Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle is a comic book character that first appeared in Mystery Men Comics #1
Student of the first Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett, Ted Kord took the mantle upon his death. Ted is the most widely known Blue Beetle, but the mantle has once again passed on, this time to Jaime Reyes.
Fox Feature Syndicate, Holyoke Publishing The original Blue Beetle was Dan Garret (one "t"), however there has been three different incarnations of his character. The original Dan Garret started in Mystery Men #1 IN August of 1939 produced by the comic company Fox Feature Syndicate. This makes Blue Beetle one of the earliest Superheroes. Dan was a police officer who wore a blue chain mail uniform an fought crime as the Blue Beetle. He had no superpowers in the beginning and needed the armor for protection.
He later met up with a scientist named Dr. Franz. Dr. Franz supplied him with Vitamin 2X. Vitamin 2X gave Dan super-strength and invulnerability. He still however wore the chain mail despite his invulnerability. Dan not only fought crime at home but he also fought the Axis in WWII like many hero's of his time. He is also the only Blue Beetle to have a sidekick. Dan's sidekick was a boy named Sparkington J. Northrup or Sparky for short. Sparky originally wore a costume but after a while of fighting Nazis in WWII he gave up his costume and fought in civilian clothes
His uniform was only a little different from the second Dan Garrett. He would often wear yellow, red and light blue gloves instead of the second Dan Garrett who wore only red gloves. The original Dan Garret did not have a fin on his head either. The fin was worn by the second and third versions.
Charlton Comics, Americomics, DC Comics In 1955 the character was bought by Charlton Comics. This was the birth of the second incarnation of Dan Garrett. This character was an archaeologist based in Egypt, who discovered an ancient and magical blue Scarab on a dig in the tomb of the Pharaoh Kha-ef-Re. The Scarab gifted him with Super Strength, Flight, and the ability to create Lightning. When uttering the words, "Kaji Dha", he would be changed into the Blue Beetle.
Dan would eventually become a professor. One of his students was a man named Theodore 'Ted' Kord, a scientific genius and Olympic level athlete. Ted needed assistance in dealing with his Uncle Jarvis. Jarvis was brilliant scientist in the field of robotics. Unknowingly Ted had helped Jarvis build indestructible super robots in an attempt to use them to take over the world. Unknown to Ted his old professor was none other than the Blue Beetle.
Once Dan and Ted found Jarvis on Pogo island they were attacked by Jarvis's robots. When they are attacked Dan uses his magical scarab to turn into the Blue Beetle. Once Jarvis was faced with defeat he kills himself and blows up his robots in a successful attempt to kill Blue Beetle. As the Blue Beetle was mortally wounded he asked Ted to take up the mantle. Ted agreed and became the Blue Beetle. It is at this point that Dan falls though the ground and is crushed in a massive cave in. Dan was unable to pass the scarab to Ted, leaving him with only his wits and fists to fight crime as the Blue Beetle.
Dan Garrett III
Americomics, DC Comics
The third incarnation of this character appeared In 1983 and may have only appeared in one comic book. He was a secret agent and he was aware of his past incarnations. He believed that all his previous incarnations were past lives and that he would be resurrected when the world needed him. He wore the same costume as the second version and existed alongside of the Ted Kord Blue Beetle.
Dan Garrett's Resurrections
There have been many attempts to bring back the Dan Garrett Blue Beetle. He was brought back in Americomics #3 twice. This book had three stories in it. Two of the stories were about resurrecting Garrett. The first story was about a robotic Dan Garrett who was on Pago Island when Dan died. Not having full programming the robot took on the personality of Dan as the Blue Beetle. When the Robot comes to Hub City Ted is convinced at first that he is the real Dan Garrett and almost gives up being the Blue Beetle himself. He eventually realizes his error and defeats the robot.
The second story attempts to explain the two different origins of the original Blue Beetle by making the third version. In the story Dan is brought back to life by two unnamed gods. They explain Dan has been resurrected before and it is time to resurrect him again. When they resurrect him they provide for him a new life as a secret agent. Ted Kord is also a secret agent in this story.
