80-Page Thursdays: DC Cybernetic Summer #1!

Every so often it gets really hot up here, like to the point that it's probably hazardous to go biking out in it right when I get off work. Or, it's a good excuse to be lazy and read an 80-pager! From 2020, DC Cybernetic Summer #1, with stories by Corinna Bechko, Andrew Constant, Stephanie Phillips, Heath Corson, and more; art by Paul Pelletier, Nik Virella, Scott Koblish, Nicola Scott, and more. Cover by Dan Mora, although how Batman can look so sour while driving the freakin' Metal Men is a mystery. (This one wouldn't fit in the scanner, so the pics are extra janky today; but maybe that'll encourage you to find a copy!)

The opener with Batman, "The Limits of Control," doesn't hit the right notes for summer fun, as Bats points out, "There's no summer in space." He gets out the probably then-current Bat-armor out, to stop Brother Eye from reforming. "Fandom" is closer, as Wonder Woman teams up with Platinum, to stop the other Metal Men, who have been conglomerated into an anime-derived kaiju.

Next, in "Summer Camp" Red Tornado's vacation with his family is interrupted by JL calls and a lost alien; then the real fun: "The Boys of Summer" with Blue Beetle and Booster Gold! When the beach is too crowded, Booster suggests they travel back in time to a less-crowded day...which gets more crowded, since they have so much fun, in the future they keep going back to that day, despite poor Skeets repeated warnings and a visit from King Shark.

"Cybernetic Summer" is a Flash-race, with Barry vs. the Earth-44 Mercury Flash; but then we get the Legion of Super-Heroes, Superboy, and Robot R217, in "Summer Lovin'." Trying to capture an alien, Superboy tags in R217 to cover for him as Clark Kent, and the robot finds himself smitten with a local girl. (Her initials weren't LL; it'd never work out!)

"Out There" pits Midnighter and Apollo against Monsieur Mallah and the Brain; then Harley Quinn and her elderly cyborg pal Sy Borgman try to beat the heat at a water park in "Splish Splash Special."

"Summer Bummer" is a fun one: Robotman's pal Mike doesn't want him to spend the summer moping about, but human stuff isn't as much fun for him. Nor are robot activities super-fun for Mike, but maybe there's something they would both enjoy...? Finally, "Catfish Crisis" is a bit of silliness with Cyborg and Superman against...the Cyborg Superman; until from the multiverse a version of the three of them in one shows up...or does he? Read more!

Do I do this bit every time? Find a random "Legends of the Dead Earth" annual. Look up how many there were, compare that to how many I've blogged, and adjust the odds of hitting them all before said earth dies. There were 25 total, today's book should bring us to 14; place your bets! From 1996, Justice League America Annual #10, "The Alliance" Written by Christopher Priest, pencils by Sergio Cariello, inks by Nick Napolitano. Cover by Phil Jimenez.

After another of his "quantum-leaps" through time, Dr. Samuel Beckett--er, Captain Atom; finds himself seemingly fifteen or so years in the past, in the middle of a battle with the Justice League, as he knew them back then, and a ragtag force with advanced weaponry and armored walkers. Nathaniel figures, well, at least he knows what side he's on...famous last words! That's not the Justice League, they're not the good guys, and this wasn't even earth! Booster Gold turns on the Captain, blasting him from behind; although admittedly he does so after he tells Booster "you always were a screwup." Booster, or rather Michael, is far harder, and way bossier, than we ever see him; although there may be a reason. With both sides now shooting at him, Captain Atom is saved by a woman, who introduces herself as Maxima. Not the one we're used to, but an impressive one! Still, as she flies him to safety, the Captain realizes the landscape wasn't earth, and Maxima seems to have never heard of it.

