Blue Beetle
| Blue Beetle | |
|---|---|
| File:Bbnew.PNG Jaime Reyes as the third Blue Beetle. Art by Cully Hamner. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Infinite Crisis #3 |
| Created by | Keith Giffen John Rogers Cully Hamner |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jaime Reyes |
| Abilities | advanced hi-tech suit granted by the magical scarab bonded to his spine |
Three fictional superheroes have used the name Blue Beetle as of 2006.
The most promiment is the character published by DC Comics, which in 1983 acquired the rights to the name and character from Charlton Comics. That character, with the civilian name Ted Kord, had evolved from an earlier Blue Beetle, civilian name Dan Garrett, created in 1939 by the pseudonymous Charles NicholasTemplate:Fn for Fox Feature Syndicate. Charlton purchased the rights from Fox in the 1950s, and eventually revised the character, retaining only his civilian name. Charlton then introduced the completely new Blue Beetle that DC would acquire.
Fox Feature Syndicate
The original Golden Age Blue Beetle was Dan GarretTemplate:Fn, son of a police officer killed by a criminal. This Fox version of the character debuted in Mystery Men Comics #1 (1939), and began appearing in his own 60-issue series shortly thereafter (first issue dated simply 1939, the next dated May-June 1940, the last Aug. 1950; a separate company, Holyoke, published issues 12-30).
Rookie patrolman Dan Garret had invented a bulletproof costume (described by Garret as being made of a chain-mail which was "as thin and light as silk"), and temporarily gained superhuman strength from ingesting the mysterious vitamin 2X.
The supporting cast remained fairly stable throughout this original run, and included Joan Mason, a crime reporter for the Daily Blade who would ultimately star in her own backup stories, and Mike Mannigan, Dan's stereotypically Irish partner on the force. Dr. Franz, a local pharmacist and inventor of the 2X formula, played a large role in the first few issues, but eventually faded from the cast.
A popular character of the era, he had his own short-lived comic strip, drawn by a pseudonymous Jack Kirby and others, and a radio serial that ran for 48 thirteen-minute episodes. When superheroes fell out of vogue in the late 1940s, Fox downplayed the Beetle's superheroic aspects (his superhuman abilities were removed) and eventually relegated him to a host for true crime stories before the character went on hiatus.
Charlton Comics
Dan Garrett
Charlton Comics obtained the rights to the Blue Beetle, and reprinted some stories in its anthology titles and in a four-issue Blue Beetle reprint series numbered 18-21 (Feb.-Aug. 1955), continuing the numbering of the defunct Charlton title The Thing.
During the genesis of the Silver Age of comics, Charlton would revise Garret's character for a new Blue Beetle series. It ran a total of ten issues, numbered 1-5 (June 1964 - April 1965) then 50-54 (July 1965 - March 1966, taking up the numbering from the discontinued Unusual Tales).
Charlton's new Blue Beetle retained the original's name, but none of his powers or origin. This Beetle was an archaeologist who obtained a number of superhuman powers (including enhanced strength, flight and the ability to generate lightning) from a mystical scarab he found during a dig in Egypt. This version by writer Joe Gill and artist Tony Tallarico was played at least initially for camp, with stories like "The Giant Mummy who was Not Dead".
Ted Kord
| Blue Beetle | |
|---|---|
| File:BlueBeetle03.png Ted Kord as the second Blue Beetle. Art by Dick Giordano. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics (Originally Charlton Comics) |
| First appearance | Captain Atom #83 (Nov. 1966) |
| Created by | Steve Ditko |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Edward "Ted" Kord |
| Team affiliations | Justice League, Extreme Justice, L.A.W., Super Buddies |
| Abilities | Genius-level intellect. Used numerous gadgets which included suction pads, sight-enhancing lenses and a protective costume. His BB gun had several functions such as reflectors and a grapnel device. He was a capable hand-to-hand combatant and stealthy acrobat. Blue Beetle's ship, the Bug, is filled with weaponry and can fly at 600 mph. |
Charlton's next Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, was created by Steve Ditko, and first appeared as a back-up feature in Captain Atom #83 (Nov. 1966), with Gary Friedrich scripting from Ditko's conception and plot. This Blue Beetle was a genius-level inventor and a gifted athlete, sharing much more in common with the Fox original than did Charlton's earlier reimagining of the character.
