Blue Beetle #25 Review

BLUE BEETLE #25
Written by John Rogers
Art and Cover by Rafael Albuquerque

Goddamn, Blue Beetle. I pity the writers that have to take over for Rogers after this. It's going to be impossible to follow up on this storyarc, let alone his 25 issue run.

With last issue's "Khaji Da" shouting cliffhanger, I was expecting a little more from what came of that. It basically just reactivated the scarab, which was faking its inert state, and summoned it to Jaime. It was still a great sequence and it was cool seeing the scarab actually having some inner monologue text boxes during this sequence where it explains that it is the first scarab to have taken a name and it is Khaji Da, but I was hoping for some Dan Garrett-esque transformation of some kind. But, hey, if I find 20 bucks on the ground, I won't complain that it wasn't $25. Turns out the scarab was hacking all the Reach files while they were busy examining it and the Reach's plans are pretty much screwed at this point and all Earth knows about it.

Back on Earth, the calvary has arrived as the, as Jaime's sister calls him, Crazy One makes his return to the book. Who's the Crazy One? Guy Gardner, Honour Guard Green Lantern of course. This just signals the first of almost the entire old JLI team showing up to help save the day, as they take it to the Earth-based Reach attacking Jaime's family and friends.

On top of that, there are a whole mess of random strings from earlier issues all being tied together in this final issue to make this issue perfect. It doesn't require you to have read them to understand the story, but they are great little touches for long time readers and just add to an otherwise perfect issue. Things like Dan Garrett's granddaughter enlisting Oracle and Batman's help or the use of the satellite the Teen Titans and Jaime stopped Lobo from destroying six or seven issues back or the afforementioned Guy showing up again (he's been in a few issues of the title already). Even Batman's off panel involvement that has been seen throughout the series is in play here as it's hinted he influenced the random showing up of nearly all the JLI members and his satellite being used by Jaime to transmit from the ship and finally with the Wayne Enterprise insurance claim rebuilding of their home.

When it comes time to rank the events for 2008, Secret Invasion and Final Crisis and anything else are going to have a tough time beating this three issue Blue Beetle / Reach arc. My only complaint is Rogers is leaving the book indefinitely with this issue.

Verdict - Must Read

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