The faux-JL, the Alliance, gets a visit from their boss, Maxwell Lord IV, who was living in the Lord Havok armor or body? (That would've tied into then-current continuity, around Justice League America #100; which you specifically don't need to read: the author is a disgrace, and Max Lord has been retconned six ways from Sunday.) Max kills his Guy Gardner, finally sick of his lip. Meanwhile, Maxima explains to the armored-down Nathaniel, that she brought him through what she calls the Maelstrom, and he called the quantum-field, to save them. Nathaniel is not down with that right away, but Maxima did have an inside man, who explains things: the Blue Beetle! They were on Warworld--or a Warworld--and Max/Lord Havok used "bio-telemic capsules" to recreate his old League, modifying local humans, including that Beetle. Oh, and earth has probably been dead for so long, that it was barely a fairy tale. Everything he had ever known being gone kind of shakes Nathaniel a bit, who later demands if he helps, Maxima help him get back. She has a counter-offer, dropping her robe...

Nathaniel has alarmingly hairy shoulders in some panels in this one, which probably isn't weird, but you're used to seeing him silver and smooth! Anyway, not unlike the other one, this Maxima wanted a child, a homegrown hero with powers; and Nathaniel wonders if sleeping with her was the right thing to have done, when he gets jumped by the Alliance's Martian Manhunter. He wakes up, in a room that resembles the old League headquarters, with Michael--formerly Booster Gold--speaking to him over intercom. Nathaniel seems to have zero respect for him, even before the reveal that Michael had continued replacing body parts (again, in then-recent continuity, Booster would've lost an arm) and lived past the destruction of earth, eventually being found by Max and setting up on Warworld. Michael likewise doesn't have any respect for Nathaniel, but that was because he wasn't real: Maxima and Beetle had stolen a bio-telemic capsule, and they had used it to create their own Captain Atom! That puts Nathaniel on the back foot for a few pages, as Michael and the Alliance work on him, with Michael pointing out he didn't know any of the personal information the real Captain Atom would...until he does!

Nathaniel was the real thing--the pod had been stolen, but not used, merely for cover. He had been sandbagging it, to give Beetle time to hack the Alliance's systems: Beetle confirms, Max's command pod would self-destruct in six seconds. But, that was an open line, and Max teleports out--all according to plan, as Beetle had sabotaged the teleporter instead, killing Max! Michael manages to briefly get past Maxima, but then is beaten by Nathaniel and Beetle. He tries to escape, and is also killed by the teleporter. In the end, whether or not Maxima was pregnant, Nathaniel says he still needs to get home; it's left open if he ever did. I like to think he totally did, and gave Max and Booster the side-eye from then on. 

Hmm, Legends of Tomorrow last Thursday, Legends of the Law Friday, and Legends of the Dead Earth today! Can't say I planned that, yet here we are.

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For reasons that I can't recall now, I had been trying to be more mindful about sleep--get to bed on time, that sort of thing--and it's done the opposite of help, I slept better just winging it. So why not stay up late...and read a comic with problems that were problems almost 40 years ago, that are still problems today. Ooh, that'll help. From 1987, Blue Beetle #16, "Anywhere I Hang My Head is Home!" Written by Len Wein, pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Danny Bulanadi. 

Blue Beetle's working the case of the "skid-row slasher," who seems to be preying on Chicago's homeless. Beetle had encountered him after a burglary of an experimental leukemia cure, and he had lost it while fleeing when he tripped over a homeless guy sleeping in a doorway. The slasher made his escape in the elevated train--gee, if only Beetle had something to give chase, like a bug-shaped airship--seriously, he could've beat him to the next terminal! Still, the bad guy escalated from burglary to murder really quickly, trying to get the homeless to tell him where the cure was, or the guy he tripped over at least. 

Beetle meets several of Chicago's homeless, including an older woman who is brave, articulate, and independent: he's momentarily concerned for her, but figures she can take care of herself. So, of course she's the next to die. Putting that aside, the homeless are treated better here than in a lot of comics of the time: they aren't thrilled about their circumstances, but aren't whiners about it, either. Despite having his own company, Beetle doesn't really have any answers for them: he wasn't Wayne-rich, and would be poorer shortly.

