Showcase Presents: Blue Beetle, Vol. 1

Showcase Presents: Blue Beetle, Vol. 1 by Len Wein
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Showcase Presents: Blue Beetle contains Secret Origins #2 and Blue Beetle 1-24.

As I've said in other reviews, I've had a soft spot for the Charlton characters DC bought since I was a kid and I've always liked the Blue Beetle. I've had this on my shelf for a few years and finally decided to crack it open. I have a couple of the issues contained in this volume but it was mostly new for me. I actually have more Charlton/Modern/Americomics comics featuring Blue Beetle than I do DC.

Skimming the table of contents, there is a lot of talent on this book. Len Wein writes every issue although he shares a co-writer credit with Joey Cavalleri on one. Paris Cullins of Blue Devil fame does the art on half of the issues but there are also some legends on hand: namely Don Heck, Ross Andru, and Gil Kane. Mike Mignola even does a cover!

The Secret Origins issue was at the end of the book but I read it first. Duh. Origin. From there, the stage is set. Len Wein seeds a LOT of stuff early on, stories that don't come to fruition for quite some time. Over the course of his 24 issue run, Blue Beetle teams with The Question, The Teen Titans, and Mister Miracle and battles Firefist, The Madmen, Doctor Alchemy, The Muse, The Calculator, Chronos, Mento and The Hybrid, Catalyst, Carapax, Overthrow, and The Manhunters.  #2 features an homage to Amazing Spider-Man #33 with Blue Beetle spending a few pages getting out from under a mountain of rubble.

Paris Cullins did a bang up job on his issues. I've always thought he was an underrated artist. The old pros do a good job as well. I was particularly impressed by Don Heck's pencils. It seems like this was probably the swan song for both Ross Andru and Dandy Don.

Speaking of swang songs, was this Len Wein's last run as a writer at the Big Two? I say that because while this book is entertaining, it feels like a Marvel book from 1978. Actually, it feels like a 1978 Marvel book in both good and bad ways. The dialogue is corny and tired but the story flows very well and it's fairly gripping. Blue Beetle cracks wise like Spider-Man while heading a corporation like Tony Stark. Actually, Blue Beetle is like Tony Stark if he never built the Iron Man armor but took up super heroing anyway.

Wein was definitely playing the long game here. I wonder what else he would have thrown at the Azure Avenger if the book hadn't been cancelled. Also, I wonder if he was irritated by having the book derailed by both Legends and Millennium. He had an uphill climb establishing the Blue Beetle in the DC universe since all he had to work with was The Madmen for BB villains. Fortunately, Barry Allen was dead and The Atom was off the table due to the Sword of the Atom so he was able to use Doctor Alchemy and Chronos.

Blue Beetle's run was an average to slightly above average book. I wonder if DC bought the Charlton characters so Marvel wouldn't get their hands on them. Even with DC at the helm, this felt more like a Marvel book. In a universe where Batman has been established as the best fighter and best gadget inventor, Blue Beetle was doomed to come off as a B-lister. Still, the book wasn't without its charms. It was the last time Blue Beetle was taken seriously until Countdown to Infinite Crisis. Three out of five stars.

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