{"id":32775,"date":"2025-05-05T11:50:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T11:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=32775"},"modified":"2025-05-05T11:50:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T11:50:41","slug":"this-land-is-our-land-a-blue-beetle-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/05\/05\/this-land-is-our-land-a-blue-beetle-story\/","title":{"rendered":"This Land is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Julio Anta<\/strong>, Jacoby Salcedo<\/strong>, Francesco Segala<\/strong>, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: ?978-1-77952-282-5 (TPB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

\u00a1Hola! Feliz Cinco de Mayo.<\/em> And a happy Early May Bank Holiday to the rest of us too…<\/em><\/p>\n

Published by Fox Comics and cover-dated August 1939, The Blue Beetle<\/strong> first appeared in Mystery Men Comics<\/strong> #1. The character was mostly created by Charles Nicholas (AKA Charles Wojtkowski, in the collaborative shop environment of that era) as a pulp-style mystery man, but clearly had adaptability, evolution and change hardwired into his chain-mailed manly torso. He was also a born survivor and habitual nomad. Over years and crafted by a Who\u2019s Who of creators, the Beetle was inexplicably popular and hard to kill: surviving the collapse of numerous publishers before ending up as a Charlton Comics property in the mid-1950s.<\/p>\n

After a few issues sporadically published over years, the changing tastes and his latest company shelved him until the superhero revival of the early 1960s when Joe Gill, Roy Thomas, Bill Fraccio & Tony Tallarico revised and revived the character in a 10-issue run (June 1964-February 1966). Cop-turned-adventurer Dan Garrett<\/em> was reinvented becoming an archaeologist, educator and scientist who gained superpowers whenever he activated a magic scarab and uttered the trigger phrase \u201cKhaji Da!\u201d (Those stories are slated to be reprinted in August of this year in a DC Finest TPB collection and you\u2019ll get my verdict pretty soon after that)…<\/p>\n

Months later, Steve Ditko (with scripter Gary Friedrich) utterly reimagined Blue Beetle<\/strong>. Ted Kord<\/em> was an earnest and brilliant researcher who\u2019d been a student and friend of Professor Garrett. When his mentor seemingly died in action, Kord trained himself to replace his hero: acting as a purely human inventor\/combat acrobat, bolstered by advanced technology. This version joined DC\u2019s pantheon in 1985 during Crisis on Infinite Earths<\/strong>, winning a solo series before gaining quirky immortality after partnering with Booster Gold<\/strong> in Justice League International<\/strong> and beyond\u2026<\/p>\n

When Kord was murdered in the run up to Infinite Crisis<\/strong>, it heralded all-out war across realities and at the height of the linked catastrophes El Paso high schooler Jaime Reyes<\/em> found a weird blue jewel shaped like a bug. That night, as he slept, it crawled inside him, turning him into a bizarre insectoid warrior. Suddenly, shockingly granted incredible powers, his perilous Hero\u2019s Journey revealed how some are remade, not born – especially when a sentient scarab jewel affixes itself to your spine to transform you into an armoured bio-weapon and fifth column for alien invaders. Almost instantly, Jaime was swept up in the chaos, joining Batman<\/strong> and other super stars in a climactic space battle to save Earth.<\/p>\n

When inexplicably returned home, Jaime revealed his secret to his family and tried to do some good in his hometown, but had to rapidly adjust to huge changes. Best bud Paco <\/em>had joined a gang of super-powered freaks, the hero learned the local crime mastermind was the foster-mom of his other best bud Brenda<\/em>, and scary military dude named Christopher Smith<\/em> (The<\/strong> Peacemaker<\/strong>) started hanging around. He claimed the thing in Jaime was malfunctioning alien tech, not life-affirming Egyptian magic…<\/p>\n

That led to a secret war against an alien collective of colonizing conquerors called the Reach<\/em> whose shady dealings and defeat have been covered in Blue Beetle: Jaime Reyes<\/strong> volumes 1 & 2. You should get those. They\u2019re very good.<\/p>\n

