Blue Skying, Part 2: Blue Beetle Ted Kord Part 2 - Atop the Fourth Wall 

The best improvement of Ted Kord over his predecessor BY FAR is how his fashion sense stayed so consistent.

13:05 And more Blue Beetle theft goodness, this cover is an homage to the iconic "Spider Man Suit in the Trash" image.

Honestly, Ted Kord received a great send-out for a character that had barely been utilized for nearly decade, with a final act of defiance against evil. As for the characters' dismissive attitudes, it was a stressful time in most of those characters' lives, especially after the mess of Identity Crisis. Honestly, the unsung heroism of Ted in Countdown to Infinite Crisis was really a defining moment for the character, and a good one, despite the needless bloodiness (maybe they could have done a "discretion shot" panel).

Aww. I was hoping at least a short mention of the time Blue Beetle and Booster Gold stole Martian Manhunter's Oreo cookies.

Wow Ted nearly got himself killed to take on Doomsday.{claps in respect}

Its funny as someone who had no idea who Ted Kord was when I read Countdown to Infinite Crisis, I honestly thought it was fantastic, so well written and as you said makes you feel so much for Ted. But I do understand the frustration of continuity basically contradicting what is going on in the book.

Surprised he didn't mention that the Blue Beetle and Question were the proto-types for Night owl and Rorschach in Watchmen.

Ted Kord might have learned from Dan Garretts mistakes from injuries to the head, but keeping with the Blue Beetle legacy, it became his ultimate downfall. Coincidence? YOU MAKE THE CALL!

Actually Max's turning evil could work if they used Psycho Pirate plot. I actually belived Psycho Pirate is the reason why heroes's sudden change when I first time read Infinite Crisis even Power Girl mentioned that but Alexander said they made themself. Why they didn't choose "Psycho Pirate did it" still baffles me.

G. Gordon Godfrey! I remember him from Young Justice where he was voiced by Tim Friggin' Curry.

Personally, I think the brutal death works just fine. It doesn't sugar coat it. He's not going to leave a good looking corpse or die with dignity. He's going to get shot through the head by some asshole in a suit for knowing too much. But that kind of thing emphasizes what kind of a person he is. If you would say it was his humanity that identified him, then dying an undignified death is part of that. He did everything he did, knowing he could die like that. And knowing the Max was going to shoot him, and he was in fact going to die like that... he didn't flinch. Gore isn't just some sensationalistic 90s stuff. It is a part of grim and gritty that doesn't need to be exaggerated to have it's full effect. Death isn't always pretty, it isn't always neat, and it isn't always meaningful. Risking your life knowing all that makes someone all the more a hero.

Countdown to Infinite Crisis was the first Blue Beetle comic I ever read and I instantly fell in love with the character. God Damn it Geoff Johns

If Dan Garret fought Mr. T, would the universe survive that clashing of powers?

13:09 meanwhile, Spiderman has thrown his costume away in an alley just out of view of the camera. No, but seriously, why do heroes keep doing that? If I saw Blue Beetle throw away his costume, I would take that shit instantly. I mean, you don't want to keep it around just in case bad stuff goes down and you need it? If you don't want to be reminded of it, then lock it up in a suitcase and put it up in the top of your closet or something!

Cmon Linkara you know the retcons were mandatory when you PUNCH REALITY

I'm a REALLY emotional person, My parents say it's a good thing, Though I see both the bad and good in it personally. Anyways, My point is Ted's death here really got to me, In a REALLY good way. I'm still crying about it, And I've finished watching about 20 minutes ago, And I knew about his death since... Well, Since it first happened. And... Now that I know more about the Blue Beetle legacy, And have become such a fan (Hell, I'd say he's my favorite Super Hero at this point, And I'm a Marvel guy!) I'd list the reasons why, But if there's one odd thing (And for some reason this happens a lot with characters I like) Ted reminds me a bit of myself. But more so, My dad, And the more I think about that the more I cry XD His humanity, His genius matched with his wit, His resilience despite so many people scoffing at him, All the shit he went through and still sticking through it like a champion. Jesus, The more I talk about it, My dad seriously may be Blue Beetle.Ted's one of the best, A champion through thick and thin. *Raises a can of Dr. Pepper* This one's to the Blue Beetle legacy, And to some of the greatest heroes I've ever seen.

13:04 Spider-Man left his suit in that bin too. Surprised someone doesn’t go there every now and then to sell quilting superheroes’ suits on ebay

An elseworld where Tim Drake became the third blue beetle instead of Jaime...... SOMEONE CALL DC

Okay, I don't know why my name is at the top of the list of Patreon sponsors when it usually isn't--but for this review, I don't care! Blue Beetle is my favorite individual superhero and I was a big Ted Kord fan. So that was just the icing on the cake! Trust me Linkara, I know exactly how you feel about Countdown to Infinite Crisis. It's a shame that Kord was given so little respect by the rest of the super-hero community in that story when he really wasn't that disrespected. I mean, Power Girl said in the "I Can't Believe it's Not The Justice League" comic that the idea of working alongside Ted actually tempted her a bit, almost enough into leaving the JSA for the moronically named "Super Buddies." Almost. I'm not entirely sure if its in the purview of the next installment, but I really hope you talk about just how much of an impact Ted Kord's death had. How the Birds of Prey mourned him; all the praise tossed his way by Guy Gardner in the Reyes series, despite the two never getting along; how Batman defended giving Booster Gold a shot at joining the JLA by saying "For Beetle, Roy" and what Booster Gold went through in his solo series to try to bring Kord back. Not to mention Beetle's AMAZING sacrifice in that book. I hate that Ted had to die to get that respect...but the fact that he did get it, and from everyone from Booster to Oracle to Guy Gardner and flippin' BATMAN, it really shows why he was such an awesome character. I did see him and Booster running around in Justice League 3000, post-Reboot but I have no idea what that's about. Do you know? As much as I love Ted Kord, I will admit, the Jamie Reyes series (pre-Reboot) is one of the best comic series I've ever read. You got me into it and I cannot wait to see what you have to say about it. Thanks a million!

Wait a second, what if the museum Booster Gold stole it from, was his own?

It was the Ted Kord Blue beetle, along with several other Chaleton Comic characters (Question, Captain Atom, and Peacekeeper to name some of them) who were the models for the Graphic Novel, Watchmen. Just a fun fact.

So both Ted and Peter suffered the same fate when they joined a superhero team: they became the buffoon-ish class clowns. It's good to know that both Marvel and DC know how to turn respectable heroes into a joke.

That blatant Power-Girl retcon I think is better explaination than the previous one. Also, it works in continuity. Power-Girl could have lied about the reason for the hole before, because she wasn't ready to open up

13:07 - Wow.... seems blue beetle couldn't help but steal from other comics even then. Blue Beetle No More!

Gotta admit I've always loved Ted kords outfit. Used to be a time where I loved him more than bats!

3:12 How did you miss the opportunity to exercise some alliteration? The Scarlet Scarab was right in front of you!

So... Countdown to Infinite Crisis was all Superboy Prime's fault for punching reality and changing the lives of many, probably Lord included? ... Makes perfect sense to me, and this was enjoyable regardless!

See? Everything Dan Jurgens touches turns into something good.

...Also, Ted and Babs "totally cyber-did it". lol

I just noticed something! The costume Spider-Man wore during the House of M event actually bears a stronger resemblance to Ted's Blue Beetle outfit.

I always found that Geoff Johns had good ideas and writing for comics but the bad habit of changing things that did not need to be changed in order for them to work. Plus I'm still mad at him for what he did to Wonder Woman.

You forgot to mention that Ted Kord was the blue beetle that inspired Night Owl from Watchmen. While is not that important to the character itself, it would be interesting to hear what were the differences, and if something Alan Moore wrote for Night Owl went to Blue Beetle (like some of Rorscharch characteristics went to The Question, or how The Question called Rosrcharch a "freaking loser")

This sheds some interesting light on how Maxwell Lord is portrayed in the Supergirl TV series...

Geoff Johns is an amazing writer. I love everything from him that I've read. However, I'm not a huge fan of his ideas of what certain characters and teams should be. I don't like his preoccupation with the Silver Age versions of characters (I'm still upset that Wally West's not had really anything of note since Barry came back. I'm even more upset that he lost his entire history post-Flashpoint, but that's another rant), and his version of the Justice League with Cyborg instead of J'onn is just baffling to me. And it's frustrating to me that he makes these massive changes that really shouldn't work at all, and he makes them turn out amazing stories.

As a guy who's a Booster Gold's fanboy, I'm 100% with Linkara on Countdown To Infinite Crisis. It's good, but it's a damn slap in the face to all fans.

14:00 The puzzle reference excites me! I love your storyline! Can't wait for it! :D

geoff Johns can be defined by my eyes as a great retcon writer,but it doesnt stops it from being retcons.

"Basically, he went cray and turned evil... as ya do." Thank you for that line, Linkara. Thank you.

Well to be fair to Ted for walking away from his life when it gets hard, that's exactly what Ayn Rand's characters do in Atlas Shrugged. So at least he is still following Steve's objecti st philosophy.

