Mystery Men Comics #1 (1939)
by Charles Wojtkoski
The original Blue Beetle is the first character from Fox Features Syndicate, who will eventually be bought by DC Comics and retroactively added to their universe.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that I’m covering him just now: he debuts the same year as Batman and the Human Torch.
This is a 4 page story (!!!) so we don’t waste any time to introduce Dan Garret, badass policeman.
Who could also be the most chilled man ever to get shot.
The man thrown out of the car is a banker, and the criminals have his daughter and his secretary hostage.
1939 cops were pretty casual about tampering with evidence.
So what kind of policeman is Dan Garret? Does he go on patrol, or is he a detective, or is he a forensics expert?
Yes.
Meanwhile, the banker’s daughter is being tortured by… a candle, apparently.
One of the kidnappers is then scared by A blue beetle… (???)
…then by THE Blue Beetle.
If you thought the Crimson Avenger was shamelessly ripping off the Green Hornet… well you’d be right, but Blue Beetle is even MORE shameless!!!
Not only the insect theme is the same, not only the look is extremely close, but he ALSO copies the “pretending to be a criminal” gimmick!
The gang checks with their leader if they can trust Blue Beetle, and he agrees.
So… does their leader also know the combination? Or did they already get it from the daughter?
Because either way, accepting Blue Beetle’s offer would make no sense whatsoever.
Spoiler alert: it won’t.
Why would they ever “leave him alone for a moment”!?!?
The criminals then try to rob the bank with the combination he gave them, and it doesn’t work.
I know we only have 4 pages to work with, but this has to be one of the most underwhelming action scenes I have ever seen.
Turns out the person behind it all was the banker’s secretary, which… okay we don’t have a lot to work with here, but does this really make sense?
Why would the banker’s daughter know the combination of the vault? Wouldn’t it make more sense if the secretary knew? And why kill the banker instead of threatening to hurt his daughter if he didn’t give them the combination!?
The final twist is that the reason why the gang’s leader vouched for Blue Beetle was that one of Garret’s friends tipped him the same fake combination.
Which also makes NO SENSE: if this confirmed the combination was real… why would they ever agree to give Blue Beetle 40% of the profits for providing information THEY ALREADY KNEW!?
Also: this random guy who evidently must know Blue Beetle’s secret identity never makes another appearance.
And that’s already the end.
Historical significance: 4/10
How the heck did THIS guy manage to get a legacy lasting 85 years???
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Nothing happens anyway.
Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
A bland character shamelessly ripping off an existing one, bland pencils even for the times, and a story that makes little to no sense.
How close is this to the modern character? What modern character?
I guess he was too much of a Green Hornet ripoff, because already in his second story he’s given a proper costume.
It’s still a work in progress: he doesn’t get his classic costume until issue 4.
He also gained SOME superpowers through the use of “Vitamin 2-X”, enhancing his strength. I couldn’t find exactly WHEN he started using this; I did find this image, but couldn’t pinpoint when Blue Beetle began using the stuff.
Despite apparently getting little no publicity (he doesn’t even get the cover until Mystery Men Comics #7), he gets his own series by December 1939.
To give you an idea of how big a deal this is: Blue Beetle is only the SECOND superhero to get his own series, after Superman!!! Batman had to wait until a few months later.
The series lasted until 1950 (!!!) with 60 issues, but with one of the weirdest publication schedules ever.
Issues #12 to #30 were not published by Fox Features Syndicate but by a whole different company (Holyoke Publishing) and most bizarrely there was no #43: the title went directly from Blue Beetle #42 to Blue Beetle #44.
Plus it went for several months without publishing anything, especially between 1947 and 1948.
He also had his own radio show (!!!) that lasted from May 1940 to September of the same year.
As if THAT wasn’t enough: he also had a newspaper strip, which features some early Jack Kirby artwork (under pseudonym).
The story of the original Blue Beetle’s publishing doesn’t stop being weird: the rights were eventually bought by Charlton Comics, and his last appearance is in the extremely random Nature Boy #6.
(that is an early John Buscema cover)
Charlton will completely reboot him in 1964, with a different origin story and a slightly different name: that version is archeologist Dan Garrett, not to be confused with the original policeman Dan Garret.
I can understand the change in profession, but why just add one T to the name?
But that’s a story for another time: being essentially a completely different character, I will cover the 1964 Blue Beetle separately.
That version is the one with a true legacy: he occasionally makes appearances thanks to the popularity of his successors, the Ted Kord version (debuting in 1966) and Jaime Reyes (debuting in 2006).
The guy on the cover is NOT Blue Beetle: that’s the Green Mask.
His run on the series lasts until #31, but unlike Blue Beetle he wasn’t acquired by any other publishing company and died with Fox Features Syndicate.
There are also the obligatory Flash Gordon, Fu Manchu and Mandrake ripoffs (the latter with George Tuska pencils!) …
…and other pretty random stories.
Blue Beetle is actually the LAST story published in Mystery Men Comics #1. I’m pretty sure all the other characters are in the public domain now.
“I’m pretty sure all the other characters are in the public domain now.”
Oh boy! That means I can start making my very own Inspector Bancroft of Scotland Yard comics! I can’t wait!
I can’t wait for a Wing Turner, Air Detective revival.