“Blutant Blurtles: Adolescent Armored Animals”
Welcome to the Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide, where we take you through the Wellington City Libraries’ collection of a comic book character or series. This post is all about two armoured animal adolescent heroes who recently made the leap from comics to the big screen: Blue Beetle, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
Who is Blue Beetle?
Blue Beetle is a title held by heroes who possess the Scarab, a beetle-shaped artifact that can turn into a metallic insectoid armour. Its most recent bearer is high school student Jaime Reyes, who uses the Scarab’s abilities to protect Palmera City alongside his mentor, the previous Blue Beetle Ted Kord.
Blue Beetle’s Surprisingly Important History
Despite being a minor hero compared to the likes of Superman or Spider-Man, Blue Beetle has a long and storied history in the world of comics.
For starters, Blue Beetle was not originally a DC Comics character; the first Blue Beetle, a rookie cop named Dan Garrett, was first created by Charles Wojtkoski for Fox Feature Syndicate in 1939 (a year after the debut of Superman). The character was later bought by Charlton Comics, where he received a new identity in businessman Ted Kord and got a sleek redesign (see right) by original Spider-Man artist Steve Ditko.
After Charlton went under, their characters were bought by DC and incorporated into their multiverse on Earth-4. You can read about their adventures in the story ‘Pax Americana‘ in The Multiversity series.
Versions of the Charlton heroes also exist in the ‘prime’ DC Comics timeline of Earth-0, including the atomic army man Captain Atom, the faceless detective The Question, the shadow-wielding spy Nightshade, the patriotic soldier (and recent TV sensation) Peacemaker, and of course, Blue Beetle.
The Charlton heroes then went on to inspire the characters of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ celebrated comic Watchmen, considered one of the greatest graphic novels ever made; Blue Beetle’s analogue there is the tech-using animal-themed hero Nite Owl. ‘Pax Americana‘ in Multiversity incorporates elements of Watchmen into its version of Earth-4, and Watchmen‘s official sequel Doomsday Clock has the Charlton heroes collide with the graphic novel they influenced in the most obvious way possible, fighting Doctor Manhattan on the surface of Mars.
Ted Kord – Blue Beetle II
The first Blue Beetle was Dan Garrett, a blue-armoured adventurer in the 1940s. The Scarab then passed to businessman Ted Kord, who couldn’t use the Scarab’s powers but incorporated its design into his costume and his trademark insect-shaped aircraft, the Bug. Ted has been a member of the Justice League International and its low-rent revival ‘the Super Buddies’.
Blue Beetle Ted Kord appearances
Blue Beetle. Volume one / Wein, Len
Justice League task force. Volume 1, The purification plague / Michelinie, David
Formerly known as the Justice League / Giffen, Keith
Convergence : infinite earths. Book two
Suicide Squad : bad blood / Taylor, Tom
Doomsday clock : the complete collection / Johns, Geoff
The human target. Volume one / King, Tom
Dark crisis on infinite Earths / Williamson, Joshua
The Blue and the Gold
In the days of Justice League International, Ted was frequently paired with time-travelling hero Booster Gold as a comedy duo, with the modest, level-headed Ted trying to keep the vainglorious, easily duped Booster out of trouble. After Ted died, Booster would try to use time travel to revive his friend by meddling with history. With the timeline being rewritten after DC Rebirth, Ted is alive once more, mentoring the third Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes.
Booster Gold and Blue Beetle team-ups
Formerly known as the Justice League / Giffen, Keith
Booster Gold : blue and gold / Johns, Geoff
Justice League 3000. Volume 2, The Camelot war / Giffen, Keith
Convergence : flashpoint book 1
Dark crisis on infinite Earths / Williamson, Joshua
Ted Across the Multiverse
As mentioned above, a version of Ted appears on Earth-4 with the original Charlton characters in Multiversity. Ted is finally able to use the Scarab’s armour in Kingdom Come and takes Batman’s side in an encroaching superhero war (the other Charlton heroes also cameo in the story’s inciting incident). In a twisted possible timeline from the Dark Multiverse, Ted becomes a technologically enhanced tyrant called ‘OBAC’ – the One-Beetle Army Corps.
