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Showcase Presents
Showcase Presents: Blue Beetle, Vol. 1
This value-priced title collects the entire 24-issue run of BLUE BEETLE from the 1980s, including the Beetle's battles against DC Universe villains Chronos and Dr. Alchemy. Includes appearances by The Question and the Teen Titans.
Collects BLUE BEETLE #1-24.
Collects BLUE BEETLE #1-24.
584 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1988
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83 people want to read
About the author
Len Wein
1,590 books155 followersLen Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men (including the co-creation of Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus). Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.
Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.
Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 26, 2018
Showcase Presents: Blue Beetle contains Secret Origins #2 and Blue Beetle 1-24.
As I've said in other reviews, I've had a soft spot for the Charlton characters DC bought since I was a kid and I've always liked the Blue Beetle. I've had this on my shelf for a few years and finally decided to crack it open. I have a couple of the issues contained in this volume but it was mostly new for me. I actually have more Charlton/Modern/Americomics comics featuring Blue Beetle than I do DC.
Skimming the table of contents, there is a lot of talent on this book. Len Wein writes every issue although he shares a co-writer credit with Joey Cavalleri on one. Paris Cullins of Blue Devil fame does the art on half of the issues but there are also some legends on hand: namely Don Heck, Ross Andru, and Gil Kane. Mike Mignola even does a cover!
The Secret Origins issue was at the end of the book but I read it first. Duh. Origin. From there, the stage is set. Len Wein seeds a LOT of stuff early on, stories that don't come to fruition for quite some time. Over the course of his 24 issue run, Blue Beetle teams with The Question, The Teen Titans, and Mister Miracle and battles Firefist, The Madmen, Doctor Alchemy, The Muse, The Calculator, Chronos, Mento and The Hybrid, Catalyst, Carapax, Overthrow, and The Manhunters. #2 features an homage to Amazing Spider-Man #33 with Blue Beetle spending a few pages getting out from under a mountain of rubble.
Paris Cullins did a bang up job on his issues. I've always thought he was an underrated artist. The old pros do a good job as well. I was particularly impressed by Don Heck's pencils. It seems like this was probably the swan song for both Ross Andru and Dandy Don.
Speaking of swang songs, was this Len Wein's last run as a writer at the Big Two? I say that because while this book is entertaining, it feels like a Marvel book from 1978. Actually, it feels like a 1978 Marvel book in both good and bad ways. The dialogue is corny and tired but the story flows very well and it's fairly gripping. Blue Beetle cracks wise like Spider-Man while heading a corporation like Tony Stark. Actually, Blue Beetle is like Tony Stark if he never built the Iron Man armor but took up super heroing anyway.
Wein was definitely playing the long game here. I wonder what else he would have thrown at the Azure Avenger if the book hadn't been cancelled. Also, I wonder if he was irritated by having the book derailed by both Legends and Millennium. He had an uphill climb establishing the Blue Beetle in the DC universe since all he had to work with was The Madmen for BB villains. Fortunately, Barry Allen was dead and The Atom was off the table due to the Sword of the Atom so he was able to use Doctor Alchemy and Chronos.
Blue Beetle's run was an average to slightly above average book. I wonder if DC bought the Charlton characters so Marvel wouldn't get their hands on them. Even with DC at the helm, this felt more like a Marvel book. In a universe where Batman has been established as the best fighter and best gadget inventor, Blue Beetle was doomed to come off as a B-lister. Still, the book wasn't without its charms. It was the last time Blue Beetle was taken seriously until Countdown to Infinite Crisis. Three out of five stars.
As I've said in other reviews, I've had a soft spot for the Charlton characters DC bought since I was a kid and I've always liked the Blue Beetle. I've had this on my shelf for a few years and finally decided to crack it open. I have a couple of the issues contained in this volume but it was mostly new for me. I actually have more Charlton/Modern/Americomics comics featuring Blue Beetle than I do DC.
Skimming the table of contents, there is a lot of talent on this book. Len Wein writes every issue although he shares a co-writer credit with Joey Cavalleri on one. Paris Cullins of Blue Devil fame does the art on half of the issues but there are also some legends on hand: namely Don Heck, Ross Andru, and Gil Kane. Mike Mignola even does a cover!
