It's a post-100 world, folks. We're older and wiser now. It just doesn't show.
We start our episode with a recap of the Cincinnati Botcon and a little talk about the 25th Anniversary Transformers line they previewed at the show. Then we run through some wonderful e-mails and we talk about a few comics from the last two weeks, including Free Comic Book Day X-Men, Blue Beetle 26, Mighty Avengers 12 & New Avengers 40, DC Universe 0 and Green Lantern 30. Then we wrap up the episode with a discussion of the best comic book movie ever filmed, IRON MAN.
Episode 101 - A Perfect Movie
Writer: John Rogers
Artist: Raphael Albuquerque
Well, I finally found some time off from school where I didn't have any homework to do, and I had comics I wanted to talk about, especially one of my favorites, Blue Beetle, which wraps up its ongoing story with issue 25. John Rogers leaves the book with this issue and it wraps up all the threads he and Keith Giffen started in issue one. We started on a journey with Jaime, learning how to use the scarab in the first arc, we then learned some of the history behind it as Peacemaker and the Reach arrived, and then had the chilling discovery that the scarab was a weapon, sent to earth to take over it's user and make the earth prime for conquering by the Reach. Somehow, half of the scarab's programming was given to Peacemaker, and half to Jaime. This let Jaime control the scarab, rather than the scarab controlling him, as it was originally designed to, and Jaime became a hero. Once Jaime learned that the Reach were here to conquer earth he's been trying to stop them, and recently the Reach started their endgame and Jaime went up against them to stop them. At the end of last issue, Jaime had the scarab pulled out of his spine by the Reach, and they were about to kill him, and Jaime's last words were "Khaji Da!" With this issue, we learned that this was the scarab's serial number or name, and that Jaime was summoning it to re-enter him. It's a bit of genius, and it shows that Jaime has a true connection with the scarab, making him the most powerful Blue Beetle ever. Also, with this issue, Rogers' lets us hear what the scarab is telling Jaime, rather than just seeing the wierd "beetle-speak" like we have for the past 24 issues. This is cool because we've always known that the scarab was a little crude and sarcastic, just from Jaime's reactions, but here we actually get to see it's personality, and it feels right at home with the tone of the book. This book is jam-packed with moments that recall past issues, so that things that felt like one-and-done weren't trully, and they appear here as part of Jaime's plan. It's a brilliant ending to one of the freshest and best books put out by DC.
Raphael Albuquerque does the art and does a great job as usual. He took over the reins from Cully Hammner's interuppted run and really made this book his own. I'm glad Albuquerque is staying on the book for the near future, even though we don't know who the regular writer will be yet. Albuquerque on art will help that transition. It's been really fun reading this book every month after picking it up on a whim two years ago. I've never felt cheated for money when I bought Blue Beetle, I always felt like I was glad I spent money on this rather than some silly X-men book or some mini-series. If you're not a Blue Beetle fan, go get the first two trades and catch up through back issues. It's a real treat of a book and you won't be dissapointed. A
Nick sends us some of the e-mails that he received from the contest, which start us on a discussion of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics, past and present. We talk about X-Men 207 and Messiah Complex, Countdown 14, Blue Beetle 23, Astonishing X-Men 25, Amazing Spider-Man 548, Young Avengers: Patriot, and Transformers Spotlight: Blaster.
Episode 89 - Why Omar Doesn't Care That Professor X Is Dead
This week, Brent Kossina, our most regular reviewer, joins us for a discussion of: Flash 233, Robin 167, Countdown 27, Tales of the Sinestro Corps - Superman Prime, What If Planet Hulk, Green Lantern Corps 17, Gotham Underground 1, Blue Beetle 20 and X-Men 204. We also read e-mails, and make jokes at each others' expense (you know, the usual).
About Heroes, Episode 76
Writer: John Rogers
Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
Another enjoyable issue of Blue Beetle. Suprise Suprise. Guy Gardner comes back into Jaime's life and after a short confrontation, Guy tries to school Blue Beelte in being a hero, and how cool he is, because in Guy's mind, he's the best there is at what he does. Er, wrong company. Anyway, Jaime tells Guy about the Reach being on Earth and hiding their secret installations with phase shift similar to Brother Eye was doing. After a brief battle with the Ultra-Humanite, Guy and Jaime go back to Jaime's house for some burgers. Guy actually stops being a jerk here, and gives Jaime a book on strategy that Ted Kord gave him a long time ago. He tells Jaime that he needs to "Stop thinking like some scared kid with fancy armor, and start thinking like the Blue Beetle." This is as much passing of the torch as Jaime will get, unless he meets Booster Gold soon. Rogers writes really well, as usual. The character moments between Jaime and Guy are great, as well as Guy and Jaime's mother. Is the woman going to intimidate Batman next? She means business! Alburquerque turns in some great art as usual, and on time as well! This book continues to be a solid read each and every month that I'm running out of things to say about it. The only place it can go is down, and it's not like Flash that can only go up after it's terrible first arc. It's not the best issue of the series, that would be #7, but it's one of the stronger ones, tying up themes from the first issue. B-
Writer: Mark Waid
Artists: George Perez and Bob Waicek
This issue was a lot of fun. It also had Blue Beetle in it, upping the fun factor. The best part about this issue was realizing that Mark Waid has actually read the new Blue Beelte series. He writes Jaime as the young, insecure, untrained, and awkward hero he is. He incorporates a lot of the character traits and even the La Dama villain from the Blue Beetle series into this issue. Waid's not just swapping off characters every issue, he's using them to their fullest extent whenever possible. Plus, Jaime's interaction with Batman are phenominal. He keeps asking Batman questions, responding with "yessir," and telling Batman that he is intimidated by him. Pre-IC, Batman would have responded coldly, but with our new friendly Batman, Bruce guides Jaime just as he would Dick or Tim in the situation. This shows Batman's skills as a mentor, and why Dick and Tim are shaping up to be great heroes in the DCU. If Jaime didn't live in El Paso, he should move to Gotham, just to be tutored by Batman. The Fatal Five show up and have to fight Batman and Jaime. Normally I would say, never in a million years would Jaime and Batman win, but with the intervention of the probabilty altering Haruspex, I was okay that they won, though Batman has some issues at the end. Another great thing about this series is that each issue is not just a random pairing, there is a reason for them, and they are all set up in the previous issue. Batman met up with Jaime last issue, and Supergirl meets up with Lobo here, setting up next issue. I'm enjoying this series as a whole, but this issue, as well as the first were the best so far. That's probably because of Batman's appearences in them anyway.
