Reach (comics)


The Reach are a villainous race of cybernetic insectoid aliens in the DC Comics universe. They are unintentionally responsible for the creation of the dynasty of super heroes known as the Blue Beetles.

Publication history

The Reach first appeared in Blue Beetle vol. 7 #12 and were created by John Rogers and Guy Major.

Fictional species biography

The Reach were a race of world conquerors. Their actions eventually brought them into conflict with the Green Lantern Corps, the two sides eventually fighting to a stalemate. The Corps' leaders, the Guardians of the Universe forced The Reach into a truce, making them promise never to invade any other planets. The Reach agreed to this, and then devised a new method of conquest: infiltration. By sending an Infiltrator scarab to the targeted world, and having it bond with and overwhelm the mind of one of its native lifeforms, The Reach could use it as a faux ambassador, pretending that they sent the scarab to help the people of the targeted world, as a gesture of friendship and goodwill, while the Infiltrator gathered information on that world's defenses. Once enough information had been gathered, The Reach would then cease their pretense, having the Infiltrator turn on the race it once defended. Other varieties of Scarabs included Enforcer, intended as physical coersion, and Negotiator, whose function was to lull targeted worlds into false senses of security.
The Reach sent an Infiltrator to Earth, some time in the era of the Pharaohs. However, a sorcerer, believing the scarab to be a mystical implement, attempted to use it to revive a fallen Pharaoh. The attempt was stopped by a time-traveling Booster Gold, though the Scarab remained infused with mystical energies. In the 20th century, an archeologist Dan Garret located the Scarab. The Scarab, only half activated, granted Garret enhanced strength and speed, which Garret used to become the first Blue Beetle. When Garret died in battle, he passed the Scarab on to his student, Ted Kord. Kord, unable to access the Scarab's power, eventually passed it on to the wizard Shazam, who kept it within the Rock of Eternity. When the rock was destroyed, the scarab fell to Earth, and was found by Jaime Reyes, whom the Scarab proceeded to bond with soon after. However, by that time the Scarab's AI had been affected by the mystical energies it had been infused with, causing it to gain its own intelligence and personality. Instead of overwhelming Jaime's mind, it instead worked with it, allowing Jaime to use its powers to become a superhero. When The Reach became aware of this development, they changed their tactics, attempting to destroy the world via subterfuge. When Jaime undid these plans, The Reach captured him, removed the Scarab, and began a full-scale assault of Earth. However, the Scarab had given its knowledge to Jaime, allowing him to reclaim it, and cripple The Reach's ships. The remaining Reach were repelled by Earth's heroes, forcing them to retreat. The Scarab had also interfaced with several other Infiltrators, instilling within them their own independent personalities, creating the possibility that further Reach infiltrations would turn out the same as they did on Earth.
Shortly afterwards, a group of Reach Infiltrators and Enforcers, affected by the Scarab's reprogramming, formed the "Kahji Dha Revolutionary Army", turning against their masters and freeing many of the worlds under their control. The KDRA then came to Earth, seeking Jaime as a leader. However, they intended to destroy all possible hostile forces on the planet, including the Justice League. Jaime refused, and was forced to fight them. In the ensuing battle, the KDRA were defeated and imprisoned, but Nadia, one of Jaime's tech support, was killed in the crossfire. The Scarab of the lead Enforcer was taken by Nadia's brother Hector, who may or may not have become the Black Beetle.

The New 52

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, the Reach are first introduced when they locate and initiate an attack on Blue Lantern Corps' home world of Odym, intending to allow their HiveMasters to feast upon the Blue Central Power Battery which will "slake their hunger for eons". When the Reach attacked with an overwhelming force of 5 battle fleets, the Blue Lanterns fought valiantly but were overmatched. The other New Guardians, led by Kyle Rayner, arrived and lent their might to the battle, but discovered that the Reach had cocooned over half the planet during the battle. With Odym lost, the Blue Lanterns continued the fight, but Green Lantern finally convinced Saint Walker, the Blue Lantern leader, to evacuate the remaining Blue Lanterns rather than perish. The Blue Central Power Battery was apparently lost to the Reach.

In other media

Television