When DC Comics started writing stories about the Blue Beetle they chose to start off with the Ted Kord version. They however kept the story of Dan Garrett being and Archaeologist. DC also completely ignored the secret agent story written in Americomics. In DC's first Blue Beetle comic series Dan climbs out of the rubble of Pago Island and is told by the spirit of Pharaoh Kha-ef-Re to destroy Ted Kord the blasphemer who has taken on the mantle of the Blue Beetle. At first Dan sets out to do just that but later he defies the Pharaoh Kha-ef-Re and is killed by him. This also seemingly destroys the scarab.
Most recently Dynamite Comics seems to have resurrected the first Dan Garrett Blue Beetle along with his sidekick Sparky. In the #0 issues of Project Superpowers a characters wearing almost identical costumes to these characters are seen alongside other characters from the Fox Feature Syndicate like the Flame and Sampson. The only thing is neither Dan nor Sparky are referred to by name. In the story however Dan is caught by the Fighting Yank in Pandora's Box just after WWII. In Pandora's Box he is left in suspended animation. Only time will tell how he will be resurrected and if he is the Blue Beetle.
Ted Kord
Charlton Comics, Americomics, DC Comic
In 1966 Steve Ditko at Charlton Comic recreated the Blue Beetle with the Ted Kord version. This Blue Beetle came to be compared to as a cross between Batman and Spider-man. He had the acrobatics of Spider-man but the entrepreneurship and extreme wealth and genius level intelligence of Batman. He was more of a scientific genius rather than a detective much like Lex Luthor. Kord still has flashbacks about Dan Garrett passing on the scarab.
Ted Kord became the head of Kord Omniversal Research and developmental Industries or K.O.R.D. Industries for short. His scientific research lab was second only to S.T.A.R. Labs. Like S.T.A.R. Labs K.O.R.D. Industries had facilities all over the world. He even had a facility in Iran before the fall of the Shah. Ted went back using the alias of Edgar Hemp during the Millennium crisis in a failed attempt to save Salima Baranizar who was chosen to bring the human race into the next Millennium.
As the Blue Beetle he used his vast wealth and technological knowledge to create a wide variety of gadgets to make up for the lack of the missing scarab. His most remarkable invention was a Beetle shaped solar powered jet he simply called the Bug. The Bug was armed to the teeth with weaponry and surveillance equipment. He used this ship to mainly fly around Hub City and Chicago but he took it all over the world. The Bug became the main form of travel during his tenure with the Justice League. Ted also built a gun that could project percussive air blasts and bright flashes of light.
Ted joined the Justice League when it re-formed following the nationwide anti-hero brainwashing by Glorious Godfrey. He became an intricate part of the league not just in battles with Despero, Overlord, Eclipso and Doomsday but he was also the genius behind the scenes. Ted's body took at lot of torment during his service to the league. As the result of attacks Ted found himself suffering two comas and several broken bones. After these incidents he would retreat to his lab and focus more on his technical skills. When he did this he also would stop almost all physical activity and proper eating habits that left him fat and out of shape. Despite these many traumas to his body he always bounced back.
He stayed with the League throughout many of its various incarnations. Through the changing rosters of his tenure with the Justice League Beetle made many friends but he was closest to Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, Martian Manhunter and yes Guy Gardner. In the beginning Beetle and Guy had a hate, hate relationship. Guy had also suffered brain traumas as a superhero but his problems were seen outwardly in his personality. Guy would go back and forth being an overbearing jerk to sweet, sappy and very campy superhero. During one of their more bitter exchanges both Ted and Guy actually boxed each other. Their relationship was rough like this the whole time they were in the league and it wasn't resolved until long after Guy left the league.
Ted had good relationships with just about everyone in the league, but his best friend was Booster Gold. Ted and Booster became big practical jokers of the league. They would play jokes on just about everyone in the League. They tried to get Fire in a calender, they made a Guy Gardner character for the Ice-capades to be mocked and laughed at while Guy was there on a date with Ice and they hid the Martian Manhunter's Oreo cookies to him go nuts. Ted and Booster biggest jokes were played on themselves in their get rich schemes. These schemes got them into various legal and financial problems.
