| Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle | |
|---|---|
 Portion of the variant cover art ofInfinite Crisis #5 (April 2006). Art byJim Lee. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | As Jaime Reyes: Infinite Crisis #3 (February 2006) As Blue Beetle: Infinite Crisis #5 (April 2006) |
| Created by | Keith Giffen John Rogers Cully Hamner |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Jaime Reyes |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Justice League Justice League International Teen Titans Young Justice Secret Six |
| Partnerships | Batman Booster Gold Traci Thirteen Robin Static Miss Martian Peacemaker Starfire |
| Notable aliases | Blue Beetle, Scarab |
| Abilities | See list
|
Jaime Reyes is asuperhero appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. Created byKeith Giffen,John Rogers, andCully Hamner,[1] the character made his first appearance inInfinite Crisis #3 (February 2006). Jaime Reyes is the third character to assume the mantle ofBlue Beetle, but is substantially different from his predecessors.
Introduced in 1939, the original Blue Beetle,Dan Garret, was aFox Comics police officer who fought crime with superpowers gained by ingesting Vitamin 2X. A revamped version of this character,archaeologist Dan Garrett, introduced in 1964 byCharlton Comics drew mystical abilities from an ancientEgyptianscarab. Published by Charlton Comics and later DC, 1966 creationTed Kord was Garrett's student who continued his legacy of costumed crime-fighting, although he had no superpowers.
DC's introduction of Jaime Reyes in 2006retconned and expanded upon the Blue Beetlemythos. Revealed to be alien in origin, the scarab bonds with Reyes shortly after Kord's death and provides him with a suit of extraterrestrial armor. Though only a teenager, Reyes quickly forms a working relationship with Kord's former teammate and best friendBooster Gold and is inducted into theTeen Titans and theJustice League.
Blue Beetle has appeared in various media outside comics.Will Friedle, Eric Lopez,Jake T. Austin, and others have voiced the character in animated television series and films. Jaren Brandt Bartlett portrayed the character in a 2011 episode of the television seriesSmallville, andXolo Maridueña portrayed the character in the 2023 live-action filmBlue Beetle, set in theDC Extended Universe, and will continue to play the character in the rebootedDC Universe (DCU) franchise.
Jaime Reyes debuted as Blue Beetle inInfinite Crisis #5 (March 2006). His own monthly series debuted two months later withBlue Beetle vol. 7 #1 (May 2006);[2] it was initially written byKeith Giffen andJohn Rogers,[3] with artistCully Hamner.[4] Giffen left before issue #10 and Rogers took over full writing duties, joined by artistRafael Albuquerque.[5] Rogers left in issue #25 to concentrate on his television seriesLeverage.
After a couple of fill-in issues,Lilah Sturges became the main writer in issue #29.[6] The series was canceled with issue #36 in February 2009.[7] EditorDan DiDio attributed the cancellation to poor sales and said thatBlue Beetle was "a book that we started with very high expectations, but it lost its audience along the way".[8]
The character returned in June 2009 as a "co-feature" of the more popularBooster Gold comic.[9]
Jaime lives inEl Paso, Texas, and is the son ofAlberto Reyes andBianca Reyes and the brother ofMilagro Reyes. Jaime has an acute sense of responsibility for his immediate family and friendsPaco andBrenda Del Vecchio, though he complains about having to sort out their problems.[2] He derives strength and courage from his family's support, wanting what is best for them.
The mystical scarab that had givenDan Garrett his powers had been thought destroyed. When it was found intact, it was given toTed Kord, who was never able to use it. After an attack byBrother Eye, the scarab appeared energized and Ted brought it to the wizardShazam, who took it and sent Ted away. Shortly after, in theDay of Vengeance storyline, Shazam is killed and the scarab is blasted across Earth.[2]
The scarab arrives inEl Paso, Texas, where it is found by Jaime. Not long after,Booster Gold appears at Jaime's house to retrieve the scarab, but it has fused itself to Jaime's spine. Booster recruits Jaime forBatman's assault on Brother Eye. Once Brother Eye is sent plummeting towards Earth, Jaime is teleported away by the scarab.
