The Blue BeetleThe Blue Beetle was a short-lived serial airing in 1940. It chronicles the adventures of Dan Garret, a young police officer frustrated by his inability to put the bad guys out of action. Garret, assisted by an old pharmacist, Dr. Franz, assumes the character of the Blue Beetle and dons a super-hero costume so as to frighten and mystify evil-doers. The most memorable aspect of the series is that, for the first 13 episodes, the Blue Beetle was voiced by the outstanding actor, Frank Lovejoy, who portrayed newsman Randy Stone in the superb series, Nightbeat. The comic books on which the series was based had somewhat more staying power than the radio show, but the Blue Beetle never reached the level of success of super-heroes like Batman; The Green Hornet; or, perhaps the ultimate super-hero, Superman. In the earlier manifestations, the Blue Beetle has minimal super-powers, but, as the comic book character went through various re-imaginings, the number and potency of the super-powers (X-ray vision, the ability to fly) increased and decreased almost at random. For more information, see Wikipedia. Series description provided by Frank Bell. |