George Perez is doing a wonderful job. Unlike some other artists whose art has ages with the new computer coloring (see Dan Jurgens in Nightwing) Perez is still full of life and doing some of his best work in years. Perez nails Blue Beetle, and proves he can draw an intimidating Batman. I think a lot of the vibrancy in Perez's art comes from Bob Wiacek's inks and the colors by Tom Smith. Nothing feels out of place, and the Smith's colors don't overpower Perez's artwork. He knows that multilayered glows don't look that well on Perez's art, and keeps it simple in some places, and goes all out in others. The book looks damn good because of this. I was reading this in the car, and my girlfriend noticed it out of the corner of her eye and went "Ooh pretty colors!" My girlfriend's not that ditzy, but it's a rarity that she ever notices the comic I am reading. Here's hoping the Brave and the Bold can keep up some great stories and art from Waid and Perez. If they can manage it, then this will be a book to be looked back upon. A
Writer: John Rogers
Artists: Rafeal Albuquerque & David Baldeon
This issue was so much fun. If you aren't getting Blue Beetle, go get this issue, you can practically jump right in. Again, it's a great book. At first, I was skeptical that the writing of this book might fall off when Keith Giffen left the book, but with this issue, John Rogers has proved me wrong. The creators of the scarab, the Reach, have arrived on Earth to "help" us. Right. Jaime and Peacemaker (who now has the scarab's knowledge inside him) talk to the Reach's emmisary, explaining everything that's been up with Blue Beetle for the last 12 issues. After they depart, people in Mexico are infected with scarabs, and go into riot mode. Jaime must stop them, and resist the scarab's programming to kill them. This has been a test made by the Reach, and they are astonished that Jaime can resist the beetle so forcefully. Jaime realizes that the Reach aren't here to help after all, but as he does, he sees a Reach alien at the White House acting all friendly. As Jaime would say, "It's on ese." Rogers really handles these characters with ease, which should come after co-writing the book since issue one. He's on a good path, if he keeps writing Blue Beetle to be and exciting title. If this book can keep up the pace for the next year or so, it will be one of those "hidden gems" and if you go and get the trade and back issues, you'll be in on the secret with me too.
The art is split up between regular artist Albuquerque and David Baldeon. Albuquerque handles all of the super-hero scenes, while Baldeon handles Jaime and his family. Since this is spread out through the book, and only scene specific, it's not jarring as you read it. Baldeon is adhereing closer to the Cully Hammner style than the regular artist. Albuquerque is stretching his wings here, breaking away from Cully Hammner's shadow and making the book his own. It's a little more rough edged than Hammner's art ever was. Good for him. If he plans on staying as long as I plan on reading (see "forever") then I'll be a happy camper. If you're not getting this book, you're missing out on one of DC's better series, trully. A
Writer: John Rogers
Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
Ok, now we are getting somewhere. The last few issues have been exploring the nature of the Scarab, and in this issue we meet one of it's creators from a place called the Reach. The Reach alien looks similar to the Bliue Beetle costume, bearing the same beetle marking on its stomach that Jaime has on his chest. The issue beins with Jaime and Peacemaker chasing after a signal. Peacemaker divulges that he has part of the scarab's programming and information inside him, stuff that Jaime does not have. This gives a reason for Peacemaker to stick around, not only to form a mentor relationship with Jaime, but to find a way to get that part of the scarab out of him. This relationship gives the book a buddy-cop feel, and there are many characters in this book that Jaime could do that with. As the two get closer to the signal, they discover that it is in fact a Half-Life 2 strider looking thing, that is of course, blue like the Beetle. Jaime tries to attack it, but the beetle shuts down, leaving him without any protection.
I'm really digging the new artist on this book, Rafael Albuquerque. He has a strong handle on the Beetle, Jaime, Peacemaker, and Paco. It's close enough to original series artist Cully Hammner's designs, but far enough away that he can call it his own. I'm still liking this series, and for me it beats out anything else out of OYL, except for Trials of Shazam, but this is a close second. If you're not reading Blue Beetle, this issue might be a good time to jump on, as it is about to get a lot more interesting. B
