Having grown up a Marvel man, when I decided to take a hesitant step into DC's enormous universe earlier this year, I asked several knowledgeable friends and my comic shop's owner what DC books I should read if I wanted to ease into getting to know the universe.  I wanted books that familiarized myself with the DCU without dropping me headlong into a Crises, or a League or Society--something that would allow me to get my toes wet and get a feel for the characters and events in that universe without leaving me feeling overwhelmed and lost.  Almost everyone I talked to recommended the new Blue Beetle run.  I went out and bought the first three trades, and like that, I became a Blue Beetle fan.

I loved the feel of the book--many people have commented to me that Blue Beetle is like the Spider-Man of the DCU, and it's true.  He's a teenage boy in high school who suddenly gets superpowers, and has to figure out what that means for him and how to fit them into his life.  He has to get his homework in on time, deal with friends who love to argue, interact with his worried parents and annoying little sister, and try to get a hot date--but while doing all that, he also has Green Lanterns after him, alien invasions to thwart, magic-based underworld gang leaders lining up against him, and crazy former soldiers determined to teach him all he knows about fighting to help him survive.  Oh, and he also has a blue alien robot beetle fused to his spine that gives him power armor and amazing weaponry.  And it talks to him inside his head.  All the time.

This trade is the culmination of the first 25 issues of this run of the Blue Beetle, and I have to say, though I loved every issue included in this trade when it came out in single issues, the biggest problem I had with it then has been solved with this publication: I wanted it all now!!  This is the trade where everything that's been building with the alien Reach since Jaime Reyes first picked up the mysterious blue scarab comes to fruition.  We've known for awhile now that the Reach isn't as beneficient as they'd like to claim to be, but everything they've done has been behind the scenes, and Jaime's had no proof of their nefarious plans for enslaving the human race besides the knowledge provided to him by the scarab.  He can't go to the Justice League for help, because who would believe a single sixteen-year-old boy's wild claims about the evil intentions of aliens who have been nothing but helpful and friendly to all the world's nations--even if that boy is the Blue Beetle?  Jaime's been working behind the scenes until now, trying to piece together the Reach's full plan so he can expose it, but the Reach knows he's a renegade agent and has made plans to keep him occupied and distracted.

That ends in this issue.  Jamie and his friends finally discover the true extent of the Reach's plans, and they're crafty... and Jamie has to put everything on the line to stop them.  Issues 23-25 of this run are intense--when reading them, I find myself on the edge of my seat, pulse-pounding, nails biting into my palm, wondering what Jamie will do and exactly how the Reach will react.  They end on dramatic cliffhangars, which sucked in single issues and left me desperate to read more--but in a trade all I have to do is turn the page, and it's wonderful.  The climax to the Reach story is one that feels deserved, one that makes me feel like the 25 previous issues were worth it, that they were all building to something.  Throughout those 25 issues, Jamie has been discovering his powers, trying to find his place in life (like any teenager) while at the same time trying to find his place in the superheroing world, and it's in these stories where he comes into his own.  This is where Jaime earns his legacy.  This is where he and the scarab finally become a team.  This is where Jamie Reyes finally becomes the Blue Beetle.

It was the story by John Rogers that got me hooked on this book, and I'll be certainly looking out for any other titles that he writes.  I'm a huge Spider-Man fan, and the way Rodgers has written Jamie reminds me of Spider-Man, with his in-fight comments, the often frustrated "banter" he shares with the scarab, the juggling of his day-to-day life with his superhero activities.  Rafael Albuquerque's art is also a great addition to the book, and though when I first started reading the title I wasn't a huge fan of the style, it's grown on me as I've gotten more and more exposed to it and now I really enjoy it.  I still can't say it's my favorite or anything, but it's unique and it gives the title a distinctive look from a lot of the other superhero books I read.  This issue also includes the unique "Spanish-only" issue #26 (which is a bit of a misnomer... there's some English in it).  The story of that issue is a good one, with a nice, sentimental "awww" moment at the end of it, but though I see the reason for it and it ends up working, I still found having to constantly flip to the end of my book to understand what was being said rather distracting.  (Hey, I'm Canadian--we don't have to take Spanish here.  If it was a French-language book, I'd be fine!  Well... maybe not.  Don't tell my junior high French teacher!)  There's not much in the trade that wasn't in the single issues (in fact, I think there's no extra content), but since I read the book mainly for the story anyway, that's fine by me, though some who have already shelled out money on the single issues may complain that there's nothing here they haven't already read.  (I can't complain--I read both and I'm satisfied, but maybe I'm just strange.)

Blue Beetle Vol. 4: Endgame is a trade I've waited for since the release of the issues months back.  It's the perfect capper to the first 25 issues and brings everything with the Reach to an exciting head.  I'm glad it's finally out, and I love the story.  There.  That's my review.  Now, maybe if I'd only said that, this whole thing would have been a hell of a lot shorter!!