What the Kaji Dha? The Return Of Ted Kord?

Well Beetlemaniacs, while searching the web yesterday I stumbled on this nugget of inter web fun...

Rumblespoon Productions

The fine folks there have a webseries, an honest to goodness live action spandex wearing webseries, featuring good ol' Ted, back from the dead!

Check it out!

The All New Adventures of The All New Blue Beetle

Prepare yourself for "The All New Adventures of The All New Blue Beetle"! 
With concept and art by the great Steve Ditko, and script by Gary Friedrich. 
Originally presented in Charlton Comics "Captain Atom" #83 from November 1966!

The Fury of What The Kaji Dha Wednesday!

As an avid fan of The Fire And Water Podcast, I heard a few months ago about the cancelation of Firestorm*. To be honest I'd never really read a lot of Firestorm comics, and started listening to the podcast because of my love of Aquaman. After listening to the show for almost a year now though my interest in Firestorm has grown slightly. The passion that Shag (co-host of The Fire And Water Podcast and the man behind Firestorm Fan) spoke about the Nuclear Man sparked my curiosity. Maybe it was time, a bad time obviously but time nonetheless, to give Firestorm another chance. I mean beyond the occasional appearance in Justice League, or a company cross-over, I wasn't all that familiar with the character.



So, on May 4th, my birthday...and Free Comic Book Day...I walked into my local comic store and made up mind (thanks to a sale running while I was there) to give it a go! I picked up "Firestorm The Nuclear Man" #1 (1978), "The Fury Of Firestorm The Nuclear Man" #1 (1982), and "The Fury Of Firestorm The Nuclear Men: Vol 1 - The God Particle" the trade collecting the first arc of the New 52.

Guess what? Like Mikey and Life Cereal...I liked it! Well...I liked the 1978 first issue, I liked the 1982 book a little more...but the New 52 trade was the one I really liked! And I'll definitely be picking up more trades, and back issues over the next few months as I hit my local store, or a convention, or the web. I want to know what happens next!

This blog is going up on Wednesday May 22, 2013...the day the last issue of the current series of Firestorm is scheduled to hit the shelf. I guess it's a blessing and a curse. It stinks when your favorite character or title is canceled and disappears from view...as a fan of Aquaman and Blue Beetle I know this feeling well! On the other hand...if not for this cancelation I may never have picked up these books, so there is a silver lining Bradley Cooper could put in his playbook!**

Thank you DC for bringing this character back again and again...I can't wait to see what happens when he returns!

Thank you Shag, for introducing me to a new favorite!

And Firestorm? Farewell...for now...

 

*Ok...to be honest I heard about it before the podcast. Like any good comic fan I spend a fair amount of time surfing the web for updates and news about my favorite characters.

 

**see what I did there? Movie reference..."Silver Linings Playbook"? It was a surprisingly decent flick!

Teaser Tuesday #8

Firestorm Farewell

Going to show some support this week for a fallen hero...well, a cancelled title at least...

For more info check out Firestorm Fan!

http://firestormfan.com/2013/05/16/firestorm-farewell/

Fall Of The Blue Beetle

Ok…the last time we talked “Batman: The Brave And The Bold” I covered the episode “Rise Of The Blue Beetle”. It was fun, but was Jaime-centric, and as I said at the time “Jaime’s no Ted”. Well, today we’re going to look at “Fall Of The Blue Beetle”…it’s still pretty Jaime-centric, but it has a decent sized serving of Ted Kord!

