Blue Beetle (2023-) Vol. 1: Scarab War!

by Josh Trujillo, Wil Quintana (colorist), Adrián Gutiérrez (cover_art)

Blue Beetle joins the ranks of “Dawn of DC” as the Scarab War begins!

The follow-up to the hit Blue Beetle: Graduation Day series finds Jaime Reyes enjoying his new life in Palmera City, also operating as his alter ego Blue Beetle. He’s got a new crop of Beetle’s to train alongside his childhood friends Paco and Brenda! However, there’s a new evil lurking in the shadows and the Scarab War has only just begun. Jaime Reyes joins Dawn of DC in the first volume of his new ongoing series.

Collects Blue Beetle #1-6

Genres: Dc Comics, Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics

135 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 13, 2024

Reviews

[Paul]

2.4 stars.

[Anna Quilter]

3.5


Along with GRADUATION DAY...I am embracing Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle.
Supporting characters are wide and varied and it's just a bit more serious than Ted (Teddy to his sister!) version...although not so much.

[Dan]

Really enjoyed this and think it may have been better if I had known who all of the other players were in this story. Apparently there are other beetles?

[Adam Fisher]

I've been away from my work sick and didn't get to post this till more than a week after I finished it.
Was very good and dealt with a battle against the Blood Scarab, which Jaime was only able able to defeat with the help of the man inside the Blood Scarab AND Khaji-Da taking over for Jaime and making the killing blow.
At the end, Jaime is teleported away somewhere, so I am interested to see what is next for this hero.

Recommend.

[Brady]

More enjoyable than I expected from Blue Beetle. Really enjoyed how it explain some origin and previous stories. Nice tie in.

[Chris Lemmerman]

Picking up from the end of the Graduation Day mini-series, Jaime's adventures continue with the arrival of a new Blood Scarab, who has a greater tie to the Blue Beetle legacy than even Ted Kord will realise.

I really appreciate what Josh Trujillo is doing here - it's a bit like what Geoff Johns did for Green Lantern, introducing new sects and power sets, and expanding Jaime's supporting cast with some movie-familiar and some brand new characters too. Victoria Kord's a favourite, because she's such an evil cow, and I'm glad Paco and Brenda get to stick around too.

It feels like Jaime is growing up - he's been a teen hero since his inception, and while I'd be surprised to see him on the Justice League any time soon, it definitely feels like he's maturing and having to face some deeper questions than ever before.

Lifelong Jaime fans and newcomers alike will find a lot to like here. The love and care from all involved is evident on every page.

[Guilherme Smee]

Antes da edição anterior de Besouro Azul eu nunca tinha lido uma história solo do personagem (as fases anteriores não foram publicadas no Brasil, a não ser a fase dos Novos 52, que era muito ruim). Eu gostei muito dessa nova fase: tem tudo que eu gosto, um personagem principal cativante, subtramas e personagens coadjuvantes bem usados. Vale destacar que a equipe criativa é toda de latinos, trazendo representatividade para a representação de um personagem que também é latino, Jaime Reyes. Os desenhos de Adrian Gutierrez são muito expressivos e lembram um pouco o exagero dos mangás, mas com características próprias. Este segundo encadernado foi um pouco menos divertido que o primeiro, por ser centrado mais nas ameaças do Escaravelho Sangrento, uma antítese do Besouro Azul, mas ainda assim vale bastante a leitura. Se o filme do Besouro Azul trouxe alguma coisa boa para o personagem foi essa ótima fase em quadrinhos.

[Ross]

Giving Blue Beetle a connection to the Silver Age Blue Beetle takes time...
(and this is the..3rd retcon of the character?)

This is an ongoing 'rebuilding phase' in the modern Blue Beetle. They've given Jaimie Reyes a new place to live, established The Reach as a new minority in town, and given Jaimie a new 'corp(?) of scarab wielders.

They've even dusted off Ted Kord and his...sister (giving LexCorp a run for its money, now).

This restart pushes Jaimie into a leadership role after being, essentially, a teen hero for the last ....10-15 years? For a title that's been continually cancelled and reworked, hopefully this sticks.
-----
Bonus: The real question is does retconning this character help or hurt?
Bonus Bonus: Wouldn't be a Blue Beetle story without time travel at some point...

[Xander Haan]

Blue Beetle Vol. 1: Scarab War - 4 / 5 Stars

I liked this a lot! It had a lot of truly epic moments. Especially with such a gorgeous art style oh my gosh. I’m just always happy and grateful to see Jaime have an ongoing series (even though… I don’t think it’s ongoing anymore?).

I’m excited to read the next volume! I loved the Blood Scarab i thought he was a great villain. I will say the thing I struggled with this book was all of the supporting characters. It’s been a long time since I read graduation day so i forgot about a lot of them. But I do miss when it was Jaime, Brenda, and Paco with a dream! I do like starfire’s inclusion though for sure.

Onto the next book!

[Angel (akoyfish)]

Feeling lukewarm on this series so far. Jaime is struggling with indecision worrying that he'll mess up not only as a superhero but in his personal life too. I think I'm missing out on Jaime having a strong supporting cast. Paco and Brenda are there but he doesn't spend much time with them. His aunts barely feature. They've introduced two new Beetles that Jaime is purportedly guiding as superheroes, but six issues haven't done much to characterize them. I'll hold out for the next volume and see. Ultimately I am glad to be reading something new about Jaime.

[Sean]

Josh Trujillo's colorful Blue Beetle series continues from Graduation Day and its in the same vein. There are more color coded beetle shenanigans that still feel somewhat cheap but the antagonist ends up being interesting. There were some big happenings here and its surprising. I wished there were some more time for Jaime to deal with his real life but this was all chaos. The art continues to be electric. I'm really enjoying the work of Adrian Gutierrez. Overall, fun and powerful with pacing issues and cliches.

[Chad]

This was alright. Kind of sick of all the Blue Beetle retcons but at least he seems stable again now after a move (but moving his friends along with him which kind of makes no sense.), the return of Ted Kord who apparently now has a sister and a bunch of additional Beetles. This felt very decompressed. I also thought Guitterez's art was just OK. Too many lack of backgrounds that he tried to hide behind a lot of effects. Otherwise, not bad.

[Joe Bogue]

I like reading Blue Beetle series because Jaime's life is always more interesting than his time as his heroic alter ego. That holds true of this series. The Blue Beetle scenes in this were a mess. If you're gonna do Big Bad Beetle Borgs than do Big Bad Beetle Borgs. The fight scenes reminded me of Radiant Black, both in coloring and the fact that it's impossible to tell what's happening/who just hit whom...

[Jimmy]

I haven't really enjoyed the Jaime version of blue beetle until this story arc. I loved every bit of it. I hope the storytelling continues like this!

[John Reimer]

Such a blast reading it. Had to race out to grab book 2 before i could finish. So glad i did because the ending has me asking so many questions.

[Will Cooper]

Not my fave but some interesting new beetles.

[J.R.]

Yet another DC book with an enemy from the past. Unlikeable characters. The title is misleading; there's no war, just a couple battles.

[Vijay Williams]

Jaime's story just keeps getting better. Shame the next volume is the end