| Blue Beetle | |
|---|---|
 Dan Garrett,Ted Kord, andJaime Reyes in interior artwork from theBlue Beetle Companion. Art by Tom Feister. | |
| Publisher | Fox Comics Holyoke Publishing Charlton Comics DC Comics |
| First appearance | Mystery Men Comics #1 (August1939) |
| Created by | Charles Wojtkoski |
| Characters | Dan Garrett Ted Kord Jaime Reyes |
Blue Beetle is the name of threesuperheroes appearing in a number of Americancomic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle isDC Comics, which bought the rights to the character in 1983, using the name for three distinct characters over the years.
The original Blue Beetle was created byCharles Nicholas Wojtkoski andFox Comics and later owned byCharlton Comics. The first Beetle wasDan Garret (later spelled Dan Garrett), who initially gained superpowers from a special vitamin, which was later changed to gaining powers from a "sacred scarab". The original Blue Beetle was featured in not only his own comic but also a weeklyradio serial.
The second Blue Beetle, created by Charlton and later taken over byDC Comics, was the successor to Dan Garrett known asTed Kord. Kord "jumped" to the DC Comics universe during theCrisis on Infinite Earths alongside a number of other Charlton Comics characters. The second Blue Beetle later starred in his own 24-issue comic. Kord never had any super powers but used science to create various devices to help him fight crime. He became a member of theJustice League of America and was later killed during the prelude to DC Comics'Infinite Crisis cross over.
The third Blue Beetle, created byDC Comics, isJaime Reyes, a teenager who discovers that the original Blue Beetle scarab morphs into a battle suit allowing him to fight crime and travel in space. Over the years, Reyes became a member of theTeen Titans and starred in two Blue Beetle comic series. In DC Comics' 2011 "New 52" reboot, Jaime Reyes was the primary Blue Beetle character, only occasionally referring to past versions. With the subsequent continuity revision "DC Rebirth", the previous versions were restored.
The original Blue Beetle,Dan Garret,first appeared inFox Comics'Mystery Men Comics #1 (cover-dated August 1939), with art by Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski (asCharles Nicholas), though theGrand Comics Database tentatively creditsWill Eisner as the scripter.[1] A rookiepolice officer, he wore a special bulletproof costume and took "Vitamin 2X" which endowed him with super-energy, and he was assisted by a neighborhood pharmacist in his fight against crime. Blue Beetle starred in a comic book series,comic strip andradio serial, but like mostGolden Age superheroes, he fell into obscurity in the 1950s. The comic book series saw a number of anomalies in publication: 19 issues, #12 through #30, were published throughHolyoke Publishing; no issue #43 was published; publication frequency varied throughout the run; and there were gaps where issues were not published, with large ones occurring in early 1947 and between mid-1948 and early 1950.
In the mid-1950s, Fox Comics went out of business and sold the printing plates for some stories featuring the Blue Beetle toCharlton Comics.[2] Reprinted stories from the originalBlue Beetle series were initially published in Charlton's anthology comicSpace Adventures #13-14 (Oct. 1954, Jan. 1955). Charlton Comics then began publishing their ownBlue Beetle series, taking over numbering from the horror anthology seriesThe Thing!, beginning with issue #18 (Feb. 1955). Issues #18-19 consisted entirely of reprinted Fox Comics stories; #20-21 included new adventures of the Golden Age character. The series was cancelled after these four issues, with numbering taken over from #22 onwards byMr. Muscles.[3] One more original story starring the Golden Age incarnation of the character was published as a backup feature inNature Boy #3 (Mar. 1956).
In 1964, Charlton Comics began publishing a new series ofBlue Beetle[4] which substantially revamped the hero, reinventing him as a university professor and altering the spelling of his name to Dan Garrett. The first issue (Jun. 1964) was a new origin story that depicted Dan Garrett coming into possession of a mystical Egyptianscarab that granted him superpowers and beginning his career as the Blue Beetle. After five issues were published, the next issue was numbered as #50 (Jul. 1965), taking over numbering from the anthology comicUnusual Tales. The series ended with issue #54 (Feb.-Mar. 1966), its numbering taken over afterwards by the anthology comicGhostly Tales. Issues #1-5 and #50-53 were written byJoe Gill and issue #54 byRoy Thomas; art for all ten issues was byBill Fraccio andTony Tallarico.