Kingdom come : the 20th anniversary deluxe edition / Waid, Mark
The Multiversity / Morrison, Grant
Tales from the DC dark multiverse
Jaime Reyes
Jaime Reyes is a Mexican-American high schooler from Texas who comes across the Scarab, which promptly fuses to his body and allows him to manifest armour and weapons at will. Jaime learns the Scarab is actually an agent of a conquering alien empire called The Reach, and he sets out to redeem its power for good. Proving his worth as a hero, Jaime later joins the Teen Titans.
Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes appearances
Post-Crisis
Blue Beetle : road trip / Rogers, John
Blue Beetle : boundaries / Sturges, Matthew
Teen Titans : Titans of tomorrow
Teen Titans : changing of the guard / McKeever, Sean
The New 52/DC Rebirth
Blue Beetle. Volume 1, Metamorphosis / Bedard, Tony
Threshold. Volume 1, The hunted / Giffen, Keith
Blue Beetle. Vol. 3, Road to nowhere / Sebela, Christopher
Dark crisis on infinite Earths / Williamson, Joshua
Blue Beetle : graduation day / Trujillo, Josh
Jaime Across the Multiverse
Jaime is a late recruit to ‘The Team’ in the world of Young Justice, where the sidekicks of the Justice League form a black ops unit to save the world covertly. In the second series of Injustice, Jaime becomes Blue Beetle after Ted Kord’s passing, and joins Batman’s resistance.
Young Justice [4] : invasion / Weisman, Greg
Injustice 2. Vol. 1 / Taylor, Tom
Who are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
Four ordinary turtles were exposed to a can of Ooze, which caused them to mutate into humanoid forms. Falling into the sewers and adopted by a kindly rat named Splinter, the four turtle brothers learned martial arts under his tutelage and took on names and trademark ninjutsu weapons, defending New York in secret from ancient and alien threats.
Leonardo leads. Donatello does machines. Raphael has attitude. Michelangelo is a party dude. They are the heroes in a half shell, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
Original Indie Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles first appeared in an indie comic by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, skewering the 1980s obsession with ninjas, especially in Frank Miller’s Daredevil (the Ooze is implied to be the radioactive waste that blinded a young Matt Murdock). We have the earliest issues of their indie comic in this volume here:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Volume one / Eastman, Kevin B
Licensed Comic Ninja Turtles
The Turtles have been rebooted numerous times across media, including comics, television, and movies. The current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic series is a reboot by original Turtles creator Kevin Eastman and artist Tom Waltz, aiming to streamline the Turtles lore from various media into one comic.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Volume 1, Change is constant / Eastman, Kevin B
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Volume 2, Enemies old, enemies new / Eastman, Kevin B
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Volume 3, Shadows of the past / Waltz, Tom
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Volume 4, Sins of the fathers / Waltz, Tom
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Volume 5 / Lawson, Jim
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : the Armageddon game / Waltz, Tom
The Last Ronin
Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird recently returned to their creations for the acclaimed The Last Ronin series. Written as ‘the final Ninja Turtle story’, it follows the last surviving Ninja Turtle seeking revenge for his fallen brothers.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : the Last Ronin / Eastman, Kevin B
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : the Last Ronin : lost years / Eastman, Kevin B
Crossovers with Usagi Yojimbo
Usagi Yojimbo is a long-running comic by artist Stan Sakai, following the adventures of a rabbit samurai in a version of Edo-period Japan full of anthropomorphic animals. Naturally for an animal with Japanese martial arts training, he has teamed up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on occasion.
Ninja Turtles appearances in Usagi Yojimbo
The Usagi Yojimbo saga. Book 9 / Sakai, Stan
The Usagi Yojimbo saga : legends / Sakai, Stan
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ; Usagi Yojimbo : WhereWhen / Sakai, Stan
Crossovers with Batman
The Ninja Turtles have crossed over with Batman as well. The first series has the Turtles arrive in Gotham City to help Batman fight the Shredder (plus, you get to see what mutant animal each of the Batman villains turn into when exposed to Ooze), while the second series features Bane taking over the New York City of the Ninja Turtles universe.
Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Volume 1 / Tynion, James
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