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Half the series was in the dollar bin for half price--making them cheaper than when I bought them originally! But I still hesitated picking them up again. From 1988, Millennium #5, "In" Written by Steve Englehart, layouts by Joe Staton, finishes by Ian Gibson. 

Hoo, boy. Millennium was DC's big crossover event for the year, tying into a ton of books. It was an eight-issue, weekly series, which was new to U.S. readers. Plotwise, this extended from recent events in Englehart's Green Lantern run: the Guardians of the Universe had left this dimension with their female counterparts, the Zamarons; but a pair of them return to earth on a mission to create new immortals. For Englehart, this is more spiritual, about enlightenment, rather than mere evolution; so a solid chunk of this issue is the Guardian and the Zamaron explaining the basics of how the universe worked to their New Guardian candidates. Not in a fun way, either, like trying to see the giant hand creating the universe; but more like college kids trying to get 'deep.' Whee...

Meanwhile, earth's heroes are celebrating, since Batman (with some other heroes, in their own books) took down a Manhunter base: the robots had infiltrated earth, with agents in just about everybody's supporting casts, since they were bitter at the Guardians replacing them with the Green Lantern Corps. Which was literally a gazillion years ago, like this post! Brainwave Jr. of Infinity Inc. couldn't telepathically find more than a few Manhunter agents still on earth, so it's party time! Even though the Outsiders just lost Metamorpho, then get called away to Abyssia. Black Lightning comments they have to prove to themselves the Outsiders weren't finished, but they were headed for their last issue.

Wonder Woman gets teleported away, mid-conversation with Arisia, probably back to whatever her book was doing pre-crossover. In another piece of continuity of the time, Firestorm has a conversation with Guy Gardner: both were somewhat brain damaged at the time, so it's played for laughs: ha-ha, they're simple! Then, Aquaman and Aqualad show up to ruin the party: they had fought the Manhunters under the sea, and recovered a flying saucer; which prompts everyone to remember, oh yeah, wasn't there still a planet full of those things? (I'm not exactly sure where that took place: Aquaman didn't have a book at the time...Teen Titans Spotlight #18 of all places, so Aqualad probably got top billing for once!) Hal knew where the Manhunters' planet was, even if it was cloaked, and the heroes begin organizing an expedition there. While on said planet, the captured Harbinger is rescued by a great Green Lantern with a short term: Driq! He was dead as hell, but his ring kept him going...possibly whether he wanted to or not. (He and my boy Flodo Span were introduced pretty late in GLC but would die before the series wrapped.)

This does set up a pretty good issue of Justice League International, though; as Dr. Fate arrives to transport a bunch to the Manhunters' world. (Although, I was honestly just saddened by Blue Beetle on the last page, thinking he wasn't sad not to be going on the space mission. Pre-Crisis, he would've shoved his way up front and clamored to go!) So this wasn't the worst issue of the series: I think it really starts to trail off towards the end, and not much came out of it. (Technically, Ostrander's Manhunter maybe owes a bit to it; but not much, and I love that series much more.)

Although, I just had to look this up: one of the New Guardian candidates was an older white guy from Apartheid-era South Africa, and very obviously going to be a dick: he was a dead ringer for the diplomat bad guy from Lethal Weapon 2, but that was almost two years later.

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I feel like there should've been like twenty Booster/Beetle stories with the same title.

I'm mildly surprised that I don't think I bought this new off the racks, but like most Beetle and Booster revivals, it gets so close but isn't quite what I wanted. Close, though! From 2015, Justice League #3000 #12, "Another Fine Mess" Plot by Keith Giffen, script by J. M. DeMatteis, art by Howard Porter.

