I've been steering well clear of DC's Infinite Crisis crossover, on the logic that it's plainly aimed at people who already know and care about the intricacies of the DC Universe, and I'm not one of them.  It's not that I'm fundamentally hostile to that sort of story.  I just ignore any good reviews on the basis that it'll probably be like Crisis on Infinite Earths - everyone says what a great story it is, and then you buy and discover it's a bunch of characters you've never heard of doing things that rely on you caring about them already.

So, despite the big sign on the cover saying "From the pages of Infinite Crisis", I have no idea what the new Blue Beetle character is all about.  It's a wise move to have Keith Giffen associated with the project - apart from his obvious talent, as the creator most prominently associated with the previous Blue Beetle, he automatically lends this version a level of legitimacy.  Of course, Giffen's a frustratingly inconsistent writer who seems to desperately need a strong editor when he's not working on comedy books.  But he's still usually worth checking out.

Giffen is co-writing this book with John Rogers.  Whether it's Rogers' civilising influence or a firm editor, it's certainly far more direct and coherent than much of Giffen's recent work, which allows his strengths to come through.  We have a strongly defined lead character and supporting cast, and while it's not a comedy book, we have witticisms which are actually funny.  It has all the plus points of Giffen's work without requiring the usual effort of slogging through the long grass.

The new Beetle's origin story is wonderfully old school.  Teenage boy Jaime discovers a magic thingie.  It gives him magic armour.  He becomes the Blue Beetle.  And that's pretty much all you need to know, since the history of said thingie can come later.  Thankfully, we're not being overpowered by the character's history here.  The emphasis is all on establishing Jaime and making us care about him, as it should be.

The only major problem here stems from, you guessed it, Infinite Crisis.  The creators have the problem that the character has already appeared in that book, and for commercial reasons they need to keep the momentum going.  Yet they really want to begin at the beginning.  The result is a compromise.  Most of the story is the new Beetle's origin, and it's very good.  But it's intercut with the Blue Beetle in the present day fighting Guy Gardner in a scene which I can only assume leads out of something in Infinite Crisis.  It has the advantages of establishing what the guy's powers are going to be, but that's really about it.  It's the one part of the book that left me thinking, "Well, what the hell was that all about?"

But Infinite Crisis will fade into the background quickly enough.  Leaving that unfortunate problem aside, it's a very promising start and I'll be sticking with it.  If it wasn't for the bloody crossover elements, the rating would be an A. As it is...

Rating: B+

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