DCU Comic Book Reviews

BLUE BEETLE #9

Inside Man

January 2007

Written by John Rogers

Pencils by Duncan Rouleau

Inks by Duncan Rouleau

Cover by Duncan Rouleau

Synopsis

At Jamie’s house, the gang reviews Danielle Garrett’s files on her grandfather, the first Blue Beetle, to see if they can learn more about the scarab.  They also get to learn more about the Peacemaker, who tells them his story about the scarab and he learned it was alien technology.  When his story is finished, the gang sees that the blue beetle is all over the tv with news of his battle with the monster.  Later, Paco introduces Jaime to two computer geeks who have designed a virtual Blue Beetle cave to help him fight crime.  Elsewhere, Brenda is watching on tv the Blue Beetle rescue people at a five-alarm fire when she overhears her aunt talking to Fire, from Checkmate.  Brenda goes back to investigate her aunt’s study when she finds a small box.  A moment later, an explosion rocks the house.  Her aunt investigates, but can’t find Brenda....  

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

“Cuz if there’s one clear rule in this world, it’s do not stick your finger in the ancient alien coffin.”

The Blue Beetle may be an old idea with a vast history of previous heroes, which is being played upon in this book, but Jaime as the Blue Beetle is new to the super hero game.  To that extent, this is also the focus of the book:  how does Jaime accept what has happened to him and what does he do with it.  This particular issue tackles this problem and like all other previous issues, it does it with humor, flair, style, and great characters.  The dialogue is this books best part and it shines in the first couple pages as they go through the files.  The moment when Jaime’s dad blows up at Peacemaker was also wonderfully handled, with the looks on the kids faces priceless.  The virtual Blue Beetle cave is a fantastic idea (not everyone has a mansion to dig underneath), but the idea works even better because it was not Jaime who came up with the idea, but Paco.  While Jaime is still grappling with what the scarab did to him, Paco is thinking what he should be doing with the scarab.  And then, before Jaime goes to the fire, he has a surreal conversation with his parents about what he can and can not do that is touching for how much concern they have for him while they are still letting him do what he feels he must.  Essentially, Jaime is trying to find his place in the world, a common theme for all teenagers.  As a parent and a son, I can relate to the situation, although there was never any alien technology involved and the monsters were only the class bully.  But, I digress.  In this day and age there are comic book heroes with such deep histories, it is rare to find a book willing to slowly develop that hero over time and Blue Beetle is doing just that.

 

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