“This mysterious, all-powerful character is a problem for the police, but a crusader of the law!” intoned the announcer. “In reality, Dan Garret, a rookie patrolman loved by everyone, but suspected by none of being the Blue Beetle! As the Blue Beetle, he hides behind a strange mask and impenetrable chain armor, flexible as silk, but stronger than steel!”
Created in 1939 by Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski, the character’s name, obviously, was meant to evoke the popular radio character the Green Hornet.
“The Beetle was an obvious swipe of George W. Trendle’s radio hero the Green Hornet, not just in look and name, but also in modus operandi: both were vigilantes posing as criminal masterminds,” noted Christopher Irving in TwoMorrows’ Blue Beetle Companion.
The superhero sprang from the fly-by-night publishing operation of the agile, oily Victor Fox. Fox even managed to promote a short-lived radio series for the character.
“Frank Lovejoy, who would eventually become a prolific radio and movie actor … voiced the Blue Beetle,” noted Irving. “Lovejoy brought a rather maniacal, almost sadistic cackle to the character… His tough-guy banter; his voice going grim when dealing with criminals, or buoyant when around the leading lady of the episode, his cackle when he blows thugs away … all paint the picture of a crimefighter scarier than Superman or the Green Hornet.”
Like his comic book counterpart, the radio Beetle gained superhuman strength and stamina from Formula 2X. But he also picked up and dropped various other super gimmicks during the show’s 48 episodes, including an electric ray, an X-ray camera, a formula to melt steel and paint that rendered him invisible, like radio’s Shadow.
Why did Lovejoy leave the role after only a handful of the 48 episodes? Radio historian Jim Harmon guessed that it may have been because he wasn’t paid — a move pretty typical of Fox.
Although few recall it now, MLJ’s Black Hood and Spark’s Green Lama also made brief forays into radio
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