Double-Sized Issue Reviews!

*This article includes spoilers from Blue Beetle: Graduation Day #1*

Dan Garret, Ted Kord, and Jaime Reyes. All three men have taken the title of Blue Beetle during different ages of comics—Dan Garret and Ted Kord being golden age and silver age heroes at Charlton comics before being acquired by DC Comics. Jaime Reyes became the most recent Blue Beetle following Infinite Crisis at DC, and is a staple on shows like Young Justice. 

While Ted Kord may be one of the most beloved iterations of the character, Jaime Reyes has been gaining popularity in the DC Community—not only for being a legacy hero (a hero taking the mantle of another hero) but for being a latino superhero. Jaime is one of the most prominent brown skinned heroes in comics—representing a continent of people (including the author of this article). This representation is encapsulating and inspiring. Hispanic people, Latino people, Indigenous people, they all are being made visible here. 

Now, something extremely interesting about this comic is the spanish being spoken—especially the length—a few pages are completely in spanish. Even though a vast amount of readers who only speak English may not understand it, this is a love letter to those who speak the language. It is inclusive to people who never get comics in their language. It is validation. It is a blessing. 

Moving into the mindset of plot, the story begins with Jaime’s high school graduation. Of course he is going through the motions of being a teenager, but he also deals with the weight of being a superhero. This means barely making it to his high graduation. He even misses walking across the stage to receive his diploma, as the scarab sends him into space right as his name is called. 

While his lifestyle is being established for the reader, Jaime is rocketed into space by his scarab, where it begins speaking in “reach”, which freaks Jaime out. As Jaime returns to Earth, he walks into his graduation party, only to be greeted by Superman! It is then Superman asks to speak with Jaime, and after congratulating Jaime on his achievement (and speaking Spanish with Jaime’s mother), Superman announces he is grounding Jaime—in fact, all the heroes are grounding Jaime for his own good. After leaving Jaime, Superman reveals in a conversation with Batman that the Reach are returning. And Jaime isn’t to be trusted.

The final moving piece of this issue comes to a halt as Jaime learns someone close to him is in danger in Ecuador, and he needs to save her. 

Overall, this series is a breath of fresh air to the legacy of Blue Beetle. While this is a 6-issue limited series, the effects of it may reach beyond these pages. It also stands as a gift to latino readers who have been radically underrepresented in comics. And fans of Young Justice will remember “The Reach” and be aching to learn more about them in this series! If you still have not picked up your copy at your local LCS, I highly recommend you do!