And so The Little Series That Couldn’t finally meets its end. It’s hard to know exactly what else Blue Beetle could have done to earn some much-needed support from DC – apparently, coming up with the best new lead character the publisher has had in years, not to mention a superb and immediately-engaging supporting cast, throwing in a unique and kind of brilliant costume and power set, enjoying immediate popularity when translating the character to a new popular Batman cartoon series, being more respectful to the character’s antecedents than Dan Didio has ever been, and telling stories that start out as witty teen-tries-to-cope-with-powers comedy drama (under Giffen and Rogers) before exploding into an utterly awesome and epic alien invasion saga (under Rogers solo), simply won’t cut it if you’re not written by Geoff Johns. Alright, so the series had settled down into being “good” rather than “excellent” under Matthew Sturges, and never seemed to have quite the same visual spark without Cully Hamner or Rafael Albuquerque on art duties, but it was still generally entertaining and one of DC’s absolute best current superhero books – so cutting the series so drastically short and fobbing Jaime off into the terminally-dull Teen Titans seems like unduly harsh punishment.

As it happens, underneath a  wonderful Hamner cover (echoing his equally wonderful cover to #1) is an issue that sees the title going out with a bit of a whimper, rather than a bang. There’s a definite sense of trying to tidy up Jaime’s individual mythology and supporting cast as quickly as possible – so as to leave him little in the way of unnecessary baggage for his ongoing team-based adventues – and it’s probably this that results in the rushed and somewhat ill-thought-out sudden death of one of those secondary characters. There’s nothing like enough page time for the likes of Paco, Brenda and Traci – the people who’ve helped make the book so distinctively great – and the battle with the Kdra, despite its tragic consequences, feels too inconsequential when compared with the final issues of Rogers’ run. Visually it suffers, too, and you can’t help but wish Hamner had been able to return for the interiors as well as the cover. It feels rushed and particularly sloppy in the closing pages, while I still can’t get over how Barberi misinterprets the “horns” on the back of the costume, especially as you’ve got them being done properly on the issue’s front.

But Sturges still knows how to throw out some neat moments, and he – like Rogers – is suitably respectful of the legacy of the Blue Beetle name, so there’s plenty of spiel in Jaime’s “hero reconsidering his role” internal monologue (a standard feature of any character’s final issue) about living up to Kord and Garrett. Indeed, it’s this that leads to perhaps the best moment of the writer’s brief run – as Jaime falls through space, he ponders that “Dan Garrett in this situation would probably have done something dashing and bold that got him out of the scrape just in the nick of time. Ted Kord would have done something clever and out of left field. And he would have chuckled while he did it. But I don’t know what Dan would have done. And I don’t know what Ted would have done. I’m not them,” before coming up with a solution that combines the best of both of them. It’s a lovely moment, and demonstrative of what this character and series are… were… capable of.

It’s a crying shame that DC haven’t given this excellent title more support – I know that when something’s just not selling, it’s not selling, but I’ve never seen promotional material for it like I have for, say, Captain Britain, and simply not bothering to try and capitalise on the success of Jamie’s Brave and the Bold episode was downright baffling – and it makes me more than a little annoyed at them. I’ll be trying to keep up with Jaime’s future adventures as best as possible, and hopefully his supporting cast will still be around as well – but the unique little niche that Blue Beetle had carved out for itself will be sorely missed.

Reviews of Blue Beetle #35, Daredevil #115, Mister X: Condemned #2, Ultimate Spider-Man #130 and another of those Shameless Plugs we’ve neglected to include for a while!

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Another batch of capsule reviews from the Comics Daily team, including Blue Beetle #33, Captain America #44, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #4, Ultimate X-Men #98 and X-Force #9. Continue reading »

Something a bit different this Tuesday, since it’s been a quiet week for comics – at least, for comics worth saying anything about. While the series in question is already up to its second episode, I thought it worth taking a quick look at the pilot episode of the new DC-related animated series Batman : The Brave and the Bold…

The instinctive reaction, of course, is to say “What? Another Batman cartoon?” And coming so soon after the disappointing The Batman, it’s probably a valid one. However, targeted as it is at something of a younger market, The Brave and the Bold is arguably more distinct from the Dini/Tamm Batman series than the Begins­-inspired effort, and quite frankly it’s all the better for it. Following in the footsteps of the likes of Teen Titans Go, it’s a slick, light-hearted, extravagant slice of all-ages fun, and well worth checking out despite its apparent simplicity.

It’s strange, though, in that it takes its cues from a version of Batman that was once the most common public perception of the character, but which has been finally eroded by two different movie franchises and the aforementioned early ‘90s animated classic. It’s Silver Age, pure and simple. This is a Batman who’s known more as a “superhero” than a grim vigilante, who bats nary an eyelid at flying through wormholes with rocket-powered wings, and who actually… you know… smiles.

But while there are tropes clearly lifted from the ‘60s TV series – a wry musical sting here, a rope-tied deathtrap cliffhanger there – there’s a crucial difference in that this Batman isn’t camp in an Adam West kind of way. There’s a sense of fun, and there are jokes, but it never takes the piss (even with comedian Diedrich Bader giving a suitably bombastic lead vocal performance) – the superheroics are genuinely on the level, and a strong balance is maintained. It’s nice to see a nod, too, to one of the strongest ever examples of the fusion of comedy and non-parodic superhero stories – the villain in the throwaway pre-credits sequence, the Clock King, while he’s changed quite significantly, is drawn from Giffen and deMatteis’ seminal Justice League run.

Another masterstroke, meanwhile, is in the use of the new Blue Beetle as the first episode’s guest character (each weekly, unconnected tale features, as if you hadn’t guessed from the title, a different character teaming up with Bats). While a few obvious changes and simplifications are made, it’s generally a note-perfect rendition of one of the DCU’s best new characters of recent years (we even get an appearance by Paco!), and merely strengthens the opinion that he (a) shouldn’t have had his series cancelled, and (b) should quite probably get his own cartoon. The young, generally-unsure-of-himself but occasionally-gets-carried-away hero is a good foil for a square-jawed, all-hero Batman, and his origins and power set fit well with the outer-space theme of the episode.

Topped off by some genuinely brilliant animation – fast-paced and McCracken/Tartakovsy-esque, with some absolutely lovely flashes – it may be a little simple and straightforward, but it’s a very well-produced cartoon, and it’s clearly got its heart in the right place. It’s not going to set the world on fire, but given the generally po-faced and overly “dark” nature of most DC properties nowadays, it’s nice to see someone doing something a bit lighter.

A busy weekend means a slightly smaller-than-usual column, but luckily Seb’s still around to deliver the goods – an examination of the Spanish Language issue of Blue Beetle, and another Batman theory as Morrison’s run speeds towards the finish line. By contract, I manage to contribute nothing but a couple of links to articles I wrote elsewhere about Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the Iron Man movie press conference! Continue reading »

Ed Brubaker’s latest Criminal TPB – Lawless – gets looked at by James, there’s some scary news about the future of Buffy Season 8, a tip about one of comics’ up-and-coming artist offering cut-price commissions, some speculation about just what’s going on with the GL Corps’ new rivals and a little more about Morrison’s Batman.

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