Blue Beetle: Encyclopedia II - Blue Beetle - Fox Feature Syndicate

Blue Beetle - Fox Feature Syndicate

The original Golden Age Blue Beetle was Dan Garret, son of a police officer killed by a criminal. This Fox version of the character debuted in Mystery Men Comics #1 (1939), and began appearing in his own 60-issue series shortly thereafter (first issue dated simply 1939, the next dated May-June 1940, the last Aug. 1950; a separate company, Holyoke, published issues 12-30). Rookie patrolman Dan Garret had invented a bulletproof costume (described by Garret as being made of a chain-mail which was "as thin and light as silk"), and temporarily gained superhuman strength from ingesting the mysterious vitamin 2X.

The supporting cast remained fairly stable throughout this original run, and included Joan Mason, a crime reporter for the Daily Blade who would ultimately star in her own backup stories, and Mike Mannigan, Dan's stereotypically Irish partner on the force. Dr. Franz, a local pharmacist and inventor of the 2X formula, played a large role in the first few issues, but eventually faded from the cast.

A popular character of the era, he had his own short-lived comic strip, drawn by a pseudonymous Jack Kirby and others, and a radio serial that ran for 48 thirteen-minute episodes. When superheroes fell out of vogue in the late 1940s, Fox downplayed the Beetle's superheroic aspects (his superhuman abilities were removed) and eventually relegated him to a host for true crime stories before the character went on hiatus.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Fox Feature Syndicate", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki