A Bug On the Wall
The Good: The artwork's not amazing, but it's perfectly fine. Much cleaner than some of the other artists from the time.
Blue Beetle is always a fun character. Reading his series so far has been amusing. It's not the most hilarious thing ever, but it's nice and light hearted.
It's part of some huge crossover event, 'Millennium, but it does a great job of making this appear almost as a one-shot story like most issues. We get filled in on some of the main details we need to know, and tells us an interesting story that isn't hampered if you haven't read the rest of Millennium.
Seeing Blue Beetle interacting with his fellow JLI members is interesting, and highlights his character pretty well , while adding scale to the story.
There's an incredibly grounded theme in this issue with Salima struggling against Misogyny in Iran as a main plot for the issue, while set in motion by the larger events swirling around the crossover. You don't need to be aware of all the huge points to enjoy this issue.
The issue ends unexpectedly dark. Even though Beetle's humor is still light this issue, the whole thing is full of gray areas and shades of darkness. It's actually blended really well.
The Bad: Catalyst is just TOO powerful. Every little thing someone does, he pulls some trick out of his ass to win. And it's not like a new gadget or anything, but powers. He has so many different powers it's hard to keep track, and hard to be believable, even in a comic book. He's a bit of a Mary Sue, just TOO powerful.
And his French accent is a bit off.
In Conclusion: 3.5/5
Millennium seems huge and complex, but that's not a problem in this issue. Despite the complexity of the event, this issue flows on by plenty smoothly. It's a neat read, with a hard, and real edge to it. The only problem is that the villain is just a bit overpowered, but in the end it kind of serves to keep the story running. I can see why some readers fell in love with Ted Kord back in the 80's, and I'm probably going to add this to my comics to collect list.