Entomology is Fun?

You know, I liked Countdown to Infinite Crisis. I liked it a lot. Well, maybe not so much the ending. But it was nice to see Ted Kord being the hero of something not comedy-based for once.

It had the requisite intensity and sense of pacing. And gosh, there were scenes where Ted was drawn the hottest he's ever been. It was dark, figuratively and literally, but it was good at showing the strength and humanity of the Ted Kord character.

And well, there's one part that always makes me tear up, just a little:



It's the monologue. I'm such a sucker for a quiet "I am..." type monologue. The whole "I am Ted Kord, I am the second man to call himself the Blue Beetle. I tell myself that there will be a third. And I hope whoever he or she may be. They do better at it than I have." It just gets to me.

I've read the Secret Origins and the Blue Beetle series. I remember how much Ted loved and idolized Dan. And the pain of failure of these lines get to me every time. Because Ted was a good Blue Beetle. He was competent, funny and smart. He might have had very little at the end, but that wasn't his fault.

And his death wasn't his fault either. He didn't do anything wrong. And it hurts that his last real thoughts seem to indicate that he thought he did.

I don't mind Ted dying and I like Jaime a lot. He's a good kid, confused, but he's going to do the name proud, I think.

And I really really want Ted to see that. Whether through resurrection, ghostly visitation, time travel, or bizarre dream sequence, I want Ted Kord and Jaime Reyes to meet just once I want Jaime to see the man he's replacing, to understand the importance of the legacy he's inherited on a more emotional level than just Booster Gold giving him the name. I want Jaime to have a face to go with the name.

And I want Ted Kord to get a glimpse of the kid who's replacing him. The confused newbie who's in way over his head but doing the best he can to make sense of things. I think Ted would like him.