Coordinates	56°09′″N40°25′″N
Publisher	Fox ComicsHolyoke PublishingCharlton ComicsAmericomicsDC Comics
Debut	''Mystery Men Comics'' #1
Debutmo	August
Debutyr	1939
Debutyr1	1966
Debutyr2	2006
Writer1	Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski
Characters	Dan Garret (a.k.a. Dan Garrett)Ted KordJaime Reyes
Cat	super
Subcat	Fox Feature Syndicate
Hero	y
Sortkey	Blue Beetle
Addcharcat1	Charlton Comics superheroes
Addcharcat2	DC Comics superheroes }}

2ndbox	y
Title	Blue Beetle
Schedule	Vol. 1: Bi-monthly #1-13, #41-44Monthly #17-36, #45-60Quarterly #37-40Vols. 2, 5-7: MonthlyVol. 3: Monthly #1-4Bi-monthly #5Vol. 4: Monthly #1-53Bi-monthly #54
Format	AllStandard U.S., 4 color. When published, ongoing.
Ongoing	Y
Publisher	Vol. 1: Fox Comics (except #12-30: Holyoke Publishing)Vols. 2-5: Charlton ComicsVols. 6-7: DC Comics
Date	Vol. 1: 1939 – August 1950Vol. 2: February – August 1955Vol. 3: June 1964 – March/April 1965Vol. 4: July 1965 – February/March 1966Vol. 5: June 1967 – November 1968Vol. 6: June 1986 – May 1988Vol. 7: May 2006 – February 2009
Issues	Vol. 1: 59 (numbered 1-42; 44-60)Vol. 2: 4 (numbered 18-21)Vol. 3: 5Vol. 4: 5 (numbered 50-54)Vol. 5: 5Vol. 6: 24Vol. 7: 36
Main char team	Vols. 1-4: Dan GarrettVols. 5-6: Ted KordVol. 7: Jaime Reyes
Subcat	Fox Feature Syndicate
Sort	Blue Beetle }}

Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes that appear in American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939.

Publication history

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 used special equipment, a bulletproof costume and a superstrength-inducing "2-X vitamin", and the assistance of a neighborhood pharmacist to fight crime. He 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.

In the mid-1950s, Fox Comics went out of business and sold rights of the Blue Beetle to Charlton Comics. That company published a few sporadic adventures of the Golden Age character before revamping the hero in 1964. In Dan Garret's revised origin, he was an archaeologist who found a magical Egyptian artifact, resembling a scarab, which he used to fight crime. 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 Garret's who took on the role when Garret 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 superhero groups, including 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. Rogers left the title with issue #25 in order to concentrate on his television series ''Leverage''. After three fill-in issues, Matt Sturges became the main writer in issue #29, but the series was cancelled with issue #36. Editor Dan DiDio put the cancellation down to poor sales and said that ''Blue Beetle'' was "a book that we started with very high expectations, but it lost its audience along the way." On March 12, 2009, DiDio announced that the character would be brought back to print in June 2009 as a "co-feature" of the more popular ''Booster Gold'' comic.

Dan Garret

Fox Feature Syndicate and Holyoke Publishing

The original Golden Age Blue Beetle was Dan Garret, son of a police officer killed by a criminal. This Fox Feature Syndicate version of the character debuted in ''Mystery Men Comics'' #1 (August 1939), and began appearing in his own 60-issue series shortly thereafter.

Rookie patrolman Dan Garret originally fought crime as the Blue Beetle without the benefit of superhuman abilities. Garret later donned 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 and stamina from ingesting the mysterious vitamin 2-X. Like the Green Hornet, the Blue Beetle would use his signature scarab symbol to bedevil criminals, leaving it to be easily found, hanging it down into a room on a string and even projecting its enlarged image onto a wall with a flashlight.

The supporting cast remained fairly stable throughout this original run and included Joan Mason, a beautiful blond 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 who believed despite all evidence to the contrary that the Blue Beetle was a criminal and was always trying to arrest him with little success. Dr. Franz, a local pharmacist and inventor of the bulletproof suit and 2-X formula (as well as many other handy gadgets, including a portable wireless telephone a good half century before they came into common use), played a large role in the early issues but eventually faded from the cast. The Beetle also had a short-lived spunky kid sidekick in the form of Sparkington J. Northrup (Sparky), who originally wore an abbreviated version of the Beetle's costume but later went into action wearing his regular clothes.

During World War II, Dan Garret became a government agent who was often sent overseas on secret missions, but after peace was declared he returned to his old role of neighborhood cop. The Blue Beetle's powers slowly increased over time with him eventually gaining the ability to fly and x-ray vision among other bizarre talents that changed from issue to issue at the whim of the writers. However, when superheroes fell out of vogue in the late 1940s, Fox started to downplay his superheroic aspects and his superhuman abilities were removed, and his now considerably darker adventures became full of sadistic violence and sexy, scantily-clad women until he was eventually relegated to hosting true crime stories before the character went on hiatus.

A popular character in his era, the Blue Beetle 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.

Charlton Comics

Charlton Comics obtained the rights to the Blue Beetle and reprinted some stories in its anthology titles and in a four-issue ''Blue Beetle'' reprint series numbered 18-21.

In 1964, during the Silver Age of comics, Charlton would revise the character for a new Blue Beetle series. Charlton's new Blue Beetle retained the original's name (adding a second "t"), but none of his powers or origin. This Beetle was archaeologist Dan Garrett, who obtained a number of superhuman powers (including super strength and vision, flight, and the ability to generate energy blasts) from a mystical scarab he found during a dig in Egypt, where it had been used to imprison an evil mummified Pharaoh. He would transform into the Blue Beetle by saying the words "Kaji Dha!" This version, by writer Joe Gill and artist Tony Tallarico, was played at least initially for camp, with stories like "The Giant Mummy Who was Not Dead". The Charlton Dan Garrett version of the Blue Beetle ran only until 1966 before his replacement debuted.

AC Comics

Both Blue Beetles (indeed, all ''three'' Blue Beetles) reappeared in the third issue of ''Americomics'', a title published by AC Comics in 1983/1984. In the first story in this issue, Ted Kord fights a bogus Dan Garrett, but the second story is more significant. It reveals that the original 1940s Dan had been reincarnated as the Silver Age version (minus his memories of his earlier existence) by some unspecified "gods", presumably the ones responsible for his mystic scarab. The gods subsequently resurrect Dan again and send him off to save Ted Kord's life (leaving him a note saying simply, "Try not to get killed this time"), after which Kord turns the Blue Beetle name back over to Dan. ''Americomics'' was canceled after issue #6, and so far this story has never been referenced by any other publisher.

DC Comics

The Charlton version of Dan Garrett was spotlighted in the second issue of DC's 1980s ''Secret Origins'' series, in which his origin was retold along with that of Ted Kord. Subsequent appearances by Dan Garrett (in flashback stories) include guest spots or cameos in ''Infinity, Inc.'', ''Captain Atom'', ''JLA: Year One'', and ''Legends of the DC Universe''.

The character briefly returned in DC Comics' first run of ''Blue Beetle'', resurrected by his mystical scarab to battle against his successor. He can also be seen in various flashback stories. His 1940s incarnation is briefly glimpsed in DC's 1993 limited series ''The Golden Age''.

Dynamite Entertainment

In issue #0 of the ''Project Superpowers'' miniseries, the Fox Feature Syndicate version of the Blue Beetle appeared in flashbacks. To avoid trademark conflicts with DC Comics, he is referred to in this series by the nickname "Big Blue". Sparky is scheduled to appear in volume two, as part of a team of kid heroes and sidekicks.

Legacy

It was eventually established that the Charlton Comics incarnation of the Dan Garrett Blue Beetle made his debut on August 14, 1939. The Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle has met Daniel's granddaughter, Danielle, and has also met Dan himself.

Ted Kord

The replacement Blue Beetle created by Charlton Comics, and later published by Americomics and DC Comics, is Ted Kord, a former student of Dan Garrett, a genius-level inventor and a gifted athlete. Kord and Garrett were investigating Kord's Uncle Jarvis when they learned Jarvis was working to create an army of androids to take over Earth. Garrett changed into Blue Beetle, but was killed in battle. As he died, he passed on to Kord the responsibility of being Blue Beetle, but was unable to pass on the mystical scarab.