Glad someone shares my opinion on Countdown to Infinite Crisis. Infinite Crisis was actually one of a first things I've read so I wasn't mostly aware of those problems... then I've read more and came to conclusion, that it wasn't that good, just after all. So I've checked... and I still liked it. But I've came to conclusion, that this is one of top achievements in story telling, or art in general, you might acknowledge it's flaws, poke and make fun of them, even get angry over them... but enjoying them regardless because of it's qualities.

To fix that Maxwell Lord thing they could have just revealed that his mind had been influenced by the Godfrey guy. With Lord having had a lot of contact with him as a defender of the League it wouldn't be much of a stretch to think that he tried using his ability's on the disguised Apokolyptian, only to have it backfire. Resulting in him becoming an antagonist while believing it to be his own thoughts. Completely unaware of the truth until it was revealed.

Extreme has finally control back

So Chuck Dixon's Blue Beetle idea was the inspiration for We Are Robin. At least that's my headcanon.

Sincere thanks for this series. I'm a big Blue Beetle fan.

So Jutsice League Detroit is basically what's Marvel doing right now.

4:03 "[Millenium] is not all that important." Snowflame begs to differ.

How is "Sentinels of Justice" any worse of a name than "Justice League of America" or "Justice Society of America"? It's a perfectly fine superhero team name.

Maxwell Lord: I'm Max Lord, I'm Max Lord, I ruin everything around me just so!

Ted Kord sounds awesome, Superman took on Doomsday and died fighting, TED took on Doomsday, and DIDN’T DIE. Sure, he didn’t beat Doomsday, but he still took him on and the worst he got was a Coma.

And Ted's back now thanks to Rebirth, working alongside Jaime.

I think what Geoff Johns was getting at was that it less that everyone still treated Ted like a joke, but that they were either distracted by bigger issues like the Rann/Thanagar War or that they just didn’t care enough because everyone was still on edge and distrustful after Identity Crisis. They were bitter and dismissive. The scene with Ted and Batman gave me that indication. The stuff with Maxwell Lord is definitely Nohns playing with continuity, but the stuff with Ted I think wasn’t too much of a stretch considering that time in the DCU.

I've always had a theory about Ted's personality shift between his own series and JLI... probably just me reading too much into the fact that there were different writers and approaches, but here goes: 1) In his own series, Ted was on his own (mostly), so he had to be more careful. More careful, less jokey. With other heroes around, he has someone to watch his back and can relax. 2) Ted might be kind of flippant and goofy because he doesn't really feel sure of his place on the team. Firstly, he doesn't have powers, but several other teammates do, and are heavy-hitters. These are usually the people on point, while Ted will come into the scene last, after having driven everybody in the Bug. Even as a reader, a lot of the time it feels like they just use Ted for his "car." Also, Ted relies on his own gear and is a great inventor. However, most of the time, the League don't need his help on this because Mister Miracle mostly handled it, using technology that was way more advanced. So, Ted might be feeling a little useless, and make snarky remarks that are really caused by not feeling needed... 3) Ted had always had a safety net that was his company. Don't forget, company money is what allows him to build his gadgets. When that disappeared, partially because he was too busy hero-ing to make it work, he still needed the cash. He was willing to engage in jobs that were "more risk, more reward" so he could get money quick. Booster goes along with it (since he needs cash too) but is more cautious because he has to keep a good image, and he's a bit more respectful of the League's image probably because, growing up, they were world-renowned historical heroes, while for Ted, they're just people doing the same thing as him. Aaaaaaaanyway.... that's always been my interpretation. Personally, I felt that by the time the team because the Justice League (early nineties?) instead of JLI, Booster and Beetle had stopped most of their shenanigans and were pretty experienced Leaguers. But the image they'd set up for themselves hung around (after all, I think that most heroes don't work together, and would only know each other from hearsay), so they still had trouble getting most people to take them seriously.

The first Blue Beetle I was introduced to was the hero from the PBS show, The Electric Company. A self proclaimed superhero who dressed in a beetle costume complete with a mask, wings, and antenna, who had no powers, ran from danger, and was ironically jealous of Spider-Man who was also on the show who spoke in dialog balloons. Then during my late teens I was then introduced to Ted Kord's version in Justice League and do have to admit that it was a step up and became one of my favorites. Since this was before the Internet I looked up everything I could about the character I could from comics, cards, and from books. HIs shenanigans with Booster Gold never failed to get a laugh from me during a time where I could really use a good laugh. Even though he acted a buffon I still never saw him less then a hero.

