ComicScene Review: Blue Beetle

As the Blue Beetle film comes out Myles Sullivan spends some time with the character.

DC infinite is my friend. Normally they only upload seven comics for free a month, however as the Blue Beetle movie is released today they’ve uploaded a stack of Blue Beetle comics for free!!

I have a massive soft spot for the Blue Beetle. It was his JLI, along with Guy Gardener, Ice and Fire, the Martian Manhunter as well as his partnership with Booster Gold which I found in the youth club attached to my secondary school that started my love of DC comics. Even today due to a date stamp error the last picture on my photo roll is Ted Kords Blue Beetle.

Now of course Ted Kords Beetle was the inspiration for Dan Dreiberg and Nite Owl in Watchmen. However since then that Blue Beetle is no more and the mantle (scarab) has passed on to Jaime Reyes. I think he is the first Mexican American DC hero and one of only a few Latino hero. Certainly the first to get a film. Sadly I think the film will do badly as the writers strike means there’s no advertising or promotion, it’s about a marginal hero and there’s no Latino community here to support it. I’m going tomorrow though.

Anyway the comic… It’s a origin story The new Blue Beetle is established as a teen living with his parents. He fights with Guy Gardener whilst worrying about his family business.

It’s very very reminiscent of Miles Morales’ Spider-Man and Kamila Khans Ms Marvel, but why not, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It’s good just not original nice art and a well trodden story

6/10

Two free Blue Beetles from 2014 and 2016, from DC Infinite. Not as strong as the first one. Each retelling of the story seems to tell it worse than before. In the 2016 Ted Kord appears and here’s a really boring dick! Not fun at all, I loved his Blue Beetle. I get that being dead changes you but don’t be a dick about it! A bit boring to be honest. I’m invested and not interested, so what will this do to the passing reader? There’s more to come.

A bit of a cheat this but interesting. More free Blue Beetle from Dc Infinite. This sees Jaime graduate high school, a superhero with no direction or ambition, but still a superhero. Superman guests too. What is interesting is they’ve uploaded an English version abd a Spanish version. I assume that this is only online or was there a print copy? Even more interesting is all the adverts and editorial/Articles were translated too. Weirdly there was a classic Spawn/Batman ad in the English version and bizarrely a JSA ad in the Spanish language one. Is the JSA popular in Spanish speaking communities?

A good day spent with the Blue Beetle. Lovely to see that Guy Gardener has mellowed with age and accepts that Ted Kord was not only a good friend but also a smart man. 4 standard supes fun. Teenage boy struggling with his place on the world. See also Ms Marvel, Spider-Man (PP) Spider Man (MM) etc etc. Still good stuff and has set me up for the film tomorrow 7/10