Vaya con Dios, Blue Beetle

One of the books that I’m most disappointed about in that regard is a book like Blue Beetle, which we are cancelling. That’s a book that we started with very high expectations, but it lost its audience along the way. Recently, we felt that it was standing on firmer ground, and was getting a more positive response. The problem is that the firmer ground and positive response is not enough to keep the book afloat. So unfortunately, we had to cancel that series.

So sayeth Dan Didio in a recent interview with Newsarama.

I've been thinking a lot about the Blue Beetle for the past couple of days. While having lunch with a friend yesterday, I remember saying that I just didn't love it as much as I did when John Rogers was writing it but I couldn't really come up with a reason why. And it's not the first time I've had that opinion of the series... I initially dropped it after the sixth issue, learning that the Scarab was a piece of alien technology. I don't know if it was that conclusion specifically, but something in the book failed to grab me at that point, and it took me eight months to give it another chance.

Now, I haven't dropped the book. I thought about it after Will Pfeifer's two issues, but ultimately decided to hang in there to see if Matt Sturges could do anything. I thought about all this while I tried to pinpoint what it was that was missing, and after a day and a half or so, I think maybe what's gone missing is a sense of direction. When John Rogers introduced the Reach in issue #12, he started a story that essentially ran for 14 issues, and provided the Blue Beetle with a threat that only he could sense, much less stop. And the last four issues of his run were a thundering conclusion that cemented Jaime Reyes as a hero... and brought that story to a close.

The thing is... direction requires time and stability. Following Rogers, we got three issues that could essentially have been skipped. Jai Nitz' experiment in Spanish-language comics, and two stories by WIll Pfeifer did more to hurt the book, I think, than anything. Hindsight is 20/20, and it seems to me that following Rogers' run on the book, what it needed was someone who was going to stick with it, and take it somewhere. That's why I've stuck around, even though the book doesn't feel to me that it's 'as good'. I want to give Matt Sturges a chance to get his feet under him with the character, and try to go somewhere. Too bad it sounds like he won't get the chance.

Gnashing of Teeth? Check. Commence Wailing!

Newsarama broke the story that John Rogers, the writer who has consistently stunned me with the new Blue Beetle, is leaving the book.

Newsarama: Right up front, John, are you leaving Blue Beetle?

John Rogers: It's temporary, although I don't know exactly when I'm coming back to the book. What happened is, essentially, Keith and I always wanted to tell the origin story and #25 wraps up that origin for Jaime.

This continues the trend where I post about something I'm feeling enthusiastic about, and the universe (oh so subtley) reminds me that I'm not supposed to. In the Newsarama interview, Rogers states that he'll be working on a big crossover mini-series (I wonder what that might be part of?) and an ongoing series.

I do want to say that the past 24 issues have been excellent... and at this point, I'm willing to give the 25th issue a pass... but I don't see how this could avoid being an awesome issue.

Long term plans on the book aren't specified, beyond Wil Pfeiffer is doing at least the first story arc following Rogers' departure. Rogers does sthate though, that he'd like to return to the book when he can, but wants to focus on his new projects.

Thanks, John, for one of the best DC-produced superhero comics in recent memory.

If You're Not Reading The Blue Beetle...

Then you're part of the problem. I mean it. You're a mean, mean person who doesn't want to see good comic books, and probably kills pixies in his spare time.

Now, I don't really care about your Pixie Genocide, as pixies have nothing to do with my hobbies. But good comic books? Yeah, I care about that. And the Blue Beetle is seriously a good comic book. I can understand, Jaime Reyes is easy to miss. His name isn't "Superman" "Batman" or "Wonder Woman"... and he doesn't have a power ring... but right at this moment, if I was called upon to name my favorite super-hero, it would be Jaime Reyes.

In the current Blue Beetle, DC has taken a young, genuinely earnest kid who doesn't really know what he's doing, and over the course of 24 issues has turned him into a hero. And the current story arc is using almost everything that the series has turned out to date. I haven't seen Metron or Lonar yet, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if they show up in the next issue. And the issue that hit shelves today (or yesterday, as it's 2:25 am) pays tribute to Dan Garrett as well as Ted Kord. There's more raw excitement in this book than any comic I've read for weeks, and that includes Grant Morrison's Batman, and Ed Brubaker's Captain America. (I'd add Daredevil to the list, but I haven't read that yet and I don't want to cheat.)

Seriously, you owe it to yourself to look into this series. It got off to a slow start on the introductory story arc, but it has been a phenomonally consistent, knock it out of the park book. I can't praise it enough. If you haven't been following it... pick up a few back issues, and catch up because I get the feeling #25's going to knock it out of the park.

