The Four Blue Beetles

The Blue Beetle is one of the earliest costumed adventurers appearing in American comics. He debuted in 1939 in Mystery Men Comics No. 1, published by Fox Publications. Over the years he would evolve and become completely different characters as he was passed from publisher to publisher.

Since the mid 1980s, he’s been owned by DC Comics and they’ve focussed on the third and fourth iterations. But there were two different Beetles before that and we’ll have a look at those.

A great reference is The Blue Beetle Companion by Christopher Irving, published by TwoMorrows in 2007. It’s out of print now, but still available as an ebook, or you can try the used book market for a physical copy.

The Blue Beetle comics from the Golden and Silver ages are in the public domain, and you can find them on ComicBookPlus. I highly recommend YACReader for digital comics.

Blue Beetle I

The first Blue Beetle was in the mould of popular newspaper strip character The Phantom. Dan Garret (one T) was a policeman who put on a costume to fight gangsters of the Golden Age. He would later gain powers like DC’s Hourman from a special pill, but by the end of his comics in the mid 1950s he had innate super powers.

While DC Comics holds the trademark to the name Blue Beetle, the copyrights on these stories have lapsed and they are in the public domain. DC Comics has not reprinted BB I’s stories. New stories can be created with this character though they would need to be packaged in a comic not titled Blue Beetle to avoid confusion in the marketplace.

Blue Beetle II

Dr. Daniel Garrett (two Ts) is an archæologist who discovers a blue scarab in a tomb and is granted fantastic powers by the spirit of an Egyptian pharaoh. Garrett holds the scarab in his hand, says the magic words, “Kaji Dha!” and he is transformed into the Blue Beetle.

Note: Blue Beetle II is often identified as the same character as Blue Beetle I. However, they are different characters in origin and costume.

While DC Comics holds the trademark to the name Blue Beetle, the copyrights on these stories were unregistered or are expired and they are in the public domain. DC Comics has not reprinted BB II’s Charlton stories. New stories can be created with this character though they would need to be packaged in a comic not titled Blue Beetle to avoid confusion in the marketplace. In addition, DC has published stories including BB II that are their timeline branch. New stories would need to be developed along a separate branch.

Blue Beetle III

Brilliant scientist inventor Ted Kord inherits tech company Kord Industries from his father, and uses the vast resources at his disposal like Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark to become a hero with cool transportation and gadgets.

DC Comics acquired the rights to the Charlton Comics Action Heroes in the mid 1980s and they focussed on BB III when they began including him in their comics. DC Comics has reprinted BB III’s Charlton stories. There is conflicting info that the Charlton stories for BB III are in the public domain via unregistered or expired copyrights. However, DC’s focus on and investment in BB III has established their trademark in the marketplace and they hold the copyrights for all stories they created including BB III, and it precludes anyone outside of DC creating new stories using BB III.

Blue Beetle IV

Dr. Daniel Garrett’s scarab is unearthed and teenager Jaime Reyes finds it. The scarab attaches itself to Reyes’ body and is revealed to be an alien weapons system, departing from the original conception of the scarab as an ancient Egyptian artefact. When active, the scarab gives Reyes armour and creates a multitude of weapons.

DC Comics created their own Blue Beetle with IV. They hold all trademarks and copyrights for Blue Beetle IV.