Blue Beetle #1

[superfangirl1]

We start with an alien empire called The Reach sending one of their Scarab units to Earth to conquer it many many years ago. A green lantern try to intercept it path but only manage to damage the Scarab a bit.






Present day as Jaime and Paco heads towards Brenda birthday party at her aunts house. Tia Amparo paid serious money for the Scarab to come illegal to the usa with smugglers. Paco accidentally crashes his car hitting one of the villain's working for Amparo.





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Comments

[icon_uk]

I rather enjoyed this issue. The new origin seems decent enough in context, the family scenes seemed plausible, and Jaime is still a fun character.

Also nice to see the villains that La Dama's agents run into...

[shadowpsykie]

so many red x's :(

[superfangirl1]

How are the scans now? :)

[shadowpsykie]

well there are still red x's but now it says where the images are.... "Images hosted by uploadhouse.com"

[aaron_bourque]

This was such a good first issue.

[leikomgwtfbbq]

Paco and Brenda are still here! Huzzah! I was worried!

[superfangirl1]

How about the Clickable Thumbnails? Can you see the images?

[mad]

"Face it, Chica, you got a bad case of the Pacos."

Stealing lines from Stephanie Brown, are we, Paco?

Not sure how I feel about this.

[nezchan]

I wonder if this means the Doom Patrol is still running around out there somewhere, but just not appearing in any current storylines.

That adds to my theory that it's Negative Man that goes haywire in the Men of War series.

[nezchan]

I loved this. A good first issue, a good explanation of how the scarab got there and why there's such antipathy with the Lanterns, a good intro to Jaime, Brenda and Paco, and a good stage setting for ongoing conflicts with La Dama, the Reach and others.

I also get the odd feel that Paco's dialogue is as much a front as Dark Smoke Puncher's. Nothing definite, but I have my suspicions. I liked him shorter and stockier, though.

[perletwo]

So in fact are 'Berto and Bianca Reyes, forbidding Jaime to go to Amparo's house for the party and refusing to explain why - and Milagro's playing Wii in the background! :D

[shadowpsykie]

better now ,thanks ;D

[tauruschick12]

Ah, this was a great issue. Yeah, the origin's been done, and not that long ago, but Jaime's really popular now, and I've seen a lot of people interested in reading a series with him in it thanks to word of mouth, so this might actually be really good- they can re-start the series, and actually keep it straight on going, without canceling and uncanceling like so many other new heroes get.

For some reason, though, on tumblr and LJ and such, people have been complaining about how Jaime argues with his mom because she won't let him go to the party, and he gets snippy with her, and because of that, people are saying: 'Nooooooo Jaime would never disrespect or talk back or argue with his mom I AM NEVER BUYING THIS UGH'...and I'm just like...no matter what the kid, mom, or family life is like, ALL teenagers get snippy with their parents at some point or another, that is the way of life, is it so unusual that he, a teenage boy, would do the same? :/

[silverzeo]

So did Infinite Crisis DIDN'T happen or is this what DID happen after it like how the First Crisis "didn't" happen after awhile for the characters and they forgot? Oh God, if thats the deal, I bet Prime would be more insane that everyone he killed is back but he remembers?

[leikomgwtfbbq]

More applause! I was also really worried about Milagro. I usually really dislike child characters, but Milagro was just too cute.

[superfangirl1]

GeekDad: I’m assuming this comic will not be a rehashing of the events of the previous Blue Beetle series. Relatively speaking, Jamie Reyes hasn’t been around long, so how do you retell his beginnings without duplicating thematic elements from a few short years back?

Tony Bedard: One of the main objectives in the line-wide relaunch of DC Comics this September is to make all of our books more accessible to new readers. The last Blue Beetle series launched in the midst of a huge and complicated event called Infinite Crisis that tied together all of the DC books. It was also heavily invested in DC history and the previous two heroes who called themselves “Blue Beetle.” All of which meant that you needed a score card and a manual just to figure out who this new guy was. This time around, we’re presenting Jaime Reyes’ origin story in a streamlined, easy to understand way that I think packs more impact and keeps the focus where it belongs: on Jaime. He’s a terrific character –- sort of like Green Lantern meets Spider-Man –- and with recent appearances on the Brave & the Bold cartoon and Smallville, Jaime has come into his own.

GD: Will this primarily be a straight origin story, or will you be doing things to push the character into DC Comics: The New 52? Or perhaps his origin ties him directly into the new universe?