Jaime is next seen in his own monthly series, fighting off Green LanternGuy Gardner, who had been driven to rage by his ring's reaction to the scarab. A flashback expanded on Jaime's discovery of the scarab, revealing how the scarab bonded itself to Jaime and showing his first encounter with ametahuman. After his fight with Guy, Jaime finds himself alone and naked in the desert and has to hitchhike home. Upon his return, Jaime discovers that he had been missing fora year because the scarab used a dimensional mode of transport to return to Earth. Unlike most superheroes, Jaime shared his identity with family and friends.
The scarab is revealed to be an extraterrestrial weapon that was created by the alienReach, but was magically freed from their control by the first humans it encountered. Guy Gardner returns and reveals how the Reach and theGreen Lantern Corps had battled in the past, forcing the Reach into a truce. The Reach continued pursuing their invasion plans, offering the scarab as a "protector" and then forcibly turning its host into their vanguard. As the scarab reforms and works with Jaime, the Reach changes their agenda into feigning friendship with Jaime and Earth, attacking him in a more subversive manner.
Jaime takes the fight to the Reach, using the time-warping qualities of the Bleed to attack three of their machines at once. When this fails, Jaime attacks the Reach's flagship, but the Reach use their weapons to attack his home. Jaime's emotional outburst at this attack allows the Reach to shut down the scarab and remove it from Jaime, who is thrown into a holding cell. However, the scarab transfers its knowledge into Jaime before removal, allowing him to escape. Jaime's family, having escaped the attack, are protected from further Reach assault byPeacemaker, the Posse,Traci Thirteen,La Dama, Guy Gardner,Fire, andIce. Attacking several guards and taking their armor, Jaime heads for the engine, forcing the Reach to shut it down and reveal their ship. Jaime reveals that, during the time spent with him, the scarab has gained a personality of its own and fully detached itself from the Reach hive mind. Naming itself Khaji Da, the scarab sides with Jaime against the Reach. As the battle continues, the Reach negotiator unleashes a doomsday device on Earth in retaliation for his defeat. Jaime and the scarab agree to sacrifice themselves to stop the superweapon. At the last moment, Booster Gold appears and saves them both.[10]
Jaime first teams up with theTeen Titans when they battleLobo, who the Reach have hired to maintain their facade as benevolent protectors.[11] Although criticizing Jaime for his lack of formal training, the Titans extend an invitation to visit and perhaps join the team. During the "Titans of Tomorrow, Today!" arc, Jaime takes the Titans up on their offer to visit, only to find that analternate future version of the Titans have captured several members of theJustice League. He later proves instrumental in the younger Titans' victory against their future selves.
Jaime is recruited byBlack Beetle (who originally identifies himself as a Blue Beetle from the future) and Dan Garrett to go into the past with Booster Gold to preventTed Kord's death. After saving Kord, Jaime and Garrett return, and the future is revealed to be a dystopia ruled byMaxwell Lord, who now was never exposed and defeated. Seeing the damage done by their actions, Kord decides to accept his death and returns to the past, restoring the timeline.
