Blue Beetle: Getting Better and Better - Issue 12

Cool issue. Jaime is really starting to get better being Blue Beetle. He and Brenda return from Apokolips, none too worse for the wear, and the first order for Blue is to destroy that Mother Box. Jaime and Pedro then leave Brenda with her Aunt LaDama to discuss Pedro's ideas for the "Beetlecave" and other related matters... One week later, Jaime discovers a cow standing out on a farm which has been partially dissected. Peacemaker shows up on his cycle, and when he's convinced that Blue didn't do it, he and Blue follow the "quantum signature" leading from the cow carcass. They soon find a large opening in the ground and they both go inside. Blue is experiencing weird reactions from his suit and heavy feedback in his head, just when they encounter an enormous blue beetle. Peacemaker fires several shots at him, to no avail. When Blue tries to attack, the suit powers itself down. Peacemaker and Jaime find their way out and go to a gas station to fill up Peacemaker's cycle. Suddenly, a gigantic blue beetle appears, even larger than the one they saw underground. Again, Peacemaker fires shots to no effect, and Jaime has great difficulty changing to Blue Beetle. Nice bit follows as Peacemaker asks Jaime "Who's in charge? You? Or the scarab?!" Jaime thinks about his family and needing to keep them safe. His will overrides the scarab, and he completes his transformation into Blue Beetle. However, his blasts have no effect either. Blue employs strategy (impressing Peacemaker) and, using a truck explosion from inside the giant beetle, destroys it. Victory is bittersweet, as the giant beetle was from the Reach, and Blue wants answers. Suddenly, an alien being appears. He calls himself the designated negotiator, and he offers Blue some answers. For instance, the giant blue beetle that Blue destroyed was a probe, dispatched when a scarab activates. Negotiator also reveals that apparently Earth's technology has advanced to a point that this scarab chose Jaime as a host to prepare the way. On the last page, Negotiator announces that the Reach is here to save Earth. Writer John Rogers has really made Giffen's leaving seem pretty seemless. He has a terrific grasp of the characters, and the scenes with Peacemaker and Blue Beetle are fun to read; excellent dialogue and interaction. This book keeps getting better and better._________________