TB: Blue Beetle #1 is all you need to enjoy this character. We start with an alien empire called The Reach sending one of their Scarab units to Earth to conquer it. The unit is supposed to bond with a planet’s dominant life form, encase it in super-powerful intelligent armor, and then conquer that world for the Reach. But Jaime’s armor was damaged in a way that prevents it from assuming full control of its host. So now Jaime and his living armor have to learn to work together. Jaime is always trying to get this alien weapons system to learn the difference between Good and Bad. The armor is always trying to get Jaime to conquer the world. Excitement and hilarity ensue. So, really, it’s essentially the same character we enjoyed on the last go-round, but more accessible and less convoluted. Which also describes [DC Comics: The New 52]. We’re not throwing out what was great about our universe and our characters. Batman is still Batman, Superman is still Superman. It’s just that after 75 years of stories, we’re just updating and simplifying for a new generation of readers.

GD: Obviously, Ted Kord’s death in Countdown to Infinite Crisis (March 2005) left a major mark on DC fans. His return has been flirted with by Dan Jurgens and co. during the fan favorite Booster Gold series. What is your stance on this, if you will?

TB: I loved the Ted Kord Blue Beetle as much as anyone. But he doesn’t figure into this new Blue Beetle series at all. My mission right now is to make 15 year-old El Paso high school student Jaime Reyes into the best character and the best Blue Beetle imaginable. And I have really good material to work with there. As anyone who read the last series or caught his appearances on Brave & The Bold will tell you, Jaime is a character teens and twenty-somethings can really latch onto. He has a terrific supporting cast and I’m building a “rogues gallery” for him that will knock your socks off. None of this means that Ted Kord never existed. It’s just that before we go back and rehash the past, we are going to build a solid future for DC, and Jaime Reyes is the future.

GD: What influences will both Ted Kord and the first Blue Beetle Dan Garret have on the young Reyes?

TB: As you’ve probably gathered by now, Jaime’s going to define himself on his own terms, not live in the shadow of yesterday’s characters. DC Comics suffered from an overabundance of “legacy characters” who were the third of fourth or fifth to take on the mantle of the Flash, or Robin, or whoever. It got so you couldn’t tell a new reader who someone was without diagramming it on a family tree! Again, I’m a long-time comics fan and I revere those earlier characters, but I’m looking to grow the medium and attract new readers, so I’m keeping the spotlight on Jaime and letting him find his own way. And, y’know, the stories are actually more fun that way, even for us comics veterans.

GD: Will we be seeing any Booster Gold team-ups going into the series? You know fans enjoy the Blue and Gold, right?

TB: Yeah, I was one of those fans who picked up Justice League International when it first came out in the 1980s and fell in love with the great buddy-stories featuring Beetle and Booster. Those guys were the heart of that team. But at least for the first year of Blue Beetle we’re going to let Jaime deal with his alien armor on his own, all the while building up his enemies and his supporting cast. If we get to a new Blue and Gold team-up, it will only be after Jaime stands on his own. He is such a terrific character, one the most successful new characters DC introduced in the last ten years. He can stand on his own for a little while, trust me.

GD: Speaking of team-ups, my son is a huge fan of the Blue Beetle episodes on Brave and the Bold. Any chance of a Batman cameo?

TB: I think we may see a Green Lantern cameo first. As you probably know, my other assignment in DC Comics: The New 52 is Green Lantern: New Guardians,, and here has been a long-running rivalry between the Green Lantern Corps and the Reach. So when Green Lantern detects a Reach Scarab Unit on Earth, he naturally comes to destroy it –- and Jaime is going to have a heck of a time trying to survive that encounter. None if which is to say we won’t see Batman eventually, but Jaime’s adventures and adversaries tend to run more toward the cosmic.


This might help with your question a little maybe?

[heckfire]

Promising.

[gtrout]

Why change the Scarab's history? My guess is that dropping it in the Americas (a) acknowledges the existence of the pre-Colombian Americas a little more in the larger context of DCU history and (b) makes it easier and more plausible for La Dama to smuggle it into Texas.

[echthroi]

The spanglish is not odd at all. Especially in places with large latino populations - I once heard a little girl at a zoo tell her mom: Mommy I wanna ver eso (see that)! Even in places with much smaller latino communities, first generation immigrants will generally at least speak some spanish to their children, I know my dad mixes english and spanish freely depending on how much talking in english he did at his job that day. I enjoy it but I speak spanish so I can see how it might interrupt the dialogue if I didn't XD

[philippos42]

Wow. Was the scarab always such nightmare fuel?

[long_silence]

One of the things I liked best about the original origin was the Scarab choosing Khaji Da as his name, it made Jaime's surprise use of the phrase in End Game so much cooler.

Brenda's still living with her dad. Amparo having him killed and Paco respecting her for it was one of my favorite scenes.

Paco being a drop out is going to offer an interesting perspective. I wonder if the Posse is still going to exist.

[icon_uk]

I'm sure I heard that line in multiple media long before Stephanie Brown

[icon_uk]

Fundamentally, yes. It's an alien weapon that takes over a local lifeform and turns them, whether they want to or not, into a killing machine.