The episode starts “two years ago” with the Batmobile and the Bug arriving outside a secure industrial type building. Batman leaps from the Batmobile and good ol’ Ted swings down from the Bug. As they make their way in they are confronted by security guards…Bats starts to reach for his utility belt but Ted stops him. “Allow me!” he says drawing and firing his BB Gun, which disorients the guards and leaves them on the ground puking. As they crawl thru the ventilation ducts (Teaser Tuesday #7) into the industrial complex they compare notes and discuss tech, knock-out pellets, laser torches, and how people just don’t appreciate the time and effort that goes into good gadgets. After a showdown with a laser security system, the floor gives way and they fall into an evil security guard lunch room then. Shoulder to shoulder, they prepare to continue the fight! It’s only 2 minutes long, but this is one of my favorite BMBB pre-title sequences! It’s not simply that it’s Ted…it’s that Ted is portrayed as Batman’s equal! It makes perfect sense too…both are ordinary men, with no super powers, who fight the good fight under extraordinary circumstances, and rely on technology to even up the odds (to put it simply). What happens next? Read on…

Once again we find Jaime discussing superheroes with his friend Paco, this time by a campfire. Jaime’s telling Paco what he believes to be the “secret origin of Green Lantern” (he’s dead on by the way). Paco blows him off saying the story about a dying alien commanding his ring to find a worthy successor is stupid. Heroes aren’t chosen…they luck into it. Jaime’s apparently trying to understand his place in the superhero world, and the idea that it may have been just dumb luck isn’t sitting well. It bothers him so much that he decides to travel 1500 miles cross country and interrupt Batman’s fight with Dr. Polaris to see what Bats thinks about heroes being chosen vs. selected by dumb luck. This of course irritates Bats a bit, and when Jaime presses for an answer to the question “Do you think I was chosen to replace the Blue Beetle because we share the same heroic traits?” Batman snaps back with “There’ve been a lot of Blue Beetles and you’re nothing like the one I knew!” Ouch! Burn! Wait…”a lot”? Has Batman been reading my blog? (see this post à click me) Bats leaves in a huff and Jaime’s scarab decides to look for info on the previous Beetle online. They end up at Kord Enterprises looking for the “Hero of Hub City”, quickly stumbling into Ted’s underground headquarters…sort of a “Bug Cave”. (nice shot of Dan and Ted’s outfits behind glass!)

 

After hacking into Ted’s Bug ship with the help of the scarab, Jaime heads to the last place listed on the Bug’s trip log…Pago Island…thinking maybe Ted’s still there, injured or in trouble. When he arrives he’s greeted by several robo-insect sentries and bearded man. When Jaime says “I’m the new Blue Beetle” the bearded guy says “So, you’re my replacement? I thought you’d be taller. Welcome to Science Island. I’m Ted Kord.” Man…”Ted” is kind of an ass. Or is he? Things aren’t always what they seem.

Batman is on his way to Jaime, when he flashes back to his last mission with Ted. See, Ted had Dan’s scarab, but couldn’t figure out how to get it to work, so he took it to his scientist uncle Jarvis. Jarvis doesn’t want to give it up though so Ted and Bats are forced to fight an army of Jarvis’ robots to get it back!

 

Cut back to Jaime as “Ted” is telling him about his dream of harnessing the scarab’s power to create a utopian world that will benefit all mankind. (Something seems fishy here...isn't that how a lot of supervillain speeches start?) Jaime asks Beard-O why he was chosen and is told “I sent out my scarab in search of an ally…someone of great virtue…” (yeah, ths is too good to be true) After mentioning Batman in casual conversation Jaime heads off to bed, and “Ted” orders one of his little insect robots to set up defense perimeters…protocol “Batman”! Beard-O is a rat! Jaime finds another little robot toting around some bullets and it becomes clear to him now too…something stinks…and he needs to call in Batman…who is quickly subdued, along with Jaime, by robo-bug guards. While tied up, Bats reveals that “Ted” isn’t who he says he is…he’s the real Ted’s evil Uncle Jarvis! Bats also reveals how the real Ted swore an oath to continue the work of his mentor, Dan Garrett, and how Ted sacrificed himself to put an end to Jarvis’ plan to launch a rocket full of robots at Hub City! He explains that he held off on telling Jaime all this because “our work is dangerous…and not all hero stories have happy endings” Jaime powers up the scarab (not sure why he waited this long) and breaks them free, then nails Jarvis with a sweet right hook! They fight more robo-bugs as they set the self-destruct in Jarvis’ lab and rush to escape the island!