Ted had the scarab for some time, but never used it. He carried it during the ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' when he was chosen by the Monitor to protect the multiple Earths, but it only reacted when he was attacked; it did not give him superpowers.

As the Blue Beetle, Ted funded his adventures through his company, Kord Industries, and was chronically short on cash. He joined the Justice League and met his best friend, Booster Gold. Each was considered a second stringer and, for many years, the Blue Beetle was a member of one second-rate superhero group or another.

During the "Death of Superman" saga, the Blue Beetle and the other JLA members tried to stop Doomsday's path of destruction. Doomsday displayed his near-invulnerability and, while brutally defeating the League, put the Blue Beetle into a coma. Upon recovery, he continued his tenure with the JLA as well as its offshoot, Extreme Justice.

In ''Countdown to Infinite Crisis'', Blue Beetle discovered a renewed Checkmate organization led by Maxwell Lord, former bankroller of the JLA. Kord covertly entered Checkmate headquarters, where he found a database containing information on every metahuman on Earth. However, he was captured before he could return to the JLA with the information, and while in Lord's custody was executed with a single gunshot to the head. Before dying, he had used the scarab in an attempt to contact Captain Marvel, but was forced to leave it with Shazam in the Rock of Eternity when the wizard sent him back to Earth.

Some time later, Booster, along with Jaime, Dan, and the Black Beetle in the guise of a Blue Beetle from the future, travels back in time to rescue Kord moments before his death. Ted later travels back to guarantee his own death.

Jaime Reyes

Jaime Reyes is a teenager who lives in El Paso, Texas, with his father, mother, and little sister; his father owns a garage and his mother is a nurse. Jaime has offered to help his father out at the garage, but his father has turned him down. He feels Jaime should enjoy his childhood for as long as he can (and should attempt to further his education). Jaime has an acute sense of responsibility for his family and friends, though he complains about being the one to sort out any messes.

After the wizard Shazam was killed and the Rock of Eternity destroyed, the scarab landed in a vacant lot in El Paso where Jaime found it, thinking it to be nothing but a huge bug. When Booster Gold came to retrieve the scarab, it had fused to Jaime's spine while the boy had been asleep, making Jaime the new Blue Beetle. After a few minor encounters locally, he was swept up in the climactic battle with Brother Eye during ''Infinite Crisis''. At its conclusion, he is hurled back to Earth where he discovers he has been missing for a year. He is now a member of the Teen Titans. He is good friends with Rose Wilson (Ravager), Robin, Static, and others. In ''Teen Titans'' vol. 3, #83, he takes a break from the team to be with his mother.

Jaime has a girlfriend, the young sorceress Traci 13, who gets along well with Jaime's family. His large and loving family is a major source of strength and guidance for Jaime. Peacemaker has been a kind and wise mentor for the young Blue Beetle. So has Doctor Mid-nite.

Jaime co-starred along with the rest of the former Justice League International in ''Justice League: Generation Lost''.

The scarab

The Blue Beetle scarab, previously shown as an artifact of magic, is later retconned as a tool of war of the Reach, an ancient race of cosmic marauders. After being defeated by the Guardians of the Universe thousands of years ago, and forced into a truce, the Reach posed as benevolent aliens lending their advanced technology to budding civilizations, with the scarab intended as a gift for that world's champion, giving him amazing powers and the knowledge of the Reach to protect his or her peers. In fact, the scarab is part of an advanced hive mind, with its own artificial intelligence covertly supplanting its wearer's own, turning it into the "ultimate infiltrator", a covert agent intended to take over its own world, as evidenced when a still-damaged scarab revives Garrett to fight Ted Kord, until Garrett is able to reassert his individuality.

Damaged when Dan Garrett forcibly extracted it from its charging cradle and located in a faux pyramid in Egypt, the scarab is first activated with chunks of its programming missing, giving several abilities to Dan Garrett, but none of the Reach knowledge base. The combined additional damage dealt by the multiversal/chronal energies fed into it during Booster Gold's mission to protect the Multiverse during the ''52'' event, and the magic forces of the Shadow Demons, put it into a dormant state for a year, after which it wakes, enacting its full programming to turn Jaime Reyes into the infiltrator.

However, the strong will and the good nature of Jaime Reyes, combined with the still corrupted programming of the scarab, helped its A.I. to assert itself as an individual, a tool no more. Claiming "Khaji Da" (the combined utterance of "khaji", the codeword for "infiltrator", and "da", its own serial number) as its own name at the end of said process, the scarab developed a strong bond with Jaime over time, helping him as a true friend, and even trying to spread the concept of individuality among its fellow scarabs.

Other versions

Kingdom Come

Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) was seen in Alex Ross and Mark Waid's limited series ''Kingdom Come''. He is shown with the rest of the Charlton "Action Heroes" not as a member of Magog's Justice Battalion, but as part of Batman's group and later of the MLF (Mankind Liberation Front). He would be shown later in the title in a suit of armor powered by the then-mystic scarab, working with Batman's team. In the novelization of the series, Batman thinks of Blue Beetle, along with Green Arrow and Black Canary, as his closest (at the time) friends. Blue Beetle is killed with most of the other heroes by a nuclear explosion.

52 Multiverse

The final issue, #52, of DC Comics' 2006/2007 year-long weekly series ''52'' revealed that a "Multiverse" system of 52 parallel universes, with each Earth being a different take on established DC Comics characters as featured in the mainstream continuity (designated as "New Earth") had come into existence. The Multiverse acts as a storytelling device that allows writers to introduce alternate versions of fictional characters, hypothesize "What if?" scenarios, revisit popular Elseworlds stories and allow these characters to interact with the mainstream continuity. For example, the Ted Kord of the ''Kingdom Come'' limited series is said to reside on Earth-22.

Spin-offs from the series ''Countdown to Final Crisis'' would introduce more alternate Blue Beetles in 2007. Earth-19 (the ''Gotham by Gaslight'' universe), set in a Victorian-like era, has its own version of Dan Garrett who in his secret identity is the leading Egyptologist at the Gotham Museum of Natural History and wears a monocle, appearing in ''The Search for Ray Palmer: Gotham by Gaslight''. The limited series ''Countdown: Arena'' onwards depicted three more for the first time. Firstly, an Earth-26 Blue Beetle, a swarm of sentient insects that form a man-shaped body (calling themselves "The Scarab"); as well as Ted of Earth-33, an anthropomorphic beetle, the pet of Mr. and Mrs. Kord; and Earth-39 Blue Beetle, a younger version of Dan Garrett, who has bonded with his scarab in the same way as Jaime Reyes.

A new version of the Blue Beetle known as "Blue Scarab" was shown as a member of the Justice League in the apocalyptic future depicted in ''Justice League: Generation Lost''. He is stated as being the "descendant of the Blue Beetle", and has a very alien-looking appearance.

In other media

Radio

The Blue Beetle had a short career on the radio, between May and September 1940. Motion picture and radio actor Frank Lovejoy was the Blue Beetle for the first 13 episodes, while for the rest of the shows, the voice was provided by a different, uncredited actor. The Blue Beetle was a young police officer who saw the need for extraordinary crime fighting. He took the task on himself by secretly donning a superhero costume to create fear in the criminals who were to learn to fear the Blue Beetle's wrath. The 13-minute segments were usually only two-parters, so the stories were often simpler than other popular programs, such as the ''Superman'' radio serial.

Audio

The ''Kingdom Come'' story, in which the Blue Beetle took part, has been adapted as an audio drama by John Whitman, based on the story by Mark Waid and Alex Ross and the novelization by Elliot S. Maggin (Time Warner Audio Books, 1998).

Television

''Batman: The Brave and the Bold''

''Jaime Reyes''

The Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle has appeared in the animated series ''Batman: The Brave and the Bold'', voiced by actor Will Friedle, who previously voiced the futuristic Batman, Terry McGinnis, in ''Batman Beyond''. In the show's pilot episode, "The Rise of the Blue Beetle!", it is mentioned that a previous Blue Beetle existed before Jaime and was murdered by Kanjar Ro. Jaime makes another appearance in the episode "Invasion of the Secret Santas!", assisting Batman in fighting the Sportsmaster and his henchmen and inviting Batman to his family's Christmas Eve dinner. Jaime appeared again fighting Planet Master alongside Aquaman in "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure!".