Just like Ted, Booster also suffered physically as a result of being with the League. He even had his arm ripped off and being so physically damaged that he was forced to like in a robotic power suit that kept him alive. Despite the many battles they had and all their, physical, mental and financial hardships they faced. They never got the respect they felt they earned. Despite Ted's best efforts, he was never taken seriously by the rest of the hero community, a fact which would be sharply illuminated with his death. Martian Manhunter would be the only hero to gain the high status of heroes such as Superman or Batman.
When Ice was killed by Overlord the League was never the same. Ted and Booster worked with Captain Atom for a while in a darker quasi-League. Years later they even came back in a league pathetically called the Superbuddies.
On his own Ted still had many physical and financial hardships he even started to have heart problems. In Egypt the lost Scarab that was believed destroyed was found. Sadly Ted was unable to get it working.
Eventually Ted really started to put his life together. When Ted discovered that money was being taken from his company as well as Wayne Enterprises this led him to discoverer a planetary conspiracy within the Checkmate organization. Ted tried to get other heroes to help him unravel it. Most refused to take him seriously. The biggest heart break would have been Martian Manhunter. The Martian Manhunter had always been a big part of the League while Ted was there and it always seemed that Martian Manhunter being a telepath knew the real Ted but he only showed contempt for him. The only one who would help Ted was Booster.
Booster was severely burned for his loyalty in an attack meant for Ted. All alone Ted infiltrated Checkmate headquarters. He was captured and killed by the leader of Checkmate, and the former leader of the Justice League, Maxwell Lord.(Maxwell was later killed by Wonder Woman.)
When Booster left the hospital he had a hard time getting over Ted's death. He even suffered his own death and resurrection crisis. (See 52) Booster would eventually be called on by Rip Hunter to help him restore a time crisis. Booster agreed but on the condition that they go back in time and save Ted. Booster enlists the help of three Blue Beetles who were the second Dan Garrett, Jamie Reyes and a future Blue Beetle.(Black Beetle) Once together they arrive just in time to rescue Ted from Max's bullet. On their way back to their time they battle to men who have claimed to have destroyed the Justice Society. On of the men has a Green Lantern ring. When Booster and Ted arrive in Rip Hunter's lab something doesn't seem right. Ted,and Michael go outside only to see a sky full of O.M.A.C's. Ted and Michael begin to fight the O.M.A.C.s when Ted jumps off of Michael. He summons his extra bug ship, and tells Michael about his Beetle Cave, and that it is more or less used as storage. Ted tells Michael that he found a way to reprogram the O.M.A.C.s and they escape the O.M.A.C. army Michael and Ted go to France and go to the Justice League France museum. The curator becomes an Omac, and tries to kill Booster,Ted but Hawkman, and Green Arrow help them and welcome them to the resistance.
Jaime Reyes
DC Comics
Some time before his death, however, Ted Kord left Dan Garrett's scarab in the Rock of Eternity with the wizard Shazam. Following the destruction of the Rock by the Spectre, the Scarab landed in a vacant lot in El Paso, Texas. There it was found by a high school student, Jaime Reyes. The scarab bonded itself to Jaime's body, and entered into a far more interactive relationship with the boy than it had with Dan Garrett. The scarab now allows Jaime to cover himself in a kind of biomechanical armor, which can be modified to enhance his speed and strength, as well as to create weapons, wings and shields. Batman and his group tracked down Jaime because the Scarab was the only thing that could find Brother Eye and with his help stopped it. After Brother Eye's destruction Jaime was trapped between dimensions for a whole year and was forced to reveal his secret to his family and friends.
