CBR Animal Man 3

 

And finally, time for the third and final book of Grant Morrison's Animal Man!
It's all coming down to this conclusion, what is going to happen to Buddy? What are the strange shadows lurking around that he's been seeing since the beginning of the story? And what is beyond the gutters of these panels?!

Don't miss out my previous Animal Man-related reviews!

Animal Man

Animal Man vol. 2: Origin of the Species

Countdown to Adventure

Rann/Thanagar: Holy War

Untold Tales of Blackest Night

Comic title: Animal Man: Deus Ex Machina 
Art by Chas Truog, Paris Cullins, Dough Hazlewood, Steve Montano and Mark Farmer
Cover Art by Brian Bolland
Story by Grant Morrison
Published by DC/Vertigo Comics

From 1990, 2003
Lineup Animal Man
Format: Trade paperback, collecting Animal Man issues #18-26.

This is it, guys!
The final volume of Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man!

For these last adventures, Morrison brings our hero Buddy Baker closer to the truth, in closing tales spiraling outta the comic book panels!

While the first volume was mostly an introduction to our cast of characters, who was Animal Man, his status quo, etc. Volume 2 was then a slow decent into the weird, often alternating traditional superhero stories with exploration of the medium.
This one is clearly the climax of the series, so be sure to check those out first!

Warning! Spoilers ahead!

Behind the curtains...

Our "minor" superhero Animal Man his visited by Professor James Highwater, a theoretical physicist who, like Buddy, has been seeing lately strange hints about what is hiding being "reality".
They both take a little trip to a Navajo reservation for some revelations through hallucinations which takes them near the bottom of the comic book pages.
Buddy finally understands his ties to the morphogenetic field. He was reconstructed by those aliens after the accident with the alien spaceship blew up in his face. Now tied to this field where all molecules originate from, he does not need to be near animals to access their abilities. He is simply always connected to life's essence 24/7.

But that is far from the being the last of his revelations. In a sort of out-of-body experience, he also meets the original pre-CRISIS Animal Man. And starts to grasp at the fact he only seems to be a fictional character... while he sees the reader for just a second.

Back in black!

Was all that just part of the hallucinations?

Anyway, still partly shocked from these, our environmentalist hero is met with horror at home.
His wife Ellen and their children Maxine and Cliff are found dead in the kitchen!

The Bakers have been under the surveillance of a mysterious figure as of late appearing around randomly. He's done his best to protect his family from the weirdness of his life...but that wasn't enough.
And it appears his family has been assassinated not by a supervillain but a common ordinary hired killer.
Mirror Master call Buddy and tells him it was simple businessmen who couldn't stand his activism in the way. He comes up with names and our hero dons a new darker costume and hunts down those people responsible for the murder one by one.

But in the end, after having make them pay, he is no happier...
So in true-comic book fashion, our sad deconstructed hero comes up with a new plan! He will travel through time and save them before it's too late!
After getting a time machine from "Time Master" Rip Hunter - whom he doesn't remember ever meeting, though it did happen before the CRISIS - the machine malfunctions and sends him through the run of this series.
Buddy is revealed to be the mysterious figure we've met 14 issues earlier.
He tries to warn his family, but can't communicate with them... Until his sent back to his childhood and then ends up in the 1960s and meets other DC characters Phantom Stranger, Jason Blood (Etrigan, the Demon), The Immortal Man & Vandal Savage.

Deconstruction of a medium...

Buddy ends up in comic book limbo for having gotten the series out of the rails.
There he meets various characters that aren't being used in books actually.
Various characters erased from the timeline.
In comic book limbo he is greeted by forgotten characters that aren't actually been doing a thing lately before Buddy brought them on the pages. Including Merryman of the Inferior Five.
Buddy discovers he had actually been there himself until he was brought back for Morrison's series. Though he has no memories of it obviously, "it" being something abstract.
Characters and other incarnations end up there when editors write them out of comics.
(Various characters have actually been brought back since then, such as Max Mercury, Mister Freeze,..)

Buddy ends up in Scotland, to meet his current creator.
He discovers the man responsible for everything that has happened to him recently his a writer, Grant Morrison.

