DCU Comic Book Reviews

BLUE BEETLE #24

EndGame, Part Three:  Outside-In

April 2008

Written by John Rogers

Pencils by Rafael Albuquerque

Inks by Rafael Albuquerque

Cover by Rafael Albuquerque

Synopsis

The Reach have just bombed the home of Jaime Reyes (aka Blue Beetle).  His family and friends are safe, however, thanks to the timely help from Traci 13.  On the Reach spaceship, Jaime has been stripped of the scarab’s power and toss into a prison cell.  He still retains the knowledge he gleaned from the scarab, he is able to escape and reach the ship’s launch bay, steals a shuttle and heads for the engines.  On Earth, the Reach attempt to apprehend Jaime’s family, but the Peacemaker, La Dama, and the Posse arrive to help protect them.  Meanwhile, Jaime makes it to the engines, but gets there too late as the Negotiator has guessed his plan and turned the engines off.  Jaime switches to Plan B.  He enters a code into the ship’s computer.  Just then, then Reach catch Jaime, but they don’t understand the code he entered.  The Negotiator threatens to kill Jaime and asks if he has any last words.  Jaime says:  “Khaji Da!”

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

There are times when I find that I really don’t have much more to add than pretty much every other review I have given for this title.  Rogers has hit his groove with this story and I can’t wait to see how Jaime ends the battle with the Reach, even though I just really don’t want this story to end.  Everything from Traci 13 meeting Jaime’s parents to La Dama and the Posse coming to help to Jaime’s comments about Blue Beetle needing no stinking powers, Rogers makes the issue sparked with energy, excitement, and laughter.  More importantly, a lot of these scenes not only work in this issue, but it also builds on previous readers, rewarding long-term readers.  I have been reading this since the beginning and everything about these past couple of issues have been nothing but short of brilliant. 

The original Dan Garret could transform into the Blue Beetle by saying the words, “Kaji Dha.”  It is close enough to what Jaime says that I worry DC made a really, really big typo.  But since this is DC and Jaime is a legacy character, I’ve got to believe that the different spelling was done on purpose, such as Jaime using the phrase as a tribute to Dan, but making it different enough not to impinge on Dan’s legacy.