Review: Blue Beetle Vol. 1- The More Things Change

Quick Summary

Pros: The main storyline is fun and entertaining. The characters are all great and each adds something to the mix. The artwork looks good and matches the comic’s tone.

Cons: Some portions of the story are less entertaining. Other moments feel strange or downright awkward.

Overall: This is a decent start to a comic with plenty of potential. It centers around lighthearted heroics from a cast of characters who are consistently charming. The overall effect is a positive story that gets even better when you add in the art. However, there are places where the narrative stumbles and where the story isn’t as interesting, which weight down the quality. Blue Beetle fans or readers looking for a comic with a youthful energy should check this book out.

Story

Blue Beetle Vol. 1: The More Things Change, by Keith Giffen and Scott Kolins, delivers on fun and lighthearted heroics from an entertaining cast of characters. The book gives a refreshing glimpse into the life of a teenaged superhero without the drama that typically comes with such a role. However, within this single volume, the positives are not as plentiful as one would hope and there are also moments where the interest levels significantly drop. These problems create a book that is moderately entertaining but doesn’t go much beyond that. Overall, there is some potential bubbling under the surface of this series but most of it has yet to completely rise.

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The best part about The More Things Change is its lighthearted approach to heroics. This isn’t a book where a cabal of villains threaten to do unspeakable acts of evil and the hero is forced to go to the ends of the Earth to stop them. It is a book about a kid trying to learn how to use his powers while a former hero tries to help him. This means that both the actions and the interactions are more grounded. In this way, The More Things Change is able to show high school students being high school students, dig into the family dynamic, and explore what it is like to be a young adult.

This collection also drops a lot of hints regarding more significant story arcs that work well in developing a larger narrative for this series. Most of these hints directly relate to Jamie and involve the mystery surrounding his Scarab and Doctor Fate’s strange interest with the artifact. This hints at a larger conspiracy lurking in the background, one that will have an impact on the future of this series. Then, other hints indicate a more significant history regarding Ted Kord and how his actions as a former superhero influence the current situation of this comic. Either way, this volume seems to indicate that there is a lot more to look forward to in this series.

However, there are defiantly moments where this storyline goes off the rails and where it simply becomes unappealing. One example of this occurs when Blur spends pages trying to flirt with Blue Beetle. The entire exchange is awkward and offers nothing to the story. In a similar way, many of the altercations seen here feel unnecessary in advancing the story and dissolve too quickly to have a lasting impact.

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Art

The artwork in The More Things Change is wonderfully stylized in a way that matches the lighthearted tone of this comic. Scott Kolins brings a tremendous level of energy to this comic, as each page seem to have a life of its own. This helps in visualizing the mystical forces that are in play throughout this book and the technological forces that they are contrasted against. Romulo Fajardo, Jr.’s colors also add a lot to this effect, as they are as bold and bright as one would want them to be, injecting additional energy into the already energetic mix. Overall, this is a solid looking book that performs well in exactly the ways one would want it to perform well.

Continuity

Blue Beetle Vol. 1: The More Things Change starts the Blue Beetle Rebirth series. This new series essentially serves as a soft reboot for most of the characters involved, as their histories from their previous appearances are altered. Essentially, readers can jump into this volume with little to no knowledge of these characters and understand everything fine.

The story started here is continued in Blue Beetle Vol. 2: Hard Choices.