Deus Ex Machina

Our 4-toned colored character meets Morrison in a final issue, the culmination of 2 years-worth of plot and storylines.
The series wraps up in this gray-ysh, colorless representation of the reality. After all, this isn't Morrison himself but a representation, an avatar of his voice.
While Buddy battles some random characters for our entertainment in the background, Grant Morrison wraps up the themes. This has been a series about defenseless victims actually. Be it animal rights, animal testing, the difficulty Cliff was living through at school, the near-rape Ellen almost suffered through...

And these "god-like" super beings, the comic book characters are just as defenseless in the hands of the creative teams. They're used for the enjoyment of the readers, tarnished. They live in a simplified version of our world, an exaggeration of it with capacity for good and bad just the same. The books have been turning grim and gritty, darker, more violent for the entertainment of a modern audience.

Grant explains how Buddy might as well start eating meat soon, he was made a vegan because Morrison himself was and projected it into his character. Buddy doesn't have a thing to say.
He was but one writer amongst many (thus explained his "different voice" on the pages of the JLI).
Grant thanks the editor, the art team, the faithful readers and asks us to excuse his sometimes-preachy tone.
And while this cynical fictional Grant Morrison bids farewell to us, some "good" closes the book.

“Deus Ex Machina”
Which is a writing device, literally the gods coming down from above and providing a happy ending at the closing of a story, Morrison is wise enough to reward our character/the readers with his family back. Was it all a dream....?

Overall, one of Grant Morrison's definitive most important oeuvres.
The series would continue long after Morrison's run, of course.
But it still is one of DC's most important and significant books. The series also helped launch and develop the Vertigo Comics in-print. Animal Man would be published as issues under that label much later, but the trade paperbacks would start under that brand as early as the '91. Vertigo started as a branch for more mature proprieties before evolving into today's "creators owned-characters" only in-print.

Animal Man helped thin the walls between creator and creation, thus bringing characters and readers closer as well.
It made Buddy Baker an identifiable likable character. Buddy always did the best he could, even without always understanding exactly was was going on. Like us in today's world.
Only, he was able to glance at that mysterious ominous "one" pulling the strings.

While the first volume contains more "classic" modern-day super hero adventures, the second volume started to take some political questions. About animal rights, cruelty to animals, the way people threat defenseless animals.
Finally, this third volume is the more metafictional/existential one. In which the medium is fully explored and toyed with.


The point in which Psycho-Pirate starts remembering the CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS is only the beginning in which the crazy villain brings back the allusions to multiple Earths from his memory (which allow fictional characters from erased stories to come back, like Ultraman).

Buddy is just a character in a book, but never before as one acted like an actual living and breathing real person.

I give it:

  3 / 3 Plastic-trophies!

CBR:Quickies Blue Beetle

I already reviewed his Secret Origin, now's the time to look into the Blue Beetle!Ted Kord's own on-going series from back in the late 80s!

Ted Kord always wanted something more out of his life.
Ted inherited the R&D Company KORD Inc. from his father, who preferred to retire to explore the world on a walkabout.

During his last year at the University of Chicago, Ted discovered his uncle Jarvis was actually redirecting some resources of the company to build dangerous machines and experiments on a private island. Ted brought this to the attention of his archeology teacher Dan Garrett...who turned out to actually be the masked vigilante Blue Beetle.
Jarvis was actually one of his villains.
Things turned out badly on Pago Island, Dan died...not before asking for Ted to carry on.

Ted promised continue fighting for what Dan stood for. He re-purposed the tech developed by Jarvis Kord into various gadgets, a flying hovercraft called The Bug and an arsenal to make a true Blue Beetle out of him, even powerless unlike Dan.
His dream to offer more to the world was his change to be a hero for real.

The Blue Beetle character is actually one of the oldest superheroes out there. He was created in the late 30s, around the same time of Batman or Superman actually.
Originally a masked man similar to the Green Hornet, he was then redesigned and reimagined several times at Fox Comics since his first appearance in 1939.
He was later acquired by Charlton Comics, alongside various other more successful attempts, which didn't rival DC or Marvel Comics, but almost.
It was Spider-Man's own co-creator Steve Ditko that later on modernized the concept with the introduction of Ted Kord, created the new design and was behind his first series. This Blue Beetle II really was a sort of Spider-man-like character, even Ted was introduced as a sort of Peter Park.
During the mid-80s, DC acquired Charlton's wide catalog of superheroes, and offered us this following series...

Comic title: Blue Beetle #1
Written by Len Wein
Art by Paris Cullins & Bruce D. Patterson
Format: Single issue

The Blue Beetle is finally back!
After a little retirement following some early adventures, Ted Kord is finally back under the Beetle's guise!