The Secret Origins issue was at the end of the book but I read it first. Duh. Origin. From there, the stage is set. Len Wein seeds a LOT of stuff early on, stories that don't come to fruition for quite some time. Over the course of his 24 issue run, Blue Beetle teams with The Question, The Teen Titans, and Mister Miracle and battles Firefist, The Madmen, Doctor Alchemy, The Muse, The Calculator, Chronos, Mento and The Hybrid, Catalyst, Carapax, Overthrow, and The Manhunters. #2 features an homage to Amazing Spider-Man #33 with Blue Beetle spending a few pages getting out from under a mountain of rubble.
Paris Cullins did a bang up job on his issues. I've always thought he was an underrated artist. The old pros do a good job as well. I was particularly impressed by Don Heck's pencils. It seems like this was probably the swan song for both Ross Andru and Dandy Don.
Speaking of swang songs, was this Len Wein's last run as a writer at the Big Two? I say that because while this book is entertaining, it feels like a Marvel book from 1978. Actually, it feels like a 1978 Marvel book in both good and bad ways. The dialogue is corny and tired but the story flows very well and it's fairly gripping. Blue Beetle cracks wise like Spider-Man while heading a corporation like Tony Stark. Actually, Blue Beetle is like Tony Stark if he never built the Iron Man armor but took up super heroing anyway.
Wein was definitely playing the long game here. I wonder what else he would have thrown at the Azure Avenger if the book hadn't been cancelled. Also, I wonder if he was irritated by having the book derailed by both Legends and Millennium. He had an uphill climb establishing the Blue Beetle in the DC universe since all he had to work with was The Madmen for BB villains. Fortunately, Barry Allen was dead and The Atom was off the table due to the Sword of the Atom so he was able to use Doctor Alchemy and Chronos.
Blue Beetle's run was an average to slightly above average book. I wonder if DC bought the Charlton characters so Marvel wouldn't get their hands on them. Even with DC at the helm, this felt more like a Marvel book. In a universe where Batman has been established as the best fighter and best gadget inventor, Blue Beetle was doomed to come off as a B-lister. Still, the book wasn't without its charms. It was the last time Blue Beetle was taken seriously until Countdown to Infinite Crisis. Three out of five stars.
December 4, 2021
I went into this on a whim, not really knowing what to expect. And from the beginning, nothing positive really stood out. Ted Kord is not particularly interesting, and neither are any of the other characters. Everyone's a stereotype in a string of boring plots. I think most of the positive reviews are people just being nostalgic for what they read in their youth because there's nothing redeeming in this collection.
June 18, 2015
This book gets graded down on a curve that is a little unfair, but it's because 1980s DC Comics is generally perfect. Batman And The Outsiders, Booster Gold, Ambush Bug, Justice League International, Superman stuff, all great.
And what Blue Beetle is a little meh. It gets so much into going through the motions of super hero dom that it never builds a real momentum.
And the fact that there is art by Ross Andru, who is really good, Gil Kane, who is also excellent for superhero comics, as well as solid work from a guy I never read before named Paris Cullins, as well as writing comic book veteran and X-Men creator-upper Len Wein, it should've had more oomph.
Everything about it so low key. Ted Kord watches the original Blue Beetle die. Dan Garrett was a guy with super powers.
Ted Kord designs his own powers. Which is fine, but there's a certain tameness and lack of exploration. He builds a giant beetle sky ship, he builds an air compressor gun and a strobe light gun, and he got good at fighting. Nothing wrong with these powers per se, but the lack of exploration or variation of them is lame.
Every time he fights a bad guy it's punch/kick, try the strobe light, let me remote control the beetle ship. It gets boring, because it's repetition.
Also, there is personal strife in his life, but it seems to be treated with kid gloves. There's a police detective who thinks he killed Dan Garrett, but he never really puts any serious pressure or charges on Ted Kord, and it all works out. Ted has a girlfriend who works at his conglomerate, Melody, and their relationship gets on the rocks because Kord is absentia from life as the Blue Beetle so much. But Kord never seriously tries to engage their distancing issues.
Plus there was a lot of random crap from the "DC Universe" that just gets jammed in without adding intrigue. Like Ted Kord knows people who work STAR Inc, an 80s DC thing about shady science research. Often more time is spent explaining their power structure than making it worth it's while.
Plus those darn crossover events. There was one called the "Champions" event, and one called like "Millienium", where Blue Beetle gets a couple of his issues devoted to these large scale things about changes in the universe and things. It's confusing and overdone with dumb dialogue.