Blue Beetle and Booster Gold return...in the 31st century? On the prison-planet Takron-Galtos? The guys were found in cryogenic pods, but have no idea how they got there, with the last thing they remember a surprise party for Ralph (Elongated Man) Dibny and getting yelled at by Max Lord. Local law Sheriff Tariq tells the boys to stick close to the home base, so of course they immediately take off, since Beetle thinks he might still have gear stashed between a Kord office. (But...if they're on Takron-Galtos, why is there a Kord office? Because in JL3000 continuity, Takron-Galtos was earth all along! In Legion continuities, T-G was always a separate prison planet.)

Further complicating matters, an overweight prisoner wearing one of Beetle's costumes, isn't thrilled to see somebody wearing "his" suit. Sure enough, Beetle discovers somebody did get into his stuff, both helping themselves to it and modifying the tech. He thinks they'll be able to use the Bug to either get back to their own time, or maybe at least a better planet; but they get attacked by the faux-Beetle, wearing a Doc Ock-like harness. Booster wants to bail, Beetle refuses, wanting his stuff back; and for good measure there are a ton of mutated rats down there...to be continued!

Booster doesn't appear to have his flight ring or force-field, which makes me suspicious that he was a clone or something. This series also appeared to build primarily off Giffen and DeMatteis's own work; namely I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League. Where that puts this in continuity is anybody's guess; although I suspect Giffen and DeMatteis didn't love the notion of Max Lord shooting Beetle in the head. I'm not 100% sure they ever get around to explaining how the guys got there though; they also had a vengeance-craved Lois Lane running around as well...And the title "Another Fine Mess" was used back in Justice League Europe #3, but of course was a classic Laurel and Hardy short.

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Technically, this is the one title the cast really should rotate regularly.

I haven't read a regular issue of this in years, and this might be a tough one to hop back in on: from 2020, Suicide Squad #8, written by Tom Taylor, art by Daniel Sampere.

The book's title is a bit of a misnomer this time around, as this run largely followed "the Revolutionaries," a band of freedom fighters almost certainly considered terrorists by America. They had allowed themselved to be captured and brought into Task Force X so they could escape later, and had taken Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and Zebra-Man with them. Today, their leader Thylacine outlines the case for their next mission: they need to kill Ted Kord. Wait a minute, Ted Kord? Blue Beetle Ted Kord!? They have a pretty convincing case against him, and a very cold-looking Ted does appear to be up to something at the end of the issue. (I'm virtually positive there's a fakeout here somewhere; and Ted would briefly reference this series in the first issue of Blue & Gold.)

The bulk of this issue is the origin of youngsters the Aerie and Wink, who I think were promiently featured in one of those Dceased books. It sort of works back to the old metagene concept from way back in Invasion! as "the Post-Human Project" is experimenting on kids, shooting them up with whatever, and trying to force 'origins' on them. In the Aerie's case, they were thrown off a cliff, and managed to save themself by growing wings. Which didn't free them from their chains, but in captivity they would meet another prisoner, Wink; who had developed teleportation and not told their captors about it. They were also friends with two siblings, the T.N.Teens, until Amanda Waller shows up and takes one, having bought their prison sentence. (Waller has always been an unapologetic character, but in recent years seems to have crossed some lines.)The Aerie tries to save the kid, and gets stomped by KGBeast and Killer Croc. (That scene may or may not have been some time ago: Croc is occasionally given a lot of character development, which is consistently rolled back to him being a cannibal thug.)

Wink had been too scared to try to help, but nursing the Aerie back to health she finds she can't live with the idea of watching them die. The Aerie refuses to leave without the remaining T.N.Teen, Javier; and they do manage to get away. After the story, Deadshot realizes, Ted Kord may have the other T.N.Teen and be turning her into a bomb...

I'm not sure how it went over, but the Revolutionaries arc has a couple interesting points going for it: after years of over-farming Firestorm villains (I will never tire of that joke!) the Squad may not have had as many C or D-grade villains to choose from. And, they were bad guys now forced into bad jobs: almost nothing they did for the U.S. government was going to be for humanitarian reasons. Well, that was probably true back in the day, but far more explicit now...I don't think this run was very long, though, possibly because DC may have wanted to reset to a roster more resembling the upcoming movie. Which may have involved benching Deadshot for Bloodsport: the next issue was teased as "The Death of Deadshot," for what that's worth.  

