Sometimes Actions Have Repercussions
One of the best stories to come out of the most recent Blue Beetle series featured Jaime Reyes and friends kicking the butts of the alien Reach who were invading the Earth. That battle ended when Jaime and his scarab (the Khaji-Da) severed the connection between the Blue Beetle alien technology and the invaders. With one issue to go after this one, one might think the tale being told would settle down a bit.
Why DC is canceling this series when Blue Beetle is getting all that play on the Batman: The Brave and the Bold television series is beyond me. Sadly, the decision has been made, and Jamie and friends look like they are going to enjoy their last two issues at the school prom. Good news for Traci-13 fans as she gets all dolled up for some high school basketball court romancing. Bad news for Jaime when a whole brood of aliens show up at the dance wearing the same Reach designed outfits.
Seems when Khaji-Da severed its connection with the Reach, the signal was sent through the Reach network to every being joined with a scarab. That tiny bit of code was enough for the entire army of Infiltrators to rise up against their masters and bring them down for good. Yay! Right?
With their new found freedom the Infiltrators now want to bring peace to all worlds, beginning with Earth. They plan to bring down the despots and evil doers around the world, including the Justice League. Oops. While the message of freedom may have been sent to the Infiltrators, they didn’t get the message on who were the good guys. The leader of the Infiltrators essentially pulls a W when he tells Jaime he’s either with the Infiltrators or against them.
Well of course Jaime is going to go against these planet killing aliens – who then promptly shoot him to the ground. It’s an interesting way to close out a series, and I have to applaud Matt Sturges for having the balls to tell a story that ties back to the series started by Keith Giffen and John Rogers.
It’s also interesting that Sturges decided to tell this tale in the final two issues of the series.  While I loved the pacing of this first chapter, wrapping the story and series up in a single issue seems like a huge task to undertake. As for the rest of the writing in the issue, Sturges once again brings smiles and chuckles as each character delivers lines as only those characters can.
The Good
- Prom Night! Everybody go pantless
- Jaime’s attempt to pull a Clark Kent
- Jaime’s sudden reappearance while the Blue Beetle is fighting bad guys
- Mom and dad pretending to not know who their son really is for sake of the crowd
- Traci-13 – WOW
- Installing Linux on a toaster
- Ted Kord’s files on his former enemies
The Bad
- Why does this series have to end again?
I’m going to be really sad when this series comes to a close. While readers will still get to see Jaime in the pages of Teen Titans, it isn’t the hero that makes the stories interesting, but rather the hero and supporting cast, which by now has grown quite large. It’s the family dynamic I’m going to miss most, and while things look bleak for Jaime at issue’s end, I have no doubt there’s going to be a happy resolution come issue #36. Bleu Beetle #35 earns another well deserved 4.5 out of 5 Stars.
8 Comments
Why are they canceling it? Not enough people buy it. If there’s demand for it they can always relaunch it.
Right, there’s not enough of a demand NOW, but I think you’re missing the point. Jaime has, just recently, been made a co-star of a new Batman cartoon (and a good one, I might add). Exposure like that usually drums up interest in a character. The question is why didn’t DC wait to see if mainstream exposure like that would justify keeping the title around.
Not just co-star he has toys comming out too, have you seen the Brave and the Bold one? When the one comic that was fully in Spanish came out I knew this was gonna get cancelled.
I just figured this out. The cancellation is a sacrifice made to their god: Grant Morrison. ^_^
@MaximisRift: and of course it had to be LIFE sacrifce ;-)
As I said, if there is enough interest in the character they will relaunch it. There is a Brave and the Bold comic out right now. I doubt it will better than BB is selling right now. In the DM anyway.
For me what stinks is that this is the second book i’ve loved that Sturges took over and has been eventually cancelled, the other being Shadowpact. Two quality books that have been cancelled. I’m going to miss BB, but proud I got to read a quality run from beginning to end.
this is a great issue of a great series. It’s a crime that it has to end.