Similarly, Blue Beetle joins the JLA, like most cool characters who couldn't keep a comic book series by themselves very well, and his interludes talking the JLA are cool, but they also force a lot of exposition and make for clunky segways into his solo adventures.
This book has some moments of promise.
For example, the "Blue Beetle #1" just has good action, as Blue Beetle jumps in to save a burning building from the evil Fire Fist. The cutaway to explain his origin is well done.
But even then, the minutae of the Blue Beetle universe gets in the way, as we get to learn backstory "intrigue" that takes like 10 issues to develop. One doctor has a secret past, one secretary is committing mysterious crimes, and there's a giant robot on the island where Ted Kord found his quest.
All the stories have underwhelming payoffs. the robot looked cool, but it took almost the whole series to see him operate, and it wasn't as great action as it should've been.
One of those payoffs is "Blue Beetle #10", where the secretary is aiding Chronos, a Time Thief who used to be an Atom villain. His feud with the Blue Beetle is probably close to the best adversarial character for the book, and this one's not bad.
But again, an underwhelming side story. Melody the girlfriend sees a petty thief girl get hit by a truck. An interesting set up, nothing really came of it, or it was too convoluted to remember...and the secretary's emotional dialogue is rendered inexpressive by expositional flatness...not to be too mean...
The book ends with an issue actually released first choronologically, "Secret Origins #2", which explains the origin stories for both Dan Garrett and Ted Kord. It's drawn by Gil Kane, which is good, and the action is more even for both. Although I think the Ted Kord drags on a little long, but maybe because I just read 20 consecutive stories about his bug air ship, fancy air/light guns, and costume, and then they explain them in long detail.
In general, a decent punch em up action book, but just no comparsion with the stuff from pretty much every major character of the era.
And what Blue Beetle is a little meh. It gets so much into going through the motions of super hero dom that it never builds a real momentum.
And the fact that there is art by Ross Andru, who is really good, Gil Kane, who is also excellent for superhero comics, as well as solid work from a guy I never read before named Paris Cullins, as well as writing comic book veteran and X-Men creator-upper Len Wein, it should've had more oomph.
Everything about it so low key. Ted Kord watches the original Blue Beetle die. Dan Garrett was a guy with super powers.
Ted Kord designs his own powers. Which is fine, but there's a certain tameness and lack of exploration. He builds a giant beetle sky ship, he builds an air compressor gun and a strobe light gun, and he got good at fighting. Nothing wrong with these powers per se, but the lack of exploration or variation of them is lame.
Every time he fights a bad guy it's punch/kick, try the strobe light, let me remote control the beetle ship. It gets boring, because it's repetition.
Also, there is personal strife in his life, but it seems to be treated with kid gloves. There's a police detective who thinks he killed Dan Garrett, but he never really puts any serious pressure or charges on Ted Kord, and it all works out. Ted has a girlfriend who works at his conglomerate, Melody, and their relationship gets on the rocks because Kord is absentia from life as the Blue Beetle so much. But Kord never seriously tries to engage their distancing issues.
Plus there was a lot of random crap from the "DC Universe" that just gets jammed in without adding intrigue. Like Ted Kord knows people who work STAR Inc, an 80s DC thing about shady science research. Often more time is spent explaining their power structure than making it worth it's while.
Plus those darn crossover events. There was one called the "Champions" event, and one called like "Millienium", where Blue Beetle gets a couple of his issues devoted to these large scale things about changes in the universe and things. It's confusing and overdone with dumb dialogue.
Similarly, Blue Beetle joins the JLA, like most cool characters who couldn't keep a comic book series by themselves very well, and his interludes talking the JLA are cool, but they also force a lot of exposition and make for clunky segways into his solo adventures.
This book has some moments of promise.
For example, the "Blue Beetle #1" just has good action, as Blue Beetle jumps in to save a burning building from the evil Fire Fist. The cutaway to explain his origin is well done.
But even then, the minutae of the Blue Beetle universe gets in the way, as we get to learn backstory "intrigue" that takes like 10 issues to develop. One doctor has a secret past, one secretary is committing mysterious crimes, and there's a giant robot on the island where Ted Kord found his quest.
All the stories have underwhelming payoffs. the robot looked cool, but it took almost the whole series to see him operate, and it wasn't as great action as it should've been.
