2.3: "Revenge of the Reach!" Author: Jett Posted On: January 2, 2010 SYNOPSIS Blue Beetle is finally ready for a mission of his own and things go smoothly until he tries to deliver his captured villain to Oa, where he is attacked by the Green Lanterns! Blue's scarab is revealed to be linked to an army of evil aliens known as the Reach--does he have the power to resist their influence? INFO "Revenge of the Reach!" was written by J.M. DeMatteis and directed by Michael Chang. It originally aired on January 1, 2010. PREVIEW BOF's preview of "Revenge of the Reach!" with video and images: PART 2. REVIEW To be perfectly honest, “Revenge of the Reach!” is essentially a Blue Beetle and Green Lantern Corps story guest-starring Batman. That -- coupled with the fact that the entire story takes place in space -- were two fairly significant downers for this Batman fan. But hey, this is BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, so you know exactly what you’re going to get. In short, the plot of this episode revolves around the battle for Oa between the invading alien race known as “The Reach” and The Green Lantern Corps. We also learn the truth behind Jaime Reyes’ scarab which transforms him into the Blue Beetle. Let’s just say that the scarab ain’t a good guy, OK? As for Batman, he’s reduced to a supporting role here as I previously mentioned -- though it was sort of cool to see him in his Bat-Spacesuit. Sort of. “Batman, IN SPACE!” Sheesh. Anyway… Nothing new or cleaver here plot-wise as we’ve seen “The sidekick becomes his own man” and “The power of good overcoming the power of evil” stuff before. Plus, I didn’t find this episode to have any of those terrific one-liners and wink-wink, nudge-nudge moments that have become a trademark of this show. As far as this episode’s opening segment -- which has become my favorite part of the show -- we’re given a cliffhanger. Yes that’s right, the show opens with The Challengers of the Unknown investigating a meteor strike on Dinosaur Island. Batman shows up out of nowhere to warn them that the meteor is radioactive and then zips back to Gotham City. As the opening comes to an end, the meteor breaks open, star-looking parasites jump out and latch onto the Challenger’s faces, and… “To Be Continued!” An opening that ends in a cliffhanger? Batman leaving Gotham, traveling thousands of miles ust to deliver a warning that lasts only a minute? Whatever. "Do y'all like my new threads?" If you are a Batman fan and Batman fan only, you’re probably not going to like “Revenge of the Reach!” Too silly, scifi-ish, and not enough of The Caped Crusader to recommend to the “Batman Only” crowd. I probably fall into that category and would chalk this episode up as OK at best. I figure that fans of the DCU (and the Silver Age Batman) will enjoy it much more. "Jett" is the founder of BATMAN ON FILM. Batman-On-Film.com on Facebook BATMAN ON FILM, © 1998-present William E. Ramey. All rights reserved. BATMAN AND ALL RELATED CHARACTERS AND ELEMENTS ARE TRADEMARKS OF AND © DC COMICS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.