One of my friends asked me to go with her to see the new Blue Beetle movie and I agreed, knowing nothing about the character. She knew that, as I’m notoriously not a comics reader, so she handed me two volumes of the comic when we went to see Across the Spiderverse together last month. I put it off until the last minute, but as we’re going tomorrow, I figured I better get to it.
All I can say is that I hope the movie is kinder to its lead than the New 52 event run was.
In Blue Beetle Volume 1: Metamorphosis Jaime Reyes becomes the Blue Beetle (again – ah, reboots). Jaime is a regular teenager dealing with high school, family, and friends. Also, he’s inadvertently implanted with an alien device that can expand to become a blue exoskeleton, turning him into the Blue Beetle. The scarab is in actuality created by an alien race known as the Reach who seek to subjugate planets – or annihilate them. But the scarab was damaged on its way to earth, and Jaime has a chance to figure out how to use these new powers in a way that won’t put everyone he cares about in jeopardy.
Volume 1 grew on me as it went, but I was really put off in the beginning. A lot of it had to do with the facial expressions and how the characters were drawn. It was all a little much. The big problem for me though was that the plot moved in a way where I felt like I couldn’t get a handle on any of the characters. Not a good way to begin, particularly in an origin story which should be an easier entry point. I did appreciate the way that it’s clear that Jaime doesn’t want any part of his new superpowers and is doing his best to figure out how to live with it if he can’t get rid of it.
Blue Beetle, Volume 2: Blue Diamond felt like it should have been two separate collections, the first half tells a very definite story, complete with a good stopping point, as Jaime runs away to New York, meets some other heroes, fights basically everyone (unwillingly in many cases), and finally reunites with friends and family and comes to terms with his situation. Of all the individual issues I read between the two volumes, this arc was the most enjoyable to me. But the second half of volume two left me skimming as Blue Beetle in space battle held little interest for me to begin with. Jaime doesn’t feel like an active participant, lacking a sense of agency and ends the series with a cliffhanger which apparently never got answered as this series was cancelled. I can understand why it ended so soon.
Bingo Square: Bodies, Bodies. Jaime is struggling with bodily autonomy against the suit.