One of those payoffs is "Blue Beetle #10", where the secretary is aiding Chronos, a Time Thief who used to be an Atom villain. His feud with the Blue Beetle is probably close to the best adversarial character for the book, and this one's not bad.
But again, an underwhelming side story. Melody the girlfriend sees a petty thief girl get hit by a truck. An interesting set up, nothing really came of it, or it was too convoluted to remember...and the secretary's emotional dialogue is rendered inexpressive by expositional flatness...not to be too mean...
The book ends with an issue actually released first choronologically, "Secret Origins #2", which explains the origin stories for both Dan Garrett and Ted Kord. It's drawn by Gil Kane, which is good, and the action is more even for both. Although I think the Ted Kord drags on a little long, but maybe because I just read 20 consecutive stories about his bug air ship, fancy air/light guns, and costume, and then they explain them in long detail.
In general, a decent punch em up action book, but just no comparsion with the stuff from pretty much every major character of the era.
January 29, 2018
Collecting the complete Blue Beetle series from 1986-1988. Written by Joey Cavalieri and Len Wein, this version of the Ted Kord Beetle starts off as a more serious, less angry version of Batman. By day, Kord runs Kord Industries, a technological think tank. But at night, he's Blue Beetle, Chicago's newest protector.
It's a much different Ted Kord than I am used to. My first encounters with this character are from his roles in various Justice League incarnations. That Blue Beetle is less serious, much more of a slacker, and a lot less healthier. If I'm not mistaken, the Giffen/DeMatteis Blue Beetle was the first superhero to have a beer gut.
The Beetle comprised in this Showcase Presents collection is the complete opposite of everything that I feel in love with the character. Plus, there's no Booster Gold in which to be a comedic spring-board off of. That doesn't mean that I didn't like this edition. It was filled with some really good stories, some amazing art, and one of the best covers of all-time.
For anyone that is a fan of the Charlton Comics Blue Beetle, this is going to be treat for you. Fans of Ditko's version of the hero will also delight in that the original scarab, Dan Garrett, makes a return in an epic blast from the past!
Featuring artwork from DC legends such as Gil Kane, Ross Andru, and Don Heck, this late 80s series was about as close to the original vision of Blue Beetle than anything crafted afterwords. Though these stories were published when I was a kid, this is my dad's Beetle. These aren't terrible but there it a little too much of an element of soap opera for my liking. Plus, this is just not what you'd expect when the Ted Kord you are used to is the class clown of the Justice League.
It's a much different Ted Kord than I am used to. My first encounters with this character are from his roles in various Justice League incarnations. That Blue Beetle is less serious, much more of a slacker, and a lot less healthier. If I'm not mistaken, the Giffen/DeMatteis Blue Beetle was the first superhero to have a beer gut.
The Beetle comprised in this Showcase Presents collection is the complete opposite of everything that I feel in love with the character. Plus, there's no Booster Gold in which to be a comedic spring-board off of. That doesn't mean that I didn't like this edition. It was filled with some really good stories, some amazing art, and one of the best covers of all-time.
For anyone that is a fan of the Charlton Comics Blue Beetle, this is going to be treat for you. Fans of Ditko's version of the hero will also delight in that the original scarab, Dan Garrett, makes a return in an epic blast from the past!
Featuring artwork from DC legends such as Gil Kane, Ross Andru, and Don Heck, this late 80s series was about as close to the original vision of Blue Beetle than anything crafted afterwords. Though these stories were published when I was a kid, this is my dad's Beetle. These aren't terrible but there it a little too much of an element of soap opera for my liking. Plus, this is just not what you'd expect when the Ted Kord you are used to is the class clown of the Justice League.
March 8, 2015
The Blue Beetle, in this case Ted Kord, the acrobatic tech guy version, was a longstanding part of the Justice League when it was played for laughs, partner to Booster Gold in many a wacky scheme, and in a series written by longtime comics vet Len Wein and drawn by the likes of Paris Cullins, Gil Kane, Ross Andru, and Don Heck, must be something, right?
Eh, not quite. The series starts before Ted joined the League, and while not bad, is also nothing special. There's some team-ups with his old Charlton Comics comrade the Question, another with the Teen Titans, and when he does go out with another Leaguer, its Mister Miracle, not Booster Gold. A couple issues crossover with Millennium and Legends crossovers, but by and large there's nothing really good or bad about these issues. They are average, unremarkable superhero stories.