In this first issue, we find Ted trying to help out people during a fire when he's suddenly attacked by a terrorist, Firefist.
The following day, after a brief recap of how he came to live this "mystery man"-life, Ted goes to his daily duties back at Kord Omniversal Research and Development, a division of Kord Inc..
There we met his friends and scientist associates, Jeremiah Duncan and Melody Case. When Ted inherited his family's company he kept his old man's best friend around, Jeremiah. And his thing going on with Melody certainly helped keep her around too.
After accepting a job for S.T.A.R. Labs Ted ends up running into Firefist for another round!

Overall: What an opening!
The series starts out quickly, thankfully not wasting pages on yet another superhero origin story.
It is a direct continuation of Secret Origins to be precise.
The situation is quickly set up, the characters introduced, not yet defined enough for later development.
Ted Kord inherited his fortune and tech from his family, and the superhero duty from his late friend Dr. Dan Garrett. The tech he's been developing against his will and knowledge for his "evil" Uncle Jarvis - an old Blue Beetle villain, is being turned and redirected for good as Ted is a more gadget-y costumed vigilante than the magical Beetle Dan was.

I give this one a: 3 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #2
Written by Len Wein

Art by Paris Cullins & Bruce D. Patterson

Format: Single issue

And the adventures of Blue Beetle begins!~
In this issue we get some introduction to the cast of the book as well as a conclusion to last ish' Firefist's dilemma.

Ted's friend Murray Takamoto, head of Chicago's STAR Labs division hires Kord Inc. to work on some new dangerous material, called promethium.
Meanwhile Kord's very own secretary, Angie, has been stealing some scientific material from the office for her mysterious uncle.
That is when Blue Beetle is able to find out Firefist burning yet another building...

Overall: So it begins!
The series is very much built like old school super hero drama. No deep self-analysis like in its contemporary comics from the 80s. No metaphorical comparisons or mature subjects treated here. Just plain old fun super heroic action.
A hero against his own villain-of-the-week.
The book opened with this new fire-themed villain who gets confronted and defeated (?) in this second issue. Some exposition regarding his past, some resolution in the plot - and onto the next adventure!

I give this one a: 2 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #3
Written by Len Wein

Art by Paris Cullins & Bruce D. Patterson

Format: Single issue

While patrolling the city in his Bug, Blue Beetle catches some people harassing his ol' pal Jeremiah.
After that, an attack occurs at Kord Inc. The Madmen, a bunch of colored, crazy costumed super villains, are let lose in the building and start wrecking havoc....only to provide enough distraction for someone else to steal the promethium from the labs!
Meanwhile, Lt. Maxwell Fisher from the Chicago Police Department is starting to ask questions around, investigating th death of Dan Garrett.

Overall: a great issue, fast paced, with lots of plots and sub-plots happening all at the same time!
The book is only at its 3rd issue and it the series already found its rhythm and pacing.
The art is fun and dynamic (though I guess the chara design takes some getting used to) and the writing is great!
Also, love the Madmen, though they stay pretty mysterious in their first DC Comics appearance...

I give this one a: 2.5 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #4
Written by Len Wein

Art by Paris Cullins & Bruce D. Patterson

Format: Single issue

Doctor Alchemy, a Barry Allen!The Flash villain, steals the promethium from Kord Inc.!
Lt. Fisher thinks Ted Kord is hiding some facts regarding Garrett's death...but telling the truth would expose him and his mentor as both Blue Beetles!

Meanwhile, back on Pago Island, where Dan met his faith, Conrad Carapax a rival archaeologist, is trying to understand what was so important on that place that Dan had to risk his life over it...but something, deep beneath the island is slowly awakening...

Overall: another villain, another epic confrontation!
The use of an old forgotten, and underused Flash villain is a nice touch. This series will provide a nice mix of new original villains, old Blue Beetle ones and as this is "The Blue Beetle" in the DCU, some guest appearances by other heroes' foes too.
The episodes seem to always end on interesting cliffhangers, and this issue gets it perfectly right!

I give this one a: 2.5 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #5
Written by Len Wein

Art by Paris Cullins & Bruce D. Patterson

Format: Single issue

As the cover implies, this is the Blue Beetle/The Question confrontation fans of Charlton Comics have all been dreaming of!

