Blue Beetle

Commission from Youmacon 2012; Copic marker, ink, white paint pen.

I'm a big Ted Kord fan. JLI was one of the two comics that made me a comic collector, and exposed me to both Kevin Maguire and Adam Hughes - two artists who played a tremendous role in shaping my artistic style. So while I saw the appeal of the new Blue Beetle, I couldn't make myself care enough to try out his book.

Then Young Justice happened, and as it did with a lot of tertiary DC teen heroes, it made Jaime Reyes shine like a new toaster. He's a great character, and just one more of millions of reasons why I'm infuriated at the cancellation of that show. Losing Young Justice and the Green Lantern cartoon is like losing the DC universe all over again.

But at least a new generation of fans was introduced to these characters in maybe the best way possible. And the new Blue Beetle finally made a fan out of me.