Here however, we\u2019re exploring a fresh permutation of the unfolding legend, incorporating much of the Reyes\/Latinx flavoured iteration (as well as the recent movie), whilst very much going its own way: exploring contemporary themes of pressing immediacy and toxic nature, not just in America but across the entire planet.
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\nIn El Paso, high schooler Jaime Reyes<\/em> is a dutiful son deeply concerned about the growing hostility facing his family, people and culture. Unlike his fiery friend and classmate Brenda<\/em> he\u2019s no firebrand, just an astronomy geek who would far rather spend his time watching the skies than defending the streets and fighting for his community\u2019s rights. However, once the President closes the border and very publicly scapegoats refugees and immigrants – and by inference non-whites – for the nation\u2019s woes, tensions rise across the city. All over the usual troublemakers exploit the situation to target anyone they don\u2019t consider to be \u201cReal Americans\u201d. As they are so fond of screaming \u201cThis Land is Our Land!!\u201d…<\/p>\n

Opportunistic trouble seekers apparently have particular problems with the local native American and Hispanic peoples whose cultures predate the coming of the white colonisers, rather than the immigrants they purportedly protest against…<\/p>\n

Distracted from his true passion – following a fascinating asteroid that behaves in ways no stellar object should – Jaime is increasingly burdened by the difficulties the border closure causes his father\u2019s auto repair business and rise of hate-speak, vandalism and intolerance all around him. When an old pal from elementary school returns to the area and joins his high school class Jaime\u2019s initial joy gradually sours once he learns former BFF Riley<\/em> is being radicalised by online hate groups. Brenda and Paco<\/em> are all for confrontation and direct action, but Reyes just can\u2019t believe his old friend is truly beyond redemption…<\/p>\n

Just when everything seems utterly unbearable Jaime\u2019s situation overloads after a strange bug fossil he finds in an alley is revealed as alien and intelligent when it attaches itself to his spine and starts talking to him. The scarab is a means for the mighty Reach and their unctuous Ambassador<\/em> to prepare Earth for first contact and what comes after, but every conversation with Jaime feels more dubious and untrustworthy to the troubled teen…<\/p>\n

However, Reyes and the power-bestowing bug itself – which calls itself Khaji Da<\/em> – quickly form a close bond. The scarab is meant to make Jaime an intermediary and agent of the extraterrestrials rapidly approaching Earth: the face of their promise to fix all humanity\u2019s problems. Only, Jaime\u2019s suspicions cannot equate all the facts. After all, if their intentions are honourable, beneficial and peaceful why are all their gifts deadly weapons?
\n\"\"
\nAs the interstellar voyagers draw closer and steer Reyes through early attempts to master his new abilities, the bug in his back switches sides. Unaware – and probably uncaring – of the potential doom from the skies, human-on-human tensions escalate and erupt into more violence. Concerned citizens Brenda, Paco and Jaime lead a street protest where locals hope to confront the race hate instigators, who have converged from all over America to make their own \u201cstatement\u201d. As a bloodbath seems inevitable in the streets, disaster is abruptly forestalled by the appearance of a mighty bug-winged figure seeking to separate the rioting parties, but can even he be enough when that struggle is interrupted by the spectacular arrival of the Reach…?
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\nCherry picking the very best elements of traditional continuity to reinforce a timely tale affecting All Americans right now, This Land is Our Land<\/strong> is a powerful, sensitive, brave remarkably even-handed and desperately needed exploration of big issues aimed at readers of 13 and up that could teach most adults a better way to deal with hostility, aggression and intolerance. Blending important issues with compelling characters and a surprising degree of fun, author Julio Anta (Frontera<\/strong>, Si, Se Puede<\/strong>) and illustrator Jacoby Salcedo (Frontera<\/strong>, It\u2019s Only Teenage Wasteland<\/strong>, Legion of Bloom<\/strong>, Young Men in Love<\/strong>) – along with colourist Francesco Segala, and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou have crafted a must-read modern classic.<\/p>\n

This glorious celebration of youthful passion and growing agency is supplemented by an extract from edgy sister release, The Strange Case of Harleen & Harley<\/strong> by Melissa Marr & Jenn St-Onge.
\n\u00a9 2024 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Julio Anta, Jacoby Salcedo, Francesco Segala, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou & various (DC Comics) ISBN: ?978-1-77952-282-5 (TPB\/Digital edition) \u00a1Hola! Feliz Cinco de Mayo. And a happy Early May Bank Holiday to the rest of us too… Published by Fox Comics and cover-dated August 1939, The Blue Beetle first appeared in Mystery Men Comics #1. The character … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “This Land is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[335,110,76,111,254],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-blue-beetle","category-dc-superhero","category-satirepolitics","category-young-adult"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8wD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32775"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32782,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32775\/revisions\/32782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}