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Blue Beetle #1
Book Released: 29 March 2006
Review posted: 02 April 2006
Writer: Keith Giffen, John Rogers
Artist: Cully Hamner
Publisher: DC Comics
5.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by Adam White
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Who lit the fire under Keith Giffen this year?
Seriously, Giffen has produced a metric ton of solid work in the last six months or so for a variety of companies in a variety of genres, making him the new Renaissance Man. Truthfully, I’m a big Ted Kord fan and despised the pointless way DC disposed of him, and would probably not have picked up the new Blue Beetle #1 without Giffen’s involvement. Yet once again Giffen has made strawberries out of oranges, creating a new Blue Beetle that is significantly different enough to be judged on his own merit.
Giffen created a new Blue Beetle that is significantly different enough to be judged on his own merit.
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Giffen and co-writer John Rogers pack this first issue with action, mystery, and fun, introducing us to the new characters that populate the world of Jaime, the new Blue Beetle. Jaime, his family, and his friends not only all immediately feel like real people but like ones you’ve known all your life and enjoy being around. The dialogue is spot-on, which is especially refreshing for the younger characters, as many teenagers represented in comics do not sound very accurate. The fight between Beetle and Guy Gardner also rings true, as Beetle is inexperienced and has no idea where his armor even came from, let alone how to utilize it properly. Excellent writing throughout, and potentially a great new hero in the making.
Cully Hamner’s art is absolutely amazing; from his stylish front cover to the end of the issue, Hamner produces a visually fluid story that is clean, detailed, and draws your eye to every panel. Hamner’s teens look like teens, and he populates Beetle’s world with real humans instead of models. Hamner’s design for the new Beetle armor is outstanding — one of the best costume designs I’ve seen in quite some time. Hamner is a superstar, and the sooner people catch on to that the better off we’ll all be.
Blue Beetle could easily find its way onto my Top Ten list very soon, if Giffen and Co. keep up the solid work. I would like to see some of the mysteries introduced in #1 explored sooner rather than later, just so that the characters (and not the mysteries) remain the focus of the series. Regardless, this is one of the few good things to come out of the whole Infinite Crisis debacle, so please go buy this book while you still can.
—CCdC—
Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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