Friendly Fire...
Jaime has face many enemies in the last few days, but now he is forced to fight against the toughest one yet: his best friend Paco. After Brenda stops by to inform Jaime of Paco's disappearance Paco turns up on Jaime's doorstep and transforms into a Reach warrior like Jaime. The fight is amazing, with Ig's art really showing every punch, every blast with precise smoothness and coloring. But while there's one fight going on, there is another happening which was far better. Friends sometimes get into arguments which turn into fights; there might be a scuffle but things like black eyes, bruises, and cuts will heal easily. But the other fight Jaime had with Paco while they were clobbering each other was one of personal feelings. With age comes change and hard feelings, and though Paco's blasts hurt Jaime, when the red scarab said Paco's words, "He thinks you are pathetic!" Jaime responds with "SCREW YOU PACO!" Those words hurt Jaime far worse than anything, and he brought out his feelings on how Paco treated Jaime and enjoyed it like a big shot. Then Jaime starts attacking the other scarab, bringing in insults related to Paco being a dropout and pathetic. Even through the armor we can see the hurt on Paco's face.
Jaime ends the fight in a brilliant matter by tricking the red scarab into thinking he gave up control and threatening Brenda, bringing Paco out of the armor (though it's still inside him). This shows that not every fight needs to be ended with a huge cannon or something; Jaime thought tactically and brought Paco back, even though it pained him to threaten his friends and family.
And at last Jaime has christen himself as the Blue Beetle. He has also decided he is a threat to everyone he cares about and has fled for their safety. This was a fantastic end to the first arc and showed how the characters feel greatly. Anyone who has thought of leaving should come back because we are getting great character development and the origin is over so now Jaime can develop as a hero. 5 stars is the highest I can go, but it is so much higher.
