BLUE BEETLE #7: Jaime In The Big Apple

[superfangirl1]

Comments

[freezer]

DCnU: Sucking the joy out of reading comics since 2011.

As Lana would say...

[glprime]

Yuuuuuuup.

[junipepper]

And somehow, that feels like a long time.

[darkknightjrk]

You know, I think I get what Bedard's trying to do--trying to show how messy and topsy-turvy your life can go if you suddenly ended up with something like the Scarab, but it seems to do it in a way that doesn't feel quite as exciting. Hell, maybe the goodness he's doing with New Guardians will rub off on this when the two cross over.

[shadowpsykie]

i still dont hate this series... i don't love it, not like the old series, but i dont loathe it either. I see what he's trying to do too. and i really hope he ends the whole... evil bug thing and has it start learning from Jaime. i hope it happens soon...

[darkknightjrk]

I think we're starting to see that a little bit--first few issues the Scarab was basically saying, "Shut up, run the mission." Now, he's at least conversing with Jaime.

I've noticed that with a lot of the New 52 stuff--quite a few books are taking a long game when it comes to putting them in a slightly different direction at the beginning, and then molding them towards something similar to the beginning, creating some long-running character arcs. This has potential to make for good comics, but when it comes to long-time readers looking for something akin to their beloved takes on characters, it can be a little aggravating.

[icon_uk]

Agreed, I want to like it more than I do, and on it's own merits, and I'm almost managing it, but then I remember the original Jaime Reyes, and his excellent supporting cast, and the sheer freshness of a kid hero who tells his parents about his activities and they accept it like grown ups and this just feels... tired and unoriginal.

Perhaps this "exile in New York" will be equivalent to Jaime's "year in space" and he'll come clean to his family once he gets home.

[darkknightjrk]

I could see that--especially since, like I mentioned, this New York phase will also be his first encounter with a real superhero in Kyle.

[deepspaceartist]

Wait, GL: New Guardians is crossing over with Blue Beetle? Which issues is this supposed to happen in?

Though that would explain why the scarab is antsy around NY. Kyle was hanging out there in GL:NG 1 and usually lives there when he's on Earth.

[darkknightjrk]

The way it's described, it's only a "kinda-sorta" cross-over. In Blue Beetle, Jaime meets up with Kyle and the rest of the New Guardians in New York, and in New Guardians, we're going to see the Reach invade the Blue Lantern's homeworld. Both are happening in issue #9 if I remember right.

[tohofuhai]

Ive always disliked how back in the day the Ted fans pretty much gave up on Jaime citing "not my Blue Beetle."

...I now know how they felt.

[endis_ni]

I know just what you mean. It's an odd feeling, isn't it?

[batman]

I'd be ... less marginally angry about it if they hadn't named him Jaime Reyes and given him a similar origin story. If it had been a completely different character I would have rolled my eyes and gone oh well, I'll stick with pre-boot stuff.

But I actively loathe this stuff. I loathe how Jaime, who previously was a good, conscientious kid, apparently doesn't realise that when he steals from an ATM, it's not a victimless crime. I loathe how a character who previously was in an area that didn't have any superheroes is now in NYC. I loathe that he slapped Brenda. I loathe that there's no joy in this. And I loathe that they are trying to supplant the previous, excellent run for this horrible stuff.

[icon_uk]

The lack of joy, or indeed any sense of FUN, is indeed a SERIOUS lack in the DCnU IMHO.

The only upbeat character I can think of offhand is Bunker, and that's probably because he's too green and naive about the whole hero thing to have started angsting at the same levels as everyone around him.

[practicalcat]

Except when Jaime became Blue Beetle, they were respectful of Ted. Every time Jaime came in contact with someone who knew Ted, they talked about how he was a pretty awesome dude and helped Jaime in his name. Jaime eventually made himself a "What Would Ted Kord Do?" sign for his planning board.

This? Not respectful at ALL to the Jaime we knew and loved.

[wizardru]

Motto.