The Reyes Blue Beetle also appears in the episode "Deep Cover for Batman!" and its sequel, "Game Over for Owlman!" In the first part of the story, an alternate universe version of Jaime Reyes named "Scarlet Scarab" is shown as a member of the Injustice Syndicate, led by Batman's evil doppelganger, Owlman. The "Scarlet Scarab" mentions to his suit (which is sentient) that he has the heart of a true hero. This leads Batman (posing as Owlman) to believe that he can help the evil version of Reyes — before Scarlet Scarab finishes his statement with, "I keep it in a jar in the back of my closet."

In the episode "Night of the Huntress!", Blue Beetle, Batman, and the Huntress have to stop the gangster Baby-Face and his wife, Mrs. Manface. The Blue Beetle develops a crush on the Huntress in the episode. Reyes appeared again in "The Fate of Equinox!" where he, along with Doctor Fate, Aquaman, Black Canary, Black Lightning, Fire, the original Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Plastic Man, and Red Tornado temporarily gave their powers to Batman, turning him into Bat Monolith so he could battle the omnipotent Equinox.

In "Revenge of the Reach!", Jaime learns that his scarab is a part of the Reach. His suit temporarily takes control of him and has him shut down the defenses around Oa, allowing the Reach to invade. Fortunately, Jaime regains control of his suit, reminding it that what they did was of their will, not the Reach's. Channeling the energy of the Green Lanterns through his suit, Blue Beetle is able to free all those under the Reach's control. The Guardians of the Universe then ask Jaime for his scarab so it can be destroyed along with the others, but Guy Gardner convinces them that Jaime proved he was the suit's master.

Reyes' friend Paco also appears several times, in the episodes "The Rise of the Blue Beetle!", "Fall of the Blue Beetle!", "Night of the Huntress!", and "Revenge of the Reach!", played by voice actor Jason Marsden.

''Ted Kord''

The Ted Kord version of the character appears in the episode "Fall of the Blue Beetle!", voiced by actor Wil Wheaton. In this episode, it is revealed that Ted Kord (who was unable to use the scarab) died two years ago in an explosion. Dan Garrett is also seen in a flashback to Kord's origin, but does not speak. Garrett was seen lying dead.

Kord makes a second appearance in the episode "Menace of the Madniks!" A melancholy Booster Gold travels back in time to see his old friend one more time and alters the Madniks and the time stream. Batman and Kord (unwittingly on his part) help Booster restore order. Wil Wheaton also voiced this appearance.

''The Electric Company''

On the PBS children's educational series ''The Electric Company'', the Blue Beetle was a bumbling superhero (played by Jim Boyd) who would often make matters worse instead of better. He wore a mask, a hood with antennae, wings, tennis shoes, boxer shorts, and a t-shirt bearing the name "Blue Beetle". Outside the name, the character is unrelated to any of the comic book versions.

''Watchmen: Under the Hood''

The Dan Garret Blue Beetle appears on the cover of a comic book in the ''Watchmen'' film tie-in ''Under the Hood''.

Live action

Geoff Johns announced on his Twitter account that there is a live action screen test of Jaime Reyes as the Blue Beetle. This screen test is being used to trial the concept of a Blue Beetle television series.

At the San Diego Comic-Con 2010, it was announced that Jamie Reyes would appear in an episode of the final season of ''Smallville''. It was confirmed that Ted Kord would make an appearance as well. Dan Garrett is mentioned as well, with Clark Kent stating that he was a Kord Industries scientist who was killed after the Scarab bonded with him.

See also

List of Blue Beetle enemies

References

External links

Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett) at Don Markstein's Toonopedia

Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett) at the International Catalogue of Superheroes

Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) at Don Markstein's Toonopedia

Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) at the International Catalogue of Superheroes

Index to the Earth-4 adventures of the Charlton Action Heroes

"Notes from a True Blue Beetlemaniac"

Original 1940 Blue Beetle Old Time Radio show (free download)

Movie Poop Shoot's look at the Blue Beetle

Category:Charlton Comics titles Category:DC Comics titles Category:Fictional archaeologists Category:Fictional aviators Category:Fictional police officers Category:Fictional vigilantes Category:Golden Age superheroes Category:DC Comics characters who use magic Category:1940s American radio programs Category:Comics characters introduced in 1939 Category:1955 comic debuts Category:1964 comic debuts Category:1965 comic debuts Category:1967 comic debuts Category:1986 comic debuts Category:2006 comic debuts

de:Blue Beetle es:Blue Beetle fr:Blue Beetle it:Blue Beetle pt:Besouro Azul fi:Blue Beetle sv:Blue Beetle tl:Blue Beetle

Coordinates	56°09′″N40°25′″N
publisher	DC Comics
debut	''All Star Comics'' #8
debutmo	December
debutyr	1941
creators	William Moulton MarstonHarry G. Peter
alter ego	Princess Diana of Themyscira
alliances	Justice LeagueAmazons of ThemysciraDepartment of Metahuman Affairs
partners	Steve TrevorTrevor BarnesNemesisSupermanBatman
aliases	Diana Prince
species	AmazonDemigod (2011 relaunch)
powers	*Superhuman strength, speed, agility, and endurance Flight (only after 1960) Superior hand-to-hand combatant Empathy Healing factor Resistance to Magic Lasso of Truth Access to Magical Weaponry
cvr image	Wwoman1.jpg
cvr caption	Cover for ''Wonder Woman'' #1 (1942). Art by Harry G. Peter.
schedule	Monthly
ongoing	Y
fantasy	first
superhero	y
multigenre	y
pub series	DC Comics
1stishhead	vol. 1
1stishyr	1942
1stishmo	Summer
endishyr	1986
endishmo	February
1stishhead1	vol. 2
1stishyr1	1987
1stishmo1	February
endishyr1	2006
endishmo1	April
1stishhead2	vol. 3
1stishyr2	2006
1stishmo2	August
endishyr2	2010
endishmo2	July
1stishhead3	vol. 1 cont.
1stishyr3	2010
1stishmo3	August
endishyr3	2011
endishmo3	October
1stishhead4	vol. 4
1stishyr4	2011
1stishmo4	September
endishyr4	Present
issues	(vol. 1): 329(vol. 2): 228 (+ 8 Annuals, 1 Special)(vol. 3): 44 (+ 1 Annual)(vol. 1 cont.): 15(vol. 4):
main char team	Princess Diana of Themyscira
writers	(vol. 1)William Moulton Marston, Mike Sekowsky, Robert Kanigher, Martin Pasko, Gerry Conway, Dan Mishkin(vol. 2)Len Wein, George Pérez, Mindy Newell, William Messner-Loebs, John Byrne, Phil Jimenez, Greg Rucka(vol. 3)Allan Heinberg, Gail Simone(vol. 1 cont.)J. Michael Straczynski(vol. 4)Brian Azzarello
pencillers	(vol. 1)Harry G. Peter, Ross Andru, Mike Sekowsky, Dick Giordano, John Rosenberger, Jose Delbo, Gene Colan(vol. 2)George Pérez, Chris Marrinan, Mike Deodato, John Byrne, Phil Jimenez(vol. 3)Terry Dodson, Aaron Lopresti(vol. 1 cont.)Don Kramer(vol. 4)Cliff Chiang
inkers	(vol. 1)Mike Esposito, Dick Giordano, Vince Colletta(vol. 2)Bruce Patterson, Andy Lanning(vol. 3)Rachel Dodson, Matt Ryan
colorists	(vol. 2)Carl Gafford(vol. 3)Alex Sinclair
cat	super
subcat	DC Comics
hero	y
sortkey	Wonder Woman
sort title	Wonder Woman
addcharcat1	All-American Publications characters }}

Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' #8 (December 1941). The ''Wonder Woman'' title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986.

Wonder Woman is a warrior Princess of the Amazons (based on the Amazons of Greek mythology) and was created by Marston, an American, as a "distinctly feminist role model whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality to a world torn by the hatred of men." Known in her homeland as Diana of Themyscira, her powers include superhuman strength, flight (even though the original Wonder Woman did not have this ability), super-speed, super-stamina, and super-agility. She is highly proficient in hand-to-hand combat and in the art of tactical warfare. She also possesses animal-like cunning skills and a natural rapport with animals, which has been presented as an actual ability to communicate with the animal kingdom. She uses her Lasso of Truth, which forces those bound by it to tell the truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and, in some stories, an invisible airplane.

