Blue Beetle, Blue Beetle, Blue Beetle!
The Good: IG GUARA'S ARTWORK. It's not something super insane like Frazer Irving or Philip Tan or anything, but I REALLY LOVE Ig Guara's art. And he hasn't done a whole lot. I loved his work on Grodd of War, and I'm super pumped to see him on a monthly series. He draws all the main characters so well, and makes the Reach have actual variation, and the villains in the end are all drawn so cool. I really like Ig Guara's art, and he seems to be such a great fit for this series. Wish he was doing the covers though...
The prologue is an excellent introduction to the Scarab. Hits all the right notes. It's cool, tense, has a Green Lantern, ancient civilizations; it feels very epic, like a movie. This is how a Blue Beetle movie would start.
It's good to see the characters haven't lost their personalities. They seem to be refined. They have some of the development they went through, even though they're starting back at the beginning.
There's a lot of nods to big things from the previous Blue Beetle series. Brenda's Aunt, Paco's flirting, etc. For new readers, this is plot threads being created. For old readers, these are almost easter eggs.
So many cool choices for villains. Some I don't know but I love the designs, other haven't been used a whole lot but are cool. Brutale and Plasmius; and mentions of The Brain and Monsieur Mallah!? SO MUCH YES.
The transformation being painful is well emphasized in an extremely well laid out scene.
The Bad: Ugh. The cover is just dull and uninteresting. The artwork is ok on it, and the posing is trying to be cool, but not succeeding. And the solid color background makes things even more boring. I think some people might skip out on this due to the mediocre cover, and they really shouldn't.
I'm torn. As good a choice for accessibility it was to start over, and as much as I like the nods to previous continuity; I feel a little cheated. I'm not 100% sure I like Blue Beetle starting over, not to mention the fact that some old readers might be frustrated by this retreading of familiar ground.
In Conclusion: 4/5
Ig Guara is doing art for a monthly series. I'm so happy about that. I'm just nervous about this series due to the bland covers. But the artwork is great, the characterizations stellar, the choice of villains interesting, and the pacing excellent. I can't wait to see this series continue.
