Blue Beetle #25

I’m not much of a Blue Beetle fan.  Yes, I enjoyed Ted Kord’s time in the Justice League, and his revival in the new Booster Gold, but it’s not a character which I go looking for.  And so I’ve largely stayed away from the new teenage Blue Beetle, a mix of various super-hero archetypes.  But with his latest issue guest-starring the former members of the JLI I decided to pick this one up, and I’m glad I did.

Blue Beetle #25
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“I know you.  My brother calls you the crazy one.”

“End Game, Part Four” finds Blue Beetle rejoining with the Scarab and taking on the Reach (a race of cosmic marauders who invented the Scarab).

Unable to stop them all by himself our hero calls on a few friends, all former Justice League International members – Guy Gardner, Booster Gold, Fire and Ice – to help him with the threat.

Although I like Ted Kord, I’ve never been a big reader of Blue Beetle (other than his time spent in the Justice League), and to a large extent I’ve ignored Jamie Reyes role as the new Blue Beetle.  It’s just possible I’ve been missing out.

Although this is jumping in at the end of the arc, and there’s much going on that I don’t quite understand, there is much to enjoy as well.  Aside from seeing members of the JLI back in action, I enjoyed the relationship between Jamie and the Scarab.  This book has a fair amount of humor to go along with some serious battle scenes, including a cocky Guy Gardner doing what he does best (and trying to reconnect with Ice).

Although this probably isn’t the best point to dive-in to a series, and some of the subplots (including those involving Jamie’s family) were lost on me, the book is filled with action and humor.  And any tale involving an unleashed, and slightly horny, Guy Gardner is certainly worth a look.