 

I definitely had more fun with this one than I did with “Rise Of The Blue Beetle”…mostly because this had some strong Ted moments and some great Blue Beetle history! If only there were more Ted Kord moments on “Batman: The Brave And The Bold”…oh wait, there are! We’ll talk about them another time!

Remember you can follow me on Twitter @KordIndustries1

Like me on Facebook at Kord Industries

Email me at kordindustries2013@gmail.com

Justice League Greendale

Stumbled on this "Community/Justice League International" mash-up this morning...looks like Ted is played by Chevy Chase...the artist is Sean Mcfarland, check out his page on deviantART

Teaser Tuesday #7

Who's Who?

These guys have mentioned Kord Industies a few times already (thanks guys!), so I'm probably over due in returning the favor! Rob at http://www.aquamanshrine.com/ and Shag at http://firestormfan.com/ produce a great podcast as well as great hero blogs...and when they do these Who's Who episodes you can get your fix for some classic DC Comics goodness! Check it out! http://fireandwaterpodcast.blogspot.com/

Ladies and gentlemen...the Beetles!

I mentioned before, when I shared a pic and a link to my Aquaman collection, that I had a Blue Beetle collection. While it's not quite as impressive as my Aquaman collection (yet), I'm working on it. Part of that is my fondness for the Ted Kord Beetle and the fact that the majority of the recent merchandising has been centered around Jaime. And it's near impossible to find anything Dan Garret or Garrett! (I know, there's the Shocker Toys figure that was announced in 2010, and is still listed on their website for preorder...3yrs later)

 So...without further ado...my Beetles!

Robot roll call...Cambot, Gypsy...lol...seriously though, starting from the left Heroclix 10th Anni.Ted, First Appearance Stealth Jaime, Kingdom Come Ted, Heroclix Ted, Blackest Night Ted, Total Justice/Kenner DC Super Heroes Ted, DC Direct Classic Ted, JLU Ted, DCU Classics Ted, Minimates Ted, JLI Ted, DCU Infinite Heroes Ted

Curse of What The Kaji Dha Wednesday!

Today's WTKDW post is a little different...I want to talk about something not BB related. I want to talk about Doug TenNapel!

A year or so ago one of my friends turned me on to the work of Doug TenNapel by giving me a copy of "Creature Tech" with the promise that I'd love it. He was right, it was great! It had zombies, sci-fi worthy of the X-Files, and even a giant praying mantis using the toilet...but it also had heart. I eagerly went to my local comic store, owned by the same friend...so maybe there was an ulterior motive, lol...to see what else I could get my hands on. Over the next few months I read "Ghostopolis", "Flink" and "Cardboard"...and they all had the same heart! Magical stories with elements of the paranormal that all seem to center, at their core, around family. That's something you don't always see, or don't see enough.

So imagine my delight when I'm looking at Kickstarter and see that Doug TenNapel is raising money to publish a sketchbook archive! Now imagine my amusement when, looking at the pitch, I realize I've been a fan longer than I thought! Before I'd ever been introduced to his books, I'd played his games; "Earthworm Jim", "The Neverhood" and "Skull Monkeys"! So of course, I became a supporter.

Well, the sketchbook just arrived...actually it was 2 sketchbooks, as I decided to gift one to the friend who gave me that copy of "Creature Tech".

Here's a couple quick pics*...this thing is beautiful! If you like what you see, check out Doug's website http://tennapel.com/comics.html

*a couple quick pics, because I only got a quick look...I opened the package as I was heading out to work. Can't wait to get home and sit down with this!

Who's Who '87 V.I (Dan)

The Return of What The Kaji Dha Wednesday!