Tony Black reviews Blue Beetle: Rebirth #1…
Lost in the desert with no memory of the past few years, teenager Jaime Reyes must find his way home again—but when he reaches his town, he’s shocked to find it abandoned and in the hands of government officials…officials who are very interested in the Blue Beetle and the scarab that gives him his power! How can Jaime find his family and uncover the secret behind the town’s seizure—and why Kord Industries is helping keep the world from learning the truth?
The newest Rebirth issue to debut, as DC continues rippling out its succession of comic runs, and right from page one Blue Beetle is a fast and furiously written issue. Scripted by Keith Giffen from a story between he and Scott Kolins, who also draws the comic, Blue Beetle throws you from the very first page into a quick, splashy and slightly fourth wall breaking introduction to the two main characters: Jaime Reyes, a reluctant hero, a college kid who has a huge seemingly alien scarab fused into his back which can transform him into the titular Blue Beetle, and Ted Kord, the son of a billionaire who is funding Blue Beetle – imagine a cross between Bruce Wayne and Marvel’s Reed Richards, with a dash of Tony Stark. It’s a clearly defined partnership this issue, while setting up a few story arcs to come, manages to introduce with a barrel load of action and fast talking characters – sometimes, it has to be said, too fast talking.
Blue Beetle is far from one of the most well known DC characters, having never made the transition as of yet (as far as I’m aware) to the TV or movie screen, which makes Jaime a relatively unknown quantity as a hero; his reluctance is refreshing, given how often DC heroes seem keen to put on a pair of tights and rush into battle, and it’s interesting how he’s indulging Kord’s wealthy flights of fancy for the simple reason he wants to get the monkey–or in this case scarab–off his back and retain a normal life. His family seem unaware though his friends apparently know his secret, and one in particular may be bringing him more trouble than he ever expected by the end.
Most of the issue however sees Jaime thrust into battle with tag team villains Rack and Ruin, who look like ninjas but speak with analytical eloquence which seems at odds with the fast talking back & forth between Jaime & Kord; they’re effective villains, who Jaime battles in a coffee shop as they are drawing out the Blue Beetle to test him, and it allows us to get to grips with our hero’s powers and skills rather swiftly. Giffen does this with tongue firmly in cheek, his characters biting at each other as the battle ensues, and this is where to an extent I felt a bit exhausted by Blue Beetle; it’s fun, frothy, colourful thanks to Kolins’ panels which are filled with incident, but at times it’s just too full on and intense in how much it thrusts at you for its own good.
In some respects, that’s not a bad thing. You get your money’s worth with this Rebirth of Blue Beetle but it’s going to appeal much more to you if you’re a fan of the fast talking, spiky back and forth between characters like Jaime & Kord, and sometimes I can find that a little wearing. Throughout though it’s an entertaining and fun read, establishing well who the Blue Beetle is an the relationships between the main characters of the piece, and not wasting time in throwing this particular superhero into the action – Giffen & Kolins get away with doing an origin story without doing one at all, which takes skill, and all throughout its well drawn. Is it essential appointment DC reading? Not sure. It needs time to calm down, bed in and then we’ll see.
Rating: 7/10
Tony Black
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Originally published August 31, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
