Is that a giant green hand?

So, courtesy of scans_daily, we have a reminder of why I love the comic Blue Beetle:
IS. THAT. A GIANT. GREEN. HAND.

For those who don't follow the comic, Jaime Reyes is a teenager who accidentally bonded with a suit of blue, insect-like alien power armor.   I was prepared to dislike this comic, as I was a fan of the former Blue Beetle, Ted Kord (an unpowered gadget-using adventurer kind of like Batman without all the issues).  However, the comic won me over with the quality of the characterization and the snappy dialog.  In may ways the new Blue Beetle is a bit like Spiderman for the current generation, if Spiderman had been written with a more natural, contemporary attitude, and without  the the over-the-top dramatics of Stan Lee.  For instance, I like that they avoided the "I must keep my secret hidden from all those I love", cliche, with Jaime immediately revealing his armor to his friends and family, and then dealing with his loved ones realizing that he may no longer be quite human. 

One other nice thing about this comic is that not only is this one of the few portrayals of latinos in mainstream comics, it's also a very positive portrayal.  Comics have a long, embarrassing history of using minorities as symbols to deal with contemporary issues in a ham-handed way, and  so its refreshing that Jaime is depicted first and foremost as a teenager, not a symbol.  Not that the comic doesen't deal with issues like gangs and immigration, but it puts it's own twist on them, and uses those elements as seeds for interesting stories, and not as proof that the writers are socially conscious.

In fact the whole comic is refreshing- witty and informed by the recent crop of teen action dramas, but so far it hasn't descended into the cloying tongue in cheek attitude of shows like Buffy.  I'm hoping it has a long, entertaining run..