Blue Beetle #1

Here we go, with the first issue dedicated to one of my least favorite Golden Age characters. As few comic books were doing at the time, this issue really spreads out the panels, with a rare splash page opening. I won't bother sharing it, as the only thing I would point out from it is that it mentions Blue Beetle is wanted by the police. Now, realistically, it makes sense that all vigilantes would be wanted by the police, but this only ever gets stressed for mysterymen.

I have to say, I like this opening shot, and it makes sense that I would as comics.org tells me that the art chores here are the superior work of Will Eisner (layouts) and Charles Nicholas (finishing art). The city is not named, but from the look of it, it is almost surely New York City.

Note the very specific date of Dan's birth, as we don't often have birth dates for superheroes. Hopefully the doctor is entering with the baby from an interior door, as it otherwise appears that Dan was simply dropped off by the doctor. It does seem odd to me that Dan is a "sturdy boy" already by age 3. Did they not use the term "toddler" back in the 1940?

If the opening takes place in New York City, then this is State University of New York, up in Buffalo. From the first few pages (most of which we'll skip), it would seem this is a sports genre story, as we see Dan overcome the stigma of getting to college thanks to his intelligence (sigh) and excel at more manly diversions like football, boxing, and hockey.

Nick Collins never figures into Dan's story again after this moment.

Again, if Dan's university is in Buffalo, it explains why it took him so long to come home. Mike Mannigan figures prominently in all future Blue Beetle stories. We don't learn his specific age, but we learn here how long he had been a cop, so he must be at least 43.

I'm not sure police chiefs keep letters under lock and key like that...

In perhaps the earliest retcon in comic book history, Blue Beetle is shown here wearing the outfit he would not adopt until later on his very first outing. There is no explanation for why he chose to wear chainmail as a costume.

The panel layout is a bit confusing here at the top of the page, but the hoodlum gets BB in a hold, then BB reverses it into a flip. That doesn't do enough damage to take the hoodlum down, so BB is distracted with fisticuffs. Sure, it would make more sense to stop "Chick" (such a terrible name for a villain) from escaping, but BB needs to make a save vs. plot to deal with a villain before his henchmen have been dispatched.

A "powerful" touring car probably means this is a trophy item -- something along the lines of a Car +1, or a car with one of the bonus features listed for transport trophies in the Basic rulebook.

It is super-unclear how BB managed to get into the back seat of the car, or how he managed to throw a beetle onto the windshield from the backseat (maybe they are sticky and he tossed it onto the inside of the windshield?). The point is that BB has to have someone see his beetle symbol first before he gets his signature move bonus against them (see the Mysteryman character class).

This is the only original story in the comic; the rest are all reprints of Blue Beetle or Yarko the Great that I have covered before.

(Scans courtesy of Digital Comic Museum.)