Comic Book Crisis of Faith - Blue Beetle

I am back again for another round of Comic Book Crisis of Faith. For the uninitiated, this column is dedicated to more thorough reviews of series or creative runs than my weekly single-issue review column, the Weekly Crisis Comic Book Reviews. The Comic Book Crisis of Faith comes into play with the fact that you most likely are not picking these books up or feel like you are too late for the party or do not know how a certain creative team's run is playing out. For the time being, I am sticking to more recent books, like the previous volume's look back at the first six issues of Immortal Iron Fist or this volume's look at Blue Beetle. The goal is to hopefully persuade some people to take a chance on these books or possibly save themselves money by warning them about the pitfalls of picking up certain other books. Enjoy the column and, as usual, feel free to leave comments.

BLUE BEETLE
Written by Keith Giffen & John Rogers
Art by Cully Hamner & Rafael Albuquerque
Review covers Blue Beetle #1-17

I will come right out and state it now. This book is probably, hands down, one of the top five books being put out by DC, if not all comic companies. If you enjoy superhero comics in the slightest, you do yourself a great disservice by not giving this series a try. Giffen and Rogers have done an incredible job with this book. The characters they have created are some of the most realistic and believable individuals I have ever seen grace a comic page. The dialogue is incredibly witty and feels completely natural. If you are or have ever been a teenager, this book will have you hooked with its incredible charm. This is the type of book anyone, young or old, can enjoy, and it is a shame DC has failed to market it in any way, shape or form.



Jaime Reyes is a teenager living in El Paso, Texas, residing with his parents and younger sister. He is an honours student with an acute sense of responsibility, very similar in nature to Spider-man, and this is especially noticeable later in the series when he fails to save everyone in a town during an attack by the villain Typhoon and laments to his father afterwards. The scene was incredibly touching and showed how much Jaime cares about the people around him. The interactions with his father are beautifully handled and show the deep bound Jaime has with his family. During Infinite Crisis, the Blue Beetle scarab found young Jaime for its new champion and, with the scarab's help, he assisted Batman and the other superheroes. Blue Beetle picks up immediately where Infinite Crisis left off.

The main draw of this book, and as should be the goal of all books, is the characters. Jaime is instantly likable and reminds me of a more modern rendition of Peter Parker as he is sort of an everyman type of character. Anyone should be able to see themselves reacting similarly to Jaime and his friends. Speaking of which, the team manages to build one of the best supporting cast of characters in comics today, in most likelihood rivaling Spider-man's of years gone by. Each character is unique and believable and the true joy of reading each issue is seeing Jaime's interactions with his friends and family. As stated earlier, the dialogue, handled by Rogers, is incredibly well done and some of the most believable dialogue in comics. Both witty and charming, it captures the youth and spirit of these characters while making each character's voice unique and instantly recognizable. One of the best things about the Blue Beetle character is that Jaime does not hide his secret identity from his friends and family. It seems natural and the reactions between the characters is that much stronger with no need for the cliched hero dumping his friends and family and other responsibilities in favour of hiding his secret identity. Hiding the identity always came off a bit corny in other books and makes the other characters seem rather dense for not being able to figure it out, especially when they live under the same roof.

Despite my high praise at the start of this column, I will be the first to admit that Blue Beetle, over the course of its first eleven issues, has had little focus or direction. In fact, not until issue twelve, when Rogers took over as the only writer, did the book finally gain the one thing it was lacking. Basically, throughout the first half a dozen issues, the series meanders about, unable to really do anything but introduce the supporting cast as it ties into Infinite Crisis and One Year Later. The transition to OYL continuity in issue three was handled especially well. Jaime's family's reaction to his missing for one year in OYL is a realistic reaction that is a true testament to the writers' abilities. Issue seven explains fully what happened during Infinite Crisis, and the reason for his missing for one year, when Jaime disappeared aboard the Brother Eye satellite. Among these first handful of issues, Giffen and Rogers manage to introduce us to the Posse, a street gang made up of magic users who's abilities were unlocked due to the destruction of the Rock of Eternity in Infinite Crisis. The events and execution of the Posse storyline is fairly average fare, but they serve to introduce us to the many characters in Jaime's life and allow the team to explore Jaime's new powers and abilities as the Blue Beetle. If you originally gave the book a shot, I can see why you may have been leery of sticking around or possibly dropped the book during this shaky starting period.

With the initial story arc wrapped up and the crossover nonsense done with, the book really starts to find its groove and the second arc is a huge improvement over the original offering. At the same time, it somehow manages to actually improve upon the characters and dialogue of the first six or seven issues, making these issues that much better. While much of the first few issues deal with the new Beetle's powers and abilities, with this arc, we learn more about previous Beetle's and the history of the scarab itself and how it is an alien artifact. All of this culminates with issue twelve and thirteen's introduction of The Reach, an alien race that once warred with the Guardians, of Green Lantern fame, when the universe was younger and are currently engaged in a peace treaty with them. Apparently, The Reach created the scarab's to seed young worlds. The scarab was designed to activate at a certain time and take over a host to use in order to prepare the planet for The Reach to take over. Somehow, through the use of magic, most likely from the first Beetle, Dan Garrett's usage, the scarab became damaged and this has allowed Jaime to oppose The Reach and the scarab's desires. Initially they tried to trick Jaime into helping them, but with his refusal, they were forced to try and terminate him.