In this issue we start off with Vic Sage aka The Question himself working on a case for World-Wide Broadcasting. Lately, he's been investigating the return of Blue Beetle who's been making several loud appearances all over the city.
Meanwhile Beetle is working on a case of his own, turf wars have been happening across town. Someone's been unifying several gangs under the same banner and the old mob family's not happy about it...

Overall: Ted's still trying to make peace with his old departed mentor. He's been trying to improve his Beetle tech and pro-action, to make the original BB proud.
This long awaited confrontation...is quickly defused. Both our heroes avoid the usual cliché hero-against-hero first meeting. They both see much better chance of success by joining forces.
It's a fun issue, well deserved spotlight to the Question who gets properly introduced, his personality, as Vic Sage and his vigilante persona as well.
Great classic art worth mentioning too! I always enjoy Cullins' pencils, but he took specially great care in having an intriguing and pulp-ysh Question in this issue.

I give this one a: 3 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #6
Written by Len Wein

Art by Paris Cullins & Bruce D. Patterson

Format: Single issue

The "King of Crime" Don Vincent Perignon is not happy. Someone's been preparing a deadly alliance of the different Chicago gangs to attack him. A good thing, for his son at least who never wanted to inherit this family tradition.
Several layers of plots are slowly moving forward, Lt. Fisher's getting closer, Conrad is now trying to open up a cave under Pago Island where he thought hearing some sounds and Angie's still stealing stuff at Kord's.
Beetle and The Question arrive in the middle of a villain meeting where The Muse's been trying to group all the crime under one grasp...

Overall: Beetle finally has the occasion to show off his own gadgets and The Bug around, with a guest character alongside!
We finally get to see how fun a character BB really is, he tags along other characters quite easily. Ted's a great positive hero, his persona clicks quickly with partners. (hints of what would come with Booster years later?)

I give this one a: 2.5 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #7
Written by Len Wein

Art by Paris Cullins & Bruce D. Patterson

Format: Single issue

The conclusion of the "Gang War" storyline!
And what a shocker it is!
The Muse might look ridiculous with his silly colored costume, but he's still a dangerous threat nonetheless.
The war errupts amongst the criminals and the mob!
Will Ted and his newfound ally The Question be able to stop the madness??

Overall: A well thought and written ending to this storyline.
The ending reaches an epic climax amongst the chaos of this "war". A very strong and powerful conclusion.
Who would have knew such a light and fun book could have such intense stories?
Meanwhile, some secondary plots reach their own run in the background...

I give this one a: 2.5 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #8
Written by Len Wein

Art by Paris Cullins & Bruce D. Patterson

Format: Single issue

Ted's not the main character nor focus in this issue!
Instead, we are introduced and following this Ed Buckley guy.
It is his birthday, the "first day of his brand new life". Eddie's gonna find a new job at Kord Inc. and left his criminal past behind (he was in prison)...
But there's no more jobs available anymore...
One of his former pals and "colleague" tells him about that villain Calculator hiring some hands for a job...

Overall: Lemme just say it right away, I loved this issue!
Such an original and interesting plot for a superhero book! Finally, henchmen get their own swan song in this strangely realistic and serious take on what behind a thug for a supervillain would look like.
Poor Ed :(
This is a standalone issue, a must read!!

I give this one a: 3 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #9
Written by Len Wein

Art by Paris Cullins &Dell Barras

Format: Single issue

Superheroes are branded outlaws by the US authorities all across the States.
Ted's having one of those lousy days.
Meanwhile, Angie's uncle is finally ready to get out of the shadows. Kord's secretary's been stealing tech from the labs for quite a while...only so Chronos the time-thief might come back after his last defeat at the hands of The Atom back in Ivy Town. The thief his now let loose on Chicago, and guess who's gonna have to stop him?

In the other storylines we see a mysterious lady getting rescued by an helicopter in the middle of a sandstorm in California. Ted's having some troubles in his relationship with Mel. And back at Kord, Inc., Curt Calhoun's having some trouble finishing the Promethium alloy with a Titanium mix for Ted's friend at STAR Labs, Murray Takamoto. And just when Garrison Slate, founder of S.T.A.R., his coming down to Chicago to check on the company...
Oh, and did I mention Conrad Carapax' getting dangerously close to the secrets hidden deep beneath Pago Island?