Later in 1966, Blue Beetle was reinvented again in a set of backup stories published inCaptain Atom #83 (Nov. 1966) through #86, plotted and drawn bySteve Ditko:[5] they introducedTed Kord, a student of Dan Garrett's, who took on the role of Blue Beetle following Garrett's apparent death. Kord was an inventor hero, using a variety of gadgets, with a day job of running his own research lab. This Beetle received his own series in 1967, also by Ditko, which ran for five issues until the entire Charlton "Action Heroes" line of comic books ceased publication in 1968.[6][7][8] The story planned for a sixth issue was eventually printed, without coloring, in the fan publicationCharlton Portfolio #1 in 1974.
Both Blue Beetles reappeared in the third issue ofAmericomics, a title published byAC Comics in 1983–84. In the first story in this issue, Ted Kord fought a bogus Dan Garrett, but the second story was more significant. It revealed that the original 1940s Dan was reincarnated as the Silver Age version (minus his memories of his earlier existence) by some unspecified "gods", presumably the ones responsible for his mystic scarab. The gods subsequently resurrected Dan again and sent him off to save Ted Kord's life (leaving him a note saying simply, "Try not to get killed this time"). After this adventure, Kord turned the Blue Beetle name back over to Dan.Americomics was canceled after issue #6, and so far this story has never been referenced by any other publisher.
With the rest of the Charlton Comics superhero line-up, Blue Beetle was sold toDC Comics in 1983. A newBlue Beetle series starring Ted Kord began publication in 1986, integrating the hero into the DC Comics shared universe. The series ran for 24 issues (Jun. 1986-May 1988), all written byLen Wein. While the series largely carried over the status quo and characters from Charlton Comics, some new elements were introduced: most notably, Ted Kord was made a billionaire industrialist as his research lab was reinvented as the massively successful R & D company Kord Industries.
Blue Beetle became a member of theJustice League upon the launch of a new series in 1987, beginning withJustice League #1 (May 1987). Depicted with a more comedic tone than in theBlue Beetle solo comic, Ted Kord became best friends with team-mateBooster Gold. Blue Beetle remained as a main character on the series as it was re-titledJustice League International and thenJustice League America. Following the event miniseriesZero Hour, both Blue Beetle and Booster Gold left the series and began starring in the new team titleExtreme Justice, which ran for issues #0-18 (Jan. 1995-Jul. 1996). Ted Kord later became a recurring character inBirds of Prey, and starred in the 2003-04 miniseriesFormerly Known as the Justice League. The character of Ted Kord was killed off in the one-shot comicCountdown to Infinite Crisis (May 2005).
In 2006, DC introduced a new Blue Beetle, teenagerJaime Reyes, whose powers are derived from the scarab, now revealed as a piece of advanced alien technology. A new ongoingBlue Beetle series began publication in March 2006, initially written byKeith Giffen andJohn Rogers,[9] with artistCully Hamner.[10] Giffen left in issue #10 and Rogers took over full writing duties, joined by a new artist,Rafael Albuquerque.[11] Rogers left the title with issue #25 to concentrate on his television seriesLeverage.[12] After three fill-in issues,Lilah Sturges became the main writer in issue #29,[13] but the series was cancelled with issue #36.[14] EditorDan DiDio put the cancellation down to poor sales and said thatBlue Beetle was "a book that we started with very high expectations, but it lost its audience along the way".[15]
All three incarnations ofBlue Beetle were depicted inBooster Gold (vol. 2) #6.[16] Following the cancellation of Jaime Reyes' solo series, the character was brought back to star in a backup feature inBooster Gold, once again written by Sturges.[17] The backup feature ran through issues #21-25 (Aug.-Dec. 2009) and #28-29 (Mar.-Apr. 2010).
A newBlue Beetle comic was launched as part ofThe New 52 initiative in September 2011, with Jaime Reyes' history being rebooted with a new origin and without any apparent history of Kord or Garrett as prior Blue Beetles. The new book was written byTony Bedard and drawn by Ig Guara.[18][19]Blue Beetle was cancelled after issue #16 (Mar. 2013); Jaime Reyes's story was then continued in the new titleThreshold, written by Keith Giffen, which ultimately ran for eight issues (Mar.-Oct. 2013).
