mandolin | Blue Beetle #23 = EPIC WIN.

So I caved and ran out on my lunch break just to pick this up, and read it in the car. The solicit and the cover are TOTALLY misleading, people. In a good way.

I do not have time to give this issue the gushing tl;dr love it deserves. So a couple quick thoughts follow.

'No. This is about the point when Ravager tries to stab somebody and Robin starts that grind-y thing with his teeth. You're way cooler.' When Jaime compared Brenda and Paco to the Titans and explained why they were cooler, I LAUGHED SO HARD. BECAUSE IT'S SO TRUE.

This was the first time in years where a comic book made me cry - and it was Milagro who broke the dam, of course. (Other instances include MAUS and the 9/11 issue of Amazing Spider-Man, to give you an idea.) And Mrs. Reyes made me cheer.

I reread the issue three times to try to grasp the whole time dilation thing, failed, but I am not a quantum physicist and this is still a comic book and Jaime's insane plan was still pretty damn spiffy. Also was the asides on how Ted picked up bits and pieces of theory that Booster let slip. (BWAHAHAHAHA "sweater nebulas.") Also: while the reasoning for not calling the Justice League was sound, I hope to God SOMEBODY else noticed the Reach's targeting of the world-ripper stations and the Reyes' house. If Hector and Nadia could triangulate the source...

Surprisingly, I didn't shriek at the ending. Maybe because I was pretty damn sure that Jaime's family was okay, but mostly because I had so much love for this issue I couldn't let the cliffhanger make me squawk like almost all cliffhangers do. That's saying a LOT. 'Cause that cliffhanger was eeeevil. Poor Jaime...

Okay, it's official, I've pretty much forgiven John Rogers for any involvement he had with that Catwoman movie.

ETA: Two nitpicks that are probably the letterers' doing.
1) "Vamanos?" Who did the lettering on this again, and can they please NOT do the lettering for issue #26?
2) What happened to the Scarab-alphabet all of a sudden? I liked the Scarab-alphabet! They didn't have to go to real words! Or was this a lettering mistake again? (Because this series is plagued by them, let me tell you.)

...yep. That's it for the nitpicks.