Overall: This is a perfect example of a classic Spider-man-style cover!
The little crossover with the Legends storyline didn't detract the book much from his own on-going twists. It was rather well integrated, I don't even know nothing much from that story excepts that it results with the ban on capes.
Another action-filled, fun and intriguing issue of the Blue Beetle!

I give this one a: 2 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #10
Written by Len Wein

Art by Chuck Patton & Dell Barras

Format: Single issue

The secret is out!
Angela Revere's uncle was the villain Chronos!
After getting her to a local hospital, Ted is forced to abruptly leave his friends Melody and Jeremiah behind to go after the nefarious villain.
After an accident, a girl that tried to steal from Mel is hurt and ends up in the hospital as well..only to be captured and kidnapped in front of her! What is going on here exactly?
Ted faces down Chronos in the street with a public dissing superheroes and throwing stuff at the poor azure avenger..

Overall: The end of the Chronos/Angie's uncle storyline....for now.
Lots of action here.
Melody and the people at Kord Inc. are starting to suspect something's odd going on with Ted, he just keeps disappearing on them.

I give this one a: 2 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #11
Written by Len Wein

Art by Paris Cullins & Dell Barras

Format: Single issue

After a kickass opening scene, Ted is back at the office!
Angie Revere happy to see her nightmare over.
After a quick confrontation with Lt. Fisher as Blue Beetle, imagine Ted's surprise to see him waiting for him at his own desk...
The detective is getting dangerously close to the truth...
Things seem to be working out again between Ted and Melody.
An accident in the labs cost Curt Calhoun's life... The promethium gets apparently bonded to his skin.
On the way to the hospital, the mysterious group of supervillains called The Hybrid attack and capture the man.
They seem to be working for the NY super-criminal only known as Mento.

Overall: Titans enemies attack Ted on his own home turf!
This issue seems to be mostly a big lead-in to the following one's crossover with The New Teen Titans!

I give this one a: 3 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #12
Written by Len Wein & Joey Cavalieri

Art by Paris Cullins & Dell Barras

Format: Single issue

After getting a little 4th wall-breaking introductory page (the way Joe Kelly and Fabian Nicieza would give do for Deadpool later in the 90s) we're immediately thrown in the middle of the action!
The New Teen Titans are facing The Hybrid, with poor lil' ol' Blue Beetle caught in the middle.
Ted Kord only wants to help and save his friend Curt Calhoun! But that wasn't part of Mento's plan, the evil adoptive father of Beast Boy of the Titan's fame.
Meanwhile, Fisher decides to go explore Pago Island on his own.
And just when things can't seem to get better, it gets worse. Garrison Slate, head of STAR Labs arrives in town and ends firing Murray.
On Pago Island, Carapax enters the forgotten secret headquarters of Jarvis Kord...and finds something too much for a simple man to handle!

Overall: An action filled crossover issue with the Titans, self-contained on the pages of Blue Beetle!
Calhoun ends up transformed into another hybrid-creature.
A very nice issue all around, lots of story development, things are starting to pick up again.

I give this one a: 2.5 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #13
Written by Len Wein

Art by Paris Cullins, Dell Barras & Pablo Marcos

Format: Single issue

Calhoun is no more, now there is only Prometheus!!
With the power of promethium at the tip of his fingers now, the poor Calhoun is forced to obey the mental controls of Mento against his own will!
Fisher rounds up some sailors for an expedition on Pago Island...where another drama is taking place!
Conrad Carapax is trying the various equipment he finds in the abandoned place. Tries on some strange helmet...and a strange machine awakens!!

Overall: The Blue Beetle and the Teen Titans stand together again!
While the Hybrid-storyline doesn't seem to go anywhere due to the crossover ending and that plot being carried over the Titans' book, things are looking up as far as next Beetle issues go.
Fisher coming up to the island is a great way to tie up that story.
The big action page-spreads look great! It's not George Perez, but Paris Cullins' trying to keep the Titans' action scenes filled and spread out.
The lower score's only due to the lackluster ending of this 2-issues arc.

