Chuck Dixon, had made Ted a semi-regular character in "Birds Of Prey" which he was writing at the time. He'd also been writing Ted in a way that developed a bond of sorts with Tim Drake. The intent, and the rumored pitch, being that when Stephanie "Spoiler" Brown took over as Robin, Tim would move into the role of Blue Beetle! How cool does that sound? I'm going to admit, as of this writing, I haven't read any of Ted's appearances in "Birds Of Prey"...but this idea sounds amazing to me! It clicks...makes more sense than, oh I don't know...throwing away the entire legacy of the character like DC did in the New 52?
Sadly, DC turned down Dixon's idea, and now Ted no longer exists in the current DCU (neither does Stephanie for that matter)...so we'll have to file this under "could of, would of, should of been"
I wonder if we reached out to Mr. Dixon if he'd be willing to share any more details?
Interesting idea! I was reading back then and didn't realize this.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to Ted in the New 52, did you read FOREVER EVIL #1? Check the scene with Luthor in the helicopter. Did Ted get mentioned or just "son"?
We don't need Tim Drake as BB, we need Ted Kord as BB. We need DC to sell me the rights so it can be done right!
ReplyDeleteShag...just got back from vacation, and have to go in for a medical procedure tomorrow. FOREVER EVIL is on the nightstand read pile for when I get back from the hospital. You've got me curious now!
ReplyDeleteMatt...I agree, I'd rather see Ted, but I have to admit the idea of a non-powered character like Tim Drake stepping into the role, under Ted's instruction, is far more interesting to me then the New 52 version that wipes out both Ted and Dan's legacies.
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ReplyDeleteHi, ran across your blog in a Google search. Just wanted to let you know: I have a blog on Comic Vine that talks about this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.comicvine.com/myvine/cbishop/tim-drake-was-almost-blue-beetle-could-it-still-happen/87-54306/
But basically: I went to the Chuck Dixon website several years ago now, and asked him directly, and *yes,* he was planning to put Tim Drake in the Blue Beetle costume.
He was writing all the Batman satellite titles at the time: Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Azrael, and probably something I'm forgetting. In bits and pieces throughout though, he'd had Tim say that he couldn't see himself being Robin forever.
It culminated in BOP, where Tim got to work with Ted, and he just gushed about how big of a fan he was and how thrilling it was to work with Ted. In the same story, Oracle uses her computer equipment to give Ted a physical (ignore the problems with that and just accept that it happened) and tells him that he has a heart condition- he shouldn't do anything more stressful than lifting a pencil. All of this was building up to Tim being in the BB suit.
It would have been perfect for DC, because it would have cemented Blue Beetle as a member of the Bat-Family. After all, it's not Robin that made Tim popular. It's Tim Drake that made Robin popular enough to carry a title for nearly 200 issues. Dixon reasoned that Tim could sell Blue Beetle as well- at least long enough to tie him permanently to the Bat-cast.
Jaime is an entertaining character, but DC is about legacy/history. Jaime doesn't have that. Ted Kord's ghost can visit him a thousand times, but that scarab-armor thing is too different from the previous Blue Beetles to have real staying power. The Ted Kord version of Blue Beetle in the hands of Tim Drake (and Chuck Dixon) would have guaranteed Blue Beetle as another Bat-title goldmine for DC, and they blew his brains out instead.
WOW! That's great stuff, really fleshes out the basic concept I found mentioned in the Comic Book Legends story, fills in the blanks...that would have been an AWESOME story to read!
DeleteChecked out your blog too! Very cool!