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Three different people have donned the blue suit over the years: first Dan Garret, then Ted Kord, and most recently Jaime Reyes. Regardless of who wears the costume and the name, Blue Beetle is always a source of hope and levity. He fights hard for his friends, and he makes sacrifices when the moment demands it. His journey through publication is a winding one, but there have been some spectacular stories along the way.

10 Blue Diamond

Blue Diamond continues Jaime Reyes’s adventures as the Blue Beetle in the New 52. It features several entertaining team-ups, including a notable one with the Green Lantern, as while as Issue #0, which tells the backstory of the Blue Beetle Scarab itself.

Some readers may feel that Issue #0 is too slow and perhaps altogether unnecessary, but given that it presents the fullest such account in the New 52 era, it plays a valuable part in the Blue Beetle’s story. The rest herein are typical superhero adventures, except this time in space. Also Booster Gold pops in for comic relief, to the surprise of no one familiar with the friendship between the two heroes.

9 Road To Nowhere

Time-traveling bandits? Bad news. Keeping one’s superhero identity secret for a new girlfriend? Also bad news. Jaime Reyes has no shortage of problems in Road to Nowhere. Fortunately, he has the training he received from Ted Kord to fall back on.

While this may help him in his battle against Stop Watch, it’s not likely to help much with his relationship issues. The arc suffers from some questionable plot development but is nonetheless a fun Blue Beetle story. It’s not the height of Blue Beetle storytelling, but it’s a good time and a worthwhile read.

8 Boundaries

The art in Boundaries is a blend of the cartoony and the realistic, which is perfect because that’s just how the narrative is too. It takes quite the hero to grapple with both alien invasions and the situation on the Mexican-American border without letting the story degenerate into either flashy nonsense or soapbox pandering.

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Fortunately for readers, that’s the kind of hero Jaime Reyes is. The story talks about hot-button issues without being demeaning or condescending, and then it shifts tempo so Jaime can crack a joke as well as some villain’s skull. Boundaries is about as well-balanced as one could ask a comic arc to be.

7 Metamorphosis

Jaime Reyes isn’t on the best of terms with the Blue Beetle Armor that gives him his powers, which is to say Jaime wants to save the world and the armor wants to destroy it. This obvious clash of motives gives Metamorphosis strong narrative momentum.

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The book further benefits from Ig Guara’s excellent artwork. Thanks to it, the fight scenes are spectacular. The series was canceled shortly into its run, but sales are no sure reflection of quality, and Metamorphosis is proof. The New 52’s Blue Beetle deserved better than he got.

6 The More Things Change

DC’s Rebirth gave the company a chance to revitalize its lineup by tweaking some characters and substituting others altogether. For Blue Beetle, it was the latter, with newcomer Jaime Reyes stepping into the blue suit in place of fan-favorite Ted Kord.

Unlike his predecessor who was introduced to fans as a full-fledgling superhero, Jaime is still figuring things out, and getting to watch the character grow and develop along with the Blue Beetle Scarab is a treat for modern readers. While its writing and art aren’t life-changing, The More Things Change is an exceptional entry point for those that want to see what the Blue Beetle is all about.

5 Captain Atom #83

1966’s “Captain Atom #83” marked the first appearance of Ted Kord as the Blue Beetle. Though he was at the time a Charlton Comics character, in the 80s he would go on to be adopted into DC’s pantheon of heroes.

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Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko also happens to be the creator of Ted Kord, so in a way, the hero’s eventual popularity isn’t surprising. Though it isn’t a DC comic, or even a Blue Beetle comic, “Captain Atom #83” is required reading for anyone who wants the full picture of the Blue Beetle’s place in the DCU. Sometimes the greatest things have the least auspicious beginnings. Ted Kord’s origin is one such case.

4 Booster Gold: Blue & Gold

Time-traveling nuisance and self-styled hero Booster Gold isn’t the face of professional competence. One need look no further than the Batman storyline “The Gift” to see the cost of his bumbling interventions. Yet for all the chaos that his shenanigans cause, Booster Gold means well. He’s trying to help; he’s just bad at it.

This fact is part of what makes his friendship and partnership with Blue Beetle in Booster Gold: Blue & Gold so satisfying and one that’s hard to forget.These are two faces of the same heroic coin: one a little more competent than the other, perhaps, but both determined to help other people and be there for their friends when duty calls.

3 Justice League International

Keith Griffen and J.M. DeMatteis’s five-year run of Justice League International placed Blue Beetle alongside some of the DC Universe’s most famous heroes, including Batman, the Martian Manhunter, Guy Gardner, and Mister Miracle.

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Ted Kord is a fantastic character on his own, but seeing the Blue Beetle rub elbows with the Caped Crusader and Green Lantern is next level for reasons that have nothing to do with taking down supervillains. Kord is often the comic relief in the series thanks to her partnership with another wisecracking good guy, Booster Gold. For Blue Beetle and team antics, it doesn’t get much better than Justice League International.

2 Countdown To Infinite Crisis

What transpires in Countdown to Infinite Crisis is one of the most gutwrenching moments in the DC canon, and the part that Blue Beetle plays in it is heartbreaking. It would be a disservice to a phenomenal story and all of the brilliant writers and artists involved to spoil it.

Suffice it to say, the aptly named Infinite Crisis is a disaster on an unimaginable scale, and Blue Beetle, along with his friends in the Justice League and every other hero, must step up and do their part. In moments like that, a hero shows themselves for what they truly are. That’s just what Ted Kord did, and it’s a moment that will live in readers’ minds forever.

1 Shellshocked

There have been multiple Blue Beetles, and those Blue Beetles have been reconceived and relaunched multiple times, giving readers no shortage of possible starting points with the character. Shellshocked may be the best of all.

Following the events of Infinite Crisis, it’s time for someone new to step into the blue suit, and Jaime Reyes is the boy to do it. He tells his family he’s a superhero. They understandably freak out. Things get wild. It could be heavy, cynical, boring, flat, slow, or a dozen other comic-killing things, but what it is instead is pure. It’s pure fun, pure comic, pure Blue Beetle.

Blue Beetle is currently in development.

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