Dan Garrett studied archaeology in Egypt, when he found a magical scarab in the tomb of Kha-ef-Re. With
this scarab and the words ÒKaji DhaÓ he was endowed with superhuman strength, the ability to fly, and he
could shoot lightning from his hands as the BLUE BEETLE. Dan Garrett, the original BLUE BEETLE, eventually
died in a battle with Ted Kord's Uncle Jarvis, but passed along the legacy of BLUE BEETLE to Kord. Although
he did not possess the scarab, Ted trained and used his great intelligence to take over as THE BLUE BEETLE,
the second exciting incarnation of this character.
BLUE BEETLE was initially published by Victor Fox's outfit. The title was then transferred to Holyoke
Publishing and eventually wound up back at Fox. After Fox closed shop, the BLUE BEETLE landed at Charlton
Comics.
Charlton Comics' first issue of the BLUE BEETLE started with #18, picking up the numbering from the recently
canceled title THE THING. Issues #18 and 19, abetted with new covers, only contained reprints from the Fox
series. Issues #20 and #21 contained brand new stories, although #21, published in August of 1955, was to be
the last issue. Charlton's next BLUE BEETLE series began with issue #1 in June of 1964 and lasted five issues,
ending in April 1965. In July of 1965 Dan Garrett as the BLUE BEETLE returned for five more issues, this time
beginning with issue #50, picking up the numbering sequence from the defunct UNUSUAL TALES series.
Although this was the end of Dan Garrett's time as the BLUE BEETLE, Charlton would soon pull another bug
out of their hat.
In November of 1966, Steve Ditko dusted off the BLUE BEETLE name, now with Ted Kord donning the mask
and updated the character for a more modern audience. Ted Kord would appear in Charlton's Captain Atom
#83-86 before going on to his own self-titled, five issue series also published by Charlton. THE BLUE BEETLE
remains one of the most enduring characters in comics, changing and evolving over the decades.
As an added bonus this volume also contains five tales starring another creation by Steve Ditko, THE QUESTION.
This book was compiled with the best images currently available. That stated, these comics are sixty to seventy years old. The best efforts have been made to make the
pages as enjoyable as possible but not every panel is perfect and some allowances for the age of the books
need to be considered when judging the overall contents.