07-05-25 | As a kid one of my favourite websites was Toy Otter. This colourful site was dedicated to cataloguing action figures based on DC characters, most of which were new to me. Many of these toys introduced me to the stars of the DC Universe, including the Blue Beetle. An odd little character, who – I found out later – has quite the cult following. What is it that sets him apart? Why, after 80 years, are readers still engrossed by his exploits?
THE BLUE BEETLE – MARK ONE
The Blue Beetle first appeared in Mystery Men Comics #1, riding the wave of mighty heroes in the wake of Superman’s debut. Dan Garrett was the son of a murdered police officer who swore to rid the streets of crime and corruption. To aid him in his quest for justice he acquired a special drug which gave him super strength and a distinctive bulletproof costume. The Blue Beetle was not the type to take on supervillains. His adversaries were thugs, gangsters and other real life crooks of that ilk. He was a man against the system, who crossed lines the police could or would not cross.
In that sense the Blue Beetle is a typical hero of his age. The early comic book protagonists reflect America’s cynical view of law enforcers in the late 1930s. Therein lies the appeal of the original superhero, and the Blue Beetle in particular. If you want your neighbourhood fixed, you gotta do it yourself! A mystery man, taking matters into his own hands: that’s Dan Garrett. Soon The Blue Beetle was publishers Fox Feature Syndicate biggest feature, leading to spin-offs on radio and in newspaper strips. Fox continued publishing Dan Garrett’s adventures with great success until 1950.
THE BLUE BEETLE – MARK ONE AND A HALF
But that wasn’t the end of Garrett’s reign as the Blue Beetle. Far from it, in fact! Although Charlton started publishing The Blue Beetle in the 1950s, it wasn’t until 1964 that they really made him their own. And this time he was no mere mystery man. The Blue Beetle now had the power of flight and fought a colourful gallery of supervillains. In an update of Dan Garrett’s origins it is revealed that he derived his powers from a blue beetle-shaped scarab, found during an archaeological expedition to Egypt.
As much as I like the raw edge of the original story, this added dimension works surprisingly well. The Blue Beetle’s ties to Egyptology make him mystical and exotic. Having a talisman type of device also sets Garrett apart from characters like Captain Marvel aka Shazam. Like Shazam, the Blue Beetle is not an almighty hero 24/7. He must summon his powers if he intends to fight evildoers. What makes the scarab so tantalising is that it makes the source of power tangible. Egyptology, and all the lost wisdom it represents, appeals to the imagination. It adds a touch of myth to the standard superhero.
THE BLUE BEETLE – MARK TWO
And then there was Batman. The 1966 television series starring Adam West had an incredible cultural impact, inspiring plenty of copycats. Charlton wanted it’s own Batman and reshaped the Blue Beetle’s fictional universe once more. In a striking story drawn by comic legend Steve Ditko, Dan Garrett dies and attempts to pass on the mystical scarab to fresh faced Ted Kord. When Kord fails to obtain the scarab, the young scientist decides to develop his very own arsenal of special gadgetry and a hovering Beetle-craft. A fun series of adventures, which lasted but a few issues.
DC Comics came to his rescue in the 1980s, however. When former Charlton editor Dick Giordano left the company in favour of DC, he convinced his new publisher to acquire the Charlton superheroes. The Blue Beetle was relaunched in 1986, starring in his own 24 issue series and became a regular within the pages of Justice League of America. Through DC the Blue Beetle attained a new generation of fans. Dick Giordano’s fondness for the plucky hero assured that he would never be forgotten.
THE BLUE BEETLE – MARK THREE
Ted Kord was dramatically killed off in Countdown to Infinite Crisis in 2005, after which Jaime Reyes took on the mantle of the Blue Beetle. Though rarely used, Dan Garrett’s blue beetle scarab had by now resurfaced. It is revealed that the scarab is not of this earth, allowing Jaime Reyes to don an impressive exoskeleton. Like his predecessor, Jaime wages a never ending war against the powers of evil. The new Blue Beetle mixes elements of Spider-Man and Iron Man, but has unfairly been called a mere Marvel clone. Like Garrett and Kord, Reyes has his own following.
Xolo Maridueña portrayed Reyes in a rather disappointing feature film in 2023. There are plans for Maridueña to star in his own Blue Beetle VOD series, but the chances of it being greenlit are slim considering the state of Hollywood these days. And yet in the comics the Blue Beetle is going from strength to strength! The secret to his continued success is probably not due to any specific power or feature. More likely the opposite is true: the Blue Beetle is the perfect canvas for whatever superheroes represent in a specific era. He can be the mystery man of the 1930s, a camp classic of the 1960s or a Marvel-style hero of the 2020s. Whether you like him mystical or down-to-earth: it is reinvention that makes the Blue Beetle truly magical.