Blue Beetle (comic book)
Blue Beetle is a long running comic book series that was first published by Fox Feature Syndicate before being a Charlton Comics title and currently a DC Comics title. The series starred certain characters with the same name.
| Blue Beetle | |
|---|---|
 Blue Beetle #4 (October 1940). Cover artist unknown, possibly Edd Ashe. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Fox Feature Syndicate Charlton Comics DC Comics |
| Schedule | Vol. 1: Bi-monthly #1–13, #41–44 Monthly #14–36, #45–60 Quarterly #37–40 Vols. 2, 5–9: Monthly Vol. 3: Monthly #1–4 Bi-monthly #5 Vol. 4: Monthly #1–53 Bi-monthly #54 |
| Format | All Standard U.S., 4 color. When published, ongoing. |
| Genre | Superhero |
| Publication date | Vol. 1: December 1939 – August 1950 Vol. 2: February – August 1955 Vol. 3: June 1964 – March/April 1965 Vol. 4: July 1965 – February/March 1966 Vol. 5: June 1967 – November 1968 Vol. 6: June 1986 – May 1988 Vol. 7: May 2006 – February 2009 Vol. 8: September 2011 – January 2013 Vol. 9: September 2016 – February 2018 Vol. 10: September 2023 - |
| No. of issues | Vol. 1: 59 (numbered 1–42; 44–60) Vol. 2: 4 (numbered 18–21) Vol. 3: 5 Vol. 4: 5 (numbered 50–54) Vol. 5: 5 Vol. 6: 24 Vol. 7: 36 Vol. 8: 17 (numbered 1–12; 0; 13–16) Vol. 9: 19 (Includes a DC Rebirth one-shot) |
| Main character(s) | Vols. 1–2: Dan Garret Vols. 3–4: Dan Garrett Vols. 5–6: Ted Kord Vols. 7–10: Jaime Reyes |
Fox Feature Syndicate and Holyoke Publishing
The original Blue Beetle comic first appeared in Winter 1940 by Fox Feature Syndicate and Holyoke Publishing. It starred the original Blue Beetle named Dan Garret who first appeared in Mystery Men Comics anthology comic book series. He was depicted as a police officer who secretly dons a superhero costume to thwart crime. The series was the second featured title of a superhero in American comic book magazines after Superman having his own series. The volume series lasted until August 1950 with issue #60 when the company of Fox Feature Syndicate collapsed.[1][2][3]
The character was revised and reprinted briefly by Charlton Comics with issues #18-#20.[3][4]
Charlton Comics
In 1964, Charlton modernized the Blue Beetle title. Garret got a new spelling for his last name, "Garrett", and a new profession: instead of being a policeman, he was an archeologist who discovered an ancient mystical scarab which gave him multiple superpowers. The series lasted five issues through March–April 1965.[5][6] The Dan Garrett version would briefly be revised again in July 1965 throughout February–March 1966, lasting another five issues.[7]
After the popularity of Charlton's new Blue Beetle named Ted Kord that was introduced in the back up feature of Captain Atom solo series in issue #83. Ted had his own series by Charlton which also lasted five issues between June 1967 and November 1968.[8][9][10][11]
DC Comics
DC Comics acquired Charlton in the mid-1980s. They then revised Ted Kord with collaboration from Len Wein and Paris Cullins that lasted until issue #24 in May 1988.[12]
After the death of Ted Kord, a new Blue Beetle was introduced named Jaime Reyes in Infinite Crisis #3. His own solo series began in issue #1 and ended in issue #36 in February 2009.[13][14]
After The New 52 was launched, a new series starring Jaime Reyes was introduced.[15] It launched in November 2011 and ended in March 2013.[16]
DC Comics once again relaunched its titles with DC Rebirth and featured Reyes in his new series that lasted in April 2018.[17]
A new ongoing series will launch in September 2023 as a part of the Dawn of DC initiative.[18]
Collected editions
| Vol. # | Title | Collected material | Pages | Year | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shellshocked | Blue Beetle vol. 7, #1–6 | 144 | 2006 | 978-1-4012-0965-0 |
| 2 | Road Trip | Blue Beetle vol. 7, #7–12 | 2007 | 978-1-4012-1361-9 | |
| 3 | Reach for the Stars | Blue Beetle vol. 7, #13–19 | 168 | 2008 | 978-1-4012-1642-9 |
| 4 | End Game | Blue Beetle vol. 7, #20–26 | 176 | 2008 | 978-1-4012-1952-9 |
| 5 | Boundaries | Blue Beetle vol. 7, #29–34 | 144 | 2009 | 978-1-4012-2162-1 |
| 6 | Black and Blue [19] |
Blue Beetle vol. 7, #27–28, #35–36 Booster Gold vol. 2, #21–25, #28–29 |
168 | 2010 | 978-1-4012-2897-2 |
| The New 52 | |||||
| 1 | Metamorphosis | Blue Beetle vol. 8, #1–6 | 144 | November 20, 2012 | 978-1401237134 |
| 2 | Blue Diamond | Blue Beetle vol. 8, #0, 7–16 Green Lantern: New Guardians #9 |
240 | April 30, 2013 | 978-1401238506 |
| DC Rebirth | |||||
| 1 | The More Things Change | Blue Beetle: Rebirth #1 Blue Beetle vol. 9 #1–5 |
144 | May 16, 2017 | 978-1401268688 |
| 2 | Hard Choices | Blue Beetle vol. 10 #6–12 | 168 | January 2, 2018 | 978-1401275075 |
| 3 | Road to Nowhere | Blue Beetle vol. 9 #13–18 | 144 | July 17, 2018 | 978-1401280833 |
References
- "GCD :: Issue :: Blue Beetle #1". www.comics.org. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- Irving, Christopher (2007). The Blue Beetle Companion: His Many Lives from 1939 to Today. TwoMorrows Publishing. ISBN 9781893905702. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
- "Don Markstein's Toonopedia: The Blue Beetle". www.toonopedia.com. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- "GCD :: Series :: Blue Beetle". www.comics.org. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- "GCD :: Series :: Blue Beetle :: Details". www.comics.org. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- "Don Markstein's Toonopedia: The Blue Beetle". www.toonopedia.com. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- "GCD :: Covers :: Blue Beetle". www.comics.org. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah (2010). "1960s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
After Ted Kord assumed the scarab as Blue Beetle in a back-up feature of Captain Atom #83, writer/artist Steve Ditko and co-writer "D.C. Glanzman" (who was actually Ditko) launched the Blue Beetle into his own series.
- Beatty, Scott (2008). "Blue Beetle". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1. OCLC 213309017.
- "GCD :: Covers :: Blue Beetle". www.comics.org. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- "Don Markstein's Toonopedia: The Blue Beetle". www.toonopedia.com. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 219: "The Blue Beetle swung into his own DC series with the help of writer Len Wein and artist Paris Cullins".
- "GCD :: Covers :: The Blue Beetle". www.comics.org. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- "Dan DiDio: 20 Answers, 1 Question". Newsarama. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- "DC Comics: 10 Things To Know About Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)". CBR. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- "Mike's Amazing World of Comics". www.mikesamazingworld.com. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- "Mike's Amazing World of Comics". www.mikesamazingworld.com. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- Brooke, David (2023-04-25). "Dawn of DC grows with 'Blue Beetle' #1 out September 2023 • AIPT". aiptcomics.com. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
- "DCU | Comics". Dccomics.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2011-04-25.