Throughout the next half a dozen issues, the book focuses primarily on Jaime's dealings with The Reach and is home to several excellent issues. His team up with Guy Gardner in issue fourteen is one of my favourite issues. Jaime is initially terrified of Guy, as his first issue had Guy attacking Jaime due to some misunderstandings and the later revealed natures of The Reach scarab and Oan GL rings. After the hilarious chase scene, Guy meets up with Jaime's family and a great scene, which accompanies this paragraph, takes place with Jaime's mother chastising Guy's hiding the giant green fist behind his back. It is scenes like this one, which there are many throughout the series, that make the book a joy to read. This issue also takes the time to address the relationship between The Reach and the Green Lantern Corps and how the GLC can do nothing to stop The Reach at this time, as they are under treaty unless The Reach does something drastic. A few issues later comes another great issue with a confrontation with Eclipso. It builds upon the earlier Posse developments and, as a self contained issue, is incredibly well done, with excellent pacing and probably one of the funniest moments in the entire series. As Eclipso tries to use one of the Posse's babies as a new host, Jaime, his non powered friend Paco and Traci 13 attempt to stop her. The magic ceremony prevents magic intervention and as Paco enters the magic circle to stop Eclipso, he must face Eclipso's champion. For this, she summons Jaime's greatest, darkest desires for ultimate power. What she gets is a Jaime, clad in full dentist uniform, shouting, "I am a dentist!". It is a testament to the type of character Jaime is, just a normal guy with no desire for super powers or the strange life thrust upon him and the scene is played to fantastic comical effect. The final issue of my overview was last weeks team up with the Teen Titans in issue eighteen. It was another excellent issue and probably the best the Titans have been handled in months. Rogers dialogue and story made this issue work and I would love to see him handling Teen Titans if it does not detract from his work with Blue Beetle. Hopefully this crossover and his eventual involvement with the Titan's own book will lead to more fan interest and better sales for the low selling Blue Beetle book.






To my knowledge, it appears the main complaint with this series is Ted Kord, and this book's lack thereof. Many long time fans gave up on this book in disgust over DC's killing off of the previous Blue Beetle during Infinite Crisis and refuse to give this book a chance. The redefining of the Blue Beetle mythos is another common train of thought coming from this group of detractors. I just want to state right now that this book, and its creators, hold the previous Beetle's in high regard. Most of the first dozen or so issues are littered with Blue Beetle lore and the book builds and expands upon all that came before it. It does not ignore or tear down or detract in any way from the previous Blue Beetles. The image accompanying this paragraph is a prime example of this. Issue eight has Jaime and company visiting the first Blue Beetle's granddaughter for more information and history on the scarab. There are several scenes throughout the series of Jaime researching Ted Kord and commenting on how great a character he was. Guy Gardner shows up in one issue and tells Jaime that he considers Ted to be smarter than Batman and that despite not having powers, Ted was one of the best heroes he ever knew. Small touches like these show the respect the creators have for the old guard and are really nice touches. If you are one of the people holding off on this book simply because it is not the Blue Beetle you know and love, please give it a try, as I am sure you will love it just as much, if not more than the previous Beetles.

Blue Beetle is currently available in two trades, Blue Beetle: Shell Shocked and Blue Beetle: Road Trip, collecting issues one to six and seven to twelve respectively. Many of the issues can probably still be found in back issue bins and I highly recommend seeking out either the trades or back issues, as they are more than worth the effort. The series starts off on a shaky foot, but quickly finds its way about half way through and is currently firing on all cylinders. It is smart, funny and highly entertaining and I, honestly, cannot wait for each issue to come out. Issue eighteen, which you can read more about here, is a great stand alone issue that anyone could enjoy and would make an excellent jumping on point for anyone interested in this series or looking for a great superhero book. This is one of the best comics on the market today and I would hate to see it go the way of the dodo simply because people were too afraid to give a new book about a former B-list hero, no offense to Ted Kord, a chance. If you enjoy books like Spider-Man, back when he was care free and he had an actual supporting cast to care about, or Runaways or are tired of the angst ridden, cynical, super depressing realistic takes many new comics take on characters, this book is definitely for you. I cannot give this book enough praise and the prognosis for future issues in this series is extremely positive in my eyes. Pick up an issue today, you will not regret it.

Verdict - Must Read

Like this review? Interested in this book? Purchase Blue Beetle Vol. 1: Shellshocked or Blue Beetle Vol. 2: Road Trip from Amazon.com and help support The Weekly Crisis!

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