I give this one a: 1.5 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #14
Written by Len Wein

Art by Paris Cullins & Dell Barras

Format: Single issue

Ted Kord returns to Pago Island!!
First time having to repair the Bug on-screen. (something that would happen quite often moving forward on the book)
Ted gets some upgrade to her at the Titans tower and heads back to Chicago. He will have to leave Prometheus to the Titans.
On his way home, Mel gets angry over his various disappearing acts. There's tons of work waiting for him on his desk!
Peter Parker I mean, Ted Kord (he's really starting to look like Pete, not just act like him) is forced to go on an unexpected trip back to Pago. Lt. Fisher's over there?? He's now awfully to close to the truth regarding Dan Garrett and Ted's secret origin.
Meanwhile, in the top-secret research center of Cornelius/Kreig in Nice, France, Doctor Klaus Cornelius is trying to get his hands back in his technology, the compound XD-3 more specifically. Which seems to be in the hands of Jeremiah Duncan - Kord Inc.'s very own top scientist!
Murray us offered a job back at Kord's, but he prefers to go on his own.

Overall: First up, great cover! Wow! I like it!
Second, this issue marks the arrival of Denny O'Neil as editor of the book...and he likes to have us know that. Breaking the 4th wall in the various info boxes and footprint all over the book :P
All around, it's a great paced issue. Tons of stuff happening. Paris Cullins' art at his best, still evolving his style over the run of the book.
It's been over a year since the book started, and things are going back to where they began. What his awaiting for Ted over there??

I give this one a: 2.5 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #15
Written by Len Wein

Art by Ross Andru & Dell Barrass

Format: Single issue

Carapax's brain is trapped inside the body of a giant nigh-indestructible robot!
And his going rampage after our hero and Lt. Fisher!
And Fisher knows who the Beetle really is now? Things can't get more complicated for Ted...
Melody gets a new manager/assistant in the person of Randall Truman.
Duncan is kidnapped in the parking lot by a mysterious fellow in red..
The newly appointed Garrison Slate, head of S.T.A.R. takes upon the previous unfinished projects.
And Murray Takamoto, Ted's ol' pal, gets a job in Europe.
Blue Beetle manage to get rid of the giant red robot in the ocean.

Meanwhile a mysterious figure, called Overthrown (I kid' you not!) prepares to attack Kord Inc. on a vendetta against big industrialists...

Overall: Guest artist for this issue!
A very entertaining read for sure!
Action, humor, adventure, romance, intrigue, you name it!

I give this one a: 2.5 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #16
Written by Len Wein

Art by Ross Andru& Danny Bulanadi

Format: Single issue

The Beetle is chasing some random ski masked-thug when the thug hurts an homeless man sleeping doorway.
The bad guy escapes but not without losing something important behind.
Blue Beetle asks around in the street, to see if he can catch that guy again. So does the villain who ends up killing people around, after the "bum" from the other day.
We get to see what was so important for Ski-mask...but certainly nothing worth killing other people for!

Overall: Another milestone for the series! After the "henchman issue", the "homeless issue".
And it was quite well written and thoughtful.
I'm glad we get to see homeless people that aren't either drunks or crazy people, but just genuinely "normal" people, simply living in the street because they don't have any alternative being jobless 'n' everything.
One of my favs!

I give this one a: 3 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #17
Written by Len Wein

Art by Paris Cullins & Danny Bulanadi

Format: Single issue

And we're back to the traditional super heroes-vs-super villains format!
While something (or someone?) seems to be getting out from beneath the depths of the rubbles on Pago Island, Ted faces the wrath of Melody, meets the new assistant, Truman, and fights Overthrown on the premises of Kord Inc.!
Fisher works out an "agreement" between him and the Beetle. He handles Ted some cases and lets him continue as long as he respects his authority and this new partnership.
Meanwhile, in Nice on the French Riviera, Jeremiah is being held prisoner until he submits to Cornelius.
Garrison Slate discovers some very unethical experiments that have been entertained beneath STAR Labs Chicago...
Oh, and that something/someone I mentioned above? It seems that Dan Garrett's still alive and arrived at Chicago in front of Ted's apartment.

Overall: DUN DUN DUUUUN!!~
What a shocker!
What a tale!
What a character!
This was a pretty fun issue all around. But it was the cliffhanger at the end that got me.
Great issue.

I give this one a: 2.5 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #18
Written by Len Wein & RJM Lofficier

Art by Paris Cullins

Format: Single issue

Beetle Vs. Beetle!
Dan Garrett is back, alive and kickin'!
It seems that the magical scarab kept him alive all those years beneath the island! And the rumble after the fight with Carapax probably let him out finally.
Can Ted's smarts and tech best Dan's super powers, strength and speed?
The scarab tries to get to Ted...

