Broken Frontier

Jamie Reyes begins his new life as Blue Beetle, only it just doesn’t go over as expected after a confrontation with Guy Gardner.

Well, the wait is finally over, and the first new ongoing series to spiral out from the pages of Infinite Crisis begins here in El Paso, Texas. The scarab beetle has chosen a successor from the late Ted Kord, and I don’t think the new host is what most people expected. I know I didn’t see it coming, and after having chosen a teenager to become the new Blue Beetle this series just started to intrigue me even more.

The issue opens in the midst of a battle between an enraged Guy Gardner and a confused looking Blue Beetle. Guy wants to know who’s in the suit, and upon confronting the new Beetle he quickly realizes that he’s just a kid. Guy seems possessed to the point that he feels like killing our new hero, but thankfully he manages to come to his senses. He determines that something is not kosher about the new Beetle, but Guy decides to let the matter drop for the time being. Jaime then returns to earth more perplexed than ever and after attempting to resume his normal activities, a mysterious stranger shows up to remind him that all is not as it seems.

There’s more than enough intrigue here to get this new series off to a great start. I enjoyed the approach by co-writers Giffen and Rogers, and I thought they prepared a lean script with just the right amount of dialogue for my tastes. Not once did I find the story overbearing in anyway, and I felt the Blue Beetle was interjected into the story with a ton of mystery surrounding him. His costume seems to be the unique selling point thus far, and it obviously hints at possessing sentient parts to allow our hero to hold his own in a fight. The guys did a nice job of keeping things in perspective by not giving too much away early on, so the next issue has already got me wondering about the events that will transpire in it.

The art that accompanied this fine story was by Cully Hammer. Now I must admit I am not a big fan of Cully’s style, since I find it cartoony and too lighthearted for my liking, but I think it worked here. I loved the ‘uber’ look he’s given the Beetle’s costume and it seems to be a more intrinsically designed piece of body armor, and I must admit it to be more appealing than Ted’s standard spandex and goggles ensemble. Cully had a good handle on storytelling, so I never found the story boring at all. He’s managed to give the new look Beetle a face-lift that should set this new incarnation of the hero apart from his predecessor.

Overall, the story worked for me and I am looking forward to see what type of direction this series goes into. If I have one small complaint, it would be the typical teenager turned hero element that I believe is clichéd to some extent. I think it can be overlooked though given the uniqueness of the Blue Beetle’s costume and powers and that’s a plus. The character has a ton of intrigue behind him, so let’s see if Jamie Reyes can fill the shoes and continue the legacy of the Blue Beetle.