[eyz]

Milagro should be playing BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD on her Wii :P
With Guy Gardner, of course.

[espanolbot]

Heeeyyyy, it's Brutale! :D The one in grey with the knives is a former Nightwing villain, who is a South American former state torturer and assassin turned hitman.

[eyz]

Strange..didn't Didio himself said all the events would have still taken place?...Mmmh... So does this mean Day orf Vengeance, the Shadowpact and Shazam never happened as well?... this partial reboot/continuation of the previous DCU is so confusing...

[runespoor]

1. I had the same reaction.

2. I'm choosing to be optimistic about the fate of the pairing. They hit me right in the Ron/Hermione place.

3. Homage to Steph! Steph-homaging! That's good.

[eyz]

Fun to see that guy back :P

[espanolbot]

I'm a continuity nut, I like seeing obscure characters that I recognise. :)

[eyz]

Looks like a decent book.
But the book starting back all over again? With the previous series so recent and the TPBs so easily available for newcomers, really?

Also I will miss Jaime's connection to both previous Beetles...

I'm guessing we'll be seeing a big redo of most of his previous story arcs, like the discovery of the Reach, the invasion of the Reach, his confrontation with this "legacy" and separation from it.

[18lemons]

My favourite bit about this book was the opening pages, where we see the Reach invading a planet.
We see all these different sizes and shapes of Reach invaders, some are short and wide, and others are tall and skinny and they all give off a different sense of how they'd fight and invade a planet. I thought that was really cool, it gave much more flavour to the Reach than they ever had previously.

[lea_hazel]

This is the one DC title I'm super excited about. When I picked up my first Blue Beetle TPB, I liked it, but I was super confused by the origin, so this is an improvement in my eyes.

I am also glad La Dama is still around, because I thought she was a very effective antagonist.

[eyz]

I gotta admit, me too XD

[blackruzsa]

Ay diyos,
me gusta.

[wizardru]

Okay, that's not exactly what I was expecting, but...this looks good. Jaime remains Jaime, his friends are there and I'm expecting his family is, too. Beddard is hitting all the major notes and doing it in a reader-friendly fashion. I don't think you can ask for more than that. Guess I'll be picking this up.

[star_of_airdrie]

but the scarab is a Egyptian symbol, not a Mayan one... not that DC cares :-( 'We don't need no stinkin' history'.

[gtrout]

True enough. But I decided beetles are pretty much everywhere and it was more of a translation issue. :)

[star_of_airdrie]

true, just not one of Religious significance... I think... dunno, had more Egyptology than other Cultural Anthropology (yay!! electives!! I miss College!)

[pyrotwilight]

Well...the Scarab already had it's own name. Sort of. Dan Garrett did use that turn with the Scarab to transform originally. Which given the Scarab's nature always just made me assume that WAS it's name and it couldn't activate otherwise when weakened until recharged in Day of Vengeance.

And that seemed to be the case/clarified when the other Reach infiltrators showed up at the tail end of Jaime's book with name's like Dho Zha.

[pyrotwilight]

I got the book yesterday. The random Spanish was a bit distracting though understandable of course. The change in landing spot of the Scarab was also pretty odd. Similarly if the Scarab simply being near enough to someone (Jaime) is enough to activate it I wonder if their really haven't been prior Blue Beetle's to Jaime in this continuity (since it seems their weren't). I guess the attacker's knives jolted the Scarab awake but that seems weird too since this is a Scarab. Throwing a mountain on it shouldn't even get a reaction.

I'm liking that the Scarab's connection to the Guardians will be played up a bit more.

I am hoping we see why the Reach want to conquer world's. It seemed interesting that it was mentioned the Reach cocoon world's after conquest. But for what reason? Similarly the opening montage helped remind us of just how dangerous the Scarab's are. Though if the Reach are FROM Sector 2 why are they conquering it? What's the Reach homeworld like, etc? Did they have enemies on the other planets of their Sector and thus the conquering?

And lastly the HIVE characters appearing was neat. Mallah, Brain, Warp, Plasmus and Phobia all appear or get name dropped. Though I was slightly amused Warp opened a portal and of course the Eiffel Tower was shown just to make sure we understand he's going to Paris (or trying to).

[jlbarnett]

I just felt it was okay. Like all the characters seemed... lesser

Jaime sneaking out and the way he talked to him mom. Jaime may be snarky but he's polite.

Them seeming scared of La Dama, enoguht to forbif Jaime to be there. In the old series an injured Alberto Reyes stood up to her face to face even with her backed with goons.

Paco dropping out. Sure we only saw his family once but it seemed like a positive influence, if slightly Roseanne-ish.

[jlbarnett]

all that was one Reach Infiltrator shapeshifting

[18lemons]

I didn't get that impression when I first read it, but it turns out that you're right. Still pretty damn cool though.