..it turns out the scarab's never been an Egyptian artifact, but rather, an alien entity all along. And now it's finally awakened.
The scarab's controlling Dan's actions and has just found a new host in the form of Ted Kord. Finally Dan Garrett's awakens himself, and sees things through. He remembers everything and attempts to stop the scarab to save the life of his old friend..again.

Overall: This issue is full of "retcons"!
It retcons Dan's death, the scarab's mysterious origins, etc.
Besides that?
I loved the art on this issue!
Outstanding. The characters were lively and fun, the action great, the pacing perfect.
The new redesigned suit for Dan was neat too. Even if it only lasted an issue :P
The contrast between the two Golden age and Silver age hero was quite interesting too. Dan in all his muscled/flying mystery man-glory and Ted's usual self.
The issue is actually very reminiscent of an old Chartlon Comics issue which presented this very same fight. (only then, it was a robot in the form of Dan)
A must read for any Beetle fan, and superhero fans in general.

I give this one a: 3 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #19
Written by Len Wein & RJM Lofficier

Art by Ross Andru & Danny Bulanadi

Format: Single issue

Millenium's coming! (another new DC event-crossover)
After last time's epic Dan Garrett-guest starring issue, we get a much simpler story for this one.
Ted discovers that a scientist from STAR's, Dr. Rose Beryl, who was an acquittance of Dan, used her labs to create herself a "son", the first of a species of super-humans they were illegally breeding beneath Chicago's ground...until the project got rejected.
She was supposedly dead..until new bodies sporting her specific DNA landed on the shore on a beach.
Melody can't take Ted's disappearances anymore. It was cute in the beginning, but now this is clearly losing interest in Kord Inc., she has to stop Ted...or find another solution.
Ted goes to the West Coast to find a lab where Dr. Beryl should be hiding....and finds over there a whole bunch of techno-sentients that capture him immediately.
It seems Rose Beryl didn't try creating super organics and decided to focus on super robotic creatures instead....as Doctor Animus!

Meanwhile, in France, at the headquarters of The Dome (the super-heroic activity monitoring center based in Europe), they decided to save Jeremiah Duncan from the hands of Cornelius.

Overall: In case you don't know/understand what this Dome is, it will later become the much more popular Checkmate organization that appears throughout DC books, like in Chase for example.
I really dig Mike Mignola's cover for this issue!
A simple more "classic" issue, just what the book needed, cause next time things will get back in a roll for our hero!

I give this one a: 2 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #20
Written by Len Wein & RJM Lofficier

Art by Ross Andru & Danny Bulanadi

Format: Single issue

Millennium week... this issue and the following ones!
Millennium was a Green Lantern-centric crossover that run through various books at the time, such as in Booster Gold or the JLI. To resume things quickly, various Manhunters robots were revealed to be hidden amongst our heroes to prevent them from helping The Guardians of the Universe's new evolved heroes.

The mysterious Overthrow is revealed to be Ted's own Manhunter. Not Lt. Fisher as he thought so in the pages of the event. (which are only alluded to here)
Meanwhile in Iran, Salima Baranizar is revealed to be one of the chosen by the Guardians. Beetle elects himself to get her at the Justice League HQ.
Things started promising, but Cornelius' own henchman Catalyst getting there to the local Kord Inc. Tehran building doesn't help Ted's discrete intrusion...

Overall: Not a full-blown victory for our hero who morns a loss at the end of this conflict.
A sad day for Blue Beetle, and more precisely, for the Guardians of the Universe too.
I'm not particularly a fan of this Catalyst guy... Guy can generate pharmaceutical proprieties through his skin? Why the silly costume then? Should he have his whole arms exposed then?
I'm also not a big fan of Millennium...even though's Blue Beetle probably gets the less plot-harming Manhunter. It's as if Len Wein knew this was coming a year in advance! Thanks to his dozen on-going storylines or so~

I give this one a: 2 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #21
Written by Len Wein & RJM Lofficier

Art by Ross Andru & Danny Bulanadi

Format: Single issue

No Man Escapes the Manhunters!
Neither Ted, nor the reader~

Back from some JLI-related business, Ted his now accompanied by escape artist-extraordinary Mister Miracle!
Ted gets introduced to Randy Truman...who needs to once more escape in his own private office for a call.
Overthrow the Manhunter appears once again directly on the scene at Kord Inc.
Beetle and Miracle are planning a special device to reach the Earth's inner-crust, when a bunch of Manhunters appear out of nowhere!
Both our heroes escape a giant improvised last minute-death trap. And Ted's Manhunter is finally captured. Who was hiding beneath that mask?

