Blue Beetle v1 #18-#21 (1955 ) Complete Series [Charlton Comics Collection]

 Name: Blue Beetle
A.K.A.: n/a
Secret ID.: Daniel ‘Dan’ Garret
Type: Costumed Hero
Affiliation/Team: Sparky (Side-Kick)
1st Appearance: Mystery Men Comics #1
Year: 1939
Publisher: Fox Features Syndicate
Country of origin: USA
Created by Charles Nicholas

Mystery Men Comics #1 (August 1939) Fox, 1939

The original Blue Beetle, Dan Garret, first appeared in Fox Comics' Mystery Men Comics #1 (cover-dated August 1939), with art by Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski (as Charles Nicholas), though the Grand Comics Database tentatively credits Will Eisner as the scripter. A rookie police officer, he wore a special bulletproof costume and took "Vitamin 2X" which endowed him with super-energy, and he was assisted by a neighborhood pharmacist in his fight against crime. 

Blue Beetle starred in a comic book series, comic strip and radio serial, but like most 

Golden Age superheroes, he fell into obscurity in the 1950s. The comic book series saw a number of anomalies in publication: 19 issues, #12 through #30, were published through Holyoke Publishing; no issue #43 was published; publication frequency varied throughout the run;

 and there were gaps where issues were not published, with large ones occurring in early 1947 

and between mid-1948 and early 1950.

The Blue Beetle #18 (February 1955) Charlton, 

In the mid-1950s, Fox Comics went out of business and sold the printing plates to some stories featuring the Blue Beetle to Charlton Comics. That company published a few sporadic adventures of the Golden Age character before revamping the hero in 1964. Charlton tried three times to use the character to carry a self-titled series. Two of the attempts retained the numbering of a previous title. These also were eventually replaced with new titles that carried on the numbering.

The new series was short-lived, and in the pages of Captain Atom #83 (cover-dated November 1966) through #86,Charlton introduced Ted Kord, a student of Dan Garrett's (note the changed spelling) who took on the role when Garrett died. Kord was an inventor hero, using a variety of gadgets. This Beetle received his own series in 1967, but the entire Charlton "Action Heroes" line of comic books ceased publication in 1968. With the rest of the Charlton line-up, he was sold to DC Comics in 1983 and appeared with several incarnations of the Justice League.

In 2006, DC introduced a new Blue Beetle, teenager Jaime Reyes, whose powers are derived from the scarab, now revealed as a piece of advanced alien technology. The series was initially written by Keith Giffen and John Rogers, with artist Cully Hamner. Giffen left in issue #10 and Rogers took over full writing duties, joined by a new artist, Rafael Albuquerque....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Beetle

After his father was killed by a gangster’s bullet, young Dan Garret joined the New York Police Department, but he soon tired of the slow pace and red tape of police work. He donned a blue three-piece suit and a white mask and established a costumed identity, fighting crime as the Blue Beetle. He had no powers, but he used a gun and a wrist-mounted mini-radio to get an edge on the criminals he was fighting. His calling card was a small beetle-shaped marker that he left in conspicuous places to alert criminals to his presence, using their fear of his crime-fighting reputation as a weapon against them.

Shortly afterwords, his friend and mentor, a pharmacist and a drug-store proprietor named Dr. Franz helped Dan acquire bullet-proof armor made out of chain mail-like cellulose material. He still occasionally used a gun, but he mostly relied on his fists from that point on. He added a “BeetleMobile” car and a “BeetleBird” airplane to his arsenal. He also started using a “Beetle Signal” flashlight. In some stories, he was shown with a multi-pouched belt similar to Batman’s.

While investigating a dope ring, Dan Garret was wounded by a gangster’s machine gun and laid near-death in the hospital. He received a visit from Dr. Franz, who had a plan to save Dan’s life.

Dr. Franz administered a strange treatment. Dan was given the secret experimental vitamin 2X, a super drug that endows its recipient with super strength and healing abilities, increased speed, heightened senses, and enhanced intellectual capacity. Under the drug’s influence, Dan Garrett rapidly recovered from his injuries and returned to the street the next day.

The effects of vitamin 2X were temporary, however (though the effects of healing were of course permanent), and when a serious crime called for super powers, Officer Garret had to rush to Dr. Franz’s drug store, where, in a hidden room, he donned his costume and took a vitamin 2X pill. A super-powered Blue Beetle would then emerge to strike out against evil.

Oddly, and for no reason ever stated, Dan Garret was never shown carrying a supply of vitamin 2X with him. Maybe it never occurred to him to do so, or maybe the strange drug rapidly broke down and had to be prepared fresh every time. Or maybe Dr. Franz was keeping his watchdog on a short leash.

During the middle portion of his career, Blue Beetle was aided by a sidekick named Sparky. He was also occasionally aided by Joan Mason, his on-again, off-again girlfriend. His partner on the force, Mike Mannigan, viewed Blue Beetle as a criminal, which is probably why it’s a good thing that he never caught on to the reason behind Dan’s mysterious absences.

His enemies included Baron Von X, The Black Widow, Borgo the Mirror Murderer, Boss X, Captain X-13, The Cat, The Condor, Countess Belladonna, Dascomb Dinsmore & Seidlitz, Death Mask, Egg-Head, The Eye, The Hooded Spectre, Lady Medusa, Madame Fang, Magog, The Red Robe, The Octopus, Saturnia & Gloat, The Skull, The Sphinx (Fox), The Swamp Master, The Torch and The Yellow Fang, among many others.

Character Information and pictures thanks to the Golden Age Hero Directory

The Blue Beetle
Charlton, 1955 Series
Published in English (United States) United States

Publication Dates: February 1955 - August 1955
Number of Issues Published: 4 (#18 - #21)
Color: Color
Dimensions: Standard Silver Age US
Paper Stock: Glossy cover; Newsprint interior
Binding: Saddle-stitched
Publishing Format: Was Ongoing Series
Publication Type: magazine

 Pages: 36      Indicia Frequency: bi-monthly

Tracking:

numbering continues from The Thing (Charlton, 1952 series) #17
numbering continues with Mr. Muscles (Charlton, 1956 series) #22

Authors:

Script:
?
Pencils:
Louis Ferstadt [as Otis], Dick Giordano ?,Ted Galindo (signed as Galindo),
Inks:
Louis Ferstadt [as Otis]Dick Giordano ?,Ted Galindo (signed as Galindo), Ray Osrin,

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