DCU Comic Book Reviews

BLUE BEETLE #3

The Past Is Another Country

July 2006

Written by Keith Giffen & John Rogers

Pencils by Cynthia Martin

Inks by Phil Moy

Cover by Duncan Rouleau & David Self

Synopsis

Outside El Paso, Texas, an unidentified man has been dreaming the blue dreams and following the trail of someone in the area.  Meanwhile, Jaime Reyes (aka Blue Beetle) explains to his family where he has been for the past year, but they didn’t believe him.  He changes into the Blue Beetle, but it scares his sister and his mother.  His father tells Jaime that they had to cope with Jamie’ being gone for the past year, it will take some time to get used to Jaime being back.  Later, Jaime searches for Brenda and Paco, but learns that Brenda has moved.  He then uses the suit to track down Paco at the border.  Paco is with Damper of the Posse, but they are being trailed by agents of La Dama.  The agents open fire on Paco but Blue Beetle is able to stop them and then fly Paco to safety.  Paco leads Jamie to Juarez, Mexico, where Brenda is now staying with her aunt, who is referred to as La Dama.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but this issue opens and closes with a mystery figure who obviously will play into Jaime’s life in the future.  In the middle we see how the missing year has played havoc on Jaime’s past.  I might be wrong, but I get the feeling the man in the opening will be some kind of ally for Jaime.  I know he uses the word “friend” but that also could be said sarcastically.  It just seems like Jaime needs an ally, you know an Alfred to help him be a super hero.  At this moment, Jaime is still new to the biz, a fact that is portrayed very effectively in this issue.  It was nice to see him fail at basic fighting and relying on the suit to win the battle.  The additional touches of him still learning, and learning from the scrab itself is cool, but if this goes on too long, they are in danger of creating a mess.  As I may have mentioned earlier, this series could dip into the Great American Hero area in which the show ran out of steam once the titular hero learned how to use the suit.  Jaime needs to learn as much as he can and soon so the series can focus on relationships and mysteries rather than the suit. 

The most interesting aspect of this issue was the scene in which Jaime tells his family what happened to him in the past year.  Mom’s reaction would not be unexpected, given what Jaime’s dad tells him later.  It is not often super heroes have families; much less tell their families what is happening to him (I am trying to think of a similar character, but am failing miserably.  Little help?).  I like the fact that this story is being pursued and I hope this continues. 

I’ve got to hand it to the art team of Cynthia Martin and Phil Moy.  I didn’t even realize that regular artist Cully Hamner was missing from the issue.  Even now, the art so closely matches Hamner’s work that it is hard to notice.  Good work!

 

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