Jaime has met a number of members of the DC universe since his return, including Superman, Phantom Stranger, and Oracle. Oracle, worried for his safety, dispatched Peacemaker to keep an eye on him. Jaime has had some magically influenced adventures, such as meeting the magical street gang the Posse and encounter with the Phantom Stranger. The Sinestro Corps and the Reach recently teamed up to attack the Beetle, by making Peacemaker a secret agent. He removed the scarab they implanted in him by cutting it out, and though he had to be hospitalized, he is still alive.
The nature of the scarab is still unknown. It has a strong reaction to the Green Lantern rings as Guy Gardner attacked him, and is driven to escape from them whenever possible. It has recently been revealed that the scarab is a peace of ancient alien technology created by a conquering race called the Reach.
Jaime has fought Livewire, Eclipso and a metahuman gang called "the Posse" and has meet Superman and has started a relationship with Traci 13 and has recently trained at Titan's Tower. Jaime first teamed up with the Titans in Teen Titans#50 fighting Lobo,which is also seen in Blue Beetle #18. Jaime also came face to face with the Spectre. Jaime also confronted Luis, the man that crippled his father, although Jaime was forced to forgive Luis and keep the Spectre from killing a group of prison inmates.
As of Blue Beetle #23 Jaime has been battling the Reach. He infiltrated their mother ship where his scarab was forcefully removed, "killing" the scarab. Jaime, powerless and unclothed, accessed the information that the scarab had input into his brain in order to fight without the armor. He made his way back into the Reach's hands and right at the point where his last words were asked for, gun in face, he says, "Just two. Khaji Da!"
The scarab, supposedly dead, flew from the receptacle that the Reach had put it in and latched itself onto Jaime's spine once again, after explaining in English text, no longer the cryptic text as seen from the first issue, that it revealed its name, Khaji Da, to Jaime. Khaji meaning its Infiltrator Function, Da being it's serial number, although it is the first scarab to take that as its name. Receiving help from many different organizations, The Posse, La Dama, and a portion of the Justice League, Jaime is set on destroying the mother ship, even with the cost of self-sacrifice. Booster Gold, however, saves him at the literal "last moment" prior to activating the destruct sequence.
The final story arch of the Jamie's Blue Beetle series has him pitted against other Scarab wielding aliens. they came to him because his scarab was higher up in the chain of scarab command. When Jamie told them they should stop taking over planets, they attacked and almost killed him. In the fight, Nadia (one of the beetles "side-kicks) was killed by the attacking forces.
To take them out, Jamie's scarab had to initiate a reboot sequence in all of the suits. The problem was, the reboot lasted seven and a half days, and they where all currently fighting in space.
The scarabs all shut down, leaving each bearer with nothing but a low powered shield. Jamie fell to Earth and broke nearly every bone in his body, only surviving because of the shield.
Jamie was in the hospital for most of the days, but the scarab randomly booted up and healed allot of his wounds before shutting down again. Peacemaker left. And so did Hector (Jaime's other side-kick) who blamed Jamie for Nadia's death.
And on the seventh day, the Scarab came back online. The Blue Beetle was back.
Teen Titans
Around this time Jaime was also called together by various Blue Beetles to help save the life of Ted Kord. However doing so altered reality and it was revealed this was planned by the Blue Beetle who was actually Black Beetle a future enemy of Jaime's. However Ted allowed himself to die to fix reality (although later it was implied he may have found a way to live and secure the time stream.)
Despite his distrust of him Kid Devil was forced to work with Blue Beetle when the two where attacked by Shockwave. Jaime attempted to settle their issues as Kid Devil distrust him not only because of his future self's words but also because of his closeness to Ravager but Blue Beetle assures him he has no feeling for Rose and is somewhat afraid of her. The two soon work together to beat Shockwave and the experience allowed Kid Devil to activate new powers and after he decided to change his name to Red Devil and showed a new friendship towards Jaime.
