“Yesterday’s” Comic> Blue Beetle #3 (1967)

Artist’s rendition of DC’s IP raiders.

Blue Beetle #3

Charlton Comics Group (October, 1967)

PLOT/ARTIST: Steve Ditko

SCRIPT: D.C. Glanzman

Blue Beetle: “The Madmen”

LETTERER: Bob Agnew

The Question: 

no letterer credit but it looks like the same typewriter…I mean A. Machine

[read along with me here]

The former Fleeter gang has taken up a new gimmick as the Madmen. While attempting to stop them from robbing a bank, Blue Beetle loses his special gun, and the Madmen grab it. With nobody knowing what it does, they use it to commit more robberies. Eventually, our hero manages to recover his gun…a flash gun that blinds people, which he was convinced nobody would believe. What’s even more unbelievable? People are seeing Dan Garrett walking around alive!

What they got right: This is the Madmen’s first appearance and they’ve become part of Ted’s rogues gallery. They’re actually pretty clever in their escape attempts, so while Ted’s losing, he doesn’t come off as a total chump. The mystery of Dan’s disappearance now becomes a mystery of his return, and hopefully that won’t play out its welcome.

What they got wrong: I know Ditko comes from Marvel, but did he have to bring Marvel citizen stupidity to Hub City? They’re acting like Blue Beetle is a villain for losing his gun and overreacting, only to immediately shift gears once BB has it back. What does this do for the story? Waste panel time that could be better spent on the Madmen plot and Dan subplot.

In the Question’s adventure, someone is murdering the owners of a construction company that Vic is already investigating for cutting corners. The weapon of choice is drowning them via his special diving suit. The Question manages to save one of them, but another is attacked. Finding the man responsible for making the suit, the Question discovers which of the partners is guilty. I won’t spoil it for you, since I linked to the public domain comic.

The story works well enough for the back-up page count, but I still want to see what they do with a full comic. Maybe those bits of Vic annoying his co-workers because he won’t kiss their butts would actually go somewhere. Like the hate against Blue Beetle in the main story, it takes time better spent elsewhere.

What I think overall: The stories are good, but Ditko and Glanzman need to drop the unnecessary distractions and just focus on the story at hand.