Blue Beetle #1

Story by Keith Griffen and Scott Kolins

Script by Keith Griffen

Art by Scott Kolins

Published by DC Comics

Two of my favorite characters are Jaime Reyes (the new Blue Beetle) and Ted Kord (Silver age Blue Beetle) and to my delight at the top of page one are both. This has been one of the best attributes of Rebirth. Properties that were criminally neglected during New 52 are reintroduced to the limelight. Ted Kord has mostly been in torpor since Doomsday put him in a coma twenty-one years ago. Sure, he’s popped up now and again (pretty much just to be murdered a few times), but he has been ignored almost entirely since DC’s New 52 initiative.

Now the silver age icon is back and has taken Jaime Reyes, the best of the 3rd generation heroes created by DC, under his wing. Kord guides Jaime through an investigation of missing students and the inevitable confrontation with a superpowered baddie. Things looked good for fans at first.

Unfortunately, the comedy hijinx that brightened stories about Booster Gold and Blue Beetle’s antics are utterly lost in Blue Beetle #1. Ted Kord zings plenty of one liners, but few of them are worthy of a chuckle. Instead of being a lovable prankster with Spider-Man-tier wit, he’s just an infuriating jerk. At one point in this issue, Jaime is forced to ask him, “A straight answer would stick in your throat like a chicken bone, wouldn’t it?” If it’s written in the pages of the comic, writer Keith Griffen had to appreciate how frustrating the dialogue was

Jaime’s best friend Brenda is even more aggravating than Kord because she constantly, breathlessly, without a moment of reprieve, verbally assaults their friend Paco. It’s probably a crush or something, but damn, it’s annoying. At least she has an excuse to be immature because she’s an acne-faced young girl. However, no matter the excuse, relentless sarcasm, cover-to-cover, gets old. If Keith Griffen paid attention to the writing decisions that made Brian Michael Bendis popular, he’d realize that Bendis layers sincerity into banter. Blue Beetle #1 has no such subtlety.

Blue Beetle #1 is not a terrible exercise in storytelling, but it is only skin deep. It passes off friendly ribbing as character development. Based of what we see here, Jaime, Paco and Brenda should not hang out together. They have a toxic friendship built solely upon barbed insults.

I wanted so much more for both Jaime Reyes and Ted Kord.  Even though a team-up of such great characters still has promise, this was not the right foot forward for their new relationship.