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Blue Beetle Companion
| Our Price |
$ 14.92
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| Retail Value |
$ 16.95 |
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$ 2.03 (12%) |
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| Item Number |
281880 |
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Item Description...
Overview
Looks at the history of the Blue Beetle comic book series.
Publishers Description
The Blue Beetle debuted in 1939, rivaling such icons as Superman and Batman for longevity in comics, but not in popularity until his recent death and resurrection as a result of DC Comics' hit Infinite Crisis series. Now, Comic Book Artist Magazine's Christopher Irving explores the history and uncovers the secrets lurking under the cover of the character's comics in The Blue Beetle Companion! Follow his 60-plus years of evolution - from the world of Fox Comics to an in-depth history of Charlton Comics - all the way to the hall of today's DC Comics. Find out what really happened to infamous Golden Age publisher Victor Fox, and get an in-depth look at the Blue Beetle radio show and Jack "King" Kirby's Blue Beetle comic strip. Also, presented for the first time since 1939: the first appearance of The Blue Beetle from Mystery Men Comics #1! Featuring interviews with Will Eisner, Joe Simon, Joe Gill, Roy Thomas, Geoff Johns, Cully Hamner, Keith Giffen, Len Wein, and others, plus never-before-seen Blue Beetle designs by Alex Ross and Alan Weiss, as well as artwork by Will Eisner, Charles Nicholas, Steve Ditko, Kevin Maguire and more! It also features an introduction by Tom DeHaven, the acclaimed author of the novel It's Superman! and Derby Dugan's Depression Funnies. Featuring a new cover by current Blue Beetle artist Cully Hamner, this is the ultimate look at one of comicdom's longest-living heroes! |
Item Specifications...
Pages 125
Dimensions: Length: 0.25" Width: 8.75" Height: 11"
Weight: 0.7 lbs.
Binding Softcover
Release Date Mar 7, 2007
ISBN 1893905705
EAN 9781893905702
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Availability 2 units.
Availability accurate as of May 23, 2012 05:20.
Usually ships within one to two business days from La Vergne, TN.
Orders shipping to an address other than a confirmed Credit Card / Paypal Billing address may incur and additional processing delay.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | Not Recommended for Fans of Ted Kord Jan 15, 2008 |
Let me just start by stating that I've been a fan of Blue Beetle (alter ego of millionaire industrialist Ted Kord) since I was a kid. In early elementary school, I could find old reprint copies of Blue Beetle comics for sale at the local convenience store (called "Ice Service") and was really amazed by the Steve Ditko art and, of course, "Bug," Blue Beetle's floating headquarters. It helped that the family car at the time was a huge blue Buick, which quickly became my fantasy version of Blue Beetle's "Bug." Fast forward a few years and Blue Beetle is a part of DC comics, hamming it up with Booster Gold and providing a great distraction while I was in Middle School. Only many years later did I discover that there were other, earlier versions of this character. While the Golden Age BB looked cool, I could never find any reprints of his adventures and the copies I found of the "Silver Age" BB (Ted Kord's predecessor) were not very impressive. Ted Kord was always THE Blue Beetle to me and I was shocked and saddened to learn that he was "killed" by DC during some new "earth-shaking" Crisis-thing.
Now, imagine my surprise after ordering this book entitled "The Blue Beetle Companion" and finding that, despite his large presence on the front and back covers, the Ted Kord Blue Beetle is the focus of only 20 pages, 6 of these 20 being full-page reproductions of comic art! This in a book where two entire pages (p. 99-100) are wasted reproducing images from someone's website which takes comic pages and inserts unfunny comments in the word balloons. This might be forgiveable if the sections on Ted Kord were informative. Unfortunately, they aren't. Regarding the origin of Blue Beetle, Christopher Irving (the author of this book) makes completely groundless comparisons between Blue Beetle and Spiderman, suggesting that simply because Ditko drew a vaguely similar scene for both characters, there's some type of relationship between the two (p.84). Sorry, but I can't see the resemblance between a millionaire industrialist (BB) and a down on his luck, loser high school kid (Spiderman) simply because the two characters had the same artist. Also included for your amusement is a reproduction of the comic scene where Ted Kord is brutally (and graphically) shot in the head and killed. Thank you, Christopher Irving. All this had me wondering, "what is the deal with over half the book being devoted to the Golden Age Blue Beetle? Is there that much of an interest in this Golden Age character?"