Created during World War II, the character was initially depicted fighting the Axis military forces, as well as an assortment of supervillains. In later decades, some writers maintained the World War II setting, with many of its themes and story arcs, while others updated the series to reflect the present day. Wonder Woman has also regularly appeared in comic books featuring the superhero teams Justice Society (from 1941) and Justice League (from 1960). Arguably the most popular and iconic female superhero in comics, Wonder Woman is also considered a feminist icon. She was named the 20th greatest comic book character by ''Empire'' magazine.

In addition to the comics, the character has appeared in other media; most notably, the 1975–1979 ''Wonder Woman'' TV series starring Lynda Carter, as well as animated series such as the ''Super Friends'' and ''Justice League''. Although a number of attempts have been made to adapt the character to live-action film, none has yet emerged from development hell. An animated film was released in 2009, with Keri Russell voicing the title role. In 2011, Adrianne Palicki starred in a failed pilot for a would-be series about the character.

In May 2011, Wonder Woman placed fifth on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time.

Publication history

Creation

In an October 25, 1940 interview published in ''Family Circle'' titled "Don't Laugh at the Comics", William Moulton Marston described what he saw as the great educational potential of comic books. This article caught the attention of comics publisher Max Gaines, who hired Marston as an educational consultant for National Periodicals and All-American Publications, two of the companies that would merge to form DC Comics. At that time, Marston decided to develop a new superhero. ''Family Circle'' published a follow-up article two years later from issue of the Boston University alumni magazine, it was Marston's wife Elizabeth's idea to create a female superheroine:

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Marston introduced the idea to Gaines, co-founder of All-American Publications. Given the go-ahead, Marston developed ''Wonder Woman'' with Elizabeth, whom Marston believed to be a model of that era's unconventional, liberated woman. Marston was also inspired by Olive Byrne, who lived with the couple in a polygamous/polyamorous relationship. Both women served as exemplars for the character and greatly influenced the character's creation. Wonder Woman debuted in ''All Star Comics'' #8 (December 1941), scripted by Marston and with art by Harry G. Peter.

Marston was the creator of a systolic-blood-pressure-measuring apparatus, which was crucial to the development of the polygraph (lie detector). Marston's experience with polygraphs convinced him that women were more honest and reliable than men and could work more efficiently.

"Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world," Marston wrote. Although Gloria Steinem placed Wonder Woman on the first standalone cover of ''Ms.'' in 1972, Marston, writing in an earlier time, designed Wonder Woman to represent a particular form of female empowerment. Feminism argues that women are equal to men and should be treated as such; Marston's representative of femininity is a 6-foot-tall Amazon wielding a golden lasso that forces obedience on those it encircles. In Marston's mind, women not only held the potential to be as good as men but to be superior to men.

In a 1943 issue of ''The American Scholar'', Marston wrote:

During this period, Wonder Woman joined the Justice Society of America as the female member, albeit as the group's secretary, since the custom was that characters who had their own comic books would hold only honorary membership.

Evolution of the character

Initially, Wonder Woman was an Amazon champion who wins the right to return Steve Trevor — a United States intelligence officer whose plane had crashed on the Amazons' isolated island homeland — to "Man's World" and to fight crime and the evil of the Nazis.

During the Silver Age, Wonder Woman's origin was revamped, along with other characters'. The new origin story increased the character's Hellenic and mythological roots: receiving the blessing of each deity in her crib, Diana is destined to become "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury."

At the end of the 1960s, under the guidance of Mike Sekowsky, Wonder Woman surrendered her powers in order to remain in Man's World rather than accompany her fellow Amazons to another dimension. Becoming a mod boutique owner, the powerless Diana Prince acquired a Chinese mentor named I Ching. Under I Ching's guidance, Diana learned martial arts and weapons skills and engaged in adventures that encompassed a variety of genres, from espionage to mythology.

Because of the popularity of the ''Wonder Woman'' TV series, the character later returned to her superpowered roots in ''Justice League of America'' and to the World War II era in her own title.

Following the 1985 ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' series, George Pérez, Len Wein, and Greg Potter relaunched the character, writing Wonder Woman as an emissary and ambassador from Themyscira to Patriarch's World, charged with the mission of bringing peace to the outside world.

In August 2010 (issue #600), DC Comics replaced the character's iconic stars-and-stripes singlet with a blue jacket (later discarded), red and gold top and dark pants, retaining only her tiara and lasso.

In 2011, DC Comics relaunched its entire line of publications to attract a new generation of readers. In this new continuity, Wonder Woman wears a costume similar to her original costume. Also, her origin is significantly changed and she is no longer a clay figure brought to life by the magic of the gods. Instead, she is a demigod, the natural-born daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus.

Powers and abilities

Pre-Crisis

Originally, Wonder Woman owed her abilities to the goddess Aphrodite creating Amazons superior to men, with Diana being the best of their kind.

The Golden Age Wonder Woman was later updated by Marston to be able to will a tremendous amount of brain energy into her muscles and limbs because of her Amazon training, endowing her with extraordinary strength and speed. According to her first appearance, she is stronger and more agile than a hundred of the best human athletes. In ''Sensation Comics'' #6 (June 1942), she is able to tear a steel door off its hinges. In one of her earliest appearances, she is shown running easily at 60 mph. In the same comic, she jumps from a building and lands on the balls of her feet. She can even type at a rate of over 160 words a minute during a test given to her. It was implied, and ultimately confirmed, that ''any'' woman who underwent Amazon training would gain superhuman strength. The TV series took up this notion, and in the first episode of ''Super Friends'', Diana states to Aquaman, "...the only thing that can surpass super strength is the power of the brain." In early ''Wonder Woman'' stories, Amazon training involves strengthening this ability using pure mental energy.

Her powers would be removed in accordance with "Aphrodite's Law" if she allowed herself to be bound or chained by a male. However the effects of ths varied. In the television series, her magic belt allowed her to retain her powers when she was not on Paradise Island; removing it weakened her.

With the inclusion of Wonder Girl and "Wonder Tot" in Diana's back-story, writers provided new explanations of her powers; the character became capable of feats which her sister Amazons could not equal. ''Wonder Woman'' (vol. 1) #105 reveals that Diana was formed from clay by the Queen of the Amazons and was imbued with the attributes of the Greek and Roman gods by Athena — "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Hermes, and stronger than Hercules." and Martian.

Depending on the writer, Diana's invulnerability and power varied greatly according to the needs of the story. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, Robert Kanigher, for example, portrayed Wonder Woman as being so strong that she, after standing atop her hovering plane and lassoing it with her magic lasso, was able to effortlessly lift Themyscira out of the way of an approaching tsunami using just one hand. She was able to make a coin into a bridge with her strength, or drill through a mountain within seconds, as well as hurl spaceships with enough accuracy she could bowl over a whole fleet. Her fingernails could cut through a steel door. She was even able to flip straight over while nearly paralyzed, and split a tree falling on her with her Amazonian boots. Kanigher showed Wonder Woman as a preteen able to lift whales, push a ship away from a whirlpool, and also as a toddler able to blow so hard on her birthday cake that she sent it into orbit.

In the Silver and Bronze ages of comics, Wonder Woman was able to further increase her strength. She was unable to remove her bracelets without going insane. In times of great need, however, she would do just that, in order to temporarily augment her power tenfold. Since she would become a threat to friend and foe alike, she would use Amazonian berserker rage only as a weapon of last resort.

Before ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' there were two Wonder Women: the first one lived on Earth-Two; the second, on Earth-One. The first canonical appearance of the Earth-One Wonder Woman is ''Wonder Woman'' (vol. 1) #80 (February 1956). Their first published meeting is ''Justice League of America'' (vol. 1) #100 (August 1972); however, their earliest meeting within the DC continuity is ''Wonder Woman'' (vol. 1) #228 (February 1977), which takes place in 1943, prior to the events of the ''Justice League of America'' story.

Post-Crisis

Wonder Woman's body is a mystical creation made from the clay surrounding Themyscira. Through divine means, her disembodied soul was nurtured in and retrieved from the Cavern of Souls. Once the soul was placed into the body, it immediately came to life and was blessed with metahuman abilities by six Olympian deities.

Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and fertility, blessed Diana with strength drawn from the Earth spirit Gaea, making her one of the physically strongest heroes in the DC Universe. She has been observed assisting in preventing large chunks of the Moon from crashing onto the Earth, supporting the weight of bridges, or hefting entire railroad trains. Although stated as possibly being physically weaker and slower than, for example, Power Girl, Diana's superior warrior training more than makes up for it, along with strength drawn from the earth itself, she is able to overpower either Kara, or her counterpart Supergirl., and hold her own against beings such as Superman and Captain Marvel. Furthermore, unlike most of her contemporaries in Man's World, Diana is willing to use deadly force, which gives her more options to deal with opponents as circumstances dictate.

While not invulnerable, she is capable of withstanding great concussive force, shrugging off high-powered rifle fire with some pain but little injury, being knocked through a building, and even surviving a warp-core explosion. She is durable enough to survive the rigors of space until she runs out of breath. While her superhuman strength affords her great resistance to blunt-force trauma, her skin can be cut by weapons if they are sharp enough. Her muscles do not produce lactic acids, giving her great stamina. This allowed her to once battle a clone of Doomsday.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, blessed Diana with great beauty and a loving heart.

Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, granted Diana great wisdom, intelligence, and military prowess. Athena's gift has enabled Diana to master over a dozen languages (including those of alien origin), multiple complex crafts, sciences and philosophies, as well as leadership, military strategy, and armed and unarmed combat. She can mimic voices, although it is more difficult for her to mimic a man's voice. More recently, Athena bound her own eyesight to Diana's, granting her increased empathy.

Artemis, goddess of the hunt, animals, and the Moon, graced Diana with the Eyes of the Hunter and Unity with Beasts. The Eyes of the Hunter ability gives Diana a full range of enhanced senses, including enhanced sight and hearing. Unity with Beasts grants her the ability to communicate with all forms of animal life and to calm even the most ferocious of beasts.

Hestia, goddess of hearth and home, granted Diana "sisterhood with fire, that it might open men's hearts to her." This power has been shown to control the "Fires of Truth," which Diana wields through her lasso, making anyone bound by it unable to lie. This ability also grants her resistance to both normal and supernatural fire.

Hermes, the messenger god of speed, granted Diana superhuman speed and the ability to fly. By concentrating, Diana can mystically defy the laws of gravity and propel herself through the air to achieve flight. She is capable of flying at speeds approaching half the speed of light. She is swift enough to deflect bullets, lasers, and other projectiles with her virtually impenetrable bracelets. Her brain can process information at an incredibly fast rate.

Diana possesses the ability to relieve her body of physical injury and toxins by becoming one with the Earth's soil and then reforming her body whole again. During John Byrne's run, it was stated that this is a ritual so sacred that it is used only in the most dire of circumstances.

She is able to astrally project herself into various lands of myth. Her physical body reacts to whatever happens to her on the mythical astral plane, leaving her body cut, bruised, or sometimes strengthened once her mind and body are reunited. She can apparently leave the planet through meditation, and did this once to rescue Artemis while she was in hell.

Skills

All versions of Diana depict her as a masterful athlete, acrobat, fighter and strategist, trained and experienced in many ancient and modern forms of armed and unarmed combat, including exclusively Amazonian martial arts. In some versions, her mother trained her, as Wonder Girl, for a future career as Wonder Woman. From the beginning, she is portrayed as highly skilled in using her Amazon bracelets to stop bullets and in wielding her golden lasso. She is a superior warrior who has beaten Batman, Big Barda, and Black Canary in sparring matches. The modern version of the character differs from her compatriots in that she is willing to use deadly force when she deems it necessary.

Weapons

Diana has an arsenal of powerful god-forged weapons at her disposal, but her signature weapons are her indestructible bracelets and the Lasso of Truth.

Her bulletproof bracelets were formed from the remnants of Athena's legendary shield, the Aegis, to be awarded to her champion. The shield was made from the indestructible hide of the great she-goat, Amalthea, who suckled Zeus as an infant. These forearm guards have thus far proven indestructible and able to absorb the impact of incoming attacks, allowing Wonder Woman to deflect automatic weapon fire and energy blasts. Diana can also slam the bracelets together to create a wave of concussive force capable of making Superman's ears bleed.

The Lasso of Truth, or Lariat of Hestia, was forged by Hephaestus from the golden girdle of Gaea. It is virtually indestructible; the only times it has been broken were when truth itself was challenged, such as when she confronted Rama Khan of Jarhanpur, and by Bizarro in Matt Wagner's non-canonical ''Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity''. In ''Sensation Comics'' #6 (June 1942), Hippolyta claims that not even Hercules can break it. The Lasso burns with a magical aura called the Fires of Hestia, forcing anyone within the Lasso's confines to be truthful. It also at one time had the power to force anyone caught to obey any command given them, even overriding other kinds of mind control; this was effective enough to defeat strong-willed beings like Captain Marvel. Diana wields the lasso with great precision and accuracy and can use it as a whip or noose.

As early as the 1950s, Wonder Woman's Golden Tiara has also doubled as a dagger and a throwing weapon, returning to her like a boomerang. Its sharpness and mystical nature proved enough to cut even Superman.

Toys

Wonder Woman has been released in numerous forms by Mattel including Barbie Dolls, Polly Pockets, and DC Universe Classics action figures in Traditional Costume and Blackest Night Star Sapphire Costume.

See also

Alternative versions of Wonder Woman for ''Elseworlds'' and other characters to bear the title

Amazons (DC Comics)

Darna

Diana Prince

List of Wonder Woman enemies

List of Wonder Woman supporting characters

Orana (DC comics)

Portrayal of women in comics

List of female action heroes

Woman warrior

Wonder Woman in literature

References

External links

Wonder Woman Official website at DC Comics.com

Origin story of Wonder Woman at DC Comics.com

Carol A. Strickland's Wonder Woman site

AmazonArchives.com

Wonder of Wonders

Wonder Woman Wiki

Category:All-American Publications characters Category:Atlantis in fiction Category:Characters created by William Moulton Marston Category:Comics characters introduced in 1941 Category:DC Comics Amazons Category:DC Comics characters with accelerated healing Category:DC Comics characters with superhuman strength Category:DC Comics martial artists Category:DC Comics titles Category:Fictional aviators Category:Fictional diplomats Category:Fictional empaths Category:Fictional Greek people Category:Fictional immigrants to the United States Category:Fictional princesses Category:Fictional women soldiers and warriors Category:United States-themed superheroes

da:Wonder Woman de:Wonder Woman es:Mujer Maravilla fa:زن شگفت‌انگیز fr:Wonder Woman gl:Wonder Woman ko:원더 우먼 it:Wonder Woman he:וונדר וומן la:Mulier Mirabilis hu:Wonder Woman nl:Wonder Woman pl:Wonder Woman pt:Mulher-Maravilha ru:Чудо-женщина simple:Wonder Woman sh:Wonder Woman fi:Ihmenainen sv:Wonder Woman tl:Wonder Woman th:วันเดอร์วูแมน tr:Wonder Woman uk:Диво Жінка zh:神奇女俠

Coordinates	56°09′″N40°25′″N
Converted	y
Character name	Blue Beetle
Publisher	DC Comics
Debut	As Jaime:''Infinite Crisis'' #3 (Feb. 2006)As Blue Beetle:''Infinite Crisis'' #5 (March 2006)
Creators	Keith GiffenJohn RogersCully Hamner
Real name	Jaime Reyes
Species
Homeworld
Alliances	Teen TitansJustice League
Aliases
Supports
Powers	Alien suit of powered armor.
Cat	super
Subcat	DC Comics
Hero	y
Sortkey	Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) }}

Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in ''Infinite Crisis'' #3 (Feb. 2006), and was created by writers Keith Giffen and John Rogers, and artist Cully Hamner.

Publication history

In ''Infinite Crisis'' #5 (March 2006), the character became the third incarnation of the superhero Blue Beetle. His own monthly series debuted a month later, with ''Blue Beetle'' (vol. 8) #1 (May 2006) and 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. Rogers had to leave the title in issue #25, in order to concentrate on his television series ''Leverage''.

After a couple of fill-in issues Matt Sturges became the main writer in issue #29 but the series was canceled with the last issue scheduled to be #36 in February 2009. Editor Dan DiDio put the cancellation down to poor sales and said that ''Blue Beetle'' was "a book that we started with very high expectations, but it lost its audience along the way."

