scans_daily | Jaime, Peacemaker and the Reach Negotiator (and some naked guy)

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Jaime, Peacemaker and the Reach Negotiator (and some naked guy)

Three scans from Blue Beetle #13, In Which Jaime Reyes Meets the Reach Negotiator And Has the First And Only Reasonably Pleasant Conversation. Also one fairly context-less page from #17 In Which There Is A Giant Naked Man (SFW).

John Rogers written and Raphael Albuquerque drawn. Featuring Jaime Reyes, Peacemaker, the Reach Negotiator and Typhoon.

So the last issue featured the first appearance of the Reach Negotiator. It was a cliffhanger so most of Jaime's first conversation with this guy is here. Before this page, the Negotiator has said that "this scarab was exposed to Quantum Improbability Energy. Repeatedly."

I admit, much as I love the Reach (who really need to be used more often, btw - maybe in a Green Lantern title after this whole rainbow corps thing is over? But I digress), mostly I just like these scans because the Peacemaker has some pretty good lines.

And your random page from 17:

I wanted to post stuff from #14, but to be frank that issue deserves a post of its own.

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Peacemaker? The name sounds familliar but I don't remember seeing him anywhere before.

Mostly I know him from Blue Beetle, but he is also the guy the Comedian from Watchmen was based off of.

He was one of the Charlton action heroes DC acquired, like Blue Beetle, Captain Atom.

His backstory was that his father was a Nazi war criminal, so he dedicated his life to violently opposing war.

Yes.

A man who loved peace so much he would KILL FOR IT.

No really, that's what the cover slogan was.

Plus he frequently hallucinated seeing his dead dad, in full Nazi uniform even, taunting him.

Dude had problems even before he got the Scarab's programming stuck in his noodle.

"We're going to fix this. Then we're going to get you therapy. Lots and lots of therapy." - Jaime, on taking a tiptoe through Peacemaker's psyche courtesy of the Scarab interface

Given that his helmet was a toilet seat made out of plastic explosives...you're quite right there.

Wow, his helmet was a bomb too?

You know, when you make the Watchmen equivalent of your character (Whom, and this is going by the movie only since I haven't read the comic, shot a PREGNANT WOMAN DEAD), seem sane and rational, you have a problem.

I mean come on, the Comedian was effed up beyond recognition, but he didn't wear a freaking BOMB HELMET.

Plus, Moore gave the poor bastard a few glimpses of a furious intelligence bubbling under his horrible demeanour. In your above example in the comic, he shoots her dead and THEN turns it completely around in front of Dr. Manhattan, reasoning that if the good doctor - the most powerful man on the planet - didn't even think to try and save her, he is comparatively worse.

I think that Watchmen sort of raised the bar for some of these characters, with the exception of The Question because, you know, Ditko. (The original version of Captain Atom wasn't much like his DC version.)

That isn't hard; with the exception of Question, Captain Atom, and Blue Beetle more people are familiar with the Watchmen iterations of these characters (Heck, I had to look up info on who Ozymandias was based on).

Interestingly enough, all three of those were created by Ditko. They're also the three Charltons that got the best face-time when DC bought them out. (Nightshade was also a Ditko creation, and it could be argued her inclusion in Suicide Squad and much later Shadowpact has gotten her good press)

Peacemaker hadn't had much happen with him in a good fifteen or so years when he showed up in Blue Beetle. He had a part in Checkmate v1, but was killed off at some point and got a legacy replacement in L.A.W. (who was killed in ICk, i think).

Judomaster'd almost fallen by the wayside, too. I dunno anything DC's done with him outside of L.A.W. or JSA.

But none of them are as bad off as Thunderbolt. The guy had an ongoing in the '80s like the rest of them, but it was cancelled quicker than the rest, and he's basically never appeared since outside of Action Heroes cameos.

The way Ditko tends to infuse his characters with crazy makes them interesting. They also tend to be about something, which you can't say about every superhero. I always felt Thunderbolt fell by the wayside because he wasn't all that interesting compared to the Question or Peacemaker or even Judomaster.

Thunderbolt was apparently a lot more successful before DC bought him.
Apparently one of the reasons he hasn't been seen since the 90s is that his rights reverted back to his creator, so he's out of DC's hands.

Interesting, I didn't know that. Who did he revert back to? (I didn't think Thunderbolt was a Ditko, but...)

Peter Morisi I thin was his name? I just found out about it through the Toonapedia link below (you'll have to follow through to the page about Thunderbolt, of course). I don't think he was originally a Charlton to begin with, so that might've been a factor unless I'm wrong on that.

The Ditko Question wasn't much like his DC version, either. Ditko's Charltons, Captain Atom, Nightshade, Blue Beetle, and the Question, were basically all rebuilt from the ground up when they crossed over. Though Ted might've retained parts of his origin and some of his rogues (the Mad Men, particularly)

"It was the 80s. We all had catchphrases." *mutters embarrassedly* - Peacemaker, to Jaime, when that little phrase came out

Reminds me of the end of Journey to CentaurI:

"Didn't you fight for me? he could imagine her saying to him. Didn't you pull rank, make demands, alter records, hand a more qualified applicant a death sentence on Earth so that we could remain together? Wouldn't you kill for me? Or, if needed, for your precious peace?

Yes, he would kill for peace. And that was the problem."

Oh my god, someone who remembers Journey to Centauri? *SQUEE*

Hey, I'm a certified SMAC fanboy. Although I haven't actually read the novels... (mainly out of my great distrust of game-novels...)

He was a Charlton hero sort of a punisher for the 70's. When Dick G pulled back on the idea of Killing all the Charlton heroes, he was rebooted into "the Comedian". Still around the DCU somewhere I think.

He's in the Blue Beetle backup story in the current issue of Booster Gold, tho' he rides off into the sunset again at the end.

http://www.toonopedia.com/peacmak1.htm

It's been way too long since I saw the Jaime and Typhoon fight, heh.

I like the idea of a villain who wants you to talk to him first, and still hits you anyway.

That's called foreplay.

God, I love Jaime.

Heh, last time I was at my LCS, I was chatting it up with another guy and told him about this title. Poor man had never read it before! I told him he needed to get the trades. Like, right now. You can thank me later.

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