Apparently they predicted Bob Iger.
Blue Beetle volume 2 #3
Charlton Comics Group (November, 1964)
“Mister Thunderbolt And The Superstar”
No credits listed, but Comic Book Plus managed to find the art team, maybe. At any rate, the bonus story is about a game hunter in Africa who doesn’t kill young animals or allow his client to trap and kill a defenseless panther. Some woman in the part convinces him to join the animal conservatory. That’s as best as I could follow, and it’s not like the main story is any less lacking.
Mr. Thunderbolt is an alien from planet Uxer who wants to destroy a new high-speed planed dubbed Superstar. Somehow, Blue Beetle knows he’s going to be there and that he’s an alien, despite being rich enough that the pilot doesn’t have him arrested on Dan’s say so. They do lightning-proof the plane with a plan to channel and expel lighting’s electricity like a flying lightning rod. Thunderbolt also tries to destroy all the cities the plan can travel to next on their maiden flight, but Blue Beetle manages to catch up with him in Tokyo. Aware of Dan being the Beetle, Thunderbolt sends agents to assassinate him and steal the magic scarab, depicted as a being a ring in this story, but that all fails. Unaware of the lightning proofing on the plane, Mr. Thunderbolt forces the plane to take off, determined to still destroy it, but of course that fails because he’s stuck on a theme. Blue Beetle stops him and takes him back to Uxer, as a warning to the other evil forces on that world.
Okay, what the hell is this story?
First off, we start in medias res during Mr. Thunderbolt’s first attempt just as Blue Beetle blocks the lightning with his body. We get no explanation for how Dan knows about Uxer or that Mr. Thunderbolt, supposedly a very rich man on Earth, is an alien. This just seems to be an excuse to get him on the maiden voyage, while Dan is invited. Apparently the pilot doesn’t know why he was invited, which is another reason he doesn’t have the villain arrested. There’s also a moment where the guards shoot at Blue Beetle, so I guess he’s not famous yet, despite Dan claiming it was Blue Beetle by name as their savior from the lightning. Later, American military fighter planes do the same thing. Is one of them this continuity’s Mike Mannigan?
Also, if Dan has his powers even when the ring is removed and he’s not in his Blue Beetle outfit, why does he need the ring? Is there a time limit? Does the scarab do anything now or does he just have the magic powers? Apparently he’s as strong as Superman and can fly to other planets like Superman. Are they trying to make Dan Garrett, who appear to also be rich himself and an engineering expert on top of being an archaeologist who specializes in Egyptology, into Superman? It’s only the third issue and they’re somehow making about as much sense as the Holyoke run when it comes to Dan’s powers as the Blue Beetle.
If you can’t tell, I not into this comic thus far. I’m hoping things get better because I still want to see this through to Ted Kord, since chronicling the pre-DC stories of the Blue Beetle was the whole point of starting this back when the Jaime Reyes movie came out. We’ll see where this goes…but can we get an actual letterer instead of someone on a typewriter? I tried that in a comic once and it didn’t look very good, and it still doesn’t here. Well, I chose this ride. Let’s see where it takes us.
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