New Blue Beetle #1 - The Squids!

The New Blue Beetle #1 featuring the Ted Kord Blue Beetle by Steve Ditko hit stands in 1967.  This was a total makeover of the famous superhero. Gone was Dan Garrett the archeologist and in his place stood Ted Kord a scientist and researcher. The magical powers were replaced with an array of technical gimmicks and a fighting style not dissimilar from a certain arachnid at another company. D.C. Glanzman is the writer of record. Apparently Ditko simply asked that Glanzman's name be used as writer, though Ditko did it all himself. Odd that. 

The Blue Beetle goes up against a notorious gang of modern-day pirates in the weirdly named "Squids". Greed is the primary motivation for these old-fashioned hoodlums and the Blue Beetle is hard pressed to bring them down. But in this action-packed adventure he does just that. 

The "Action-Hero" era is officially underway as indicated by this delightful ad for subscriptions. By the time the new Blue Beetle was on the stands, Captain Atom, Judomaster, Thunderbolt and Peacemaker were all already battling evil in their own magazines. 

"The Beetle's Nest" is back in business as well. This first one features excerpts from fan letters concerning the Beetle's appearances in the back pages of Captain Atom. Special note is made of the departure of writer Gary Friedrich. 

Debuting in this issue is Steve Ditko's The Question. The adventures of Vic Sage will get special attention in a few months. 

This very special issue was reprinted under the Modern Comics brand in the 70's. 

Read the complete comic at this link. 

More Blue Beetle to come tomorrow. 

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The New Blue Beetle

As delightful as Ditko's earliest Captain Atom stories are, as true to his philosophy is The Question, the best thing Steve Ditko created for Charlton was the "New" Blue Beetle. He took a hero who despite some tasty misadventures was a sign of a bygone era. 

After the demise of Fox and Holyoke, another publisher that had the character, Charlton Comics picked him up and offered up some reprints. Then when the superhero boom started to take off in the 60's they tapped Joe Gill, Tony Tallarico and Bill Fracchio to revive him, this time an archeologist named Dan Garrett (why mess with success) who comes across a magical scarab that gives him vast superpowers. Blue Beetle had two short runs and then folded his tent. 

Then came Ditko who took the Dan Garret character, killed him off, and replaced him with a young scientist named Ted Kord. Kord had no superpowers at all, but rather he relied rather on technology to give him the advantage in his run-ins with criminals. He wore a snappy protective costume, had a mask that defied villains slipping it off his face, sported a buzz gun that was also a flash (that was also what we today call a "smart gun" in that only the original user could work it), and went into battle aboard "The Bug" his totally awesome aircraft (and water craft for that matter) that functioned almost like his partner in crime. This was an utterly new and modern Blue Beetle, and sans powers fit perfectly into Dick Giordano's mandate for his "Action Heroes" not being world beaters. 

The All-New Blue Beetle lasted five issues with the fifth coming out nearly a full year after the fourth. By this time Charlton's "Action Hero" line was down for the count and Steve Ditko along with editor Dick Giordano and many other Charlton talents had moved on to DC. Ditko's Beware The Creeper already reached its fourth issue. The final issue of Blue Beetle, a sixth one was prepared by Ditko at long last saw publication in the mid 70's by the CPL Gang in their portfolio celebrating the Charlton Comics. Blue Beetle would be revived by DC in the 80's after being purchased along with the other "Action Heroes" and has become a rather important part of the DCU, though Ted Kord himself is not the main bug anymore (I think). 

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To read the four All-New Blue Beetle back up adventures above follow the handy-dandy links. Then Blue Beetle got his own title. For those links look for individual takes on the issues this next week. 

I think, sales aside that The All-New Blue Beetle might've been Ditko's most thoroughly successful mainstream creation, utterly Ditko but also very, very entertaining. Blue Beetle is utterly modern in every respect. The Blue Beetle gets reinvented every decade or so it seems and has become one of comicdom's most enduring heroes. 

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Thunder Agents Classics Volume Three!

THUNDER Agents Classics Volume 3 is a rock solid collection of Silver Age superhero action with a vintage espionage flavor. At this point the agents are firmly developed. The sometimes dim-witted Len Brown as Dynamo continues to succeed, sometimes in spite of his efforts in classic tales by Wally Wood. NoMan, the android able to switch bodies on a whim continues to use his invisibility cloak to good effect in stories drawn exceedingly well by John Giunta. Lightning, a capable agent and former leader of the THUNDER Squad uses the life-destroying speed suit and fights a wide variety of unusual threats in wacky stories by Mike Sekowsky. With the death of Menthor, a new agent is introduced. Raven joins the team, though after the initial story drawn by George Tuska he seems to be operating in a whole other world than the other agents thanks to some wild stories and wilder artwork by Manny Stallmann. Steve Ditko did not contribute the issues in this collection. 