On March 12, 2009, DiDio announced that the character would be brought back to print in June 2009 as a "co-feature" of the more popular "Booster Gold" comic. Whether the creative team would remain intact or be replaced was unclear but DiDio indicated that the stories would pick up on dangling plot threads from the recently canceled series.

Fictional character biography

Jaime lives in El Paso, Texas with his father, mother, and little sister; his father owns a garage. Jaime has offered to help his father out at the garage, but his father has turned him down so far, feeling Jaime should focus on his studies and enjoy his childhood for as long as he can. Jaime has an acute sense of responsibility for his family and friends, though he complains about being the one to sort out any messes. He derives much strength and courage from the love and support of his family.

''Infinite Crisis''

The mystical Blue Beetle scarab which had given Dan Garrett his powers had been thought destroyed. When it was found intact, it was given to Ted Kord, who was never able to use it. After an attack by Brother Eye, the scarab appeared energized, and Ted brought it to the wizard Shazam, who took it and sent Ted away. Shortly thereafter, in the ''Day of Vengeance'' storyline, Shazam was killed and the scarab was blasted across the globe, along with shards from the Rock of Eternity.

The Blue Beetle scarab came to Earth in El Paso, Texas, where it was picked up by Jaime. Not long after, Booster Gold appeared at Jaime's house to retrieve the scarab, only to discover that it had fused itself to Jaime's spine while the teenager had been sleeping. Booster recruited Jaime for Batman's assault on the Brother Eye satellite, since the scarab was the only thing that could see the satellite. Using the scarab's powers, Jaime was able to find the satellite and reveal it to Batman's group, enabling them to defeat it. Once Brother Eye was sent plummeting Earthward, Jaime disappeared from the ship, apparently teleported away by the scarab, which sought to escape the Green Lanterns on board.

Ongoing series

Jaime was next seen in his own ongoing monthly series, fighting off Green Lantern Guy Gardner, who had been driven to rage by his ring's reaction to the Blue Beetle scarab. A flashback expanded on Jaime's initial discovery of the scarab, revealing how the scarab bonded itself to Jaime and showing his first encounter with a metahuman. After the fight, Jaime found himself alone and naked in the middle of the desert, and had to hitch-hike home. Upon his return, Jaime discovered he had been missing for a whole year. Unlike most superheroes who keep their identities hidden from all but the closest of associates, Jaime's family and friends know Jaime is the current Blue Beetle.

He began a career as a superhero, meeting Oracle, the Phantom Stranger, and the current Peacemaker during his early adventures. He often associates himself with a group known as the Posse, a street gang of local superhumans with powers of magical origin. Blue Beetle's support team have also recently agreed to help Jaime keep track of crime and natural disasters in the Midwest via the Internet.

Contrary to Jaime's initial belief, the scarab is revealed to be a piece of extraterrestrial technology. However, magical influences involving the first contact with Earthmen left the scarab "corrupted", and unable to be controlled by the ''Reach'' of Space Sector 2. Guy Gardner returned and revealed to Jaime how the Reach and the Green Lantern Corps had battled in the past, forcing the Reach into a truce. The Reach however continued pursuing their invasion plans offering the scarab as a "protector", and then forcibly turning his host into the vanguard of their attack. This would imply that the scarab's fully functional A.I. acts as an agent for the Reach. As Jaime's scarab has only a partly functioning A.I., falling more and more into his control and forming an alliance with him, the Reach changed their agenda into feigning friendship with Jaime and the Earth, attacking him in a more subversive manner.

The Reach

The Reach are ancient enemies of the Guardians of the Universe, though their pact with the Guardians forbids them from invading any new cultures, including Earth. Jaime has recently sought help from S.T.A.R. Labs in order to find out about the scarab's full power. The Reach also appear to be enemies of the Controllers; Jaime's scarab suit is seen reacting violently to a Darkstars uniform worn by the current Manhunter Kate Spencer.

In a ''Countdown to Final Crisis'' tie-in, Jaime assists Traci Thirteen in foiling Eclipso's attempt to kidnap a baby with great magical potential and use it as a new, uncorrupted host. In the aftermath, Jaime and Traci kiss, hinting at a relationship starting between the two.

Jaime takes the fight to the Reach, using the time-warping qualities of the Bleed to attack three of their machines at once. When this fails, Jaime attacks the Reach's flagship, but the Reach use their weapons to attack Jaime's home. Jaime's emotional outburst at this attack allows the Reach to shut down the scarab and remove it from Jaime. Jaime is thrown into a holding cell while the scarab is taken for examination on the bridge. However, the scarab transfers its knowledge into Jaime before removal, allowing the young hero to break out of his cell. Meanwhile, Jaime's family, having escaped the attack, are protected from further Reach assault by Peacemaker, the Posse, Traci Thirteen, La Dama, and later, Guy Gardner, Fire, and Ice. Attacking several guards and taking their armor, Jaime heads for the engine, forcing the Reach to shut it down, revealing their ship. Once captured and brought to the bridge, Jaime shouts "Khaji Da!". He then reveals that during the time spent with him, the scarab has gained a personality of its own, and fully detached itself from the Reach hive-mind. Claiming ''Khaji Da'' (the combined utterance of ''Khaji'', the codeword for ''Infiltrator'' and ''Da'', its own serial number) as its name, the scarab has sided with Reyes against the Reach. As the battle continues, and the Reach Negotiator in retaliation for his defeat unleashes a doomsday device on Earth, Jaime and the scarab agree to sacrifice themselves to stop the superweapon from destroying Jaime's home planet. At the last moment, Booster Gold appears and saves them both. The bond with the scarab stronger than ever, Jaime is left to wonder if other scarabs will gain a personality due to ''Khaji Da'' talking to them about individuality.

Teen Titans

Jaime first teams up with the Titans in ''Teen Titans'' #50 and ''Blue Beetle'' #18, fighting Lobo, along with the group to ensure the launch of a satellite armed with anti-Reach technology. The Reach themselves apparently hire Lobo to keep their facade as benevolent protectors; however, at last, Batman and the Teen Titans believe Jaime. Although Jaime is criticized for his lack of formal training, the Titans extend an invitation to visit and perhaps at a later time join the team. The Reach later attempt to remove Jaime from the equation, combining the missing A.I. of Jaime's scarab, a new scarab, and a Sinestro Corps power ring into the Peacemaker, forcing him to cut the scarab from his spine in order to ensure that his scarab could not be used as a weapon again.

Jaime comes face to face with the Spectre, along with Luis, the man who had been responsible for Jaime's father being crippled. After a visit from his quasi-girlfriend Traci Thirteen, Jaime realizes that he cannot stop the Spectre from executing the inmates. Jaime is forced to forgive Luis and try to reason with the Spectre. Partially successful, the Spectre warns Jaime that if he ever lets the scarab kill, the Spectre will come for him.

During the "Titans of Tomorrow, Today!" arc in ''Teen Titans'', Jaime takes the Titans up on their offer to visit, only to find that an alternate future version of the Titans have attacked the Tower and managed to kidnap key members of the Justice League. He later proves instrumental in the Titans' victory against their future selves and proves himself to be a competent hero by incapacitating the Future Flash, and freeing the Justice League. He also aids the Titans in defeating Starro. During much of the conflict with the future Titans, Jaime is actively attacked by the adult version of Kid Devil, Red Devil, who claims that Jaime cannot be trusted. On the other hand, Lex Luthor describes Blue Beetle as an "unremitting nuisance" who holds on to this view of right and wrong no matter how much reality shifts and the world changes around him.

Jaime is recruited by Black Beetle (who originally identifies himself as a Blue Beetle from the future), and Dan Garrett to go into the past with Booster Gold in order to prevent Ted Kord's death. After saving Kord, and sending Jaime and Garrett back, the future is revealed to be a dystopia ruled by Maxwell Lord, who was now never exposed and defeated. Black Beetle is also revealed to be a future enemy of Jaime's, who tries to create this future so he will never have to deal with Jaime, and so he "would not lose her". In ''Booster Gold'' #10, seeing the damage that was already done by their actions, Ted decides to accept his death and returns to the past, seemingly to the exact moment where he was murdered by Maxwell Lord, returning the timeline to equilibrium and thus preventing the future they had witnessed. However, in the epilogue for ''Booster Gold'' #1.000.000, a figure with a scarab enters a Kord Industries building which contains a Bug and a picture of Kord's enemy Overthrow among other things. It is hinted by his trademark laugh "Bwa-ha-ha" that it is actually Ted, who somehow escaped death but managed to fix the timestream and return to the present.

