Blue Beetle #18
Writer: John Rogers
Artists: Raphael Albuquerque & David Baldeon
Blue Beetle falls into a lull this month, after a great issue last month. The Teen Titans guest star this issue and their mission is to make sure a satellite launches into space. Yawn. Lobo shows up to stop the launch, hired by the Reach, the creators of the Beetle's scarab, here to conquer the world. There's a fight with Lobo, and some teenage banter. Beetle's buddy Paco is checking out Wonder Girl and Supergirl, which makes for some nice moments. At the end, Robin tells Beetle that he needs some fight training and to stop by the Tower to get some, basically inviting him to appear in issue #50 and the ones thereafter.
I used to praise Raphael Albuquerque for being a good artist that was one time every month, but I guess every artist needs a break sometimes as David Baldeon illustrates half the issue. Baldeon's style is similar enough to Albuquerque's so that the transition is not that jarring, but Baldeon is just too smooth compared to Raphael Albuquerque slightly jagged style. There are some nice moments here with Beetle interacting with the Teen Titans, but not enough to merit a purchase or move along the Reach storyline that has been building. The last couple of issues have been one and done stories, but still had some dimension that added to the Reach storyline, except for this one. I hope that next issue returns Blue Beetle to his fine form. C-
I have to disagree, I didn't think it was that bad of an issue. It's a good setup to Teen Titans 50 which comes out this week. But I really wish they had put another artist on the book.