Blue Beetle - Rebirth

[icon_uk]

I must confess that the New 52 Blue Beetle did nothing for me. It took some of the elements of the original Jaime Reyes and rebooted it in a very (IMHO) cack-handed fashion, missing the point of the concept. It might have improved after the first coupleof issues, but since I dropped it at that point with no regrets I can't say.

So I was rather cautious about the Rebirth launch, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.


First up, we seem to be back to the idea that Jaime's parents and friends know about his career as Blue Beetle, one of the more novel hooks of the original series, and one I am relieved to see back.

Oh yeah, and one of the best supporting casts in comics is back...





And we also have Paco and Brenda too, which is fun! :)

Jaime then gets a call from "Mr Kord" who lets him know that a couple of his old villains (Jaime didn't even know he HAD old villains) have shown up for revenge, taken over a coffee shop and called him out with "Bring Blue Betle" written in the wreckage outside, and yes, the typo was either deliberately to irritate Beetle, or they just don't care.

Whilst dealing with the villains, two elaborately polite weirdo's called Rack and Ruin who Jaime never has met but who do seem to want to target Blue Beetle, we discover that Ted Kord is offering comms, intel and support from the airborne Bug, whilst Jaimes does the actual groundwork.

The villainous duo are defeated (After proving to be either robots or constructs of some sort) and Jaime and Ted return to base where their relationship is worked out a little bit more.



So New 52 Ted Kord was never a superhero of any sort, but is still the owner and genius behind Kord Industries. And he see's Jaime as a means to allow him to help people, which is laudable, but not what Jaimes wants, AT ALL. And interesting dynamic I feel, Jaimes wants to be a normal kid whilst Ted wants to be a hero... maybe a little too much.

And then, we get the twist....



There's sort of predecent for this, the scarab was originally considered to BE magical (it was when Ted Garrett had it pre ever Crisis known) until Jaime's original series established that it was alien technology....

Not sure about this twist, I hope it's going somewhere rather than being a twist for the sake of being a twist, but it could be interesting.

And the final page reveals that the one who employed Rack and Ruin, was Brenda's Aunt Amparo, better known to some (but not to Brenda) as La Dama, the scarily powerful crime lord, who IS one of Beetles old foes, and who is not happy that Beetle is now apparently talking to someone else when fighting.

 

Comments

[long_silence]

While I'm glad we're not getting yet another retread of the Reach storyline (Young Justice wore that plot out), I'm pretty sure that we've already met them in nu52 and they were still aliens. They attacked the Blue Lantern planet.

[lieut_kettch]

Perhaps The Reach's technology is actually mystical in nature?

[skjam]

Or this particular scarab is, being the original that the Reach reverse-engineered their other scarabs from.

[jlbarnett]

this is both good and bad. Jaime's setup in the original stories was perfect, this has some of that, so it's good. But I'm not a fan of "I just want to be normal" type heroes. And Jaime's heroing as needed, but not always his first priority was fine.

Meanwhile it'd be cool if the Reach were actually alien magic users

[informationgeek]

This was a really good start to the new series. Did everything one of these Rebirth issues should do. I'm looking forward to doing a full fledge post on this once it's been over a month.

[icon_uk]

I did consider waiting until the #1 came out to do a posting, but I enjoyed this so felt it should have some buzz going for it before #1 comes out.

[scorntx]

Ohhh, now who let that Geoff Johns dialogue in here?

Don't listen to him, Ted. The Bug is great.

It looks nice, but...
But I'm hesitant to trust after the Nu52 version.

[akodo_rokku]

It's possible I love the Giffen/Johns run TOO much, but this didn't really do anything for me. Everyone feels *just* off from who they should be.

[randyripoff]

It didn't work for me. Too many jokes. It's not that it shouldn't be fun, but there's no reason for five one-liners per panel. Get John Rogers back on the title, and then I'll be excited.

[dcbanacek]

Slightly confused from what was said/written... if Ted was never the Blue Beetle, then how did he have "old" enemies for Jamie to fight?

Unless they're Dan Garrett's old enemies...

And really kind of sad that Ted isn't suited up. The one Blue Beetle who didn't NEED superpowers to be awesome.

[icon_uk]

Not Ted's old enemeies, Jaime's old enemies... or so Ted believes.

