Tuesday, October 14, 2014

FIGHTING CRIME! COOL GADGETS! LET'S RELIVE CHARLTON'S THE BLUE BEETLE !!!



Charlton Comics' The Blue Beetle scored a five issue run. They included The Question (Mysterious Suspense #1) as a backup feature. He first appeared as a backup feature in Captain Atom #83
Steve Ditko concept art for the Blue Beetle!


The Blue Beetle was written by D.C. Glanzman with Ditko plots & drawn by Steve Ditko. Ted Kord took over the Blue Beetle mantle from Dan Garret, fashioning cool gadgets for his fight on crime.
Steve Rude illustration of Blue Beetle for DC Comics!
Ted was a former student of  archeologist Dan Garret. Kord was a genius inventor and 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.




The Blue Beetle #1  The Blue Beetle bugs the Squids!
"Bugs the Squids"


Blue Beetle #2 Great crossover with original Blue Beetle!
 
Love this origin splash page!

The Blue Beetle #2  Revealed at last! The Secrets and Mystery that Surrounds the Origin of the New Blue Beetle and the Fate of the Old Blue Beetle!
"The End is a Beginning"

Blue Beetle #3


 

The Blue Beetle #3  The Mood is Madness When the Blue Beetle Mixes it with the Madmen!
"The Madmen"
Blue Beetle #4
 


The Blue Beetle #4  BB Faces the Men of the Mask!
"The Men of the Mask"

Blue Beetle #5

The Blue Beetle #5  BB Faces the Destroyer of Heroes!
"Faces the Destroyer of Heroes"

Blue Beetle #1 Modern Comics reprint!
Blue Beetle #3 Modern Comics reprint!
 The Blue Beetle #1 & #3 were reprinted by Modern Comics, using the same covers.


Charlton Portfolio!
Unpublished Blue Beetle #6 cover!

There's an unpublished Blue Beetle #6, along with the cover, in the Charlton Portfolio! Steve Skeates wrote "A Specter is Haunting Hub City!"  from the Steve Ditko plot & Don Newton provided the wraparound cover, with Bob Layton inks. It's a great publication & highly recommended.


Action Heroes Vol. 2  Lots of great unpublished stuff here also!


DC came out with Action Heroes Archives Volume 2 reprinting the Blue Beetle, Caption Atom and the Question in a beautiful hardback edition. It also included the Blue Beetle story from Charlton Portfolio. 


Charlton Bullseye #1 teaming up Blue Beetle & Question!
Americomics Special #1


Live Large My Friends!

Thank You!
 
 


1 comment:

  1. Gotta love that "they're not half bad" modesty. I remember I finally got a hold of every '60s BB appearance and then Dc put out the Action Hero Archives!

    Would love to see Steve Rude revive Ditko's BEETLE. That DC revival started okay in the 80s but then they stripped him of his philosophy and turned him into a joke. Ugh. DC sucks it up everytime they acquire or license someone else's characters.

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