Jaime comes into conflict withKid Devil, who still harbored a grudge against him because of both the future Titans incident and his status withRavager. Jaime tries to mend fences with Kid Devil, but their squabbling allows Shockwave to escape. After working with Jaime to defeat Shockwave, Kid Devil realizes that he is being sincere. The two reconcile and reveal their secret identities to each other. Later, atTitans Tower,Robin offers Jaime full-membership, which he finally feels ready to accept.[12]
A group of Reach infiltrators and a negotiator invade Jaime's school's dance. Having been inspired by the scarab to rebel, the "Kahji Dha Revolutionary Army" (KDRA) sets out to make Earth safe by destroying those that could pose any threat. They see Jaime as a threat and attack.[13] During the fight, Nadia, part of Jaime's tech support, is killed. Taking the fight into orbit, Jaime has the scarab hack into and deactivate the KDRA, but deactivates itself for 27 days in the process. The negotiator quickly recovers and Jaime is forced to take him on akamikaze dive to the Earth's surface. The impact kills the negotiator and badly hurts Jaime, although the scarab protects him from the brunt of the impact. Over a period of weeks, Jaime and the scarab slowly recover. Unbeknownst to Jaime, the Reach negotiator's scarab is recovered by Hector, Jaime's other tech support.[14]
Starting inBooster Gold vol. 2 #21, Blue Beetle was featured as a 10-page ongoing co-feature. The stories focused on a smaller cast than before, focusing on Jaime, Paco and Brenda while Jaime's family occasionally appears. The rebooted scarab is shown to be more bloodthirsty than in the past, constantly urging Jaime to use more lethal weaponry. Jaime encounters Black Beetle, who claims to be his future self and injures Milagro Reyes.[15] Soon after, Jaime is attacked by Ted Kord, who has been resurrected as aBlack Lantern. Jaime and Booster Gold work together to destroy Kord with a special light gun that separates him from his Black Lantern ring.[16]
During theBrightest Day storyline,Deadman has a vision of Jaime shaking hands with Maxwell Lord, who is holding a gun behind his back.[17] Jaime informsStatic that he plans to briefly leave to visit his family, fearing what would happen if he were to die without saying goodbye.[18] Shortly after arriving home, Jaime and his family are attacked by a squad ofOMACs.[19] Jaime repels the OMACs, but is accidentally sucked into a teleportation rift that they created. The heroes end up in Russia, where Jaime learns of Lord and his attempt to make the world forget he ever existed. He agrees to help the former Justice League members bring Lord to justice.[20]
In September 2011 after the conclusion of the "Flashpoint" storyline event, DC Comics cancelled all of its monthly books and relaunched 52 new monthly titles with a new continuity, in what was calledThe New 52. One of the new series as aBlue Beetle series written byTony Bedard and drawn by Ig Guara and cancelled in February 2013.
Jaime Reyes and his friend Paco are driving to a party when a fight over a backpack between some men and theBrotherhood of Evil membersPhobia,Plasmus, andWarp erupts from a nearby building. To protect Paco, Jaime grabs the backpack. WhenLa Dama's agentsBrutale, Bone-Crusher, and Coyote join the fight, Brutale throws a knife at the backpack. The scarab inside is set off and Jaime is transformed into Blue Beetle.[21]
InGreen Lantern: New Guardians, representatives of the Reach attack Odym, homeworld of theBlue Lantern Corps, where it is revealed that their armours have taken control of them; Jaime speculates, during a confrontation withKyle Rayner, that his armour is damaged, explaining why he is in control of himself where other Reach soldiers are enslaved to their armour.
In the 2016 relaunch of the DC Universe,DC Rebirth, Jaime is working with Ted Kord to study the beetle attached to Jaime's back and remove it. Once again, the beetle's origin is retconned, as revealed byDoctor Fate, who tells Kord that the beetle is not alien, but magical, similar to the original continuity pre-Infinite Crisis.[22]
In theBlue Beetle: Graduation Day miniseries, Jamie is still continuing his superhero duties as Blue Beetle while also finally graduating from high school. During the ceremony, he gets a transmission from the scarab indicating that the Reach are planning something. Afterwards, following a party to celebrate Jaime graduating,Superman and Jaime share a heart to heart about Jamie's uncertainty for his future and what he wants for himself. Superman then informs Jaime that, until they get a better understanding of the Reach broadcast, Jamie is "grounded" from being Blue Beetle and should spend time with his family. Jaime then find out from his parents that, because he is not attending college, he will be heading to Palmera City to work at the family diner for the summer. Then, Paco shows everyone a video of a mysterious Yellow Beetle arriving inSensuntepeque.[23]
The Blue Beetle scarab is grafted onto Jaime Reyes's spine and can manifest a number of powers of its own volition, an act usually accompanied by blue energy emitted by the scarab's "antennae". Over the course of the first year of his ongoing series, Jaime had little control over those powers, but slowly asserts himself. When Jaime is in danger, the scarab activates, crawling out on to Jaime's back and generating a high-tech suit of powered armor around his body. The armor is resilient enough that it can protect him against re-entry from Earth's orbit.[24]
When in use, the suit can reconfigure itself to produce a wide array of armaments. Common functions include an energy cannon, a sword and shield, a grappling hook, a device resembling a communications satellite, and a set of foot-long powered blades. In addition, the suit can produce a set of wings for flight that can also act as shields. The suit can adapt to different situations, including producing energy discharges from the hands that can neutralize magic, dischargingKryptonite radiation and tuning "vibrational frequencies" of extra-dimensional objects to make them visible.
