DCU Comic Book Reviews

BLUE BEETLE #14

Mister Nice Guy

June 2007

Written by John Rogers

Pencils by Rafeal Albuquerque

Inks by Rafeal Albuquerque

Cover by Cully Hamner

Synopsis

Jaime Reyes (aka Blue Beetle) once more encounters Green Lantern Guy Gardner and once more the scarab and the ring don’t seem to like each other.  However, Guy has come to talk as he has some information on the suit that Jaime might want to hear.  Jaime agrees providing the do it on the way to the South Pole, the location of a Reach installation.  Along the way, Guy tells Jaime that the Reach and the Guardians had once fought each other, but eventually agreed to a truce:  as long as the Reach don’t take over new world, the Guardians won’t interfere in their business.  When they arrive at the South Pole, Jaime tries to remove the barriers hiding the Reach installation, but they are attacked by the Ultra-Humanite.  Thanks to the scarab, they defeat the hologram.  But when they encounter the Reach, they can find no evidence of the Reach’s installation or even the Ultra-Humanite.  Reluctantly, they leave.  Later, Guy gives Jaime a book on strategy and tells Jaime he needs to start acting smarter.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

“Is that a giant green fist?”

Rogers and Albuquerque are on a freaking awesome roll with this series as each issue just keeps maintaining high consistency of humor, action, mystery, and suspense.  And this issue is no exception.  There are some really cool moments in this issue, such as the cover, the little romance brewing between Paco and Brenda, Jaime’s mom putting the beat down to both of the heroes, the penguins, and the fight scene at the end.  Also, the narrative box that states “after the really cool bar fight,” made me snicker (in a good way) because frankly I think if the bar scene had been shown it wouldn’t have interested me (and really was not integral to the story anyway), but I like the fact that the narrator (or whatever) thought it was cool.  Yeah, I know, it is the oddest thing to make me snicker, but hey, that’s me for ya.

Guy Gardner originally appeared in the very first issue fighting the new Blue Beetle for some unknown reason.  This issue finally gives us the reason:  The Reach and the Guardians are enemies.  Not only does this make sense, but Guy also appears to help dole out more information to Jaime (and the reader) as we try to make sense of it all.  Rogers handles Guy’s character right.  He still comes across as an obnoxious jerk, but the veteran role he plays well in the Green Lantern Corps is also on display here.

 

ïPREVIOUS	Main		Page	NEXTð

Home ●  Blog ● Who Are We? ● Site News
Alive and Well since April 16, 2006

 DC Universe Reviews.  All Rights Reserved
  Characters, trademarks, brands are property of DC Comics

For problems or questions regarding this website, please contact our kindly webmaster.
Last updated: 08/06/11.