(no subject)

[skygiants]

So now that Yuletide is past and reveals have all been revealed, I can talk about some of the stuff I read during Yuletide season!

First up: Blue Beetle. Both of my roommates ended up writing Blue Beetle fics this year, which was my excuse to finally getting around to reading it. (The Jaime Reyes books, in case that wasn't clear.)

And it turns out Blue Beetle is basically almost everything I could possibly want in a superhero comic?

For visual reference, here is Jaime Reyes, tellin' his mom all about his adventures:



He's a teenaged Latino kid living in El Paso, Texas, who gets accidentally infested one day by an alien scarab that talks in his head and gives him homicidal superpowers.

Fortunately, Jaime, being a good kid, does not give into the homicidal elements! Some other things that he does not do:

- push away his family and friends in order to keep them safe
- go off to a big city to fight crime
- pine over a girl who can never know his secret
- spend chapters angsting about his life of being FOREVER ALONE

Some things that Jaime does do:

- tells his family and friends exactly what's up
- checks in with his parents before going to fight crime on a school night
- judges -- correctly -- that the people he cares about are awesome and capable with or without superpowers
- saves a lot of babies
- I mean also other people, and also the world
- BUT MOSTLY BABIES
- makes kind-of-friends with his nemesis
- and actual friends with the various other superheroes who might want to kill him
- AND EPIC BROS WITH THE HOMICIDAL ALIEN BUG IN HIS SKULL

Jaime Reyes is the best teen superhero, is what I am saying.



This is a superhero comic about ordinary people adjusting to extraordinary stuff, which is what I always want superhero comics to be and they never are. Except this one! It's about being a hero for your community; it's about how being heroic requires a support system; it's about families and friends and people being totally awesome whether or not they have superpowers. Exhibit A: Jaime's BFFs Paco and Brenda.



Also, as a bonus feature, there's a whole issue in Spanish.

So . . . maybe if I tell the universe about how these are the stories I want they will give me more of them? ARE YOU LISTENING, UNIVERSE?

Comments

[jothra]

Blue Beetle was also everything I wanted in a comic.

[skygiants]

I'm kind of glad I'm finding it now rather than while it was running, though. Because I already knew about its brief lifespan, so I don't have to be disappointed about it being rebooted into something frustrating, and can enjoy it as the excellent story it is!

(Well, okay, I'm still sort of sad.)

[jothra]

What did you think of Traci 13?

[skygiants]

I liked her but I feel like I didn't get a chance to know her very well? She was very much a cameo character in these, I don't have a great sense of her personality. But she has her own books, right?

[jothra]

Not her own series, sadly. She and her dad appeared in a meta-tastic miniseries before Blue Beetle, and then she sometimes showed up in the Teen Titans stuff.

[skygiants]

Aww, too bad! I would totally read a series about Traci 13, Magic Detective.

[jothra]

She showed up in a few other series, and in some truly craptastic crossover events.

I'd buy a trade paperback of her appearances,though.

[musesfool]

BEST COMIC.

I was so sad when the reboot basically stripped all the best things out of Blue Beetle, because the fact that he tells his friends and family and doesn't constantly lie to them is one of my favorite things ever. Also, Khaji Da's arc. <3

[skygiants]

YES! I just, man, we have had so many stories about superheroes who have to keep their identities secret that it's just kind of boring to me now. I want stories about superheroes who actually trust and respect the people around them!

I LOVED KHAJI DA. I had no idea how much I was going to love Khaji Da, but I really, really do.

[kate_nepveu]

That was one of the few things that I thought the Iron Man movies did right--I didn't realize that the "tell them all Iron Man is just your bodyguard" suggestion was actual comics _canon_, and wow, what a good thing they didn't go there. (Tony trusting and respecting the people around him with other things, though . . . )

Anyway, this sounds adorable and I shall certainly put it on my ever-expanding list!

[skygiants]

Yeah, I was really glad about that too! (Though I never actually ended up seeing Iron Man 2 -- although I may end up doing so before Iron Man 3 comes out, just out of an urge for completionism.)

Anyway, it's excellent, you should totally read it, especially if you happen to be jonesing for superhero friendship saving-the-world hijinks.

[kate_nepveu]

Unless you like your Tony Stark extremely dysfunctional, I cannot recommend _Iron Man 2_. It is really not a good movie.

[skygiants]

I do not really care much about Tony Stark at all! I mean I am perfectly happy to watch him snark around my screen in an entertaining fashion, but his dysfunctional manpain leaves me cold.

[kate_nepveu]

Then save yourself an unpleasant 2+ hours and skip _Iron Man 2_. (Very possibly _IM 3_ as well, but that's a problem for another day.)

[bobcatmoran]

Blue Beetle is (er...was) my favorite, too. FYI, if you haven't seen it yet, the "Young Justice" cartoon that shows weekend mornings on the Cartoon Network has Jaime!Beetle as a regular cast member.

[skygiants]

My roommates watch "Young Justice" so I've seen a few episodes, but not the whole thing in any kind of consistent order. Someday, maybe!

[opusculasedfera]

Jaime Reyes is the best! And he had the most wonderful supporting cast and everyone was fairly sensible about things and it was BEAUTIFUL. Why does DC hate fun?

[skygiants]

And this is why I can't get invested in ongoing comics series! BECAUSE DC AND MARVEL ARE TERRIBLE AND HATE EVERYTHING I LOVE. >:|

[alias_sqbr]

I read the first trade of this and loved it, i should dig up the rest.

[skygiants]

It's really good! And the first four trades make for a very complete-feeling story -- I was totally satisfied with it.

[sqbr]

Oh that is good to know, thank you! I had been a worried with all the wails of pain when it stopped that maybe there was a cliffhanger or something.

[lacewood]

This is one of the few superhero comic runs I have vaguely considered reading, I just... never got around to figuring out exactly which issues I should acquire. I should re-investigate this!

[skygiants]

For the record, the four trade volumes I read are Shellshocked, Road Trip, Reach for the Stars, and Endgame. I think that translates to Blue Beetle #1-26? And then Wikipedia tells me that there are two more volumes that I have not yet read.

I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE INVESTIGATION. :D

[settiai]

Oh, this comic. ♥

(Um, hi, by the way. *waves* I've seen some of your posts via my Network over the past few months, and I've basically been lurking for awhile. I thought it was probably time for me to come out of hiding.)

[skygiants]

IT'S SO EXCELLENT. I never thought a superhero comic would fill me with warm fuzzies!

(And hello, and welcome! :D)

[dragovianknight]

Okay, I just want you to know that you have the honor of being the person to finally make me go read Blue Beetle. Others have tried; YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED.

[skygiants]

THEN MY WORK HERE IS DONE. :D

[amalthia]

This describes all the reasons I LOVED the Blue Beetle comics. :)

[skygiants]

Jaime rescues SO MANY babies! It fills my heart with joy!

- okay mostly it's the same baby over and over, but still, I think the principle holds.

[attractivegeekery]

They're filthy ruiners over at DC. Low down filthy ruiners. I'd have totally read Blue Beetle had they not rebooted it into oblivion. Le sigh.

Highly recommend catching up on all of Young Justice. Very good 'toon that.

[skygiants]

DC is why we can't have nice things! D: D: D: (I still think the first four volumes stand pretty well as a story by themselves, though. And I can just pretend it was supposed to be that way ALL ALONG.)