The scarab has at least one power it can manifest whether dormant or active; it can give Jaime a peculiar form of "sight" to perceive extra-dimensional objects, which gather information on the scarab user's adversaries. The scarab can communicate with him in a more comprehensible fashion if necessary. The scarab's language slowly morphs into a format resembling English, claimingKhaji Da as its name and Jaime as its friend.[10] However, it has occasional language relapses.[10] The suit is capable of compensating for Jaime'sdigestive system, so that he does not need to expelwaste materials when using the suit, and can even make paper from dead skin cells.[25]
When necessary, Jaime can have the Scarab take over in Infiltrator Mode. When this happens, the suit becomes taller, more muscular and grows spikes and allows the scarab to fight without Jaime's conscience as a restriction. This lets it fight more brutally, but Jaime and the scarab do not like this and only resort to it in desperate situations.
TheBlue Beetle series has been collected into a number oftrade paperbacks:
| Vol. # | Title | Collected material | Pages | Year | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shellshocked | Blue Beetle vol. 7, #1–6 | 144 | 2006 | 978-1-4012-0965-0 |
| 2 | Road Trip | Blue Beetle vol. 7, #7–12 | 2007 | 978-1-4012-1361-9 | |
| 3 | Reach for the Stars | Blue Beetle vol. 7, #13–19 | 168 | 2008 | 978-1-4012-1642-9 |
| 4 | End Game | Blue Beetle vol. 7, #20–26 | 176 | 2008 | 978-1-4012-1952-9 |
| 5 | Boundaries | Blue Beetle vol. 7, #29–34 | 144 | 2009 | 978-1-4012-2162-1 |
| 6 | Black and Blue [27] | Blue Beetle vol. 7, #27–28, #35–36 Booster Gold vol. 2, #21–25, #28–29 | 168 | 2010 | 978-1-4012-2897-2 |
| The New 52 | |||||
| 1 | Metamorphosis | Blue Beetle vol. 8, #1–6 | 144 | November 20, 2012 | 978-1401237134 |
| 2 | Blue Diamond | Blue Beetle vol. 8, #0, 7–16 Green Lantern: New Guardians #9 | 240 | April 30, 2013 | 978-1401238506 |
| DC Rebirth | |||||
| 1 | The More Things Change | Blue Beetle: Rebirth #1 Blue Beetle vol. 9 #1–5 | 144 | May 16, 2017 | 978-1401268688 |
| 2 | Hard Choices | Blue Beetle vol. 9 #6–12 | 168 | January 2, 2018 | 978-1401275075 |
| 3 | Road to Nowhere | Blue Beetle vol. 9 #13–18 | 144 | July 17, 2018 | 978-1401280833 |
.jpg)
Justice League characters | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founding members |
| ||||||
| Recurring members |
| ||||||
| Other characters |
| ||||||
| Enemies |
| ||||||
| Alternative versions |
| ||||||
| In other media |
| ||||||
