMan, Emma Frost, Sabretooth, Jean Grey, Angel.