This Blue Beetle's signature equipment is his bug-shaped personal aircraft, which he enters and exits typically with a cable suspended from the cockpit. He also generally eschews personal weaponry except for a pistol that makes a blinding flash of light and, additionally, a strong airblast to gain the advantage when he closes in for hand-to-hand combat.
Ditko is best known as the co-creator (with Stan Lee) and original artist of Spider-Man at Marvel Comics. While Blue Beetle and Spider-Man have some similar characteristics, such as being wise-cracking, acrobatic, arthropod-themed urban heroes, they evolved into very different characters. Both characters are accomplished inventors (Ted Kord is considered one of the premier minds of the DC Universe), great athletes, and skilled acrobats. Both characters also have strong, if sometimes ill-timed, senses of humor that they use to mask their insecurities — moreso in the case of the Beetle, who has no powers of his own (and in later years has to deal with occasional weight gain). On the other hand, the Beetle has none of the angst associated with brooding vigilantes like Batman. Unlike Spider-Man, Blue Beetle is a team player and a loyal friend; Beetle is the only hero who put up with the narcissistic pretty-boy superhero Booster Gold when the two were paired in the Justice League.
The Ted Kord Blue Beetle ran as a backup feature in Captain Atom #83-86 (Nov. 1966 - June 1967) before getting his own title, which ran from #1-5 (June 1967 - Nov. 1968). A sixth issue was produced, but published in the Charlton Portfolio. The Question ran as a backup series, with the fifth issue featuring a quasi-team-up in which the Blue Beetle story continues in part in the Question tale.
An origin was given in #2, linking Ted Kord to the previous Blue Beetle. Ted was revealed as a former student of Dan Garrett, and when they were investigating Ted's Uncle Jarvis, they learned Jarvis was working to create an army of androids to take over Earth. Garrett changed into Blue Beetle, but was killed in the battle. As he died, he passed on the responsibility of being Blue Beetle to Ted, but wasn't able to pass on the mystical scarab. There was a hint that one android was still left in stasis, but this was never resolved.
In the early 1980s, the first issue of Charlton's in-house fanzine Charlton Bullseye, featured had a team-up of the Blue Beetle and the Question. Later, AC Comics would publish a story intended for Charlton Bullseye in Americomics #3, and a one-shot of a team-up of all the Charlton "Action Heroes", as the company called its lineup.
DC Comics
DC acquired the Charlton heroes in the mid-1980s, and used the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event to integrate them all into the DC Universe. During this period Blue Beetle had his own series, written by Len Wein. Also published during this time was Secret Origins #2 (cover illustrated by Gil Kane), which explained the origins and careers of the Ted Kord and Dan Garrett Blue Beetles in the post-Crisis continuity. They would also follow up on the hinted android in stasis from the Charlton series, having this android pretend to be Dan Garrett, but Ted Kord stopped him.
Ted Kord is sometimes shown as an industrialist, the owner of Kord Industries; more often he is short on money, leading to his entering "get-rich-quick" schemes with Booster Gold.
A brief appearance in JLA: Year One showed the young Ted working in Kord Industries R&D, where he designed the JLA HQ security system. Upon meeting the heroes he thought, "Screw the family business. I want to be one of those guys", possibly explaining the company's fluctuating status since he took over. In recent comics, it has been implied that Kord Industries has become a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises, headed by Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman.
The Justice League
BB is probably best known as the wisecracking member of Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis's lighthearted, five-year run on various Justice League of America titles (notably Justice League International), where he was memorably partnered with fellow third-string hero Booster Gold, and the two quickly became best friends. Among fans, they were known collectively as the "Blue and Gold" team. After Giffen and DeMatteis left, Justice League America continued to run until #113. Dan Jurgens tied the "Death of Superman" storyline into JLA, in which Doomsday left Blue Beetle in a coma during his murderous rampage. Beetle and Booster both subsequently joined the short-lived Justice League offshoot known as Extreme Justice.
Blue Beetle then entered a period of relative obscurity. The miniseries The LAW (Living Assault Weapons) reunited Blue Beetle and the other heroes acquired from Charlton, but the series met with critical disfavor. Following this, Beetle appeared for a time in Birds of Prey.
In July 2003, Giffen, DeMatteis, and original JLI artist Kevin Maguire reunited for the six-issue miniseries Formerly Known As The Justice League, where many of the original JLI characters reteamed with a storefront office. Beetle, who has grown in maturity, was an important member of this new team, the "Super Buddies". A sequel story arc, "I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League", was initially slated as a second miniseries but instead ran, delayed, in JLA: Classified #4-9.
