A boy and his Bugsuit...
The Story:
I have never read an issue of Blue Beetle in my life so I decided to check this out. Jaime Reyes is your average Mexican-American teenager growing up in El Paso, Texas. He has problems with girls, bullies, annoying parents and all of the usual teenager drama. His problems only get worse when he accidentally stumbles across the Blue Beetle Scarab and it complicates his life in ways he never thought possible.
Instead of simple teenage issues & angst, he now finds himself dealing with super villains gunning for his scarab, his friend’s aunt using black magic to get her hands on it and not to mention the intergalactic race that created the Scarab wants to reclaim it. To make matters even worse, the Scarab itself seems to have a mind of its own and isn’t easy to get along with either. All of these factors combine to make Jaime’s life an absolute living hell.
Thoughts:
I had zero expectations for this coming in since I know next to nothing about the character. I came away pleasantly surprised though and enjoyed this first volume. Bedard does a good job of not only giving us a great look at Jaime’s personal life but also includes a detailed origin for the Scarab and it’s intergalactic history. It’s a story centered around teenagers so it may not be for everyone. In my opinion its a fun filled story with a good deal of action mixed in with some solid character development. The art is solid throughout and doesn’t take away from the story.
Score: 3.5/5