After reading the "Author's Note" in the back of the book, things began to make sense. The huge section on the Golden Age Blue Beetle (pp. 1-83) originally appeared as a stand-alone article in a magazine and the "section" on the Ted Kord incarnation of the Blue Beetle was "retooled" from an article in another magazine and finally cobbled together with information on the new Blue Beetle (yes, there is a new one). Thus we have the current publication, which turns out to be a well-researched examination of the Golden Age character which only briefly touches on the incarnation of the character that so many of us remember as Blue Beetle. Needless to say this book was a let-down for me. I left it feeling like I had been the victim of false advertising; the smiling Ted Kord Blue Beetle on the cover covers up what I consider an appaling lack of respect for this character both on the part of Christopher Irving and the copyright holders of the character, DC Comics. Not recommended UNLESS you are a rabid fan of the Golden Age Blue Beetle. | | |  | Good, needs improvement. Nov 19, 2007 |
Being a Blue Beetle fan helps when reading this, but this book is more about failed attempts people went through to get BB famous than anything else. Not only is it a niche book because it is intended for those interested in comic book history, it requires you to know a certain level of that history. If you are unfamiliar with names like Eisner, Kirby, Simon, Ditko, Gill and Kanigher (which are really the famous names that pop up) then this book is not for you. Though a minor hero, the credits of people who worked on BB reads like a who's who of golden and silver age comics. If you liked reading about the publishing history of a star like Superman then you will probably enjoy this as it is about a character who never quite hit the big times.
This book needed further editing, as there are obvious spelling and sometimes even factual mistakes (at one point he talks about a ship that was commissioned in 1946 and then decommissioned in 1945). Publisher Victor Fox is pretty much the "star" for the first half, but other people - some of them very interesting or notable - whiz by. The book is a bit odd because it can give you great information, but is so brief at times that it acted like a supplement to my existing knowledge. You really need to be familiar with comic book history already or you will get little out of this. An enjoyable read and I learned some things, but it needed improvement. | | | | Who is the Blue Beetle? Oct 26, 2007 |
Just who is the Blue Beetle?
Christopher Irving answered that question in "The Blue Beetle Companion' published by TwoMorrows. His answer is more or less 124 pages long, and includes a detailed history of Victor Fox, Charlton Comics, a radio series, a daily comic strip, and creators the like of Charles Nicholas, Joe Simon, Alex Ross, Jack Kirby, Keith Giffen, Joe Gill, Roy Thomas, Cully Hammer, Len Wein and many more.
What this book lacks in appeal to the average comic fan, it makes up in enthusiasm for the topic. Clearly Chris loves the Blue Beetle, and in his position as assistant editor for Comic Book Artist with Jon B Cooke, he was able to compile an impressive biography. With Ted Kords' passing this last couple of years, this is a splendid obituary. So many stories, so few notices. But, as a character he enriched every book he appeared in.
Artwise, it is very cool, but a couple of color pages would have been nice.
Great for the comic fan with a hankering for the obscure, and appreciators of comic book history.
Tim Lasiuta
| | |  | Black and white comic strips from all eras enhance the presentation. Jun 9, 2007 |
| The Blue Beetle appeared in 1939 and came to rival Superman and Batman for comic history, but didn't become popular until his recent death when DC Comics resurrected him in the Infinite Crisis series. The history and adventures of the character are followed here in The Blue Beetle Companion: His Many Lives from 1939 to Today, following some 60 years of the character's evolution and transitions and providing interviews with key and major comic graphic artists along the way. Black and white comic strips from all eras enhance the presentation. | | | Write your own review about Blue Beetle Companion
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