Blue Beetle #1: Back to Palmera City

Jaime Reyes is back. Palmera City is a little different following the events of Blue Beetle Graduation Day. The Horizon are there. Jaime’s friends moved to town. Dynastes and Nitida are still around. There are a few lingering plot threads left from the mini-series. All the trappings are here for a new ongoing series, and Blue Beetle #1 does not disappoint.

A very abbreviated, one page Beetle backstory opens Blue Beetle #1 before cutting to a fight between Palmera City’s three Beetles (Jaime, Reyes, and Nitida) and the Madmen. The trio succeeds in short order but not without causing a tremendous amount of unnecessary collateral damage (which Jaime and Ted Kord will be responsible for cleaning up). Following the brief encounter with the Madmen, Jaime heads off to Gloria’s restaurant where two of the Horizon (the refugees running from the Reach in Graduation Day) are eating lunch while being harassed by some of Palmera City’s residents. Not long after Jaime is forced to diffuse that situation, a mysterious enemy attacks Ted.

Blue Beetle #1 takes a step back from the frenetic pace of the Graduation Day miniseries. Certainly the action sequence that opens the issue grabs the reader’s attention. But a lot of the issue is slower and more deliberate. There is good material that introduces us to Jaime’s life in Palmera CIty as well as his supporting cast. It promises more than just a superhero book. Rather than just a non-stop Blue Beetle versus <insert villain here>, Trujillo is building the expectation that this will be a well-rounded series that is also about Jaime’s everyday life.

More interesting than the character and world development that Blue Beetle #1’s slower pacing allows, though, is the continuation of the Horizon storyline introduced in Graduation Day. Trujillo’s story immediately calls to mind issues of immigration and xenophobia. A rock gets thrown through the window of the restaurant where two of the Horizon are eating. The Horizon are supposed to stay in a safe space built for them in proximity to their ship. The Horizon have to be patient and allow humans to adjust to them. These are the sorts of things commonly heard in immigration and amnesty debates in the United States. Trujillo never makes an explicit comparison, but it’s easy to make the connection. The issue offers no easy solutions to the situation which opens it up as a continuing storyline lingering over the series.

Though the issue’s narrative pacing is less frenetic, Gutiérez’s art is not. One of Graduation Day’s defining qualities was high energy art, whether it be in action sequences as Blue Beetle or personal interaction as Jaime. It’s on display in Blue Beetle #1 as well, as are the slightly exaggerated qualities in movement and expression.

Something that Gutiérez excels at is on display right away in this issue with the display of emotions Nitida, Dynastes, and Jaime present when their faces are covered by their armor. For the most part, Gutiérez has only the characters’ eyes to work with. And even then, their eyes are large and monochrome–such as Jaime’s which are yellow and, in their standard shape, rounded triangles. With little more than widening and narrowing, the Beetles’ emotions are usually easy to decipher.

Quintana sticks with an exceptionally vivid color palette. Action sequences explode off the page. Settings are lively. These coloring choices match the intense quality of Gutiérez’s art. The issue has a hyper real quality.

Gattoni’s letters are integral to the issue’s visual style. The names and sound effects of each Beetle are colored to match their armor. When the Madmen are identified in dialogue, the letters of their name are multicolored. When things explode, the sound effects radiate from the explosions as though part of the blast.