The threat of the Subterraneans, the threat which has motivated THUNDER since the first issue is finally laid to rest after the eighth issue, though echoes of the struggle keep popping up here and there, especially in stories featuring the superhuman Subterranean creation Andor. But that aside, the new menace is S.P.I.D.E.R. This super-organization of human criminals stands as the opposite of THUNDER in many respects as reflected in their name Secret People's International Directorate for Extra-legal Revenue. The switch is not immediately apparent in the tone of the stories since many of the villains formerly associated with the defeated Subterraneans switch over to SPIDER such as Demo, Dr.Sparta, and even the Iron Maiden. New baddies do emerge such as Tarantula and Mayven.

There are some real gems in this particular collection, my favorite story being "The Black Box of Doom" which has the whole team (minus Raven) trying to keep the enemy world powers from getting their mitts on a mysterious but deadly box from space. Other offbeat highlights are some lighter-toned stories by George Tuska in a broader style featuring Weed of the THUNDER Squad which give the books some needed laughs.

Solid entertainment! Here are the covers of the issues in this third volume. 

In the fourth volume we'll see that NoMan gets his own series.

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Blue Beetle #54 - Eye Of Horus!

Blue Beetle #54 featuring the mystical Dan Garrett Blue Beetle hit stands in 1965. The series picked up the numbering of Mysterious Worlds. Novice writer Roy Thomas writes the script for the last issue of the classic Blue Beetle from Charlton. The team of Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico are still on hand to supply the artwork. 

Thomas creates a story which delves into Blue Beetle's origins and features the curse of the Eye of Horus. Beetle must seek wisdom from the ancient pharaoh who was himself Blue Beetle and defeated the Eye. This story has a real classic Shazam feel to it and I'm certain that if Thomas had been given a few more issues, he'd have given Blue Beetle a partner in the form of a young boy who gets zapped in the course of the story. 

This one features another great house ad. In the modern day of the internet, it's difficult I guess for fans to recollect just how evocative these ads could be. Often a fan would see a comic which was long gone and out of reach. It was gratifying to get my mitts on all of the classic comics featured in these Charlton ads. 

And this ad just cracks me up. It's just bizarre. For just a buck one could have their dreams shattered. Ain't capitalism a blast! 

Read the complete comic at this link. 

The all-new Blue Beetle makes his debut next time. 

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Blue Beetle #53 - The People Thieves!

Blue Beetle #53 featuring the mystical Dan Garrett Blue Beetle hit stands in 1965. The series picked up the numbering of Mysterious Worlds. Joe Gill is the scripter and Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico supply the artwork for the insides as well as the stark cover. This was my very first issue of Blue Beetle and is marked in my young memory. 

Hunter Mann The Praying Mantis Man returns and this time his scheme is to use giant insects to eradicate the human population, and he will restart society using selected humans he has frozen in advance. The Blue Beetle gets involved and saves the day yet again. 

I was most eager to get my mitts on the comics featured in this ad. It would be decades before I got to read them all. "The Beetle's Nest" is gone and replaced by one of Charlton's typical prose pieces.

Read the complete comic at this link. 

More Blue Beetle tomorrow. 

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Blue Beetle #52 - Magno Man!

Blue Beetle #52 featuring the mystical Dan Garrett Blue Beetle hit stands in 1965. The series picked up the numbering of Mysterious Worlds. Joe Gill writes the script and Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico supply all the artwork for this one. The cover is perhaps their best. It's certainly a dramatic one. 

Magno is one Dr. Forte, a scientist who is desperate to prove that mankind evolved underground. When he's embarrassed by Dan Garrett, he begins a reign of terror as Magno who uses his knowledge to form a gang of men and create earthquakes beneath Europe and the United States. Blue Beetle has all he can handle in putting this madman down, even with the assistance of Renee Du Bois. 

This is one of my favorite ads from Charlton. I still remember getting excited when I saw these images of comics I'd have to wait until I was an adult to find and read. 

"The Beetle's Nest" is still up and running. This installment features a letter by Tony Isabella, a pro who has long praised Charlton's efforts. Charlton's two martial arts characters -- Judomaster and Thunderbolt get a plug. 

Read the complete comic at this link. 

More Blue Beetle tomorrow. 

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Blue Beetle #51 - Mentor The Magnificent!

Blue Beetle #51 featuring the mystical Dan Garrett Blue Beetle hit stands in 1965. The series picked up the numbering of Mysterious Worlds. Joe Gill is the writer and the team of Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico supply the art for both the cover and the interiors. 

We meet the obnoxious Dr. Jeremiah Clugg, who is a professor who feels belittled and so uses his talents to implant his mind into a robot named Mentor the Mighty. It's up to Clugg's colleague Dr. Dan Garrett the Blue Beetle to stop Mentor who proves to be a menace to the entire world. It's too bad that Clugg doesn't know that the love he craves is to be found in the lovely Miss Appleton. 

Charlton's band of action heroes continues to grow. 

"The Beetle's Nest" holds on for another issue but it's days are numbered. Tarzan gets some love as does Charlton's underrated western hero line-up. 

Read the complete comic at this link. 

More Blue Beetle tomorrow. 

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