Blue Beetle

Superhero crash-lands in El Paso
Daniel Borunda
El Paso Times

El Paso Times

Metropolis has Superman. Gotham City has Batman. And next year, El Paso will have Blue Beetle.

El Paso is getting a superhero (Great Scott!) with the publication of "Blue Beetle" by DC Comics, according to reports on comic book Web sites.

Blue Beetle, who wears a blue-and-black, bug-themed costume, will be a new version of a hero of the same name killed earlier this year.

The Blue Beetle comic book, scheduled to hit shops March 29, is thought to be the first major superhero series set in El Paso. DC Comics is home to superstars such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

"Most (comics) take place in (fictional) cities like Metropolis and Gotham City. ... It makes me feel good that El Paso is in comics," said Mark D. Hajunga, owner of Comics, Cards & Collectibles store in Northeast El Paso.

The new Blue Beetle's superpowers, secret identity and other details are still secret. A DC Comics publicist declined to talk about the series until closer to its launch date.

Hajunga said anticipation among local fans has grown since the mystical scarab that gave the original Blue Beetle his powers crashed into El Paso at the end of the recent "Day of Vengeance" mini-series.

"There are a few little things in there that I hope people in El Paso will notice, though I won't say what," Cully Hammer, the artist for Blue Beetle, told Newsarama.com, a comic news Web site. "On the other hand, I've never been to Texas, so I'm relying on Internet research. Hopefully, I won't make any glaring mistakes."

El Paso receives good national exposure in comics, said Michael Almanca, owner of Rebel's Comic Vault on the East Side.

The city was the setting for a couple of comic story lines in recent years. El Paso was in the crime noir DC Comics series "100 Bullets" and in "Coyote Crossing," a Marvel Comics story in which hero Wolverine avenged immigrants who died locked in a tractor-trailer. "Coyote Crossing" included area landmarks such as Paisano Drive.

Blue Beetle

•The new Blue Beetle will be the third character to use that moniker. "Blue Beetle" No. 1 is to hit shops March 29.

•The original Blue Beetle was policeman Dan Garrett, who dressed up in blue chain mail to fight crime. First appearance: "Mystery Men" No. 1 by Fox Publishing. Cover date August 1939.

DC Who's Who.

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•Dan Garrett was later made into an archaeologist who discovered a mystical blue scarab that gave him superpowers.

•The second Blue Beetle was inventor Ted Kord, who used gadgets and a flying "Bug" ship to fight crime. He was a member of the Justice League. He was killed by a villain this year. First appearance: "Captain Atom" No. 83 (original series, 1966.)

DC Who's Who.

Blue Beetle also recently won Wizard magazine's "Hero of the Year" award, basically for getting killed, but for being valiant and staying a hero to the end. He was always one of the jokesters on the Justice League. Anyone that reads Countdown to Infinite Crisis cannot help but love this character.