All those kids who didn’t get to travel with the Blue Beetle form a…”group”.
The Blue Beetle #47
Fox Features Syndicate (August, 1947)
Three stories and a text story. We’re getting closer to what we modern comic readers are used to, but you still don’t have a long enough credits list that I don’t need this, and it’s still an anthology. Also, it continues to lose steam with me. I’m used to “Otis” not being very good but nobody seems to care about any form of consistency, not only with the original run but even itself.
Remember, this was a story about a rookie patrolman who gained superstrength, the occasional gadget, and bulletproof chain mail armor thanks to a druggist at a time when they ran the pharmacy on their own. Dr. Franz has long since disappeared from this story and now Dan for some reason has all sorts of superpowers. Now he flies, seems to be transforming into the Blue Beetle, makes his symbol appear wherever he wants…I’m starting to see why the next owners of the character just invented a magic scarab.
The Blue Beetle Meets The Junior Crime Club by Otis
Here’s a good example of what I was just talking about. Danny has a young friend named Billy who wants to join the police force when he grows up, but he’s also part of a gang of kids doing petty crimes. A crook named Palsy Martin convinces them to do bigger crimes, but an old woman dies chasing Billy down the stairs when he tries to steal her jewelry. He finally confesses to the Blue Beetle, who beats the crook up. Martin confesses to everything and Billy is off the hook, still having a chance to follow his dream while his parents finally wake up to being bad parents. Quickly wrapped up ending, but did Blue Beetle fake NOT being bulletproof just to catch the crooks off guard while they were preparing a cement coffin or did Otis forget he IS bulletproof? If Billy wants to be a cop, why is he involved with shoplifting and using his dad’s fake gun? Mike is on the Beetle’s side again? When did Dan and Joan start actually dating, which is confirmed in the next story? There is just so much wrong with this story.
The Mechanical Monster Of Death by Otis
A scientist builds an android to take over the country. With one android. Okay. Not that it matters. His wife (who we’re told was smuggled in from another country, not that it matters to the story) kills him and takes over the robot because now SHE wants to take over the country, and has the robot kidnap Joan, believing it will stop the Blue Beetle. It doesn’t and he manages to find the robot’s home. The girl gets mad at the robot and throws acid at it, so the robot kills her and decides HE’LL take over the world now. Then Blue Beetle destroys the robot. Had this just been a robot that was going to be used to commit crimes instead of the sole weapon of conquering the country it might have been more believable, but it just breaks down as the robot kills a senator, Joan’s night editor, and then the evil lady. At least Beetle stops him from killing the mayor. This story was not well thought out.
Joan Mason: Reporter> “Horror Island”
Joan gets her pilot’s license, then she (and the reader) wait for some big story to break. She finally gets one when a scientist and his pirate crew use a submersible “island” and a device to bring down planes. This was interesting, at least compared to the other two, but it does wrap up a bit fast. Joan does something stupid…kind of like a different Daily Planet reporter I could mention, but still manages to both get caught and save the day. It’s the best story in this issue…which really isn’t saying much and it still isn’t that great.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I wouldn’t go so far as calling this trash but it was actually better in the early years than it is now. Giving Joan her own section is the only praiseworthy thing in this second Fox run outside of getting rid of Holyoke’s changes. It’s a shame because I was looking forward to Fox getting the series back, only to be making better stories when they were going broke.
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