The 2016 publishing initiativeDC Rebirth restored the history of Dan Garrett and Ted Kord as previous Blue Beetles. A newBlue Beetle series was launched that year, with a one-shot specialBlue Beetle: Rebirth (Oct. 2016) precedingBlue Beetle #1 vol. 9 (Nov. 2016), once again written by Keith Giffen. The series starred Jaime Reyes, while also featuring Ted Kord as an ex-superhero who acts as his mentor. The series ran until issue #18 (Apr. 2018). Ted Kord then co-starred alongside Booster Gold in the 2021-22 limited seriesBlue & Gold by Dan Jurgens, once again operating as a superhero under the name Blue Beetle.
Jaime Reyes remains the primary Blue Beetle for DC Comics. The 2022-23 limited seriesBlue Beetle: Graduation Day, written by Josh Trujillo and illustrated by Adrián Gutiérrez, featured Jaime Reyes as the main character. This was followed by a new ongoingBlue Beetle series by the same creative team, beginning in September 2023.
The originalGolden Age Blue Beetle is Dan Garret,[20] son of a police officer killed by a criminal. ThisFox Feature Syndicate version of the character debuted inMystery Men Comics #1 (August 1939), and began appearing in his own 60-issue series shortly thereafter.[21] Fox Feature Syndicate sponsored a "Blue Beetle Day" at the1939 New York World's Fair on August 7, 1940, beginning at 10:30 a.m. and including 300 children in relay-race finals at the Field of Special Events, following preliminaries in New York City parks. The race was broadcast over radio stationWMCA.[22]
Charlton Comics reprinted some stories in itsanthology titles and in a four-issueBlue Beetle reprint series numbered 18–21, although there is no evidence that they obtained the rights to the character - just that they purchased the printing plates to earlier stories.
In 1964, during theSilver Age of comics, Charlton revised the character for a new Blue Beetle series. Charlton's new Blue Beetle retained the original's name (adding a second "t"), but none of his powers or origin, making him a different character. This Beetle wasarchaeologist Dan Garrett, who obtained a number of superhuman powers (including super strength and vision, flight, and the ability to generate energy blasts) from a mysticalscarab he found during a dig inEgypt, where it had been used to imprison an evil mummified Pharaoh.[23] He would transform into the Blue Beetle by saying the words "Kaji Dha!" This version, by writerJoe Gill and artistTony Tallarico, was played at least initially forcamp, with stories like "The Giant Mummy Who was Not Dead". The Charlton Dan Garrett version of the Blue Beetle ran only until 1966 before his replacement debuted.[24]
The Charlton version of Dan Garrett was spotlighted in the second issue of DC's 1980sSecret Origins series, in which his origin was retold along with that of Ted Kord. Subsequent appearances by Dan Garrett (in flashback stories) include guest spots or cameos inInfinity, Inc.,Captain Atom,JLA: Year One, andLegends of the DC Universe.
The character briefly returned inDC Comics' first run ofBlue Beetle,[25] resurrected by his mystical scarab to battle against his successor. He can also be seen in various flashback stories. His 1940s incarnation is briefly glimpsed in DC's 1993 limited seriesThe Golden Age.
In issue #0 of theProject Superpowers miniseries, theFox Feature Syndicate version of the Blue Beetle appeared in flashbacks (as by now the character/spelling "Dan Garret" was in the public domain).[26] To avoid trademark conflicts withDC Comics, he is referred to in this series by the nickname "Big Blue".[27]
The replacement Blue Beetle created byCharlton Comics, and later published byAmericomics andDC Comics, is Ted Kord, a former student of Dan Garrett, a genius-level inventor and a gifted athlete. Kord and Garrett were investigating Kord's Uncle Jarvis when they learned Jarvis was working to create an army of androids to take over Earth. Garrett changed into Blue Beetle, but was killed in battle. As he died, he passed on to Kord the responsibility of being Blue Beetle, but was unable to pass on the mystical scarab.[28]
Ted had the scarab for some time, but never used it. He carried it during theCrisis on Infinite Earths when he was chosen by theMonitor to protect the multiple Earths, but it only reacted when he was attacked; it did not give him superpowers.
During the "Death of Superman" saga, the Blue Beetle and the other JLA members tried to stopDoomsday's path of destruction. Doomsday displayed his near-invulnerability and, while brutally defeating the League, put the Blue Beetle into a coma.[29] Upon recovery, he continued his tenure with the JLA as well as its offshoot,Extreme Justice.