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Winning with Ted would probably be like playing on hard with no continues; but should be more doable than this.

I buy a fair amount of quarterbooks, and more often than not they're delightful. Every once in a while we hit one that's we don't like, and sometimes we still have to blog it, so we don't buy it again, like I did here...from 2017, Injustice 2 #5, "Hostile Takeover" Written by Tom Taylor, layouts by Bruno Redondo, finishes by Vicente Cifuentes.

This was set in the video game's continuity, where...honestly, I forget. Pretty sure Lois is dead and Superman has gone totalitarian, and while his reign may have ended at this point, the world was not in good shape. At Kord Industries, Ted Kord and Skeets are training the very green Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle. Feeling Jaime was shaken up after blowing up an expensive robot, Ted sends Skeets with him, and the little security robot ominously notes "Yes. This is how it happened." Ted doesn't have time to dwell on that, since he's then visited by the skulking Batman: Ted angrily says Jaime isn't ready, but Bats is actually there for him. Not as Blue Beetle, god no. He needs people with honesty, and assets, to help in the rebuilding. Ted is in, but soon gets another visitor.

Booster Gold is there, to say goodbye, although he promises to be there at the end. To his credit, Booster had tried to stop it, more than once, apparently getting sent to time jail more than once. He suggests Ted put on his costume, "make a few of them regret it." He suits up...and is almost immediately shut down by Damian, now Nightwing, with Deadshot and Katana. Katana cuts off his hand, even! Why those three and Cheetah are working for Ra's al Ghul, your guess is as good as mine, I haven't played the game. Cheetah forces Ted to read an statement, but Ra's gets on camera as well: it's not a ransom demand. Demanding the immediate stop of "everything" from deforestation to coal burning, Ra's has Ted and a dozen other captured industrialists murdered to make his point. It looks like they're going to be fed to the sharks, but it's to Killer Croc and Orca, which may be worse. For good measure, Ra's also blows up several of their buildings with the workers inside.

True to his word, Booster is there with Ted when he dies, as his best friend makes him laugh one more time. I think I'd be less pissed at this comic if Ted had got more than just one punch on Deadshot; and I don't know how the rest of the series would go down, but Katana and Damian need to pay for this. That and I hate the recurring motif of Ted's death, partially to make way for Jaime, not quite to make him the replacement for Saint Barry Allen. Read more!

I keep forgetting there's a Blue & Gold book finally coming out next month, but I have to say I need to try an issue or two before I'm all in, since occasionally those two can test my saintlike patience. Like today's book! From 2008, Justice League Unlimited #43, "Wannabes" Written by Keith Giffen, pencils by Christopher Jones, inks by Dan Davis.

Booster Gold and Blue Beetle have a line on extortionist super-villains the Demolition Team, which they think they could then leverage into Justice League membership. Because they have to discuss this to hype themselves up, the actual League shows up, and Booster and Beetle of course get in their way, letting the bad guys escape. John Stewart and Wonder Woman are immediately rubbed the wrong way by them, thinking they're only in it for the fame, the money, and the girls. Which they kind of are, sure: Booster and Beetle only get serious if one of them gets seriously hurt, of if there's a crying little kid or something.

After wrapping up the Demolition Team, Batman points out the League could have taken care of the situation without their interference: "Do it right or don't do it at all." That is Bats being charitable, though: he tells Wonder Woman, even they were new to this once, and he admits he never had to worry about money.

I actually thought the last page of this story was part of the Mad Kids sneak peak; that's not super encouraging. Giffen often wrote Booster and Beetle as dumb as hell in the Justice League glory days, and the tradition continues! That's probably why I hadn't blogged this before, which of course led to buying it again; great system I've got going here. Read more!