Death
In the 80-page special Countdown to Infinite Crisis, published on March 30, 2005, Blue Beetle discovered a renewed Checkmate organization led by Maxwell Lord, former bankroller of the JLA. He attempted to escape after discovering Checkmate's database of superheroes, but was shot in the head and killed by Lord.
That same story had earlier reiterated the origin of the Ted Kord Blue Beetle first given in Charlton Comics' Blue Beetle #2 (August 1967), specifically the fact that Kord had come into possession of the mystic scarab that powered the Dan Garrett Blue Beetle. Kord had thought the scarab had been destroyed, but it had been rediscovered in a temple in Egypt, untouched. The wizard Shazam took the scarab upon encountering Kord, fueling speculation about the possibility of the character's return during DC's Infinite Crisis series. This possibility was dashed when it was asked in the WizardWorld convention if Kord would ever return; DC's answer was no. "There was a breeze blowing through his brain, and he was incinerated," writer Greg Rucka stated. "How much clearer can it be?" [1]
Jaime Reyes
Writer Keith Giffen announced in a 2005 news article that he would be creating a new Blue Beetle, starring in his own series beginning March 2006, spinning out of the events of Infinite Crisis. It would be co-written by John Rogers, who helped write the scripts of Catwoman and The Core.
In Day of Vengeance, after the wizard Shazam (see above) was killed by the Spectre, Kord's scarab landed in El Paso, Texas where it was picked up by a teenaged boy named Jaime ReyesTemplate:Fn in Infinite Crisis #3. In the following issue, Booster Gold appeared at Jaime's house to retrieve the scarab from him, only to discover that the scarab had fused itself to Jaime's spine while the teenager had been sleeping. Currently, Jaime is the only being able to locate the Brother Eye satellite.
Blue Beetle #1 (2006) retells Jaime's initial discovery of the scarab from his own perspective.
Jaime is a Hispanic teenager who lives in El Paso with his father, mother and little sister; his father owns a garage. Jaime has offered to help his father out at the garage, but his father has turned him down, feeling Jaime should enjoy his childhood for as long as he can. Jaime has an acute sense of responsibility for his family and friends, though he complains about being the one to sort out any messes.
As mentioned above, the Blue Beetle scarab has grafted itself to Jaime's spine. The scarab can manifest a number of powers at its own volition; Jaime has very little, if any, control over it at the moment.
When the scarab initially fused with him, Jaime had strange dreams; it remains to be seen whether these will persist, and what they mean.
The scarab has at least one power it can manifest whether dormant or active; it can give Jaime a peculiar form of 'sight', apparently intended to give the scarab's user information on what they're facing; Jaime, however, is presently unable to understand the scarab's language.
Under certain circumstances (including when Jaime is in danger), the scarab activates, crawling out on to Jaime's back and generating a high-tech suit. When the situation passes, the scarab deactivates, dissolving the costume and retracting back onto Jaime's spine, causing intense pain.
The suit has been seen to produce an energy cannon, and a set of dual-purpose wings/shields. It's also able to protect Jaime against atmospheric re-entry (although how is unclear).
The scarab's 'antennae' spark when activating one of the suit's powers, or when de-activating the suit.
The scarab triggers a serious response in people bearing a Green Lantern ring; normally, a ring will 'buzz' when sensing magic. The scarab, however, triggers what can only be described as a 'super-migraine' in the ring-bearer. In the case of at least one ring-bearer, it also triggers the impulse to kill the scarab's host (whether this would apply to other ring-bearers has yet to be seen). (Blue Beetle #1 (2006))
As can be seen from the above, the scarab's bond with Jaime is vastly different from his predecessors; for one thing, the scarab never physically bonded with Dan Garrett or Ted Kord, at least while they were alive. Dan could command the scarab with a word; however, he died before he could tell Ted what the word was. Ted was never able to learn how to command the scarab, and it never responded to him. Why it responds differently to different bearers has yet to be revealed.
Alternate versions
Blue Beetle was seen in Alex Ross and Mark Waid's comic Kingdom Come. He is shown with the rest of the Charlton 'Action Heroes' but not as a member of Magog's Justice Battalion, He was part of Batman's Web of Defense, and later of the HLF (Human Liberation Front). He would be shown later in the title in a blue beetle armor outfit, powered by the mystic scarab, working with Batman's team, before being killed with most of the other heroes at the end.