That was one thing I really liked about the previous series. Jamie clearly respected Ted Kord the more he learned about him and it was clear that everyone he ran into did, too. There was a serious vibe of 'Sure, sometimes Ted was a clown, but people forgot he was a high-tech Batman, too' and when the original JLI members arrived to validate Jaime, it was a Major Moment for the character.

[md84]

Wow, the Scarab is a jerk. The original Guyver was a lot more user-friendly in comparison.

[icon_uk]

Which, given that the Scarab IS a genocidal war machine, seems a fairly reasonable state of affairs.

[md84]

It's not like the Guyvers were made to spread rainbows and lollipops either. There aren't too many peaceful applications for a bio-armor capable of creating a huge beam cannon in a person's chest.

I guess it's a difference in programming priority. The Guyvers had "User-preservation" as their top priority. The Scarab has...what exactly is the Scarab's goal this time?

[jlbarnett]

it's really weird how the JLI wanted to add Blue Beetle to the team after that. I mean vetoing him because he was to new and not because he hit kids? THat's just strange

[q99]

Personally I felt not adding Jaime to the JLA pre-reboot was a missed opportunity. The 'bringing in a young up and comer to the big leagues' is a classic for a reason. Firestorm, Kyle Rayner, it works.

[darkm1993]

I think what they're going for is that Blue Beetle redeems himself in a later story arc before JLI takes place. However, it's not made clear in the slightest so all it really does it make it look like one of the two stories has a massive plothole.

Though even if this theory were true and made clear, it still makes it look like JLI is ruining a little bit of suspense for this story because you'll know that he'll redeem himself when it's this story and it's writing that's doing so many things wrong.

*sigh* I wish they'd have got a writer who knows how to write Jaime and his supporting cast for this.

[auggie18]

I think what they're going for is that Blue Beetle redeems himself

One of my big problems with the DC reboot making cheerful characters darker is people defending the move by saying that maybe eventually they'll get character development and turn into the people they used to be. (Which I know wasn't exactly your point, but this seemed like as good a time as any to bring it up.)

[majingojira]

I'm in full agreement, mostly because it would go against the tone they set up at the beginning.

I apply my "If you don't like something by a certain story telling point, then you're free to discard it once you reach it."

Usually, this holds true. For movies, it's 10 to 30 minutes. For TV, I hold it at 2 Episodes (Pilot - which is occasionally a big/long episode and first "Real" episode). For Comics, I keep it at for 3 issues at BEST.

Why? Because in that time frame any writer worth their salt is going to give you a basic over view of the tone, style, themes, the important characters and their traits. In short, they're going to show you everything you can expect from the story.

Saying it's going to "Get Better" after that is basically an admission that the writer is crap and doesn't know what they're doing.

There are exceptions of course, the first 10 minutes of the live action Cutie Honey is simply amazing, but the rest of the film can't live up to it and goes into darker territory not readily established within the 30 minute limit (well, there is some establishment, but its far too subtle and follows on the heels of a degree of zany antics that just couldn't be topped). But, in general, that's the rule.

Compare the first issues of Blue Beetle (v2 to the Nu v3) and you'll see that from their onset they are going to be totally different beasts. The seeds for what came in the following issues are laid bare.

It's not going to get better. The problems you're having with the series aren't a errors to be fixed--they're features.

[eyz]

I recognize the Beetle..but this just lacks the same kind of joy and confidence the previous title had!

Also, people complaining about Jaime's reboot/this not being their Blue Beetle? Well, The ip's been continuously plagued by reboots since it's inception. Dan Garret(t) wasn't the same throughout his carreer, the story starting all over various times, redefining him/changing his look and powerset. Be it in his 1st Fox Comics issue, to his early and later run at Fox, then started all over again at Chartlon (not counting his radio dramas being either based on his early incarnations or later ones). Then Ted started as a Spidey-like character at Charlton, rebooted at DC as a more genius/tech-using kind of guy.

Jaime's just continuing to live the "legacy" like those before.