KRDA
After Jaime's is attacked by foes of Ted Kord including Masked Marauder, Squid Gang, Fire Fist, Madmen, Catalyst and Carapax ( now using a steam power) and beats them he goes to a valentine's day dance an hour later. Traci along with Paco and Brenda are there and Brenda is very worried that because she is now dating Paco it may have a negative strain on hers and Jaime friendship. However the dance is broken up by the sudden arrival of the KDRA (Khaji Da Revolutionary Army). There showing up makes it almost public that Jaime is really the Blue Beetle. The leader of the KDRA Djo Zha explained that the KDRA was really made by the scarab sharing its information with the reach computers and spreading its want to be free from their oppression. The told Blue Beetle the real reason they where there was to have him become the army's leader to destroy the Reach. Meanwhile Jaime's ally Nadia has translated the scarabs language and knows that the KDRA have a secret plan and tries to warn Blue Beetle. Back at the dance the KDRA is revealed to not be a benign as it would seem and feel that the best way to help worlds such as earth is to remove all oppression by destroying countries such as the U.S.A and China and what they call "terrorist" cells like the Justice League. Of Course Blue Beetle is against them and now the KDRA choose to kill him.
Jaime begins to fight the KDRA (while Nadia saves his secret with a hologram). Despite Hectors arrival Nadia is killed while Jaime is fighting and believing the hologram to be him become angry (the hologram was just standing doing nothing without orders). Jaime later interprets something Nadia had told him him and realizes he can use Khaji Da to control the others and the scarab decides to use a reboot (however it will last 27.4 days and the scarab isn't sure if it will survive.) After the reboot begins Jaime loses his powers and is forced to use the host of Djo Zha (the host has wings) to break a fall. However he is wounded enough to need to go to the hospital. While there he becomes aware of Nadias fate and for days he is in the hospital. Nadia had a funeral and Hector has vanished and finally the scarab makes a small appearing (just enough to heal Jaime). Meanwhile the KDRA have been arrested by the GL Corps and Peacemaker even drops by on Jaime. Later the scarab is back to full strength but Hector is now still gone and he has the Djo Zha scarab and is seen in L.A getting a car using the scarabs name (implying he is the villain Black Beetle).
While with Paco and Brenda at a fast food place Jaime notices that the city is under attack by a giant robot named Thinko. The fight lasted three whole hours before Jaime was able beat Thinko. After doing some investigating they found out who created Thinko back in the 1940's. The man's name was Alan Von Neuman. they go to a prison looking for him but find only his son Alan Von Neuman Jr. He tells them that he didn't reuse the robot and he didn't want them to get his daughter involved but as they left Neuman Jr. his own robots appeared calling themselves the Unimate.
Jaime Reyes' Family
A notable element of the current Blue Beetle series has been its focus on Jaime Reyes’ family. This has given Jaime’s story a strong emotional foundation and is considered to be a fan-favorite feature of the comic book.
Jaime Reyes and his family are Mexican-American Catholics living in El Paso, Texas. Whether their religious affiliation is devout or nominal is not clear, but the Catholic crucifix hangs in the family room of the Reyes home (visible in Blue Beetle #3).
Jaime’s father Alberto (named in Blue Beetle #22) runs a garage. Jaime has offered to work for his father, but Alberto has rejected his offer, regarding Jaime's education as paramount. Alberto is an old-fashioned man with fierce protective feelings about his family. He is clearly very proud of Jaime and on one occasion describes him as “a perfect son” (spoken in Blue Beetle #3). In the past, Alberto was crippled during a shooting incident and is now forced to walk with a cane.
Jaime’s mother Bianca is a paramedic. She has appeared in uniform in a number of issues. She struggles with Jaime’s Beetle alter ego and has freaked out at the appearance of the Blue Beetle in her home. Nevertheless, she loves her son and is slowly coming to terms with his alternative super life.
Jaime also has a cute little sister called Milagro. Although they argue like any brother and sister, the brother-sister bond is nevertheless strong. The love and affection between them has been demonstrated on a number of occasions. Milagro thinks that having the Blue Beetle for a big brother is cool.
Lovers and Friends
Traci 13 is the daughter of Dr. Thirteen. Her mother died during magical experiments, but this tragedy did not stop Traci from following her mother’s footsteps in becoming a sorceress. In Blue Beetle #16 it is established that, following the death of her mother and at a time when she was not on good terms with her father, Traci was taken in, raised, and trained by Ralph and Sue Dibney. She has recently started a relationship with Jaime Reyes. Together they prevented Eclipso from kidnapping a baby with great magical potential and using it as a host for her own nefarious purposes.
