Showcase '94 #4

Well Beetlemaniacs, we're now at the end of out look at Blue Beetle's adventures in "Showcase '94" inspired by our friends at the Fire and Water Podcast's coverage of Aquaman and Firestorm back-up stories. (If you missed part 1 click here, and part 2 here) Today we take a look at "Caged City, Chapter Three: Bug War" written by Brian Augustyn, with pencils by Patrick Rolo and inks by Dick Giordano. 

Last issue ended with a cliffhanger situation worthy of Mister Miracle or Harry Houdini...Ted, attempting to escape Freemont in a BUG, had a missile hot on his tail. How will he get out of this? Read on...

Just like a magician or escape artist, Ted manages to survive. He laments he can neither fly, nor return from the dead...so what's a guy to do? He lands on the roof of one of Kurtz' BUGs and slips in via the escape hatch. Once inside he quickly dispatches the two Kurtz cops piloting the ship and sets out to get revenge! With some spectacular aerial maneuvers he dents, dings, and disables the other BUGs. 

"You all better limp back to base before you kill yourselves!" he says, flying toward Kurtz' tower. But as we've already seen, Kurtz doesn't take losing well, and certainly not losing his entire fleet of BUGs. He orders his right hand man Marcus to seal the entrances, scramble ground troops and fry Ted if he's "stupid enough to return" and, just to be safe, calls for a pursuit ship to blow Blue Beetle out of the sky. The pursuit ship tries taking out Ted with lasers, but some fancy flying lands the attacker in the same tangled heap as the other BUGs. Kurtz is outraged! How can Blue Beetle keep evading him? Why can't he just understand that Kurtz is a "simple public servant, trying to do the job I was elected to do"? Ted is taking this pretty personally. After all this nut is using Kord patents to run his police state, he has to go down! So he does what any revenge seeking hero would do when dealing with a power mad dictator...

Yup, he crashes the BUG right into Kurtz' office! Then leaping into action he takes down Kurtz with a tackle! Without his thugs to back him up, Kurtz goes down fast! It's over! The only thing left? How did Kurtz get his hand on Kord technology? 

Ted's dad?! Now there's a twist I didn't see coming! 

This really was a fun three issue story! In fact, I really wish there were more. Quick pacing, solid action with cliffhanger excitement, and nice art. What's not to love? Did this father/son betrayal really get paid off in "Justice League" as the final caption promises? I honestly don't remember...I'll need to dig those issues out and check...maybe we'll see in a future post? 

Showcase '94 #3

Last month, inspired by our friends at the Fire and Water Podcast's coverage of Aquaman and Firestorm back-up stories, we looked at part 1 of a 3 part story from "Showcase '94". (If you missed part 1 click here) Today we take a look at "Caged City, Chapter Two: A Bug In The System" written by Brian Augustyn, with pencils by Patrick Rolo and inks by Dick Giordano. 

Last issue left Ted, who'd traveled to the city of Freemont investigating the use of one of his patents, surrounded by cops in his hotel room. When this issue opens he's been hauled downtown and put in front of the man in charge, a guy named Kurtz. Kurtz makes it clear he doesn't want heroes in his town.

Kurtz ominously tells his men to "Take the insect away!" and put him in a cell. As they lead him down into their prison though Ted sees an opportunity. The BUG isn't the only piece of Kord technology in this town. The cops are carrying versions of his old BB gun. He makes his move, snatches a gun from one of the cops, blasts them with the strobe then knocks them down with the compressed air blast! Before he gets too far though reinforcements arrive...and they're carrying someone else's tech...light sabers! Well...actually, electrified billy clubs! 

Another wave of cops is closing in, but never count Blue Beetle out! Ted gets his hands on one of the clubs and shorts out the lights. See? Ted's a smart guy. 

Kurtz declares Blue Beetle a criminal and orders his men to recapture him immediately! He's not letting anyone interfere with his plans. Ted meanwhile uses the darkness and chaos to slip into the ventilation system looking for a way out. He finds it too when he reaches a hanger full of BUGs! Once he's in the pilots seat, he figures he'll get out, notify the real cops and help take down Kurtz and his psychos. It doesn't look good though when Kurtz's men follow in the remaining BUGs, and launch a missile aimed to blow Ted out of the sky!

This was another fast paced thrill ride, with a cliffhanger worthy of the old movie serials! Will Ted survive? Will the psychotic Kurtz be removed from power? Join us next month for the thrilling conclusion!

Showcase '94 #2

Back in 1993 DC launched the anthology book "Showcase '93" that ran 12 monthly issues though 1996. The book featured up and coming talent working on 3 stories per issue...and starting with "Showcase '94" #2 contained a 3 part Blue Beetle story! "Caged City, Chapter One: Bug Out" was written by Brian Augustyn, with pencils by Patrick Rolo and inks by Dick Giordano. 

"It all started with a check for $237.51", Ted tells us while perched on a rooftop. He's in Freemont, a small midwest city, and gateway to Hub City. The check was from a company called Amelia Technologies for the use of his patent #B647-342 in "Project Freemont". He can't remember what that patent is...but it's the name of the project that brought him to this city. Ted is just starting to think this is a quiet town when heavily armored cops on motorcycles scream down the street chasing a car. When the driver crashes, the cops began to drag him down the street and Ted decides it's time for the Blue Beetle to jump into action! The cops don't take kindly to the appearance of "a gen-u-ine soo-per hee-ro" and let him know, his help isn't wanted and he has no authority in Freemont.

Not one to stand by and allow senseless brutality, BB takes the fight to the cops, but when they call in reinforcements he quickly finds himself on the run! He takes to the rooftops again, thinking he could have avoided this, if he'd just made a few phone calls to figure out what the patent was...and then it hits him...or nearly hits him. The BUG!

Meanwhile, a mysterious man in a room full of monitors calls for the cops to bust Beetle since "vigilantism is illegal in Freemont". After running into a BUG, Ted decides he'll have an easier time ditching the cops on the ground...and once there he decides it's really safer if he ditches the costume! Heading back to his hotel room (where he checked in under the name "George McCartney"...get it? Beatles joke!) he soon finds out that nowhere is safe in Freemont!

This was a fun, fast paced story! And that cliffhanger ending? Well...check back next month for part 2!