This one fixes what seemed like an error earlier, take my word for it.

I think I've mentioned before, I have a box of comics up at my parents' house that I probably re-read every year, which accounts for my annual re-read of Capwolf. But one of the other books in that pile is Captain Atom #20, guest-starring Blue Beetle. The Captain lies to BB's face there, presenting his bogus "covert casebook," a secret file of his adventures with the original Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett; together against the fictional Dr. Spectro. Although Beetle seemingly warms up to the Captain then, you don't realize at the time that he's playing along and knows it's a ruse: in that issue, Garrett has the Bug...

...but in today's book, it's revealed that wasn't an error on the creators' part, but a mistake on the Captain's government handlers' part in creating his cover story: Garrett could fly, he didn't have the Bug, Ted Kord had to build that himself! Catching the Captain in "a bald-faced lie," Beetle opts to let him keep digging.

While Beetle's pal Booster is in on this because he's Beetle's pal, he doesn't seem to trust Captain Atom either. Yet, it's Mister Miracle that brings evidence to their little investigation: he had scanned him with his Mother Box previously, and realized his silver coating was not from earth, which made his rocket-accident origin story unbelievable. All three have decided Captain Atom has to go; although they decide they can't go to Max Lord, since they figure he probably knew. I don't know why they didn't get Batman, except that would feel like tattling, and this gives them something to do.

Meanwhile, as USAF intelligence Major "Cameron Scott," the Captain has a new boss that he already likes better than General Eiling. He's put on the trail of whoever murdered a former North Vietnamese general, and realizes some of the names on the killer's list are known to him from his own court-martial in the 60's. Later trailing the suspect, the killer turns the tables on him, and recognizes him as his real identity, Nathaniel Adam. Captain Atom had fought the killer, in a suit of armor, in a previous issue; but their scuffle here is interrupted by Mister Miracle, who shuts him down with a massive electric shock, then nearly slaps Adam's fake name out of his mouth. I'm not sure I've ever seen Scott that steamed! Still, Adam can't let Miracle take the killer in, since he needs the clues to prove his innocence. Miracle agrees, if Adam will come clean, and he has to face his three angry teammates...

For years I thought Blue Beetle had been hoodwinked, or they had botched the Dan Garrett continuity that predated coming to DC, but it's cool to see they were playing a longer game! From 1989, Captain Atom #26, "Captain Atom: Exposed!" Written by Cary Bates, co-plotted by Greg Weisman, pencils by Pat Broderick, inks by Bob Smith.
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I wonder if I would've been more or less pissed off reading this month-to-month: as it stands, it feels like I've been in this storyline for fifteen years now, but that probably isn't the case. Maybe. Also, all space cops may be bastards. From 2010, Booster Gold #36, "This Man...This Chipmunk!" Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, art by Pat Olliffe, cover by Kevin Maguire.

The Maguire cover makes this one look like it's going to be deadly serious, as Booster was still trying to put together the pieces of Maxwell Lord's plan, which no one else believed was a thing. He had made multiple trips back to his Justice League-heyday, and this month while Blue Beetle gets some with an alien queen; Booster, Mr. Miracle, and Big Barda are getting the hassle from a pair of Darkstars, who don't believe they were trying to disarm a planet-destroying weapon. The Darkstars had previously impounded said weapon and put a failsafe in it, then are about to get violent after they get the records on their "perps" from Apokolips. Mr. Miracle boom tubes them back to earth, then realizes they forgot Beetle, but Barda has had enough of "future boy's" nonsense. (A running gag: past characters claim they recognize future-Booster by the thinning hair, which he vehemently denies.) Barda says they had agreed to help Booster get the Book of Destiny, and unless there was something he wasn't telling them--like Beetle's future death--he didn't need their help. Booster tries to play on Barda's heartstrings, which not only gets him no help, it also gets past-Booster punched through a wall.

