NFL PRO BOWL! APPLE IPAD! PDGA PROFILE: BLUE BEETLE! Monday’s Blog
Monday, February 1st, 2010Welcome to Monday’s Mega Comics Group Updates!
The NFL Pro Bowl! 🙂 Well, who ever came up with the idea of moving the Pro Bowl to the week before the Super Bowl did good! Matt Schaub, quarterback for the Houstan Texans was voted the Pro Bowl MVP as the AFC defeated the NFC 41-34 in a game the remained tied until the 4th quarter. The NFL sought to re-package the Pro Bowl as an interesting part of the NFL season by playing it before the Super Bowl for the first time. This year was an experiment and also the first game not played in Honolulu since 1980. Next year it is slated to go back to the Islands and back after the Super Bowl. The NFL might want to reconsider that. Certainly the TV ratings were better and from the standpoint of ticket sales, this year’s new presentation and spot on the calendar was more successful. The crowd of 70,697 was the largest for a Pro Bowl in 51 years! 🙂
The Apple iPad! Have you seen it? 😀 It’s a big iPhone! Yep, about 10 inches diagonally, or just a little smaller than a regular 8.5 x11 magazine. It will do everything the iPhone will do which means it still won’t play some Flash Videos, but that will be available soon and it will play regular MP4 video. It has some pretty cool accessories including a case that includes a flap to protect the touch screen when in transit and also folds into 2 positions to use as a stand for viewing or working like a laptop. There is also an optional keyboard and docking station to recharge the iPad and use it like a desktop model. Even though it probably won’t be available to order until this summer, it shows a lot of potential.
The curious case of the Blue Beetle! Real Name: Dan Garret. First Appearance: Mystery Men Comics #1 (1939) Original Publisher: Fox Features. Created by: Charles Nicholas.
After his father was killed by a gangster’s bullet, young Dan Garret joined the New York Police Department, but he soon tired of the slow pace and red tape of police work. He donned a blue three-piece suit and a white mask and established a costumed identity, fighting crime as the Blue Beetle. He had no powers, but he used a gun and a wrist-mounted mini-radio to get an edge on the criminals he was fighting. His calling card was a small beetle-shaped marker that he left in conspicuous places to alert criminals to his presence, using their fear of his crime-fighting reputation as a weapon against them.
Shortly afterwords, his friend and mentor, a pharmacist and a drug-store proprietor named Dr. Franz helped Dan acquire bullet-proof armor made out of chain mail-like cellulose material. He still occasionally used a gun, but he mostly relied on his fists from that point on. He added a “BeetleMobile” car and a “BeetleBird” airplane to his arsenal. He also started using a “Beetle Signal” flashlight. In some stories, he was shown with a multi-pouched belt similar to Batman’s.
While investigating a dope ring, Dan Garret was wounded by a gangster’s machine gun and laid near-death in the hospital. He received a visit from Dr. Franz, who had a plan to save Dan’s life. Dr. Franz administered a strange treatment. Dan was given the secret experimental vitamin 2X, a super drug that endows its recipient with super strength and healing abilities, increased speed, heightened senses, and enhanced intellectual capacity. Under the drug’s influence, Dan Garrett rapidly recovered from his injuries and returned to the street the next day. The effects of vitamin 2X were temporary, however (though the effects of healing were of course permanent), and when a serious crime called for super powers, Officer Garret had to rush to Dr. Franz’s drug store, where, in a hidden room, he donned his costume and took a vitamin 2X pill. A super-powered Blue Beetle would then emerge to strike out against evil.
Oddly, and for no reason ever stated, Dan Garret was never shown carrying a supply of vitamin 2X with him. Maybe it never occurred to him to do so, or maybe the strange drug rapidly broke down and had to be prepared fresh every time. Or maybe Dr. Franz was keeping his watchdog on a short leash.
During the middle portion of his career, Blue Beetle was aided by a sidekick named Sparky. He was also occasionally aided by Joan Mason, his on-again, off-again girlfriend. His partner on the force, Mike Mannigan, viewed Blue Beetle as a criminal, which is probably why it’s a good thing that he never caught on to the reason behind Dan’s mysterious absences.
Fox Features’ police officer Dan Garret (one ‘t’) is the ONLY Blue Beetle in the Public Domain. Archaeologist Dan Garrett (two ‘t’s), who gained his powers from a magic scarab, is NOT Public Domain. Dan Garrett (two ‘t’s), and all Blue Beetles thereafter are property of DC Comics.
Any questions or comments? All are welcome.
Everyone loved the 60’s Marvel cover gallery we put up last week we decided to do it again. We give you more reasons why Marvel was such a success in the 1960’s! Again brought to you by Jack Kirby, John Buscema, Gene Colon, Jim Steranko, John Romita, Wally Wood, Bill Everette, Joe Sinnott, Frank Giacoia, Don Heck, Vince Colletta, Steve Ditko, Chic Stone, Paul Reinman, Dick Ayers, Gil Kane, John Severin, Maria Severin, Herb Trimpe, Jay Gavin, George Tuska and Neal Adams. Without these talents there well may not have been a Marvel Comics! Marvel today owes all it is to these founding fathers who along with Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Arnold Drake and Roy Thomas gave us the Marvel Age of Comics!
Mark’s Remarks: The guy on the fire escape looks somewhat familiar...