I suspect we might see Ted build up more of "his" Blue Beetle-ish arsenal and style as time goes by

[kamino_neko]

Not Ted's old enemeies, Jaime's old enemies... or so Ted believes.

And he was more or less right...just a bit more removed than he thought.

[tigerkaya]

I over the old Blue Beetle series to see it back to form just makes me happy. I do hope Traci 13 shows up I loved those two together. New52 what New52? (Tosses copies into a furnace). All better.

[long_silence]

I think Traci is showing up in Superwoman alongside Natasha Irons

And I've heard rumors that they might be dating?

[tigerkaya]

Oh, good for DC I guess?. Well I'm not touching that subject good bye! (Gets on motorcycle)

[fra080389]

I don't understand the "bless you" thing. The girl doesn't know english language, or she is an fanatical atheist?

[icon_uk]

I suspect an aethetist, objecting to referencing the long since outdated belief that sneezing somehow put your soul at risk. It IS a rather odd tradition to have lasted this long.

Which begs the question, is this endemic to all religions, or just the Christian ones? Do people say anything in Muslim, or Hindu or Buddhist circles when someone sneezes?

[arilou_skiff]

It's not even a universally christian thing. Germans just say "Gesundheit" (good health) and swedes say "Prosit" (which is some kind of twisted latin)

[janegray]

Italians say "salute!" (literally "health," implied to be "good health"), and French people say "À tes souhaits!" (more or less "as you wish"). Bless you is just an English thing, not a Christian thing.

[fra080389]

Actually is only an English language thing. In Italy we say: "Salute". It means: "Health, well-being". It a... wish, "I hope you didn't pick up a fever, I hope you will be okay".
I thought "bless you" had a similar meaning, sort "I wish God help you to be in health", "I hope to God you're not as sick".

[quatoria]

It's ridiculous, though. I'm an atheist, have been around atheists and skeptics all my life, and have *literally* never heard anybody, ever, freak out about 'bless you' for a sneeze. It's not a religious ceremony, it's a frigging courtesy draped in cultural christian dressing. It's kinda moving into straw atheist territory. Also, how the heck does atheism even make *sense* in a world where the gods not only come down to earth, but actually make the nightly news? Pragmatism would *not* lead to atheism, in the DC universe, y'know what I mean?

[lordultimus]

While I agree with you on the first part, there has been attempts to give an atheist explanation for gods. Granted, psychic energy is usually involved, but hey, comics.

[werehawk]

Well, I am an atheist and try to make it a habit to say Gesundeit (sp? - I guess I should know how to spell what I say) for lack of anything else that sounds normal, although a bless you slips in every now and again. While I do find it annoying and don't want to invoke a god for a sneeze, I have never thrown a fit like Brenda did, just explained calmly why I won't say bless you.

[kamino_neko]

Also, how the heck does atheism even make *sense* in a world where the gods not only come down to earth, but actually make the nightly news?

When those gods are also regularly punched in the nose and limp off to lick their wounds, you're left with one of two inescapable possibilities - either these 'gods' are not what they say, or they are, but the word 'god' is meaningless, because the qualities that make a god are so damn common among mere mortals.

[dustbunny105]

Ehh, there's good here, but I'm not digging it. Ted's enthusiasm and living a hero life through Jaime just feels so off. I kinda hoped they'd use this opportunity to retcon Ted never having been a hero too. The Blue Beetles are my favorite legacy line of heroes and I'd have liked to have that legacy back. I was excited when I first heard Ted was playing a mentor role to Jaime, but this leaves me cold.

[thanekos]

Given a second chance to hit the ground running with post-Flashpoint Blue Beetle, they go for another premise re-establishment and re-jig.

Yaaaaaaay.

[zapbiffpow]

This is noticeably wordy, even for a Giffen/Dematteis book, and Scott Kolins' art needs sharper inking to work, I think. I do like the Batman Beyond-ish vibe, though, so hold this one's a hold judgement for me, I guess.

[lyricalswagger]

I actually liked this a lot. I was a big fan of the first Blue Beetle series, and hated the New62 version, so hopefully this is a return to form. The first issue got me excited.

[shadowpsykie]

okay... how much of the last two serieses is being carried over? Does his family know who he is? are the beetle and him more sympatico? are his family still loving and supporting? will this be.... dare I say... fun?