Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Blue Beetle--From Garrett to Reyes

To each their own, Lardy. I haven't re-read JLI in years, so I can't really make an informed judgement.

I would recommend the early issues of Ted solo book, at least the first year or so. I know you like other stuff Len Wein's written, and even though Ted's book wasn't his best, it was still good for a while.

I do remember Ted having his moments in JLI, he was a lot more serious in the incarnation after Breakdowns. He also was more effective in the early years of the team, before the JLA/JLE split.

Not to say that he didn't have his terrible moments. Like how the only reason he managed to lose weight was because his motivation was making Power Girl jealously mad!

That's truly bizarre. And tasteless.

Oh, and thanks for posting the Who's Who entry, Thoth. I'd forgotten what a beautiful job Steve Rude did drawing Ted.

While I really don’t like the death of characters, Ted’s was a good one. Meaning I actually cared about it and thought it wasn’t a meaningless death because his death led to the downfall of Maxwell Lord. Also I really like Jaime as well. The only thing I didn’t like was that Jamie’s beetle was a bit of rip off of a Manga/Anime series from the 80's called The Guyver. An alien symbiotic talisman (scarab) that attached to a teenagers body and give him powers. Well I take that back because about not liking it. I did like it because there was no way DC would be doing the Guyver comic lol.

I never read Jaime, sorry. I like Ted's version better. I have the solo series, and grew to appreciate the JLI version for what it was, but I was diggin his return to form before his death.

There's something strong, yet quirky about the pose and expression. Here's a character daring the world with a grin on his face. A very unsettling grin.




I think that if a bullet to the head is character development, then something's gone a bit wrong somewhere

I do take the point about Ted's determination to track down Lord and uncover the threat. But that was only after he'd been completely dismissed as a buffoon by everyone who knew him. If any of those characters had cared enough to take him seriously, it would have been a different story. Since team ups is what this lot do at the drop of a hat, I felt Ted was led by the nose to his death.

Ted's death was yet another nail into the characters of everyone else too. Look what they all let happen to their colleague. Great job guys.

I liked a lot of the early JL/JLI issues. Beetle was definitely a part of that, along with his bromance with Booster. But there was definitely a tipping point where the the quality of the stories and art wasn't enough to allow the comedy to run alongside it.

Of all the DC Rebirth titles, I was disappointed when Blue Beetle started off as one of the weaker ones. It had the pitfalls of Keith Giffen's sometimes frustrating vague writing, Scott Kollin's scratchy artwork and the worst costume in all of superhero comics. It wasn't the worst DC had to offer but it was slow.

That slowly began to change in the 2nd and 3rd issues with some great usage of the Posse, a group of teenage villains, especially with the charming flirtation with Blur (one of the female members). Now, with the 4th issue, the series is finally starting to hit its pace. The connections to Dr. Fate and the Scarab legacy are enjoyable, and I love the usage of Ted Kord and even Dan Garrett. I'm even warming to Jaime's supporting cast after finding Brenda and Paco kind of annoying for the first few issues.

All in all, the series is getting better and I'm glad I've stuck it out. I much rather would have a Ted Kord-centric series with Jaime in a supporting role, but if they're committed to Jaime, then I'm on board so long as they keep it exciting. I hope they can build off of the ongoing improvements and give him some compelling antagonists and storylines. Ted's ongoing involvement is a must.

Apparently, there are some Justice League 3000 characters lurking around the edges of the series too--and I suspect one of the cast is one of them--but I honestly know absolutely nothing about Justice League 3000 and I have no idea who they are. Some I'm happy to see how this plays out.

Now if only they'd get rid of the costume.