Written by Judd Winick
Art by Joe BennettDC’s biweekly JUSTICE LEAGUE event continues!
In issue #19, Justice League International is finally joined by Power Girl! But even with their combined strength, will they be able to track Maxwell Lord down in time to save Blue Beetle?
The cover says it all. History is repeating itself. Blue Beetle is destined to meet a bullet from one of DC’s greatest hero-turned-villain. This is literally a moment so big that the fan outcry to it was huge before it even happened. But how does the Blue Beetle’s last day on Earth play out? Is this another “Ryan Choi“?
Find out after the cut.
The issue begins with a page detailing the history of the Blue Beetle. Three different men have held the name, two of whom have died before their prime – one of which was gunned down by the main villain of Generation Lost. The scene takes place years ago as Jaime Reyes sits with his friends soon after he gets ownership of the scarab, detailing to them what it’s like to be a superhero. It’s with this moment (let alone the cover) that you know: Blue Beetle is going to die again.
Justice League: Generation Lost has without a doubt served as one of the best books to come out of Blackest Night. Featuring a very cult classic team formed together to stop a fan favorite “villain,” the team reformed at the perfect time to have one of the most entertaining adventures available in comics today. Of course, with that came the long dark shadow of death that Max Lord brings, and as far back as November we knew this moment was coming. The question then would be – to what circumstances would this scene play out, and would it ultimately be respectful to the character as well as not seem like a total excuse to bump off another underused minority character in the DCU? The answer to that question is that not only does it make perfect sense, but as far as a death goes this is one of the few that makes literal sense when fictional tropes and classic story arcs are considered.
I suppose one of the fears behind a move like this is that ultimately, it was just feel like a waste, but when you think about it makes total sense. In many ways, this whole title is a tribute to smaller characters. Captain Atom, Fire and Ice have all gotten spotlight time in this series to really develop as characters in an effort to make them relevant. As odd as it is, Booster Gold out all the characters here is actually the biggest character in the bunch now, and with Max Lord being the villain of the tale it only makes sense that he take a literal shot at Booster. You see, a lot of the tale is very circular. The whole series has revolved around references to the JLI as well as other weird elements of the DCU like the Creature Commandos and the Metal Men. Winick, and vicariously Max Lord, are really pulling out the stops with this book, and to that extent it makes sense that Jaime would unfortunately meet with a bullet as a final motivator to Booster in whatever Maxwell Lord’s twisted scheme is, especially after Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis spent an entire arc in the main Booster book reminding everyone of what happened.
Of course, there in lies the problem the title could very well have – the next issue promises to be Max Lord centric, and in all honesty that could kill this. At this moment, we have a tale of twisted revenge that hinges upon information we don’t know. He may have completed his mission for why he was brought back to life, but something about Max Lord’s takeover of Checkmate has still yet to be shown, and one would assume that his torture of the JLI has to do with it aside from simply enabling his takeover. If this is true, then his murder of the new Blue Beetle could be a poignant way of history repeating itself, giving Booster Gold the motivation to do exactly what Wonder Woman did back right before Infinite Crisis. As odd as it sounds, there are points of this story where Max Lord didn’t really seem like a villain. He truly was trying to accomplish something albeit through dubious means. But the closer we get to the end, it more it seems like Lord is really just being a bastard to be a bastard, and if that’s the case it could seriously hurt the outcome of how this series is looked back on.
Continued belowEither way, for the moment the creative team of the book is still very much killing it. Winick has really had a turn around with this story, allowing the initial team up with Keith Giffen to fuel what is ultimately a great redeemer for Winick antagonizers. As mentioned, Winick is literall at the make it or break it point, with five issues left to reveal all the tricks and wrap the story up. We’re teetering on a dangerous edge, but considering that Generation Lost has been so solid for 19 issues, faith is a wise thing to have for now. Aaron Lopresti’s issues on average look better, but Joe Bennett does rather well with this issue, finding a good way to illustrate the large action sequences that befall the story as well as recreating the rather famous Infinite Crisis prologue moment. It’s really nice to see that 19 issues in, Generation Lost is still maintaining a good pace and even amount of quality per issue.
The sentiment has been stated, but it bears repeating: Generation Lost is literally at a turning point. A “big death” has been expected from a series this big for quite some time now, and depending how it is actually treated in the upcoming issues we’ll get to see what deeper meaning this event has. Winick has a lot of room to play here with trickery, because for all we know Lord killed Jaime with a simple illusion and Jaime is still locked up somewhere. It seems without a doubt though that the finale of this book is leading to a definitive showdown between Lord and Booster. It’s something that has been building and boiling since Lord first knocked Booster out in the first issue, and it came to a head this issue as Max finally delivered the moment we’ve all been waiting for.
Here’s to crossing fingers that it pays off.
Final Verdict: 8.9 – Buy