Paco and Brenda are Jaime’s best friends. All three teenagers attend the same high school in El Paso. Paco and Brenda were with Jaime on the fateful day when he first discovered the mystical scarab in a disused lot on the way home from school. During the year of Jaime’s disappearance after becoming the Blue Beetle, Paco hooked up with a meta-human Hispanic gang known as the Posse. Meanwhile Brenda was taken in by her aunt - later revealed to be a local crime lord, La Dama - following the death of her abusive father. On Jaime’s return, Paco and Brenda quickly discovered that their friend had become the meta-human and crime fighter known as Blue Beetle. They have quickly adjusted to Jaime’s superhero status and have risen to the challenge of being his crime fighting accomplices, as well as his friends. Most recently they helped Jaime thwart the alien civilization known as the Reach from fulfilling their ambitions to take over the Earth.
Alternate Universes
The Black Beetle
Recently in the pages of Booster Gold (Issues #5-6, & 0, in that order) a group of Blue Beetles including Jaime Reyes, Dan Garrett and an unnamed Blue Beetle from the 27th century, have come to assist Booster Gold in saving Ted Kord. Succeeding in their efforts, all except Ted Kord's and Booster Gold's memories were wiped of the event. It is revealed in Booster Gold #7 that the future Blue Beetle is in fact the "Black" Beetle, who is working with Booster's father and has helped start the Time Stealer's organization.
The Black Beetle closely resembles the Kingdom Come version of Ted Kord.
DC Animated Universe
The DC Animated Universe stated out in the Batman the Animated Series television show. The Universe is more of a series of television shows than it is a series of comic books. Blue Beetle never appeared in any television shows but the Ted Kord Blue Beetle did appear in thr comic books several times. Especially in the Justice League Unlimited comic book.
Batman : The Brave and the Bold
All three Blue Beetles appear in the series.Jaime Reyes makes an appearence in the first episode. Dan and Ted appear in flashbacks. A recurring story element in the series is Jaime's struggles in being a rookie superhero.Weapons & Equipment
Scarab
The Blue Beetle scarab is the most powerful weapon of all the Blue Beetles. The only Blue Beetle to have not used the Scarab is Ted Kord. When Dan Garret found the Scarab it gave him powers when he said 'Khaji Da! due to absorbing the magical forces. Jaime has had the most unique powers and has fully bonded to the Scarab. The Scarab can still use many of it's powers on it's own and can take over the armor if Jaime is being manipulated. Jaime even believes that there may be weapons powerful enough to hurt the Spectre due to the scarab giving him options after options on how to handle him. The Scarab won't hurt nature unless reasoned with and it causes Green Lanterns to act violently towards him and defends itself in response.
Scarab used by Dan Garrett
Scarab used by Jamie Reyes
The Bug Ship
Hand to Hand Weapons
The original Dan Garrett Blue Beetle used a police revolver when he fought crime. He also used other types of guns as he fought the Axis in WWII. The Ted Kord Blue Beetle used his scientific mind to design what are called less than lethal weapons. These were made into the form of a hand gun he wore on his belt.
Ted Kord's Less Than Lethal hand guns
Important Issues
Other Media
The Radio Show
The original Blue Beetle had his own radio show in 1940 that lasted 48 episodes. By today's television standards that would be two full seasons. He would fight crime like the Dynamite Gang and the Payroll Bandits.
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| Super Name: | Blue Beetle |
| Real Name: | Jaime Reyes |
| Aliases: |
Dan Garrett Jaime Reyes Azure Avenger Edgar Hemp Battling Beetle |
| Publisher: | DC Comics |
| Gender: | Male |
| Character Type: | Human |
| 1st Appearance: | Mystery Men Comics #1 |
| Appears in: | 472 issues |
| Birthday: | |
| Died: |
