Top 10 BLUE BEETLE SURPRISING FACTS INTRO: Welcome back nerd squad, my name is Roya Destroyaa
and this is Top 10 Nerd.
Jaime Reyes, otherwise known as Blue Beetle, joined the Teen titans after teaming up with
them to defeat Lobo and the Reach.
Since then his popularity has largely increased, but there is still a lot of stuff to know
about him, especially before that time.
So let’s take a look at the top 10 BLUE BEETLE SURPRISING FACTS.
In the number 10 spot, HE IS NOT THE ONLY BLUE BEETLE.
Although Jaime may take the cake right now for being the most popular beetle, there were
two others who came before him in the mantle.
The very first was Dan Garrett, who debuted in 1939 and was a murdered police officer’s
son.
The second Beetle was Ted Kord of 1966, who was a student of Garett.
And then we have Jaime in 2006, a guy who just wants to live an average life and gets
screwed over by a scarab he finds on the ground that looked kind of cool.
Coming in at number 9, THE BLUE BEETLE RIGHTS HAVE SWITCHED MULTIPLE HANDS.
Not only have there been multiple blue Beetles but the character has also been under several
different companies.
It all started with fox comics, who then went out of business in in the 1950s and sold the
rights to Charlton comics.
Charlton took the character, threw him in a few stories, then revamped him into Ted
Kord.
And eventually DC came into the rights in 1983 with the rest of the Charlton roster,
and it’s safe to say he’s found a very happy home there.
Next, at number 8, HES A RADIO STAR.
He’s in comics, he’s on the screen, and he’s also got himself quite the career as
a radio serial star.
And by quite the career, I mean about 4 months.
This aired on CBS radio in 1940 and starred the very first Blue Beetle who was voiced
by Frank Lovejoy for 13 episodes, and then was randomly swapped out by a guy who didn’t
even get credit.
Blue Beetle here was a young cop who felt the need to wear a costume to scare crime
away.
No wonder he was only around for 4 months.
In the number 7 spot IS HIS HOME LIFE.
Something that people love about Blue Beetle is how much emotional investment and thought
go into the depiction of his family life, so it’s important to understand where this
guy is coming from.
Reyes lives in Texas with his Mexican-American family, that explains the pronunciation of
his nameÑhe is one of the few latino heroes out there!
The family is also Christian, as is evidenced by the crucifix hanging in their home.
And he lives with mom Bianca, sister Milagro, and father Alberto, who was crippled in a
gun wound incident.
Aside from that, he has a pretty charmed family lifeÑwhich you gotta admit, is really rare
in superhero backstories.
Coming in at number 6 IS HIS PSYCHOTIC VERSION.
Because who doesn’t love an evil version of the good guy?
Blue Beetle has himself an alternate version named Scarlet Scarab in Batman the brave and
the Bold.
Scarlet Scarab is a member of the injustice syndicate, and he’s got about the same powers
as Blue, he just likes to use em differently.
While Blue Beetle is generally a good kid fighting the good fight, Scarlet Scarab was
evil incarnate who will go out of his way to harm innocents.
Small differences.
Next up, at number 5 IS HIS GIRLFRIEND.
Within the Teen Titans, we’ve got power couples Starfire and Dick Grayson, Raven and
Beast Boy.
But Blue Beetle also has himself a second halfÑher name is Traci 13, and she was the
daughter of Dr. Thirteen and a homo magi, meaning she was a born sorceress.
So she’s a pretty cool chick, and what makes her even cooler is she has a pet iguana named
Leroy.
Who doesn’t love a girl with a lizard?
Up next at number 4, HE ONCE WAS A SIDEKICK TO BATMAN.
Everyone knows robin was one, almost everyone knows Batgirl was one, but not too many people
know blue Beetle was one unless they watched The Brave and Bold.
He was just an ordinary, slightly annoying kid who Batman takes under his wing to mentor
in the ways of controlling the scarab.
Funnily enough in his very first episode, bue Beetle is mistaken as an alien savior
and Batman is regarded as the sidekick.
Wonder how he felt about that one.
In the number 3 spot, we have HIS ORIGINAL POWER SOURCE.
It’s now universally accepted that Blue Beetle gets his powers from a sacred scarab,
but that was only the story from 1964 and onward.
Beforehand, the first Blue Beetle wasn’t even depicted with superpowers.
Then, the writers changed their mind and gave him a bulletproof suit and decided he would
get superhuman strength and endurance by swallowing a chemical called vitamin 2x.
Doesn’t quite get in line with the bug motif.
Coming in at number 2 IS THE SCARAB’S QUIRKS.
Once the scarab came into play, it quickly became the source of major development, including
a few interesting quirks.
The scarab has a mind of its own and can override what blue Beetle wants it to do, and there
are 2 important things about it that have gotten blue into a bit of trouble.
First off, it almost always refuses to harm nature, but apparently doesn’t regard humans
as part of nature.
And the second thing is that it drives green lanterns into rages.
Which sucks when you remember green lanterns are also the good guys.
Good teamwork.
And finally, in the number 1 spot we got HIS DEEPEST DARKEST DESIRE.
At one point Reyes faces off against Eclipso, who wants to turn him into his deepest darkest
fantasy of power in order to get him to attack his own best friend Paco.
Well, that definitely backfired on Eclipso.
Turns out, all Blue wants to do is be a dentist.
Yeah, the guy with the incredible powers of the scarab just wants to fill cavities for
a living and support his family.
Too darn cute.
Too darn pure.
So those were the top 10 FACTS ABOUT BLUE BEETLE.
Let me know in the comment section down below WHO YOU WANT FACTS ON NEXT.
My name is Roya Destroyaa, thanks for watching, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never
miss another nerdy list!