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Blue Beetle Fact Droppings: Beetle Radio
All the big stars had one. The Shadow, Green Hornet, Superman (with his pals Batman and Robin appearing), Blackhawk, even Hop Harrigan. So, the King of Comics got his star a radio show too. In May 1940, Blue Beetle hit the air with a syndicated show. The original actor playing Beetle/Dan did four episodes and quit. Like the comic and newspaper strip, radioās Blue Beetle changed powers or used inventions to suit the story, from invisible paint to an X-Ray camera. The show even lifted a story from Superman in Action Comics. Airing at its peak on about 80 stations, The Blue Beetle āFriend of the Unfortunate, Enemy of Criminalsā lasted four months.
Listen up to episodes right here.
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Did someone already mention thereās already 1940ās Blue Beetle public domain with ability to download issues with no modern commercial interruption?
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Had another site linked somewhere above p, it thanks for more. Always good to have access to these books.
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The 1940 Blue Beetle radio program is DCās second oldest radio show (only Superman came earlier). Likewise, BB is only the second instance in history of DC characters being portrayed by actors. Several of the radio episodes were adaptions from the comics. Blue Beetle issue #2 had no less than 5 stories turned into radio episodes.
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Cool, bringing the deep Beetle facts
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Here at the DC History Club we follow the old Thangarian proverb, trust but verify. So, initial radio show appearances by DC characters.
Superman: February, 1940 (syndicated, later Mutual)
Blue Beetle: May, 1940 (syndicated)
Hop Harrigan: Aug, 1942 (ABC, later Mutual)
Batman and Robin appear on Superman: May, 1945
Blackhawk: Sep, 1950 (ABC)
Batman and Robin was the one I was really wondering about, but best I can find they donāt show up till '45.
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Week 2 Week 2 is open. Check out the original Ted Kord stories by Steve Ditko. You wonāt be sorry.
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I was always intrigued by Dan Garrett, when I was a kid. I managed to find a golden age issue in terrible condition, and loved having it, but as Iāve said before Tedās my guy, even though he never got the beetle scarab powers. I also got my hands on a copy of his first appearance, when I was in high school, that was a sweet find for me back in the day. My friends laughed at me in the store, but I didnāt care. That issue is still a prized piece in my collection. Though it isnāt worth a lot, the sentimental value is enough. I always liked that Kord was a light hearted Batman type. I love Bats, but sometimes its nice to see a guy having fun with his heroics and gadgets. Plus, he was created by Ditko and Iāve always been a huge fan of his.
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Very cool memories of Blue Beetle. Read those original Steve Ditko stories for the first time a couple of months ago. Was very pleasantly surprised by how good they are. Reading about Kord, you find a lot of comic talent that loved those Ditko stories and were very influenced by them.
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The most obvious example is Night Owl in Watchmen.
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Was going to talk about that at some point, but have nothing preppedā¦
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Ted Kord and Night Owl share at least these things
Both are legacy heroes
Both have unique flying machines
Both have no super powers
Both are inventors
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I had no idea he wasnāt originally a Charlton character. Iāve never heard of this other company, before.
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Cool, Fox Comics is a whole story on its own. They even tried to sell their own version of Coke.
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Now im interested!
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Kooba Cola
In 1940, ads for an oversized cola that would sell for 5 cents only at newsstands began appearing in Fox comics such as the Big Three. Another idea of Foxās to strike it rich, the soda was pushed with coupons in the comics and a bottle cap redemption program. Kids were told to ask their news sellers for the new soda with Vitamin B1 in it. The plan was to have a generic soda bottler produce the cola for Fox who would use the same system they had for selling comics. Unfortunately, no one at Fox Comics ever remembered a single bottle being sold.
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Little known fact, there are actually 4 Beetlesā¦ Dan, Ted, Jaimeā¦ and Ringo.
Sorry, been waiting since the day DC Universe launced for an opening to do that jokeā¦ Iāll show myself out.
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That is a cool fact. A soda with B-1 in it, kinda seems counter productive. 
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