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Of Embassies and Origins - Justice League International Part 2 (Eaglemoss Collection v77)

  Review: Since we are doing a series of reviews focusing on Booster Gold over his nearly 40-year history, we include this one as a collection of some of his earliest appearances, dating to late 1987. That places the original publish date of these tales while his original solo series was still going strong.  This book is a beautiful, glossy hard-cover with smooth and heavy-stock paper inside, although the sometimes-low print reproduction quality leads to blurred and hard to read word balloons on occasion. It is also a rare book here in North America, as Eaglemoss Collections targeted UK fans with this series. At this point in the history of the 1987-rebooted Justice League, they have gained official United Nations recognition and sanction. To ensure their reach truly is global, they rebrand as Justice League International (as does the title of the series!) and they open new headquarters buildings around the world: New York, Paris and Moscow are included here. As this is a product of 19
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The Life of a Busy Meta-Teen: Blue Beetle (Rebirth) v1 The More Things Change

 

Cover of Blue Beetle vol 1: The More Things Change (DC Rebirth)


Review:

This ongoing Blue Beetle series is, amazingly, the ninth such series of this name in comics history. By the time it started in 2015, the second Beetle (Ted Kord) and third Beetle (Jaime Reyes) had developed a long and convoluted history. In this Rebirth, Keith Giffen and Scott Kolins share story credits and use their teamwork to weave together the best and most fun strands of that history and the Kord and Reyes runs as Blue Beetle.

The alien scarab is there, although intriguingly reimagined as magic-based rather than alien tech. The Mexican American lived experience of Reyes and his friends and family is front and center, much like in the 2023 film. Although if you are coming to these books after seeing the film, note that in this series Reyes is about 5 years younger than the movie version, and his high school and teen relationship challenges get as prominent play here as the family dynamics. Ted Kord and his flying bug and oversized goggles are here, at least in the background, along with his flippant humor and charm,

Kord provides guidance and mentoring in the heroic ways to young Jaime, and it is not always appreciated. Kord also brings the resources to better analyze the extent of the symbiotic scarab-human union. It's a side of Kord we've not seen before - rich, powerful business leader mixed with mentor to youth, and it sits a bit awkwardly atop the goofy jokester hero of the 1990s Justice League era.

There's lots of meta-human brawling here - the super-powered gang The Posse are alternately enemies and uneasy friends to Jaime; magical Mordecai nearly steals the scarab; Dr Fate is also at the margins.

But it's the humanity that gives the book its punch. Jaime's youthfulness, his ever-squabbling friends; high school gossip; parent troubles, who has time to be Blue Beetle when life is so full of other complications?

Overall, this is a very fun and fresh take on Blue Beetle.


Description:

Bonded to the Blue Beetle Scarab, teenager Jamie Reyes has no idea what he's doing with one of the most powerful weapons in the universe. But he's in luck, because his predecessor--Ted Kord--is back in the DC Universe and here to serve as the young hero's mentor! Alongside fellow teen hero Doctor Fate, this duo will have to learn how to be heroes on the fly!

Written by the legendary Keith Giffen (LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES) and illustrated by Scott Kolins (THE FLASH), Blue Beetle is back for a new generation as a part of DC Rebirth! Collects BLUE BEETLE: REBIRTH #1, BLUE BEETLE #1-5.

Rebirth honors the richest history in comics, while continuing to look towards the future. These are the most innovative and modern stories featuring the world's greatest superheroes, told by some of the finest storytellers in the business.

Honoring the past, protecting our present, and looking towards the future. This is the next chapter in the ongoing saga of the DC Universe.  The legacy continues.

Collects: Blue Beetle #1-5 and Blue Beetle: Rebirth #1

Authors: Keith Giffen
Artists: Scott Kolins
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: May 16, 2017
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN: 978-1401268688
Pages: 144 pages


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