Booster has to return to the present to check in with the rest of his anti-Max team, in Justice League: Generation Lost, a 24-issue series with 49 covers that I have managed to not read a single one of. That goes poorly, so it's back to the past to save Beetle...who has been turned into a chipmunk by the spurned queen! I don't know if the planet is named this issue, but Queen Artemis has magic powers and the eye-antenna things the Legion's White Witch had. She claims the transformation is permanent, worse, before Booster can talk her out of the Book of Destiny, the Darkstars show up again and zap him! Beetle, Booster, and the Book are taken into custody, classified as "illegal combatants" and shipped off to Starlag. That name should ring a bell...

Booster and Beetle are in "another fine mess" verbal sparring, when they meet Vril Dox, who is not super-impressed with them. Booster realizes it's from Invasion! and that he really shouldn't discuss it with Beetle since it hadn't happened for him yet. Still, Booster knows Skeets will come for them, and the brave little 'bot is--but the gold-skinned Estrogina is making her break first!

This issue was cover-dated November 2010, and Generation Lost ran until June 2011? Giffen and DeMatteis may have stayed on until around then with BG #43, but I don't think it stayed 'bwah-ha-ha' the whole time...but Booster might not have made a lotta progress against Max Lord, either. There is an issue in there where Booster finally has to accept Beetle's death; I still haven't.

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Let's see how many subplots are going against Blue Beetle this month!

The month in question being July 1987, of course: Blue Beetle #14, "The Phantom of Pago Island!" Written by Len Wein, pencils by Paris Cullins, inks by Dell Barras, plot assist by R.J.M. Lofficier.

We open with the last crossover's guest-stars, the Teen Titans, helping to repair Beetle's airship, the Bug. They had faced off against new (and all-but-forgotten) super-group the Hybrid, which had been created by the insane Mento. (That dick!) Ted Kord's friend and employee Curt Calhoun had been abducted after an industrial accident and became the Colossus-looking Prometheus; Ted swears to find and save him from the Hybrid; he would not, they wouldn't appear again in this series. (That wasn't the same Prometheus from JLA.) With no leads, Ted returns to his Chicago base, and reaffirms his vow to continue the legacy of the original Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett.

Meanwhile, Detective Maxwell Fisher is following the loose ends of that legacy, back to Pago Island in the Atlantic; intent on finding the truth behind Garrett's disappearance. His chartered boat is capsized, then something begins killing off the sailors one by one. Back at Kord Inc, Ted's second-in-command (and terrible, terrible love interest) Melody reads him the riot act for never being around, neglecting his duties, and missing a date. (She probably has a point, but I don't think we see the two of them happy with each other once in this series!) In France, a pharmaceutical company that had been trying to blackmail a Kord employee for a secret compound prepares to unleash a new villain, Catalyst. Another friend of Ted's, Murray Takamoto, is fired from S.T.A.R. Labs. In frustration with not being able to help his friend, Ted decides to hit up the cops for info on a missing girl that had been kidnapped under Melody's nose: the footnote points out she became a member of Hybrid, but doesn't mention which one, and Ted didn't know. Seeing the map on Fisher's desk, he realizes where he went, and that it could spell the end of his secret identity.

After a quick recap of his origin--and I don't think it was the first of the series by any means, either--Ted flies out to Pago, and finds a dying sailor, who screams to keep the beast away. Ted wonders what menace his uncle Jarvis left behind, and he finds Fisher fighting it: it's hardly a beast, it's killer robot Carapax, the Indestructible Man! The name's kind of a misnomer on both fronts; and while it's a pretty impressive robot for fighting Beetle; it also looks like Superman's going to crunch up six of them before scowling at Lex Luthor.

