Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Blue Beetle

Blue Beetle is comming back...pulled part of an article from Newsrama.
Had some interesting tidbits.


so it should come as no surprise that Keith Giffen will be the man tapped by DC Comics to write a new ongoing Blue Beetle series debuting in spring 2006, although there's no doubt it will come as a shock to some fans who bemoaned the passing of the last Blue Beetle that it's not going to be Ted Kord.

Kord, who had been the Blue Beetle since the '60s and was beloved by fans of Giffen's League, was killed in the final pages of DC's Countdown to Infinite Crisis in March 2005. Ted's death served as a precursor to... well... to make a long story short... really bad stuff happening throughout the DC Universe. And fans of the character abhorred his passing, as comics fans tend to do, and expected that Giffen would feel the same way.

Yet Giffen says the new Blue Beetle is no Ted Kord, and that he's the one who helped come up with the concept. The new Blue Beetle ongoing series, co-written by Giffen and John Rogers with Cully Hamner on art, will feature a whole new character donning the mantle of Blue Beetle.

Although DC and Giffen are reluctant to give details about the upcoming series, Newsarama asked Giffen to tell us more about how he got involved with the project and what his feelings are about the direction DC is taking with the mantle of Blue Beetle.

The Ted Kord version of Blue Beetle was one of my all-time favorite characters. I'm not only not excited by this, I'm disappointed as I was hoping for a miraculous return of my hero.

I'd take Dan Garrett over a new Blue Beetle.

Feh. I figured it would be Teddy too.

Well, it's the Giff, so I'll give it a chance.

who will be the artist for the Blue Beetle book? I keep thinking "how come no Blue and Gold?" Anyway, who will be the artist?

oh never mind....re-read the first post....Cully Hammer...hmmm...not sure about his art since I have his artwork on VS trading card games....not great as I would have expected. It's more like so-so. However I am willing to give it a try to see if it can grow on me, like Breach.

I'm with NC. Ted Kord was one of my favorite characters. It's funny they decide to kill the characters readers relate to the most sometimes. When there are enough characers that we can't relate too. Anyhow, the new Beetle series sounds cool but I was hoping for a Ted. I mean Hal Jordan and Ollie Queen came back...why not Ted?

I won't be picking it up personally. But if I hear great things about later on...I may give it a try.

btw, besides the Legion...in the DCU proper Firestorm and Beetle were my two favorites.

I'm going to have to give the idea of a new Beetle a big, fat, "Meh." Just because I did like Ted but I never really had an interest in the original Beetle or the scarab or... whatever.

Just not that psyched, what can I say? I am, however, interested to see the costume. And, I must admit, a little disappointed it's not a girl. I don't know why, I just thought it'd be cool if it was a chick.

I'm weird. I know.

Has anybody seen on Hamner\'s design for the new Beetle?

Sweet... I hope it translates well from panel to panel. If DCBS has #1 as one of their monthly specials, I'll check it out...

Go go Power Beetle!! I can't wait til we see Red Beetle, Gold Beetle, Pink Beetle and Green Beetle!!!

I was thinking more Heroes Reborn Iron Man rip-off with the smokestacks...

It's a bit creepy actually -- he's got a huge-ass beetle on his back!

(how soon before we see a cover of the new Beetle facing off against Booster Gold? I put it in under 4 issues...)

Was kind of hoping it was a fem too. (Would've been a nice foil for Booster Gold when they finally hook up! But then I'd imagine, if they ever "got it on", pictures of his "ol' buddy Ted" would flash through his mind. Oy!)
Wanted more of a continuation of TED KORD'S legacy, more than the scarab's. He was a REAL person with REAL attitudes, someone almost anyone could relate, too. Heck, if you remember Mark Waid's rendition of him in JLA Year One, he was a FANBOY! Trust in the Giff, I suppose...

I just hope he and the bug on his back don't bicker all the time (hmm, on second thought...)

Newsarama just published some model sheets for the new Beetle submitted by the artist Cully Hamner.

He looks like a rip-off of Marvel's Beetle (now Mach-whatever of the Thunderbolts), a Spider-Man/Daredevil villain.

Sometimes I just have to slap my forehead when I see things like that. I bet this book will be just as memorable as er, "Fate" for instance. That one from right after Zero Hour.

A really well liked hero who thrived in supporting roles had to get killed off in favor of a series no one was crying out for and which if it runs two years I'll be astonished, assuming Giffen doesn't fall out of favor again in half that amount of time.

You know the initial colored pic looked interesting. Now that I actually see more of the costume...doesn't look as interesting.

Really frustrates me. I loved Beetle...Ted Kord.

Those sheets had me thinking that Leifield was redesigning Spiderman.

Bring back Ted Kord!

You logged in with the wrong ID, I think

They're family. Chuck's channeling.

That's what I get for posting while while talking with my granddaughter.

I wonder how long it will be before some budding entrepeneur copies the design of his back pack and they're in the shops - they'll look lovely in torquoise fake fur

I think I've seen ladybug backpacks. Maybe his teen girl sidekick can wear one...

Not looking forward to the new Beetle. I think it stinks that they killed off Ted to pave the way for this.

Not wasting my money.