Blue Beetle Cancelled

Unfortunately, El Paso's resident hero will no longer have his own title after issue #36. DC has pulled the plug on Jaime Reyes' solo book, but just because the series is cancelled doesn't mean the title character has to die. Expect Jaime to become a very prominent member of the Teen Titans as new writers integrate him better into that team book. So, though the series that tackled border issues, immigration, and what it meant to be Hispanic in the largest border town in the nation may be signing off for now, I'm willing to bet that the Reyes Blue Beetle is too important a figure to go unused for too long.

I wish I could find an image from a recent Blue Beetle comic where Jaime is dealing with being named an honorary border patrol agent by a savvy politician taking advantage of the hero's teenage naivety. As Jaime learns more about what being able to cross borders means for people in the region, he starts to reconsider the "honor" bestowed upon him. Residents protest the Blue Beetle. One sign reads, "I'm an illegal immigrant, just like Superman."

As a DC official states in the interview linked in my title for this posting, immigration was intended to be a major issue of the book but lost an audience as our presidential candidates focused on other issues. I have to wonder if being progressive in its outlook caused some sort of backlash against the series, but it will remain a tender favorite of mine for some time due to my new connection with the people of El Paso.