Eh, not quite. The series starts before Ted joined the League, and while not bad, is also nothing special. There's some team-ups with his old Charlton Comics comrade the Question, another with the Teen Titans, and when he does go out with another Leaguer, its Mister Miracle, not Booster Gold. A couple issues crossover with Millennium and Legends crossovers, but by and large there's nothing really good or bad about these issues. They are average, unremarkable superhero stories.
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December 11, 2025This comic is very much indicative of what you'd expect form 80s superhero romps. From the constant repetition for those who may have missed issues to the continuity dialogue to the quips. It is good fun, and they give the villains enough time that they feel a bit more memorable than the standard baddy of the week. I like how everything ties together and most of the plot threads are continuously interwoven, it made everything more developed and made things feel less tired. I did feel some plot threads were left unfinished (unless they were further developed in the Millenium event - and even t I have only ever engaged with through individual runs which happened to intercept with it.) The art also improves throughout the run, and I felt there was a decently strong characterisation of Ted. Enjoyable enough, repetitive and overly yappy in places.
March 23, 2023
Me encontré con la serie completa del Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) el mejor de todos los que llevaron ese nombre para mi. Len Wein, París Cullins y luego Ross Andreu entre otros nos cuentan la historia de un millonario dueño de Industrias Kord con su base en Chicago. Muchos enemigos, y solo su agilidad y principalmente Bug, la nave clásica y símbolo del personaje. Muy ochentas, con mucho texto explicativo pero cumplidor. Signo de su época. Nada impresionante pero para un coleccionista de cómics sirve para saber esa otra mirada de un personaje más formal. No está tanto los chistes que si veríamos uno tras otro en la JLA, siendo una parte de las mejores amistades en los cómics junto a Booster Gold, quizás equiparable a Hal y Oliver o Barry y Ralph.
September 11, 2024
This is an interesting collection, but I wish it was actually complete; there are a few crossover reissues missing, which makes things feel abrupt at times (particularly during the Teen Titans and Chronos arcs). It is the full run, officially, but the extra attention to detail would've made this perfect. Other than that, this is neat! I'm a huge Jaime fan, but woefully underread on Ted, so this is fun to find. I'm definitely seeing its age, but that isn't a bad thing. Arcs are action packed, and there's enough interpersonal conflict to fill out the world without dragging, a task most runs in 2024 don't even accomplish. Wein knocked it out of the park here, and I'm a fan.
April 15, 2025
I've always liked the Charlton characters, so it was interesting to see what DC did with the Blue Beetle. I'm more of a fan of the gritty series starring the Question, but this was good old fashioned super hero action. The new Blue Beetle is sort of a happier Batman mixed with Iron Man type character, which works for the series. Len Wein built a very cohesive story that flowed well, and the art fit the story nicely. Overall 1986 was possibly the greatest year ever for comics, and while this won't make the greatest of all time list, if you're looking for some fun superhero action this is the book for you.
June 22, 2019
Ah, back in the day when DC cared about the Charlton characters and before BB became half of a comedy duo.
Len Wein dove deep into Blue Beetle's ties to a certain wall crawler and while that gave us some great, straightforward super hero adventure, it also gave us a lot of angsty sub-plots.
A fun series that made good use of BB's history, while trying to build him a corner of his own in the DCU.
Really like the early stories with the Paris Collins art. The team up with the Question is a favorite of mine.
Len Wein dove deep into Blue Beetle's ties to a certain wall crawler and while that gave us some great, straightforward super hero adventure, it also gave us a lot of angsty sub-plots.
A fun series that made good use of BB's history, while trying to build him a corner of his own in the DCU.
Really like the early stories with the Paris Collins art. The team up with the Question is a favorite of mine.
March 20, 2018
I really enjoyed re-reading this series. There was some fine art here and Len Wein crafted a nice story with a very pulp like tone.
March 30, 2018
similar to batman but with 80s references and many subplots. It all comes together in the end and nice to read an entire series in one book. Fun to read about a character that is not known as widely.
September 12, 2018
Interesting and great fun to read
December 14, 2020
It’s fun but Blue Beetle really deserves color.
May 19, 2024
Old but still great comic book.
December 27, 2024
Good art with too many uninteresting characters and storylines. It's a shame since I loved this character in JLI.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews