"Secrets: Part Two"

Last issue Jaime helped save Alina, the daughter of Damper and Bonita of the meta-human gang the Posse. Keith Giffen, John Rogers continue weaving tales of the Blue Beetle, with Cynthia Martin and Kevin J. West on pencils, and Philip Moy and Jack Purcell on inks.

Part two picks up a little while after the events of part one. Peacemaker scouts an area outside a mysterious compound in the desert, noting that someone has already been there and disabled several pieces of security equipment. Who would have done this? Blue Beetle and the Posse! Jaime has used the scarab to track Bonita & Damper's baby here. Wait, what? I thought Peacemaker saved the baby from Bottom Feeder last issue? Hmmm...anyway, Paco stays behind with the jeep, as Jaime and the Posse (Damper, Thumper and Pinata) plan their attack on the compound. Using Damper's cloaking ability the team sneaks inside only to find...it's actually a peaceful metahuman community! Well, a highly secure, but peaceful community...under lock down. Things seem to be going well on their little recon mission, until an alarm sounds. 

Makes sense that a gated community of metas would be able to detect other metas. Once they get spotted it's time for a super-powered throwdown! Damper demands to know where his baby daughter is, but never gets an answer. One meta inside, a girl named Spinner, has the power to swap peoples power. She grabs Thumper and Pinata, and neither one can control the other ones power. Thumper blows up, Pinata bounces uncontrollably, and chaos ensues. 

Jaime activates the scarab and Blue Beetle steps in to even the odds. 

At that same time, Paco (who had waited behind with the jeep) is surprised by armed guards on motorcycles and a chase ensues! When he looses control and finds himself on foot, it's Peacemaker who shows up to save the day!

Back at the meta-community it's "Headmaster" begins leeching energy from nearby guards to grow tentacles and lash out at Blue Beetle. 

It looks like Jaime may be in trouble, until he figures out that if he keeps the Headmaster away from a power source he'll go down easy. That's when our hero snatches the man up and takes him high into the sky...and that's where the Phantom Stranger makes his return! Apparently there was some sort of magical shield around the place that blocked the Stranger...until Jaime flew above it. They return to the compound, in time to see two things...the Posse surrounded by guards, and duh-duh-dunn...Brenda's aunt Tia Amparo, finally revealed as the mysterious La Dama! 

Probe makes a return as well, to explain that she's here by her own choice. The compound is a safe place for metas, a place where they can learn from each other without fear or persecution. Blue Beetle and the Posse don't see it quite that way. The Phantom Stranger says Jaime led him to "her" (La Dama) and something about a new age of magic. The Stranger confronts her and they debate whether she's breaking some kind of truce by hiding the metas. She says she's not hiding them, she's protecting them...besides they're free to come and go as they please. Phantom Stranger seems satisfied, for now, and disappears. La Dama then pulls Jaime into a private meeting to tell him he'd better not mess up her plans, or hurt anyone she cares about, namely Brenda. She also admits she killed Brenda's abusive dad to protect her niece... implying she'd do the same to Jaime. He takes her threat, and ups his...if she messes with him, he'll come back at her. So they agree to a truce...and then Peacemaker busts in with Paco informing Jaime that the scarab isn't magical...it's alien!

Now, it took me a while to come around and enjoy Jaime's adventures, being a dyed in the wool Ted fan. That said I've been enjoying this "new" Blue Beetle...until now. This issue left me very confused. Things happened quickly, and seemingly out of sequence. The last time we saw Alina, the baby, Peacemaker "saved" her during the fight with Bottom Feeder...how'd she end up in La Dama's compound? The Posse arrives looking for Damper's baby, and then not only don't they find her, but they never mention her again the dust clears. Stories like this always make me wonder, "what happened?" Did an editor step in and force a shift in the story, derailing the writer's original intent? Here's hoping things get cleared up a bit next month.

"The Past Is Another Country"

Jaime Reyes had been missing for a year, but for him no time has passed. So why is his family so surprised to see him? Keith Giffen and John Rogers return to weave another tale of our insect hero, with Cynthia Martin on pencils, and Philip Moy on inks, for "Blue Beetle" #3!

This issue opens, not with Jaime and his family, but at an out of the way gas station mini mart. Inside a lone military man thwarts an attempted robbery. Not because he's a hero, but because he's "dreaming the blue dreams and following the trail." Apparently he has a friend in the area, a friend who "just doesn't know it yet."

Meanwhile, back at the Reyes house in El Paso, Jaime tries to account for the missing time. "No, I helped Superman. It was the crazy Green Lantern who tried to kill me, after. The the redneck trucker gave me free pants." Needless to say, they don't believe him. Not until he suits up that is. Then his sister, Milagro, screams and runs, quickly followed by his mother. Oddly, or maybe comfortingly, his dad takes it all in stride. He'll talk things over with Jaime's mother, for now though it's best if Jaime leaves...his dad hands him a cell phone, saying he'll call Jaime when everything is ok.

Jaime heads off into town, exploring his new powers. "I can fly. That's got to count for something." Landing on a rooftop, he asks the scarab to show him a few more features. It turns on something akin to Superman's super hearing and telescopic vision, before creating shields, swords, the jaws of life, and energy blasts! Not too shabby! It then reveals another trick...when transforming back into plain old Jaime, the scarab can create clothes! "Now you show me this...yes it would have been useful." Jaime leaves to look for his friends, Paco and Brenda...but accidentally leaves the phone behind.

Unable to find them at school, and seeing Brenda's old house for sale, Jaime's not sure where to look. Until the scarab reveals another trick...it can track anybody Jaime's met since the scarab bonded with him. It seems Paco is at the border to Mexico with Damper, of the Posse, and they're being trailed by some guys who look like they belong with Will Smith in "Men In Black". They're working for someone called "La Dama"

Apparently La Dama wants them to bring in a member of the Posse, and Damper fits the bill. Luckily for Paco, and Damper, the scarab has led Jaime to them in the nick of time as the MIBs prepare to fire some energy weapons. Blue Beetle makes the save, creating a shield to block the blasts. 

A brief fight ensues, but gets interupted by the appearance of Homeland Security. Jaime grabs Paco and takes to the air, presumably leaving Damper to fend for himself and fade from sight. They head to Juarez, Mexico as Jaime explains that the night Booster Gold grabbed him and took him to space, "That big fight is the last thing I remember."* Paco fills Jaime in on somethings. Brenda's dad died in a DUI, but no great loss...he was beating her! Luckily, her aunt took her in and she's now living in a big mansion in Juarez. Brenda gives Jaime a punch "for making me worry!", but follows it up with a hug...curiously, La Dama, is watching nearby!

I have to say, the tattoo on the guy at the mini mart, "Peacemaker" got me curious and I did a little search. That gentleman dreaming "blue dreams" is none other than Christopher Smith, the Peacemaker, as in Charlton Action Hero the Peacemaker! Looking forward to seeing where that goes! Lastly, I need to acknowledge Cynthia Martin and Philip Moy's art...it is gorgeous and flows almost seamlessly with with Cully Hamner's work on the previous two issues!

*Infinite Crisis