OK, so the Hybrid, the Beetle legacy (which would come up again in #18) and Fisher's vendetta, woes with work and Melody, Catalyst, and Murray; I'm not counting Carapax since I guess that's the main plot? Six subplots, and I know not all of them would be wrapped up before Beetle's last issue, #24.
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It's fun when I get a book I wasn't really aware of, less fun when it makes me want an action figure that still isn't coming! From 1983, Americomics #3, featuring "Return from Pago Island!" Story and art by Rik Levins, inks by Bill Black; "To Live Again!" Plot and art by Leo J. Laney, script by Neal Stannard, inks by Bill Black; and "The Night Has a Thousand Screams" Script, layouts and letters by Bill Black, pencils by Rik Levins, inks by Willie Blyberg.

I'm not sure I had ever read an AC Comics title before, although I know they've had a long run with FemForce. They were licensing the Charlton superhero characters--or, at least Blue Beetle here--prior to DC buying them up just before Crisis on Infinite Earths. In the lead story, the Ted Kord Beetle feels like "a fill-in...a pale imitation!" when his predecessor and friend Dan Garrett returns, accusing Ted of leaving him to die on Pago Island. But just about everything in that last sentence is wrong!

In the second feature, Dan Garrett returns again, resurrected in kind of a Kirby/New Gods pastiche, and put to work at an intelligence agency. The gods pulling the strings take care of everything, although one does have to scramble on the paperwork for Dan's agency file. Dan's first mission: rescue Blue Beetle Ted Kord!

Finally there's a Shade story, a Spectre-like ghostly avenger, and seemingly an overworked one as he can't deal with all the crime and suffering in the city. Well, it was the 80's. Meanwhile, I'm probably part of a shrinking list of fans that would still like a Dan Garrett action figure--I think it's public domain, go nuts! Just be sure to mail me one.
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One of the few legitimate complaints from when Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis revitalized Justice League in 1987, was that Blue Beetle and later Booster Gold were treated as incompetent jokes. Although they both had their own titles (up until around Millennium in '88) where they would get to be the hero, there wasn't a lot of continuity between them, or if any it was only one way, from JL down. Admittedly, you wouldn't expect a jokester like Beetle to casually mention, "Oh, had to kill my mentor this weekend. NBD." From 1987, Blue Beetle #18, "...And Death Shall Have No Dominion!" Written by Len Wein, with thanks to R.J.M. Lofficier, art by Paris Cullins.

The original Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett, has returned, and is on a somewhat uncharacteristic rampage through Chicago; in search of the "thief that stole my good name!" If you recall Ted's origin, though, it began with Dan's death: Ted had gone to his old archeology professor and friend for help finding his lost uncle Jarvis. Jarvis was less missing and more creating an army of robots to conquer the world, and Dan had to change into his alter-ego Blue Beetle to stop him, but was mortally injured. Dan makes Ted swear to carry on for him--perhaps intending him to use the mystic scarab that gave him powers, but it was lost; leaving Ted to do the best he could with training and tech. Ted questions how great of a job he was doing, but doesn't believe this could be Dan, acting like this.

Outclassed by Dan's powers--super-strength, flight, lightning blasts!--Ted does his best to keep ahead of him. When Dan smashes the viewport of his Bug airship, Ted gets mad, and starts to fight back. He also realizes the powers came from the scarab, knocks it out of Dan's hand, and grabs it. The scarab then tries to take Ted over, who fights it; but Dan continues to kick the tar out of him, as well as the cops that show up. A telepath--released from S.T.A.R. Labs, and a plotline for another day--reaches out to Dan, showing him the hero he used to be. Dan turns against the scarab, which changes, showing a true form like an eyeball with tentacles. The scarab explodes, but Dan is done for, after asking Ted to swear to carry on for him again.

The wandering telepath is a bit out of place, but that unusual point foregoes the common way this would've played out: Ted doesn't reveal himself to Dan, not even at the end! It does kind of undermine his win, though; not that he would've enjoyed this one. And I thought the classic Dan Garrett Beetle was public domain, like the Daredevil now known as the Death-Defying 'Devil: the former Shocker Toys, GBJR Toys, was going to make figures of them both before the cash dried up. I don't know if that means anybody could do it now, though...
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