DC... Done Right?

I've been pretty down on DC lately. A fan could almost thing that those letters stand for "Don't Care". Look at the mess that the Superman titles have been for the past few months. Look at the fill-ins on Detective Comics and Batman, preventing those from being easy series' to recommend. And look at the nonsensical violence of Meltzer's first arc on Justice League of America, prompting almost everyone I know to drop it like... well, like something you drop urgently.

And let's not even talk about Countdown. It's too soon.

So I can't tell you how thrilled I am to come across DC books that I can't help but rave about.

I know I've talked about Brave And The Bold, so I'll wait until the next story arc on that one comes out to start crowing.

But let's talk about the Blue Beetle. As I've been telling almost anybody who'll listen, I think that the new Blue Beetle fills the 'Spider-Man' niche in the DC Universe. He's a high-school aged kid who doesn't really understand his powers, but is determined to use them to help others. Almost all of the characters (including the teenage sidekicks) in the DC Universe seem, to me, to have this air of immense confidence. I can only think of two who don't... Jaime Reyes and Jimmy Olsen. I don't know what's up with 'Mr. Action' but Jaime's struggling just as hard to make sense of his life as he does against the villains he fights. I think it's good to see that somebody in the DC Universe doesn't really know what they're doing. It gives hope to the rest of us.

And the second book I want to talk about is the new Booster Gold series. Booster went through a transformation in 52. I admit... I bought it. I thought he was toast. But the first two issues of the new series are giving me a tremendous respect for the character. Why? I'm glad you asked.

• Booster's going to undertake a mission that the rest of the Multiverse can never, ever know about. Never. He can't take the credit for saving the day. He can't use it to get a lucrative endorsement deal. Nada. Nobody can ever know what he's doing. Which leads into bullet point #2.
• Booster has to continue to look like the biggest, most self-aggrandizing, self-promoting jerk in the DC Universe. He can't even act like a competent hero. He has to publically act like the old Booster so that nobody would ever suspect him of doing anything great. He can't even show his contemporaries that he's taken his life as a super-hero seriously.
• He's acting like a true hero. In the second (and current) issue, he manages to accomplish his goals in a truly heroic fashion. I'll grant, it's a method that has fallout, but for the first time in what feels like forever, a conflict in the DC universe was resolved through means OTHER than violence. I like violence, don't get me wrong... but sometimes something else is nice. You know, for a change.

I initially dismissed this book. Yet another attempt to cash in on 52's reputation. (And honestly, World War III did enough of that, thank you very much.) My buddy Chad told me about the first issue, and I picked it up at his recommendation. And I'm glad he recommended it.

I've tried to avoid spilling any details, but the book's playing out a bit like Quantum Leap. It was a good enough concept for Judd Winick to create the Exiles, after all. The first issue is a $3.99 title, but it's worth any two issues of Countdown... so it's still a value!

Not Another DC Rant... I Promise!

While I was in ye olde local comic shoppe this week, I was struck by whimsy. Well, more realistically I was struck by my amazingly positive feelings about the Blue Beetle in last week's Brave And The Bold. So whimsy struck, and I found myself purchasing not one, but two issues of DC's current Blue Beetle series. And you know what?

I enjoyed them.

The Blue Beetle is apparently being written to fill the 'Spider-Man' niche in the DC Universe. He's an awkward teenager, not completely at ease with his powers, in awe of the superheroic community he's been thrust into, and generally flying by the seat of his pants. And I really think DC needs that. So many of DC's more widely-known heroes are so confident and secure in their roles as heroes that they just can't seem awkward or unsure in quite that same way. I mean, even the Teen Titans have that air of infallibility around them. Well, except for the Titans that died in World War III. (Sorry... it was impossible to resist that shot.)

And that's the whole reason Spider-Man's been around as long as he has. Because since his beginning, he's had problems and issues that readers could relate to. He's just as messed up as the rest of us... and because of leading a double life, maybe a little moreso. I've only been reading comics for a few years, but even DC's C-list heroes seem to have a firm, commanding grip.

I started looking into the new Blue Beetle when the title launched after Infinite Crisis. I dropped it after about six issues. I think I'm regretting that. The title's survived over a year, and it fills a second important niche for DC. It doesn't take itself too seriously. There are a few books that stand out clearly in my head for that one fact alone. I think I'm going to add this one back to my sub form.

I'm still working on what I'm going to remove. But that can be saved for another post.