DCU Comic Book Reviews

BLUE BEETLE #11

The Guns Of Forever

March 2007

Written by John Rogers

Pencils by Rafeal Albuquerque

Inks by Rafeal Albuquerque

Cover by Rafeal Albuquerque

Synopsis

Thanks to a Mother box, Brenda has been transported to a distant planet in which she finds one of the New Gods, Lonar.  Her friend Jamie Reyes (aka Blue Beetle) follows to save her.  Also appearing on the planet is another of the New Gods, Metron.  On Earth, at La Dama’s house, Paco is buys trying to find a way to find Jaime and Brenda.  Meanwhile, Metron tells Blue Beetle them that planet is trap, designed by Devilance the Pursuer to trap the New Gods.  Before he leaves, Blue Beetle decides they need to dismantle the planet’s traps to help the eep-eep creatures.  While Lonar and Blue Beetle battle the planet’s defenses, Metron and Brenda teleport to the power center and disable it and restoring the planet back to the way it was.  Afterwards, Blue Beetle wants to question from Metron on the scarab’s true nature, but the Boom Tube takes him back home before he gets any answers.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

“Huge fancy-talking guys with swords on top of giant super-horses fighting evil!  I take it back! Outer space is very cool!”

This issue marks the second time John Rogers has written an issue without Keith Giffen, although this time around Giffen won’t be returning to the title.  Like before, there is very little noticeable difference in the writing.  Yet this was not one of my favorite issues of the Blue Beetle, even though the trademark humor and striking characteristics are still evident.  I can’t really say what was wrong with it, other than the appearance of Metron, a character that seemingly has all the answers about the Blue Beetle for Jaime, yet we get none of them (other than the non-lethal bit).  Essentially, Metron’s part in this story was a really big tease.  I don’t like teases. 

My favorite bit was the small scene on Earth in which La Dama re-assesses her opinion of Paco.  In the past several issues I was also doing the same, as it seemed as if Paco had gone from loveable loser to someone with a lot of fortitude and reserve.  The change has been gradual and it has been enjoyable to see how well he has adapted to his role as Blue Beetle’s sidekick.

It seems to me that Lonar’s sword and longbow disappear and reappear on a whim.  I am not certain if this is part Lonar’s powers or if the artist was not paying attention to detail.  I would like to believe the former, so let’s go with that.