Thunder Agents Classics Volume Four!

More utterly wonderful THUNDER Agents action in this fourth installment of the reprints from IDW. This one showcases my favorite agent NoMan. The idea of a an old man who injects his mind into an army of potentially immortal androids and who uses a cloak of invisibility is fantastically rich stuff. Of course the other agents are around, especially Dynamo and Lightning.

Apparently Tower Comics hit a snag after the publication of the first NoMan comic and several months pass before we get another trio of comics from the company. I don't know what caused the hiatus, but I doubt it was part of some master plan.

The superhero and spy fads which sparked the creation of the THUNDER Agents was beginning to wane a bit and despite the push to expand with new titles, the folks at Tower might've begun to see the whole enterprise was becoming less tenable. We'd get only two issues of NoMan's self-titled comic, both are here in this one volume, and only one more Dynamo after the one included here.

The artwork in these is a veritable who's who of Silver Age greatness with notable efforts by Gil Kane, Ogden Whitney, John Giunta, Manny Stallman, Chic Stone, George Tuska, Dan Adkins, and of course Wally Wood. The scripting for these stories is largely uncredited, but Steve Skeates does appear many times.

It's perhaps easy to say that the high point of the Agents has already passed by this time in the series, and there's validity to that assessment. But nonetheless these are hearty Silver Age yarns, and pretty entertaining to boot with some lovely artwork as the team battles the forces of SPIDER. 

Rip Off

New Blue Beetle #5 - The Destroyer Of Heroes!

The New Blue Beetle #5 featuring the Ted Kord Blue Beetle by Steve Ditko hit stands in 1967. Ditko's Ayn Rand influence had been felt on many of his projects for the last several years, one of the many reasons he left Spider-Man. That philosophy really influences this final published issue of Blue Beetle. As usual D.C. Glanzman is the writer of record though he's not really. 

In this issue the subject is art and what makes good art. Ditko suggests that art should not showcase mankind's shortcomings but inspire his best attributes. He offers up as a foil an art critic named Boris Ebar (not that subtle) who thinks mankind is weak and art should reflect that aspect. Ted Kord and his girlfriend Tracey vehemently disagree as does Vic Sage (also known as The Question). This causes an artist to assume the villainous role of "Our Man", a statue that derides man's flaws. 

The Action-Hero line is dead, making way for new Charlton ventures such as Hercules, one of my all-time favorite Charlton titles. More on Herc later this summer. 

The Question stories and the Blue Beetle lead story are linked this time as Boris Ebar shows up again in the back-up story which has the same theme. More on Ditko's Ayn Rand influence when I take a look a The Question later this summer. 

 Read the complete comic at this link. 

That's a wrap on regularly published Charlton Blue Beetle, but there's still more on the azure hero to come. 

Rip Off

New Blue Beetle - The Men Of The Mask!

The New Blue Beetle #4 featuring the Ted Kord Blue Beetle by Steve Ditko hit stands in 1967. Ditko takes his hero out of the country for this latest romp. The writer of record is D.C. Glanzman who had nothing to do with the production save perhaps for some production work. 

The "Men of the Mask" are a foreign mask-wearing death cult. The Beetle pursues a man claiming to be Dan Garrett. In doing so he puts himself at risk. 

"The Beetle's Nest" is still with us in this issue, but it's hanging on by a thread. 

There is of course a Question back-up story, but more on that later this summer. 

Read the complete comic at this link. 

More Blue Beetle tomorrow. 

Rip Off

New Blue Beetle #3 - The Madmen!

The New Blue Beetle #3 featuring the Ted Kord Blue Beetle by Steve Ditko hit stands in 1967.  Ditko is really hitting his stride in this wild one which centers around his gun, a gun our hero loses in battle, but not to worry, he has a tech solution which frankly makes sense for all guns and is possible today. Once again D.C. Glanzman is listed as scripter but that's a ruse by Ditko. 

The Madmen are a gang of tough robbers called the Fleeter Mob who like the Beetle, dress up to go to "work". It's hard not to see more than a bit of The Creeper in these guys. 

We are treated to a letters page once again. There's no doubt fans love this incarnation of the hero as redesigned by Ditko. 

The Question returns as the back-up feature and more on him later this summer. 

This is my absolutely favorite comic book ad. It thrilled me as a kid when I chanced on it in the few Charlton comics I had back then. Art by Ditko of course as well as Pete Morisi, Pat Boyette and Frank McLaughlin. This is the apogee of Dick Giordano's "Action-Hero" line-up. 

This issue of Blue Beetle got the Modern Comics treatment in the 70's.  

Read the complete comic at this link. 

More Blue Beetle tomorrow. 

Rip Off

New Blue Beetle #2 - The Origin!

The New Blue Beetle #2 featuring the Ted Kord Blue Beetle by Steve Ditko hit stands in 1967.  This significant issue finally answers the question BB fans had been clamoring to learn -- the connection between Ted Kord and the former Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett. And we finally learn what Pago Island is. Once again D.C. Glanzman is given a writer's credit despite not being the writer, that was Ditko. 

It's likely no coincidence that Ditko was assigned to Blue Beetle by editor Dick Giordano. Coming off the success of Spider-Man, Charlton's own bug-based hero was a natural fit. 

Blue Beetle is to my eye Ditko's greatest design, even stronger than Spidey. 

We get another Question story. More later. 

The debut of Blue Beetle marks the completion of the Action-Hero line set up by Giordano. The arrival of the "Big C" corner box also marks the transition to a new attitude. The Blue Beetle is the most modern addition to this cadre of heroes, as we see Charlton make a move into a changing marketplace. 

Read the complete comic at this link. 

More Blue Beetle tomorrow. 

Rip Off

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. 

Rip Off

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). 

(To Read Follow This Link.)

(To Read Follow This Link.)

(To Read Follow This Link.)

(To Read Follow This Link.)

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. 

Rip Off