The villain Shockwave revealed during his battle with Jaime that Kord Industries is now owned by the 100. He again came into conflict with Kid Devil, who still harbored a grudge against him because of both the future Titans incident and his status with Ravager. Jaime tries to mend fences with Kid Devil, but to no avail at first since their squabbling allowed Shockwave to escape. During their second battle with him, Kid Devil managed to tap into his demonic powers and partially melted Shockwave's armor, enabling both boys to defeat him in a concerted effort. This seems to help squelch the ill feelings between them. Then Kid Devil asks Jaime if he's heard from Ravager, and Jaime replies that he's faced down an entire alien race, but Ravager scares him. Kid Devil finally realizes that Jaime is being sincere and they shake hands and tell each other their real names. Later at Titans Tower Robin offers Jaime full-membership into the Teen Titans, to which Jaime finally feels ready to accept. Soon after when Kid Devil officially takes the new name of Red Devil, Jaime deals out some good-natured teasing about his new costume, calling him the "Crimson Jazzercizer". Red Devil chases after him, both of them with smiles on their faces.

In the aftermath of the massive ''Final Crisis'' crossover event, Kid Eternity, Static, and Aquagirl join up with the team after being rescued from the Dark Side Club. Despite some initial friction with Static, the two eventually become friends. Aquagirl begins hitting on Jaime despite knowing of his relationship with Traci, often speaking to him in Spanish in order to hide her intentions to the rest of the team. Despite feeling an attraction toward her, he chooses to remain loyal to Traci.

After Wonder Girl is kidnapped by the Fearsome Five, Beetle reluctantly allows Traci to assist the team in rescuing her. In the aftermath of the rescue mission, Red Devil is killed saving the city from a nuclear explosion, and Jaime is shown at his funeral, mourning his close friend.

When Beast Boy arrives at Titans Tower in order to take over leadership of the team, Jaime acts distrustfully of him, going so far as to accuse him of caring more about winning Raven's love than helping the team.

Series finale

A group of Reach infiltrators and a negotiator invade Jaime's school's dance. Having been inspired by the scarab to rebel against their masters, the group, calling themselves the "Kahji Dha Revolutionary Army", set out to make Earth safe by destroying all those that could pose any threat, no matter how small, to the planet. When Jaime tries to stop them, they see him as a threat, and attack. During the fight, Nadia, one of Jaime's tech support, is killed. Taking the fight into orbit, Jaime has the scarab hack into and deactivate the KDRA, unfortunately deactivating itself for 27 days in the process. The negotiator quickly recovers, and Jaime is forced to take him on a kamikaze dive onto the Earth's surface. The impact kills the negotiator and badly hurts Jaime, although the scarab put up a shield that protected him from the brunt of the impact. Over a period of weeks, Jaime and the scarab slowly recover. The scarab of the negotiator had, unbeknownst to Jaime, been recovered by Hector, Jaime's other tech support, who, as he left the country, used the negotiator's name "Djo Zha" which a stewardess confuses with "Joshua", indicating that he had bonded with it.

Further adventures

Starting in ''Booster Gold'' #21, Blue Beetle was featured as a 10-page ongoing co-feature. The stories focused on a smaller cast than the ongoing did, focusing on Jaime, Paco, and Brenda while having Jaime's family pop up on occasion. In these stories, the rebooted scarab is shown to be much more bloodthirsty than it had been in the past, constantly urging Jaime to use more lethal weaponry. In the first serial, Jaime faced off against the android daughter of an old supervillain.

Jaime then faced an attack from the Black Beetle, in the middle of a family hike. During the battle, Black Beetle claimed to be the future incarnation of Hector, wanting revenge for Nadia's death, only to immediately retract his statement, claiming to have killed Hector and taken his scarab. When Milagro was injured by Black Beetle, Jaime lost his temper, finally giving in to the scarab's suggestions of using lethal force. Jaime eventually managed to use tachyon beams to paralyze Black Beetle, only for the villain to claim that he was Jaime from the future, and that he would don the black scarab after Milagro (who would suffer brain damage from the injury she had just received in the present) destroyed the blue scarab. Jaime, deciding to get Milagro medical attention as quickly as possible, was forced to let Black Beetle escape. Before he departed, Black Beetle said to Jaime: "When you see Ted Kord, tell him I said "drop dead"". When Jaime stated that Ted was already dead, Black Beetle replied "Yeah. I know". A few days later, Milagro is shown to be recovering in the hospital, and Jaime is left deeply disturbed by his encounter.

Blue Beetle also teamed up with egotistical superhero Hardware in order to bring down a group of criminals using tech stolen from the late Edwin Alva by the second Gizmo. Despite finding Hardware extremely difficult to work with, the two took down the criminals and depart on friendly terms.

Not much later, he was visited by Skeets, Booster Gold's robotic partner, who warned him of his disappearance. Deciding to team up with the small machine to find Booster as a form of paying respect to him for introducing him to the superhero world, he reaches the house of Rose Levin and Daniel Carter, Booster's ancestors from the 21st century. However, soon after he arrives, the Black Lantern Ted Kord crashes his ship into Daniel's house, and Jaime proceeds to battle Kord. Although outmatched and insulted by the Black Lantern, Jaime keeps fighting until Booster enters the scene.

Later, both team up to destroy the Black Lantern, succeeding by blasting him with a special light gun designed by Ted Kord and separating him from the ring. Then, they seize the remains into the Time Sphere and taking the lifeless corpse to Vanishing Point Fortress, in the last second of the universe. There, Jaime promises to eventually live up to the legacy of the Blue Beetle and eventually reestablish the Blue & Gold Team.

''Justice League: Generation Lost''

Following "Blackest Night", Jaime and the other Titans travel to the city of Dakota in order to rescue Static after he is kidnapped by a metahuman gangster named Holocaust. Jaime uses the scarab to help locate Static, but he and his teammates are easily defeated during a battle by Holocaust, who is able to block a blast from Jaime's cannon and then strike him with a fire ball. The Titans are ultimately rescued when Cyborg arrives with Kid Flash and Superboy.

During the start of the ''Brightest Day'' event, Deadman has a vision of Jaime shaking hands with Maxwell Lord, who is holding a gun behind his back. Shaken by his near-death in Dakota, Jaime informs Static that he plans to briefly leave the team in order to visit his family, fearing what would happen if he were to die without saying goodbye to them. Shortly after arriving home, Jaime and his family are attacked by a squad of OMACs. With help from Booster Gold, Ice, and Captain Atom, Jaime is able to repel the OMACs, but is accidentally sucked into a teleportation rift they create. The heroes end up in Russia, where Jaime learns of Max Lord and his attempt to make the world forget he ever existed. He agrees to help the former Justice League members track Lord down and bring him to justice. After a battle with members of the Rocket Red Brigade, the heroes learn that Max Lord has been manipulating the team in hopes that they would reform Justice League International, with Jaime taking the role held years earlier by Ted Kord.

Before they can figure out their next move, the base is attacked by the Creature Commandos and during the battle Max reveals himself while posing as one of the Creature Commandos. Blue Beetle ends up unconscious and Max captures him, heading to the teleporter leaving the JLI behind. When Blue Beetle is in captivity, Max injects him with an unknown treatment. Tortured, he remember Max's existence as the man who killed Ted Kord and destroyed his legacy. Jaime eventually manages to send a signal to the rest of the JLI to lead them to Max's headquarters. He breaks out of the laboratory and attacks Max, who, having discovered the weaknesses of the Blue Scarab, knocks Jaime with an special beam, and, just as the JLI arrives, shoots Jaime in the head with a blaster, apparently killing him in the same manner as his predecessor, Ted Kord.

Max escapes from the JLI using one of his headquarters' escape pods. Failing to capture Max, the JLI carried Jaime on the land surface where paramedics Rocket Red and Skeets try to resuscitate him. However their efforts failed as Jaime had already died. As the team deals with the loss of Jaime, when suddenly Blue Beetle is sits up, his wound healed, declaring he knows what Max's ultimate plans is and that they can stop him. Jaime reveals to them that his healing scarab armor is what protected him from the gun blaster. When the battle against the new OMAC known as OMAC Prime goes nowhere, Blue Beetle attacks and OMAC Prime appears to take his power, but Blue Beetle mentioned to OMAC Prime that it cannot take control with the Scarab's power. Blue Beetle attacks and blasts the OMAC Prime.