In Other Media
The Blue Beetle has appeared rarely in the media. The few appearances are listed below:
Radio
- The Blue Beetle had a relatively short career on the radio, between May and September of 1940. Motion picture and radio actor Frank Lovejoy was the Blue Beetle for the first 13 episodes, while for the rest of the shows the actor was uncredited. The Blue Beetle was a young police officer who saw the need for extra-ordinary crime fighting. He took the task on himself by secretly donning a superhero costume to create fear in the criminals who were to learn to fear the Blue Beetle's wrath. The 13-minute segments were usually only two-parters, so the stories were often more simple than other popular programs, such as the many-parted Superman radio show.
- The Blue Beetle
A bumbling superhero (Jim Boyd) who would often make matters worse instead of better for people who he tried to help. He wore a mask, a hood with antennas, wings attached to his back, tennis shoes, boxer shorts and a T-shirt with his name "Blue Beetle" on it and they were all colored blue. Some have claimed that it is this version that somehow has limited the Blue Beetle's appearances on the animated Justice League.
Trivia
- In many stories and character entries, it is noted that "Ted" is an abbreviated form of "Theodore". however, The character Barbara Gordon in writer Chuck Dixon's Birds of Prey has stated that "Ted" is actually short for Edward. A similar truncation exists for Senator Edward Kennedy, known as Ted Kennedy. However, in Countdown to Infinite Crisis, the wizard Shazam repeatedly addresses Ted as "Theodore Kord" and Checkmate's profile of Blue Beetle also lists him as such.
- As of 2006, Blue Beetle has not appeared in the Justice League Unlimited animated series, although he has been featured in the comic book. This is due to the broadcasting rights of the old radio show; these rights expired in 2006, but the show was cancelled that same year. Plastic Man has also not appeared on the show for similar reasons involving his animated series, though he is mentioned by Green Lantern (John Stewart) in the episode "The Greatest Story Never Told," originally broadcast in 2005.
- In the comic book series Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and published by DC Comics, Nite Owl is the name of two of fictional characters. Moore's original intent was for Watchmen to use all the Charlton Comic characters; the two Nite Owls are stand-ins for Dan Garett and Ted Kord.
Footnotes
- Template:Fnb Three early comics creators used the pseudonym "Charles Nicholas". Jack Kirby used it only as the Fox Feature Syndicate in-house author's name for the 1940 comic strip The Blue Beetle. The remaining two creators are Chuck Cuidera (c. 1915-2001) and Charles Wojtkowski (1921-1982). According to Cuidera, speaking on a panel at the 1999 San Diego ComicCon (transcription published Sept. 1, 2000) [2], he is the Charles Nicholas who created the Blue Beetle and was the first artist of Blackhawk. Will Eisner, at that same panel, said an artist named Charles Wojtkowski (1921-1982) later took up the Charles Nicholas pen name.
- Template:Fnb Both the original Dan Garrett Blue Beetle and the Ted Kord Blue Beetle were adapted in the Alan Moore comic book miniseries Watchmen as The Nite Owl. The original BB was the basis for the original Nite Owl, while the Ted Kord BB was the basis for the second Nite Owl. The Watchmen were all loosely based on Charlton characters, which had recently been acquired by DC.
- Template:Fnb The Blue Beetle has guest-starred in comics of an independent publisher called Americomics.
- Template:Fnb Throughout the Golden Age and during the 1967 Ditko run, the original Blue Beetle was always referred to as Dan Garret, spelled with one "t."
- Template:Fnb Jaime Reyes is also the name of a minor character in the popular videogame Deus Ex.
References
- Original Blue Beetle entry at Toonopedia
- Dan Garrett 2 entry at International Catalogue of Superheroes
- Dan Garrett 2 entry at Toonopedia
- Ted Kord Blue Beetle entry at International Catalogue of Superheroes
- Ted Kord Blue Beetle entry at Toonopedia
- Index to the Earth-4 adventures of the Charlton Action Heroes
- Blue Beetle fan page, including original artwork, BB toys, and a BB comic book pitch by acclaimed writer Warren Ellis
- Keith Giffen on the new Blue Beetle
- Newsarama interview with artist Cully Hamner on his design for the new Blue Beetle
- Charlton Comics In The Media