Legacy Character Study: Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)

Pictured:  A bit of a different direction.

And so, we arrive at the third and final part of this look at the men to take up the mantle of the Blue Beetle. It’s time to go over what happens when Legacy Characters go all “Affirmative Action.”

To put it bluntly, most comic book creators half a century ago were white guys, so most of the heroes were white guys. With the more politically-correct present, you will often find that the successors of classic characters are minorities, women, or both.

Examples:
Atom (Ray Palmer)- White guy
Atom (Ryan Choi)-   Asian guy

Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake-  White
Damien Wayne- Half white, ¼ Middle-Eastern, ¼ Asian 

The Question (Vic Sage)- White guy
The Question (Renee Montoya)-  Latina Lesbian

Following in the grand tradition, the third Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes, is Hispanic. As such, this presents a wonderful opportunity for the writers to sneak some Spanish swears into a comic book! (And they did.) Oh, they also told an amazing story that was read by relatively few, but enjoyed by those who bothered to read it.

Character Assassination: Ted Kord

Spoiler Alert: This Character Assassination is going to be heavy on spoilers for Watchmen and Countdown to Infinite Crisis. It will also be a bit lighter on the funny. Death is a largely sad, horrible thing (understatement), and is inherently hard to make light and humorous. If you want some of that, see the Ted Kord Character Study.

Legacy Character Study: Blue Beetle, Part 2

As we begin Part 2 of this Character Study, I think it’s appropriate to now pose the question:
What is a “Legacy Character?” Well, a Legacy Character is when the same heroic identity is taken by multiple individuals over a period of time. Ever watch The Princess Bride?

Westley: "He took me to his cabin and he told me his secret. 'I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts,' he said. 'My name is Ryan; I inherited the ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me."

A Legacy Character that most of you would probably be familiar with is Batman’s sidekick Robin. Since the character’s debut, there have been at least 4 individuals acting as “official” Robins. Today, we look at not the first of the Legacy Super Heroes, but possibly the one that popularized the idea.

The second-greatest hero you've never heard of.  (The first is his best friend.)

Legacy Character Study: Blue Beetle, Part 1

Wow. Here I am, at the several posts mark. This is such an amazing milestone that it just has to be celebrated somehow. So let’s celebrate with our first Legacy Character Study. Yep, this time we're looking at not one, not two, but three different characters to all use the same identity.

Left to Right: Dan Garrett, Ted Kord, Jaime Reyes
Also Left to Right: Awesome, Awesome, Awesome.

Sketchbook: Random Assortment

Those of you who read this and don't know me personally (both of you) might not know this, but since I was a kid, I always wanted to draw comic books.  Still do.
I like to keep my skills sharp by sketching every day.  Then again, artists all tend to be like that.
Without further ado, I'd like to present a random assortment of quick sketches that I did a while back.

Recap: Beware the Batman, Ep. 2

In this episode, will secrets be revealed? Yes, but not the ones I thought. Well played, show.

Turns out Alfred's a furry. Who knew?

Recap: Beware the Batman, Ep. 1

Let's begin our look at Batman's latest foray into the small screen, with this recap of....

Spoilers ahead.  And snark.  And Batman.  And the word "blunderbuss."

Ranting and Rambling: Riddle Me This, Who is Batman?

Bruce Wayne.
But I mean, besides that.

Character Assassination: Abin Sur

Well, since I've been talking about Green Lanterns so much recently, let's keep doing it! For those not in the know: Green Lantern Corps. Universal law-enforcement. Over 7200 members divided among 3600 space sectors.  Those who are deemed worthy to serve among their ranks live only for the Corps. And some die for the Corps. And some die just to introduce someone else’s story. Like this guy!

Real Name: Abin Sur
Alias: "That alien guy who gave Hal Jordan the Green Lantern Ring"

New Poll Open!

If you'll look to your left, you'll no doubt notice the Poll.
Well?  What are you waiting for?
The character with the most votes by the end of the day on August 1st will be featured in an upcoming installment!

Rantings and Ramblings: "The Black Guy"

I'd like to actually follow up on a previous post of mine, wherein I discussed the Green Lantern franchise. Let's talk about this guy a bit more.

John Stewart: Don't let the picture fool you, he's not just an angry Black man.

Spotlight: Earth-2, Vol. 1

Well, time once again for a recommendation. Today, let's delve into the still hotly debated New 52. Speaking of the number "2," let's put the Spotlight on....

Ranting and Rambling: It's Not Easy Being Green, aka "50 Shades of Green"

Any franchise that has multiple facets to it, or an ensemble cast, or any room for differing tastes is going to be heavily divided. You'll have people arguing over who the best Doctor was (even Peter Cushing has his die-hard fans), Kirk vs. Picard vs. Sisko vs. Janeway vs. Archer (not even getting into the new timeline), but there's really only one franchise where I start to lose my mellow a bit: Green Lantern.

You may not have heard of most of them, but someone will fight tooth and nail that the most obscure one's the best.

Sketchbook: Earth-2 Superman

To be honest, I've never cared for coloring my art, even when I was a little kid. As such, I'm out of practice with it. Still, I harbor hopes of becoming a writer/artist in the comic book industry someday, and I was wondering what a colored picture of mine would look like. I expected my coloring job to win me an entry on this page, but I'm pleased with the result, insofar as seeing what a picture of mine would look like with actual colors applied.

Black and white!  Boy, do I ever spoil you guys, huh?

Several colors!

Perhaps I'm foreshadowing the next installment of Character Study? Character Assassination? Spotlight?
No. I drew this in my "Narrative in Literature and Film" class last semester and I'm just excited to see colors applied to my work. (The incredibly observant or incredibly nerdy among you will note that I drew the belt wrong. I drew this from memory, and I guess I remembered a weird mix of Earth-2 Green Lantern's belt and New-52 Superman's belt. With a yellow buckle.)