The storied legacy of the Blue Beetle: from Dan Garrett to Ted Kord to Jaime Reyes.
DC Rebirth is upon us:
- Week One saw the debut of DC Universe Rebirth #1 and its massive reveals (spoilers here)!
- Week Two saw the debut of the critically acclaimed Batman Rebirth #1, Superman Rebirth #1, Green Lanterns Rebirth #1 and Green Arrow #1 (spoilers here).
- Week Three greeted readers with Aquaman Rebirth #1, The Flash Rebirth #1 and Wonder Woman Rebirth #1 (spoilers here).
- Week Four saw Titans Rebirth #1 hit stands anchored by a returning Wally West Flash (spoilers here).
- Week Five was an extra “fifth week” of comics that saw no special DC Rebirth one-shot released.
- Week Six saw Justice League Rebirth #1 had the New 52 Justice League accept the pre-Flashpoint Superman as Rebirth’s Man of Steel (spoilers here).
- Week Seven saw Nightwing Rebirth #1, with a prominent Batman appearance, and Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Rebirth #1 land on stands (spoilers here).
- Week Eight saw Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Rebirth #1 and The Hellblazer Rebirth #1 one-shots make waves (spoilers here).
- Week Nine saw Red Hood and The Outlaws Rebirth #1 focus in Red Hood and Batman’s relationship as Bizarro and Artemis are set to round out Rebirth’s dark trinity (spoilers here).
- Week Ten had Suicide Squad Rebirth #1 explode on stands ahead of its film’s wicked weekend (spoilers here).
- Week Eleven saw Deathstroke Rebirth #1 get the new namesake series off to a solid start (spoilers here).
- Week Twelve had Supergirl Rebirth #1 hit stands with a very new status quo (spoilers here).
Week thirteen only has one DC Comics Rebirth one-shot for fandom: Blue Beetle Rebirth #1!
Blue Beetle Rebirth #1 spoilers and review follow.
Ted Kord services as a veteran mentor to Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle the way an older Bruce Wayne did the same for Terry McGinnis in the original Batman Beyond TV series. He sometimes pulls Jaime out of situations a lot of teens would want to be due to his heroic responsibilities. Good to see Ted Kord being relied up as an inventor and hero; plus that Big Bug is back!
The dynamic between these two heroes is fun to read; banter and whimsy amongst the seriousness and stakes of fighting villians. Blue Beetle is summoned by the villains of the issue that seems to be some kind of unable to die re-animators that Jaime muses might be robots. He asks Ted Kord, from the safety of the Big Bug to help him out and…
…he does with a big bang!
The book ends with the two again discussing their arrangement and teasing what’s next which includes…
…a possible new ally Dr. Fate who believes the Blue Beetle armor that Jaime Reyes uses is magical not alien (as revealed in DC Universe Rebirth #1 one-shot) plus…
..new villainess!
So…
I did not expect to read the adventures of DC Comics’ Blue Beetle(s) beyond this one-shot, but the tone established by writer Keith Giffen and the dynamic art of Scott Kolins has me clamoring for more. This was by far in the Top 5 of DC Rebirth one-shots thus far. Highly recommended.