Who is Black Beetle?
Well first off: What's with the BG solicits saying that Griffin is writing #22? I'm thinking that's a mistake as Jurgens is writing a 4 part Teen Titans arc so having the fill in from 20 back makes no sense. But the mention in the blurb did make me think about the current fan theories buzzing around.
Johns, Katz and Jurgens had a very definite plan for Ted Kord. Katz said the laughing character was Ted Kord but the art was forced to be changed, Johns said it should have been obvious while Jurgens is keeping it close to the vest.
Struges who will keep writing Jaime Reyes in the Blue Beetle back up teased about Ted Kords' role in the book while Jurgens claims that there will be no connection between the stories, at least in regards to Booster interacting with Jaime anytime soon.
Black Beetle was basically unmasked in Blue Beetle 36 as Hector filling in the blanks for the clues provided in the Booster Gold series. Meanwhile Rex Hunter has expressing concerns about Black Beetle turning into a great threat and the Origins and Omens section had Boosters' shocked as he unmasked the bad guy himself. If this still is Hector after the fateful trip with Ted then Booster may not know who he is at all. The only time they would have seen each other close up beforehand would have been at the Reyes cookout where Hector seemed absent in the art work. Of course if it was Ted then how did he become a villain?
Theories:
1.) It's still Hector/Joshua: I don't have a problem with this. It makes sense and the character can be built up in both the lead story and the back up. Seems a shame to just wipe his story under the rug when it just got started.
2.) Black Beetle is Ted: A lot has to be explain here. Yeah it makes more sense for the shock Booster showed but what happened in the past to not only secure the time line but make him evil? What happened with the scarab? There was said to be a reason why the armor looks like Kingdom Come Blue Beetle (Ted), is this why?
I like the concept of Black Beetle so I'd hate to see a foe both Jaime and Booster are fighting turn out to be someone else. He's very much a cause and effect of a series of events that could have gone very different if Jaime wasn't BB. Which is not to say something tragic couldn't have happened to him otherwise.
Having Ted as a bad guy...I like this too. Many people don't but come on, this isn't going to stick. We'd know right off the bat this wasn't his free will to hurt his best friend. I think it would actually be a very emotional story to tell. How Boosters' best intentions ended up getting Ted trapped into a role he hates. The idea of being a pawn is how both Booster and Michelle feel in #19. Ted himself made a very important choice for Booster without informing him of the fact. He's the one who made a life support armor for his buddy after he "died" which went directly against Michaels' wishes causing him a whole lot of pain, grief and other 90s' type emotions. A nice call back at any rate.
What Rip says in 1,000,000 doesn't say Ted died exactly. He says that they tied up some loose ends of a "noble sacrifice." That Ted returned to the very moment before he left. We're not told anything else and while Rip can certainly track another time sphere though time he can't always know what happened. Take the T.O. Morrow screens he observes to see the result of these warped futures. They can show events but he couldn't pin point who messed up time. While the Vanishing Point could show this it doesn't mean that he observed it. Personally I think that he must be out of the loop if Ted is alive otherwise he wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to try and convince Booster. I just don't buy the theory that he did some elaborate risky set up for Booster that could have destroyed the time line and erased himself.
Johns, Katz and Jurgens had a very definite plan for Ted Kord. Katz said the laughing character was Ted Kord but the art was forced to be changed, Johns said it should have been obvious while Jurgens is keeping it close to the vest.
Struges who will keep writing Jaime Reyes in the Blue Beetle back up teased about Ted Kords' role in the book while Jurgens claims that there will be no connection between the stories, at least in regards to Booster interacting with Jaime anytime soon.
Black Beetle was basically unmasked in Blue Beetle 36 as Hector filling in the blanks for the clues provided in the Booster Gold series. Meanwhile Rex Hunter has expressing concerns about Black Beetle turning into a great threat and the Origins and Omens section had Boosters' shocked as he unmasked the bad guy himself. If this still is Hector after the fateful trip with Ted then Booster may not know who he is at all. The only time they would have seen each other close up beforehand would have been at the Reyes cookout where Hector seemed absent in the art work. Of course if it was Ted then how did he become a villain?
Theories:
1.) It's still Hector/Joshua: I don't have a problem with this. It makes sense and the character can be built up in both the lead story and the back up. Seems a shame to just wipe his story under the rug when it just got started.
2.) Black Beetle is Ted: A lot has to be explain here. Yeah it makes more sense for the shock Booster showed but what happened in the past to not only secure the time line but make him evil? What happened with the scarab? There was said to be a reason why the armor looks like Kingdom Come Blue Beetle (Ted), is this why?
I like the concept of Black Beetle so I'd hate to see a foe both Jaime and Booster are fighting turn out to be someone else. He's very much a cause and effect of a series of events that could have gone very different if Jaime wasn't BB. Which is not to say something tragic couldn't have happened to him otherwise.
Having Ted as a bad guy...I like this too. Many people don't but come on, this isn't going to stick. We'd know right off the bat this wasn't his free will to hurt his best friend. I think it would actually be a very emotional story to tell. How Boosters' best intentions ended up getting Ted trapped into a role he hates. The idea of being a pawn is how both Booster and Michelle feel in #19. Ted himself made a very important choice for Booster without informing him of the fact. He's the one who made a life support armor for his buddy after he "died" which went directly against Michaels' wishes causing him a whole lot of pain, grief and other 90s' type emotions. A nice call back at any rate.
What Rip says in 1,000,000 doesn't say Ted died exactly. He says that they tied up some loose ends of a "noble sacrifice." That Ted returned to the very moment before he left. We're not told anything else and while Rip can certainly track another time sphere though time he can't always know what happened. Take the T.O. Morrow screens he observes to see the result of these warped futures. They can show events but he couldn't pin point who messed up time. While the Vanishing Point could show this it doesn't mean that he observed it. Personally I think that he must be out of the loop if Ted is alive otherwise he wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to try and convince Booster. I just don't buy the theory that he did some elaborate risky set up for Booster that could have destroyed the time line and erased himself.