“Yesterday’s” Comic> Blue Beetle #59

Dan’s side gig as a home renovator did not work out very well.

Blue Beetle #59

Fox Feature Syndicate (June, 1950)

The penultimate issue in this run. It’s too bad because since the comic’s return it’s been more like what I was hoping for when Fox regained the license last time. Not perfect, but the doc is back (with the wrong name but Kranz is meant to be our long missing pal Dr Franz, who gave Dan his superstrength), Dan’s powers aren’t all over the place, and the trio is still together. No Sparky/Spunky. No “true crime” segment. And no Otis, which means the stories were fair to actually good. I’m all for that. Let’s see if this issue continued that trend.

[Read along with me here]

Murder In The Ring

A boxer is threatened with murder if he doesn’t throw the fight. He doesn’t listen and the murderer follows through. Now Dan needs to figure out how the fighter died before the next threatened boxer meets a similar fate. This is actually a pretty decent mystery for the panel space. They might have had more time if they didn’t stop the story so Blue Beetle could stop a bunch of dairy company thieves with some questionable science and time, but since it’s actually Dan the police man who saves the day on the big case they had to get Blue Beetle in there somewhere. There’s also a panel where Dan and Mike’s dialog gets switched based on where the word balloon points, but Mike does have his accent properly depicted. I can hear the radio show actor’s voice when he speaks. And Dr. Kranz ends up inadvertently providing the clue Dan needs. This was a rather good story.

Joan Mason: Reporter> “Reproduction Of Terror”

A good Blue Beetle story AND a Joan Mason solo adventure? You lovely little 1950s short revival. Although, Mike is there to do the fighting. Too bad her companion (I forget his name) from previous solo tales wasn’t here. Someone murdered an artist, then came for Joan’s photographer friend, then came for her. It’s all part of his egomania and it’s a good story overall. Mike gets to be competent, but for someone who’s supposed to be Dan’s friend he’s sure doing a lot of trash talking about him as a rookie who keeps seeing crimes everywhere. (Ignoring he’s usually right, like in the last story.)

The Perils Of The Blue Beetle

A producer thinks the rescues in their Blue Beetle documentary look fake, so sets up fake rescues for the Blue Beetle to solve..for real. Hollywood, ladies and gentleman! This story makes some odd mistakes. Blue Beetle can fly again and has X-Ray vision, which are not his powers and I’m not sure the writer knew how X-Rays work. They also expect me to believe their actress is so much like Joan Mason that she fools Dan and Mike despite knowing nothing about the boys, and that she’s easily fooled into believing the director isn’t putting her in danger for the movie. He’s not a villain so much as a jerk, which was different. And Dan gets to save the day again as Dan, which is what foils the whole plan. Not perfect, but somehow still enjoyable.

overall

There are flaws. Blue Beetle swiping Superman’s powers in the final story. Mike back to going after Blue Beetle and now taunting Dan for being a rookie who sees crime everywhere. Dr. Franz having the wrong name. On the other hand the stories are actually good even when the premise is weak, Joan gets her own tale again, Mike has a better written version of his Irish accent, Dan’s pretty good at hiding his identity as the Blue Beetle, and at least the doc is here. This is what I wanted to see back in this comic. Too bad the next issue is the last one of this stage of Dan’s life. We’ll see that next time.