Here we are again with another Legacy character. We have tackled legacy characters before with the Flash, just for a recap for what a legacy character is, these are characters who have used the name of their predecessor to continue to fight what they believe in.
Cool thing about BLUE BEETLE as a legacy character as oppose to the Flash, is that the BLUE BEETLEs doesn't really have the same set of powers and abilities with each other, nor they have any familial ties.
Who are the BLUE BEETLEs? I. Dan Garrett The first BLUE BEETLE is Dan Garret who appeared in Fox Comics' Mystery Men Comics #1 (August 1939). He was created by Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski. He initially appeared as a rookie police officer, who uses special equipment, a bulletproof costume and a superstrength-inducing "2-X vitamin". But In the 1964, Dan Garret got a revised origin, he was now an archaeologist who found a magical Egyptian artifact, resembling a scarab, which he used to fight crime.
What are his powers and abilities? Without the scarab, he is a normal fellow with a strength of an athletic male of his height and build.
Calling on the powers of the BLUE BEETLE Scarab he gains:
Superhuman Strength
Unassisted Flight: Dan could fly without the use of wings.
Energy Blasts: This manifested as lightning bolts Dan shot from his hands.
Costume Manifestation
Changes in appearance 1. First appearance In his first appearance in the cover of Mystery Men Comics #1 (1939). His alter-ego was Dan Garret. He is seen wearing a blue cape, with masks and carrying a gun. Later on we see him wearing a suit, a fedora hat and a mask. During his early appearances he fought crime without the aid of superpowers.
2. Vitamins In BLUE BEETLE (Fox) Vol 1 #1 (Winter, 1939), a pharmacist named Doctor Franz provides rookie police officer Dan Garret with a special vitamin and bulletproof costume so that he can fight crime as the BLUE BEETLE.
3. Silver Age During the Silver Age of comics, ca. 60s BLUE BEETLE got a revised origin, and his alter ego got an additional "t" on his last name, he is now known as Dan Garrett. His revised origin is an archaeologist who obtained a number of superhuman powers (including super strength and vision, flight, and the ability to generate energy blasts) from a mystical scarab he found during a dig in Egypt. He would transform into the BLUE BEETLE by saying the words "Kaji Dha!".
4. Modern In the modern age Dan Garrett is the resurrection and/or reincarnation of the all the Dan Garretts in one. He was a secret agent and he was aware of his past incarnations. He believes that all his previous incarnations are past lives and that he is be resurrected when the world needs him. He wore the same costume as the second version of the BLUE BEETLE.
II. Ted Kord Theodore Stephen "Ted" Kord is the second version of the BLUE BEETLE, a genius-level inventor and a gifted athlete, turned superhero. This version of the character was created by Steve Ditko, and first appeared as a back-up feature in Captain Atom #83 (Nov. 1966), with Gary Friedrich scripting from Ditko's conception and plot.
Ted Kord is a former student of Dan Garrett, in a battle where Garrett was badly injured and about to die, he passed on to Kord the responsibility of being BLUE BEETLE. The mystical BLUE BEETLE scarab was handed down to Kord by Garrett but unfortunately it won't work with Kord.
That didn't stop Ted Kord in becoming the new BLUE BEETLE, already possesing a genius intellect he went on to training himself physically to continue on fighting crimes. Without the mystical aid of the BLUE BEETLE Scarab, he turned to technological equipments to help him on his crusade, most of it is his own creation.
What are his powers and abilities? Genius-Level Intellect: (IQ 192)
Gifted Inventor: Ted was the creator of many inventions and crime-fighting technologies, like his solar-powered "Bug" vehicle, BB gun, and many more. He also ran a company, Kord Industries, which produces hundreds of new technologies.
Skilled Acrobat: Kord was an accomplished acrobat, who more often than not, utilized this greatly into his hand-to-hand fighting style.
Martial Artist: Had studied with several martial arts masters, and can out-fight just about any group of thugs or criminals with his fighting skills alone.
Espionage Expert
Since day 1 (first appearance in 1966) Ted Kord's look pretty much stayed the same.
III. Jaime Reyes Jaime Reyes is the succesor of Ted Kord in the mantle of BLUE BEETLE, the character first appeared in Infinite Crisis #3 (Feb. 2006), and was created by writers Keith Giffen and John Rogers, and artist Cully Hamner.
Reyes is a normal high-school kid from El Paso, Texas who by chance stumbled upon the BLUE BEETLE scarab of Dan Garrett. This time the scarab reacted and grafted itself in the spine of Reyes, and transforming him to the new new BLUE BEETLE.
What are his powers and abilities? Without the scarab, he is a normal young teenage male who engages in moderate exercise.
With the scarab Jaime can access a number of powers at its own volition, an act usually accompanied by blue energy emitted by the scarab's "antennae". The armor is resilient enough that it can protect Jaime against atmospheric re-entry from Earth's orbit.
The suit can reconfigure itself to produce a wide array of armaments. Common functions include an energy cannon, a sword and shield, a grappling hook, a device resembling a communications satellite, and a set of foot-long powered blades that can shear through tree trunks. In addition, the suit can produce a set of wings for flight, which can also act as shields.
Jaime Reyes is relatively a new character so, he has not undergone many changes yet. Though I have to say he has one of that good design that may last a while. But even though he is the newest of the BLUE BEETLEs he is the first one to have a live adaptation. We see it here in the Live Action Test Footage. The clip shows Jaime Reyes' transformation from teen to superhero via the alien scarab fused to his spine.
And now on his Smallville visit, he is accompanied by Ted Kord's bestfriend, Booster Gold.
sources: http://www.comicvine.com/blue-beetle-garret/29-18745/ : http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Daniel_Garrett_(New_Earth) : http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Theodore_Kord_(New_Earth) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Beetle_(Jaime_Reyes)
This is the 11th article in my Know Your CBM Character series. Any requests and suggestions for an article for this series write it down in the comment section BELOW.
This article is requested by:
BlueMex [Or] a BLUE BEETLE (feature) [as well] would be nice !
Note: Any error in the article above, if any, just blame it on my age, humanity and ignorance. Just be sure to check the comment section for the corrections, any error I made will surely be pointed out and corrected by much bigger geeks (because there will always be a bigger geek out there). -This has been PollMaster inviting you to the geekside.