Blue Beetle - Before 2011 Renumbering #19

I’ll just start here by saying I absolutely love the new Blue Beetle. No, I don’t like what happened to Ted. But I love the new Blue Beetle. It’s smart, fun, moves quickly with a minimum of “decompression,” and I seriously think it’s one of the best titles on the stands today. For the late-comers, Jaime Reyes is a teenager who found Dan Garrett’s original scarab, which fused itself to his spine. When danger threatens, the scarab covers Jaime in a suit of armor, making him the new Blue Beetle.

This issue features a throwdown between Jaime and Giganta, allowing showcasing Beetle’s “organization.” And, since BB has the best hand’s down supporting cast in a current comic, it adds up to a great story. Jaime is hopelessly outclassed by Giganta, and has to rely on his training from Peacemaker and the advice of his friends to bring the big woman down. Furthermore, Giganta’s target is the crime queen La Dama. Since it’s tough to hide an attack by a 50-foot woman, the storyline sets up a change in the status quo for the book

Without giving too much away, there’s a nice balance between large-scale superhero action and more personal interaction between the characters in this issue, and the best part is that it’s essentially done-in-one. No six-issue arc where Beetle gets beat down, comes back, blah, blah. And it’s accomplished with a large dose of humor – Peacemaker’s reflection on the trials of fighting a gigantic babe with a group of teenage boys is hysterical.