Being a super hero can be a tough gig. Generally speaking you’re going to have some traumatic event in your life, possibly the death of a parent or loved one. Chances are you’ll also have to deal with issues involving your secret identity. Plus you’re probably going to get into a fight with any other super hero right when you meet them.
But there are also issues that are specific to heroes who inherit their heroic identity from other characters. More often than not they fade into obscurity, though sometimes they’re brutally killed. It’s why I worry about Jaime Reyes.
For instance let’s look at Wally West. Wally was The Flash for over two decades. He inherited the mantle of The Flash when Barry Allen died. But then Barry came back and Wally was relegated to an afterthought. Shortly after that Wally was retconned out of existence.
Connor Hawke’s story isn’t that much different. He replaced Oliver Queen for a few years, but then Ollie came back. Of course Connor Hawke had the indignity of being grievously injured, comatose, then getting spliced with Plastic Man’s DNA and getting special abilities. Of course in the New 52, Connor Hawke doesn’t even exist.
The worst is probably Ryan Choi. Ryan Choi became The Atom after Ray Palmer disappeared following Identity Crisis. Ryan had a decent run as The Atom before Ray Palmer returned. For a short while they both shared The Atom name.
Of course then tragedy struck when Ryan was killed by a Deathstroke lead version of the Ttians. It was rumored that Ryan would be the Atom of the New 52, but that turned out to be false. While Ray Palmer is alive and shrinking in the New 52, he’s not currently calling himself the Atom.
Which brings me back to Jaime Reyes. Jaime is the current Blue Beetle, though you’ll be forgiven for not remembering that since he hasn’t had a major appearance since 2013. He’s had two solo titles; one pre-Flashpoint and one in the New 52. He’s built up a decent following and racked up a few appearances on various DC shows. He’s also one of DC’s most prominent Latino heroes.
And that’s why I’m worried that he’s about to die.
DC’s has two major events on the horizon; Convergence and Darkseid Wars. Chances are more than a few characters will be killed off, if only to set the stakes. Jaime is a solid B-List character, who is pretty expendable since he isn’t appearing anywhere at the moment. Also Ted Kord was reintroduced at the close of Forever Evil.
Ted Kord of course was Jaime’s predecessor as Blue Beetle in the pre-Flashpoint continuity. Which, at least to me, seems like an ominous sign for Jaime. Clearly there’s a plan in place for Ted Kord, that more likely than not involves Blue Beetle.
Is it possible that Ted and Jaime could coexist as Blue Beetles? Sure? But I think a more likely scenario is that Jaime sacrifices his life to save Ted (and possibly some others) and Ted decides to devote himself to honoring that sacrifice.
It’s pure speculation of course. But we’ll see how it turns out.
Anyway, it’s Wednesday, so go out and get some fresh new comics from your local comic shop.
