Blue Beetle #1

written by Tony Bedard
Pencils by Ig Guara

I never really knew anything about the Blue Beetle until I watched the "Batman: The Brave and Bold" series on Cartoon Network. Jaime Reyes is the teenager who inadvertently discovers the scarab costume/weapon and stumbles his way into the superhero community. I decided it would be a great idea to pick up the revamp.

The readers are introduced to the Reach, an intergalactic parasitic race that conquers worlds through the scarab proxies. One of the scarabs that is heading towards Earth is attacked by a Green Lantern but finds it's way to earth anyway where it crash lands somewhere in Mexico. Several hundred years later it is picked up by one criminal organization and intercepted by another organization headed by La Dama Amparo Cardenas. In this conflict between several super villains, Reyes encounters a scarab and becomes the Blue Beetle.

I think it was a great idea to introduce all of the villains in the 1st issue before Reyes becomes a hero. Bedard looks ready to set up the next set of issues this way. I know that DC will probably run into problems with the revamping of 52 titles when it comes to a smooth progression of a story but Bedard doesn't seem to have that problem here.

Guara's pencils are pretty good. Like most DC artists who draw and color the titles that don't sell as much, I am wholly unfamiliar with their work. I enjoyed Guara's facial expressions. Not too many comic book artists focus on facial expressions. This doesn't make Guara better than anyone but it sets him apart.

While what Bedard does isn't groundbreaking, I look forward to reading the next few issues of Blue Beetle. It would be good to see how Reyes deals with the scarab and the mess he has gotten himself into.