New title

A new ''Blue Beetle'' title is set to launch in Fall 2011 after the conclusion of DC's ''Flashpoint'' event. It will be written by Tony Bedard and drawn by Ig Guara.

Powers and abilities

The Blue Beetle scarab is grafted onto Jaime's spine, and can manifest a number of powers at its own volition, an act usually accompanied by blue energy emitted by the scarab's "antennae". Over the course of the first year of his ongoing series, Jaime had little, if any, control over those powers, but slowly began to assert himself over the suit after this first year. When Jaime is in danger, the scarab activates, crawling out on to Jaime's back and generating a high-tech suit of powered armor around his body. The armor is resilient enough that it can protect Jaime against atmospheric re-entry from Earth's orbit. When the danger passes, the scarab deactivates, dissolving the costume and retracting back onto Jaime's spine, causing intense pain.

When in use, the suit can reconfigure itself to produce a wide array of armaments. Common functions include an energy cannon, a sword and shield, a grappling hook, a device resembling a communications satellite, and a set of foot-long powered blades that can shear through tree trunks. In addition, the suit can produce a set of wings for flight, which can also act as shields. Jaime alludes to weapons which may be powerful enough to harm even the Spectre, one of DC's most powerful characters, claiming that some of the weapons were of W.M.D. caliber, but Jaime's refusal to use lethal force keeps him from making use of them. The suit can adapt its technology to different situations: such adaptations include producing energy discharges from the hands that can neutralize magic, discharging Kryptonite radiation, tuning "vibrational frequencies" of extra-dimensional objects to make them visible, and other assorted functions. The suit has been observed to create armaments of different composition and style. The wings, for example, were initially composed of the same blue opaque armor of which the rest of the suit is composed, but beginning with ''Blue Beetle'' #12 (April 2007), they began manifesting themselves in the form of a colorless, translucent material. Whether this is due to changes in the suit's capabilities, Jaime's intent, or license on the part of artist Rafael Albuquerque, has not been made clear. The scarab also apparently has the ability to track anything or anyone it has previously encountered.

The scarab has at least one power it can manifest whether dormant or active; it can give Jaime a peculiar form of "sight" to perceive extra-dimensional objects, which is used to gather information on the scarabs user's adversaries. The scarab is able to communicate with him in a more comprehensible fashion if need be. The scarab's language of communication has slowly morphed into a format resembling English, claiming ''Khaji Da'' as its own name and Jaime as its first real friend. However, it has occasional relapses into its original language. The suit is capable of compensating for the digestive system of Jaime's body, so that he does not need to expel waste materials when the suit is in use, even able to make paper out of dead skin cells the suit collects.

The scarab exhibits a reluctance to harm nature, as evidenced in ''Blue Beetle'' #4, in which Jaime is attacked by a pair of anthropomorphized trees, and the suit declines to use great force against them, until Jaime convinces the scarab that his life is in danger and wrests control over the suit to destroy the trees, much to the scarab's displeasure.

When necessary, Jaime can have the Scarab take over in Infiltrator Mode. When this happens, the suit becomes taller, more muscular and grows spikes and allows the scarab to fight without Jaime's conscience as a restriction and is more brutal and violent in its attacks. However, Jaime and the scarab do not like to use it and is only done in disparate situations.

Other versions

Fatherland

An alternate version of Jaime appears in ''Justice Society of America'' #37-38 as part of the ''Fatherland'' storyline. Set twenty years in the future, Jaime has lost his powers after Captain Nazi and his fellow white supremacist villains activate their Great Darkness Engine, a device which neutralizes most of the world's metahumans and allows a Neo-Nazi regime known as the Fourth Reich to take over America. Held prisoner alongside the world's few surviving superheroes, Jaime is ultimately killed by security guards after attacking Mr. Terrific as a distraction for the other heroes in order to further their escape plans during the execution ceremony for Batman and the Joker.

DC Universe Online: Legends

In ''DC Universe Online: Legends'', Jaime was among the surviving meta humans of Earth gathered by Lex Luthor.

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the ''Flashpoint'' event, Jaime was a part of a team called the Ambush Bugs led by the Canterbury Cricket. They did an attack on the Amazons which ended in failure with the demise of every bug hero except the Canterbury Cricket.

Collected editions

The ''Blue Beetle'' series has been collected into a number of trade paperbacks:

Vol. #	Title	Collected material	Pages	ISBN
''1''	Shellshocked	''Blue Beetle'' vol. 8, #1–6	144	ISBN 1-4012-0965-3
''2''	Road Trip	''Blue Beetle'' vol. 8, #7–12	144	ISBN 978-1-4012-1361-8
''3''	Reach For The Stars	''Blue Beetle'' vol. 8, #13–19	168	ISBN 1-4012-1642-0
''4''	End Game	''Blue Beetle'' vol. 8, #20–26	176	ISBN 1-4012-1952-9
''5''	Boundaries	''Blue Beetle'' vol. 8, #29–34	144	ISBN 1-4012-2162-9
''6''	Black and Blue ''	''Blue Beetle'' vol. 8, #27–28, #35–36 ''Booster Gold'' vol. 2, #21–25, #28–29	168	ISBN 978-1-4012-2897-2

In other media

Television

Geoff Johns announced that there will be a live action TV series featuring the Jaime Reyes version of Blue Beetle.

Jaren Brandt Bartlett portrayed Jaime Reyes in "Booster", the 18th episode of the tenth season of ''Smallville''. In the episode, Jaime is portrayed as a bullied teenager from Metropolis who accidentally becomes attached to the Scarab after being present at a traffic accident involving a car that was transporting it to a Kord Industries facility. After seeking out Booster Gold in hopes that the hero could help remove the Scarab from his spine, Jaime transforms into the Blue Beetle and attacks Booster, unable to control the armor. After nearly strangling Booster to death, Jaime is able to gain control over the Scarab when Booster convinces him to stand up and assert himself over the Scarab. After Jaime reverts to his normal self, Ted Kord offers to have the Scarab removed, but Jaime tells him that he wishes to keep it and learn how to become a hero. The episode ends with Booster offering to help Jaime control his powers, with Lois Lane being convinced by Booster Gold to interview him. This version of the battle suit is rather bulky and lacks the traditional mouth seen in the comics. The name Blue Beetle was not used in the episode.

*Even though this incarnation of Jaime is shown being from Metropolis, he is seen in the episode wearing a shirt reading "El Paso", a nod to his comic book roots.

Jaime Reyes is a featured character in the animated series ''Batman: The Brave and the Bold'', in which he is voiced by Will Friedle, and the Scarab is voiced by Ioan Gruffudd. He has appeared in the episodes, "The Rise of the Blue Beetle!", "Fall of the Blue Beetle!", "Game Over for Owlman!", "Night of the Huntress!", "Revenge of the Reach!", "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure!", "Darkseid Descending!", and "Shadow of the Bat!", with a few teaser appearances in "Invasion of the Secret Santas!" and "Cry Freedom Fighters!". He has a non-speaking role in "The Fate of Equinox!", "The Power of Shazam!", "The Siege of Starro! Part One" and "The Siege of Starro! Part Two".

In this same series, Reyes also had a evil counterpart called the Scarlet Scarab (not to be confused with the Marvel comics character of the same name). The Scarlet Scarab was also voiced by Will Friedle. He wears a red version of the suit which can also talk, which was voiced by Ioan Gruffudd .

Video games

Jaime Reyes (as Blue Beetle) will be a playable character in ''Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame'', voiced by Will Friedle.

Jaime Reyes is the name of a character from the ''Deus Ex'' universe. He has no affiliation with the Blue Beetle other than sharing his name.

See also

List of Blue Beetle enemies

References

External links

DC Comics.com: Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)

DC Database Project: Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes)

DC Database Project: Khaji Da (New Earth)

Category:Fictional American people of Mexican descent Category:Fictional characters from Texas Category:Comics characters introduced in 2006 Category:DC Comics characters with superhuman strength Category:DC Comics characters with accelerated healing Category:Fictional shapeshifters Category:Characters created by Keith Giffen Category:Smallville characters it:Jaime Reyes zh:蓝甲虫 (海梅·雷耶斯)