Blue Beetle discovered a renewedCheckmate organization led byMaxwell Lord, with a database containing information on every metahuman on Earth. He was captured and executed with a single gunshot to the head. Before dying, he had used the scarab in an attempt to contactCaptain Marvel, but was forced to leave it with the wizardShazam in the Rock of Eternity when the wizard sent him back toEarth.[30]
Some time later,Booster Gold, along with Jaime, Dan, and theBlack Beetle in the guise of a Blue Beetle from the future, travels back in time to rescue Kord moments before his death.[16]
Jaime Reyes is a teenager who lives inEl Paso, Texas, with his father, mother, and little sister; his father owns a garage and his mother is a nurse. Jaime has offered to help his father out at the garage, but his father has turned him down. He feels Jaime should enjoy his childhood for as long as he can, and should attempt to further his education. He finds the scarab in a vacant lot and it fuses with him while he sleeps.[31] After Booster Gold revealed Jaime's new powers to him, Jaime was swept up in the climactic battle withBrother Eye duringInfinite Crisis. He later becomes a member of theTeen Titans,[32] and is good friends with Rose Wilson (Ravager),Robin,Static, and others. InTeen Titans (vol. 3) #83, he takes a break from the team to be with his mother.
Jaime has a girlfriend, the young sorceressTraci 13, who gets along well with Jaime's family. His large and loving family is a major source of strength and guidance for Jaime.Christopher Smith aka the Peacemaker also became a mentor for the young Blue Beetle.
Jaime co-starred along with the rest of the former Justice League International inJustice League: Generation Lost.
Following DC's "Flashpoint" storylineBlue Beetle was one of 52 monthly titles launched in September 2011, again starring Jaime Reyes.[33][34] The series was cancelled after 17 issues in January 2013.
The Blue Beetle scarab, previously shown as an artifact of magic, is laterretconned as a tool of war of theReach, an ancient race of cosmic marauders. After being defeated by theGuardians of the Universe thousands of years ago and forced into a truce, the Reach poses as benevolent aliens lending their advanced technology to budding civilizations. The scarab is a gift for that world's champion, giving him amazing powers and the knowledge of the Reach to protect their peers. Secretly, the scarab is part of an advanced hive mind, with its own artificial intelligence covertly supplanting the wearer's own. The wearer is turned into the "ultimate infiltrator", a covert agent intended to take over its own world.[25] However, the Blue Beetle Scarab is damaged and so instead of it controlling the host, it forms a symbiotic relationship with them.[citation needed]
The Blue Beetle scarab uses its serial number,Khaji Da, as its name.[35]
In the New 52, the Reach forgoes the secrecy, and each wearer immediately becomes possessed by the scarab. It then uses its host's knowledge to decimate the world and prepare it for a full invasion by Reach forces.[36]
InDC Universe: Rebirth, Ted Kord and Jaime Reyes believe the scarab is an alien device that bonded to Jaime's spine. Kord is fascinated by this scarab and wants to investigate the potential of it while Jaime fears it. When Jaime leaves Kord's lab to get to school, Dr. Fate appears in the lab to warn Kord that the scarab is not an alien device, but it is instead magic. This further sparks Kord's interest in the potential of the scarab.[citation needed]
The Blue Beetle faces many enemies throughout his storylines, beginning with The White Face Gang inMystery Men #1 (August 1939). As Ted Kord, he later faces several notable enemies, includingDoctor Alchemy (Showcase #13),Chronos (The Atom #3), his uncleJarvis Kord (Blue Beetle vol. 5 #2),Enigma (Charlton Bullseye vol. 2 #1),Carapax the Indestructible Man (Blue Beetle vol. 6 #1),Hybrid (New Teen Titans vol. 2 #24),Maxwell Lord (Justice League #1), andOverthrow (Blue Beetle vol. 6 #15). As Jamie Reyes, the Blue Beetle takes onLa Dama as an archenemy, beginning inBlue Beetle vol. 7 #3. They also opposeTyphoon (Blue Beetle vol. 7 #17),Black Beetle (Booster Gold vol. 2 #5), andDoctor Polaris (Justice League of America vol. 2 #17).
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