Overall: Great second Millenium tie-in!
It was also the team-up issue I always expected to see on these pages. Though I'd have preferred to see Beetle paired with Booster instead. (their different personalities and background would have clashed instead of going so well with Miracle)
Miracle even suggests adding a seat on The Bug. (fans of the JLI will shed a tear~)
Lots of twists! The story takes some unexpected turns and Ted is left confused.
Also, a villain is coming back for a rematch, as will the last remaining issues of the run offer us.

I give this one a: 2 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #22
Written by Len Wein & RJM Lofficier

Art by Ross Andru, Gil Kane & Danny Bulanadi

Format: Single issue

Chronos is back for revenge, with his craziest scheme yet!
While coming back to Chicago, Ted ends up in the past. It seems Chronos has captured the windy city under a giant time dome to bring the past back through a window of sort, mine the rich ground beneath the city a billion years ago for some technetium and get rich in the present after that with this long lost fossil fuel!
Yes, he's kinda crazy we all know that.
Ted battle some dinosaurs and other saurians, kicks the ass of this wannabe once more and leaves him behind with the jurassic-era monsters.

Overall: A fun "villain-of-the-week" episode. Old school.
The time displaced story wasn't explored much, but it was because the book was ending and Len Wein wanted offer a 2nd run through the series' villains.

I give this one a: 2 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #23
Written by Len Wein

Art by Don Heck & Danny Bulanadi

Format: Single issue

The Madmen are back once more!
They escaped prison and are wrecking havoc around the city.
Ted gets hurt, but at least the villains are once more defeated.
After that, Ted goes back to his office to finally catch on some work...only to start having some hallucinations and seeing the Mad Men everywhere!
Ted has to run on Mel once more, despite his best.

Meanwhile Carapax is back!!
He has traveled across the whole Atlantic Ocean, by foot, undersea!!

Overall: A fun rematch, playing with the Mad Men, huh, madness.
And despite the book nearing its end, there's still various levels of plots and sub-plots.
Don Heck's pencils are gorgeous, fun and dynamic characters, great action scenes...

I give this one a: 2.5 / 3 Score!

Comic title: Blue Beetle #24
Written by Len Wein

Art by Don Heck & Danny Bulanadi

Format: Single issue

It's the end of the run, as we know it! And I'll be fine...~

In this last issue of Ted Kord's Blue Beetle series, Ted comes back home only to find Thomas Kord, head of KORD Inc. back in his office. After playing globetrotter for a few years, he came back on Melody's demand to run the company again. But it was Ted who made the company into a major multi-national conglomerate!

Carapax finds the entrance to the Beetle's nest...and attacks KORD Inc!!
The Blue Beetle fights the creature ramping through the building at the peril of his life.
In the end, there won't be a KORD Inc. Chicago no more.
And The Bug gets destroyed one more time.

Overall: "Here it is -- possibly the Final fear-fraught solo saga ever to star..." Ted Kord!
It's as if they knew! -sigh-
A spectacular conclusion, that doesn't forget its on-going plots and try to tie them up the best possible.
Though I'd wish we could have spotted Jeremiah or Murray once more.
Kord will leave town for good. Some KORD Inc. buildings will be left around the world to explore in subsequent comics (such as KORD Inc. Gotham or KORD Inc. Hub City).
Get art, great action, epic conclusion.
Hey, it's only the beginning!~

I give this one a: 2.5 / 3 Score!


And that is all there is!
The Blue Beetle would later be seen mostly amongst the pages of the Justice League International.
He would later be part of a Charlton Comics-inspired mini-storyline called L.A.W. too.

And Ted would perish in the pages of yet another Crisis event - the same type that brought him in to begin with. ...and be replaced by another Blue Beetle legacy-carrying hero...but that is the tale for another time.

 

That's all for this time's Quickies!

ComicPageOfTheWeekend: Animal Man's wife Vs. the Mirror Master

If I remember correctly, I took these off from Saranga's blog.
Here's Animal Man's wife, the kickass Ellen Baker, kicking the ass (in fact) of classic Flash Rogue Mirror Master! Hell Yeah!
3 things I love! Animal Man. Flash villains. And playing around with stereotypes :P

(Click for bigger pic)

Animal Man © DC Comics