LogFAQs > #972678324

#91 - Jaime Reyes
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There has been a long and rocky history to the character of Jaime in this campaign, often stemming from my own handle or lack thereof regarding the character. From what I've seen and have come to understand, that isn't necessarily shared with the players, many of whom really, truly love the character. And how could you not? Jaime's is the most notable coming-of-age tale in the campaign, a crucible forging Jaime in the most unforgiving flames imaginable - those of the Final Crisis. Jaime, a rookie in every sense of the word, however, has stepped up, held firm to his convictions, and dared the world to deny him his chance to be a hero. For that, Jaime's travails and traversal of the American continents, ferrying refugees to the last bastion of safety on Earth - Z'onn Z'orr - has become the stuff of campaign legends.

Oftentimes, what makes Jaime work best as a comedic character is what I find most limiting: his stupidity. Jaime can be a social rube and a mental welterweight, oftentimes not even able to be propped up by his guardian and mentor, Khaji Da. But being fused to an alien entity with thousands of years of experienced bank in its data processors doesn't guarantee success. Khaji Da may know best, but Jaime doesn't often lead with his head, but he's instead guided by the tug of his heart. This tends to put Jaime in position to be the noble fool, the child-like clarity he possesses a fresh insight in a jaded world.

To Jaime, right is right and wrong is wrong. There truly can be no expansion on these things - either you're good or you're evil, and the in-between is just an excuse in Jaime's mind, a moral minefield meant to punish those who step out of line. Of course, while that has led to a stubbornness which has alienated Jaime from friends and family alike, it has also garnered him the respect of individuals like Lush, who perhaps sees the dream she so deeply wishes she embodied, residing in Jaime. More often than you might expect, the wayward villainess turned hero will go out of her way to quietly support Jaime without his knowledge, trying to shore up his friends and provide him a safety net so he can continue practicing what he preaches.

With the upcoming Blue Beetle film on the horizon, I suppose I'm sinking into a comfort with the character that I think is seeded in the soil fertile from grand ideas originally posed by Keith Giffen and John Rogers in the first outing of Jaime as a comic star. Jaime is proactive, noble and a true hero. He certainly experiences the ups and the downs of a Spider-Man, but Jaime rarely is as much in his own head as Peter Parker - not that he has the capacity to be, I suppose. But also, Jaime is much more selfless and willing to sacrifice in the way a superhero does than Peter. Parker will give up everything, and spend an entire comic letting the reader know that's exactly what he's doing. He's Ted Danson in Curb Your Enthusiasm - building an anonymous wing of a hospital and letting every one know he's done it. Meanwhile, Jaime is the opposite of that. Sure, he may be very public in his successes, but only because Jaime does things in a broad, uncomplicated way. All he sees are the people that need help, the enemies that need to be stopped, the story that remains to be told.

You have to respect someone so simple in another wise complex world.

#90 was drafted as well!