In regards to your comment about the bat characters having multiple identities, they tend to move on with someone new taking the role, so it only makes sense that when they graduate, they get a role all to themselves. It certainly makes things less confusing when you have Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin instead of Robin, Robin, and Robin. It keeps them distinct and lets them grow into a role of their own. We love Barbara as Batgirl, but her being Oracle opened the door for Cassandra. It honestly seems like a really neat gimmick for the Bat family that allows for growth of Bruce's protegees, if not always himself. Fortunately though, it does seem that having made a family does wonders for his characterization and mental health under a good writer.

Ted will always be my favorite Blue Beetle. I wish DC could have kept Ted and given Jaime his own unique name.

You know I don't know if you'll read this but if you do I just wanted to say I love these character overviews you do it's educational and entertaining at the same time.

You've got to do a Doctor Fate Retrospective one of these days, so much history for the character, so many different versions. Perfect for jokes.

Now I kinda want DC to release an out of cannon Ted Kord Blue Beetle series where they fix the continuity and remove the parts where Ted is a dipshit.

3:55 - One other Blue Beetle story by AC Comics actually did Dan Garrett as some kind of eternally-resurrecting super-hero; in a Jack Kirby homage backup feature in one of their anthology titles, he came back to life, now some sort of government agent at the whim of some Egyptian pantheon-looking entities.

I might not have read all of it 'yet', but i really like what i have read from it. ;)

2:20 Fun Fact: Stan Lee's inspiration for the X-Men was the Doom Patrol, kinda like how Aquaman ripped off Namor.

Ted is best BB for me (though I like BB vol8 with Jaimie ;) ). Though you did not mention JL 3000/3001 (I dont even know where on omniverse should I put this ;) ), but I can undestand that you dont like JLI (and generally Giffen vision of Ted and Booster). Or that is just "Elseworld" story (I have no freakin idea how cosmic stories from Giffen work with DC main uni, look on Larfleeze for example). Thanks for this ride, I have to find few comics and try to buy them now :)

4:41 I don't know I kinda like that instead of always taking the higher road Kord just says "fuck it" and leaves them to sleep in the bed they made.

Two years later, Linkara reviewed the follow-up of poor Ted's death.

So basically Geoff Johns is the Steven Moffat of DC Comics.

Your rant about how upset you are about really liking Infinite Crisis was most delicious to me.

This is why Lewis’ll love JoJo’s part 2; the new protagonist isn’t just a headstrong knight with a British accent, but instead a cunning tactician with a snarky attitude.

I'm curious: can you link Holy Terror to Countdown?

Will the next episode cover Booster going back in time to hang out with Ted? That's where I'm most familiar with the character, personally.

2 things. 1. You had blown my damn mind when you went over Golden Godfreid. 2. With the Reagan thing all I can think is that one bit from Shortpacked. "Nice try Sonny, but I've been shot there before. You'll have to try harder than that"

Wait, so Glorious Godfry was doing the same argument that Vision had in the Civil War movie? I mean, I'm with Linkara in saying that heroism causes villiany is dumb, but considering Godfry is a villainous hypnotist that had TV to spread his influence far and wide, it makes sense that he'd use that as an excuse to make heroes have it hard.

I really wanted to know in Young Justice's tv show what they were planning to do with the whole Darkseid-Godfrey thing they had started... i really hope they make a third season so i can find out >w< anyways, i love these kind of reviews! i learn so much

15:04 I tried to test this theory by trying to see if One More Day could’ve tied into it and ya it can it’s probably a stretch but One More Day was released while the later issues of countdown were being released so ya even OMD could be apart of this large web of garbage that is Countdown pun intended

17:19 So... blue Beetle basically.... c*ckolded the Bat??

the calculator, well players of DCUO villain side, that's what the shadowy guy who gives you missions looks like

11:09 Oh, of course Darksied would be reading Mein Kamph.

23:24 Ladies and Gentlemen, without even watching the series, Linkara has said a similar problem with the Kamen Rider Taisen films and certain early Heisei series. Trying to portray the hero(es) as this great mythological hero with strengths, and tragedies of their own, but to do that, they spit in the face of the characters, and the fans of those characters. They make the majority of the cast of these films or series...either idiots or A-Holes. (Screw you, Toshiki Inoue, the Japanese equivalent to Frank Miller!) They missed the point of what made the older series great as well. (Not to mention portraying the original, Takeshi "Segata Sanshiro" Hongo himself as a bitter jerk and a few of the Showa riders acting in ways they never would have acted.) It is an insult to their legacy. However, there IS an argument to be made, provided a competent writer worked on it. I noticed by researching some of the newer series that some of the newer Riders depend on their gimmicks, and weapons, rather than their own skills, and applying their abilities to them.

Calculator has even jumped to live action, where his kids Wendy and Marvin have been renamed into Ronnie Raymond's stepmother Felicity Smoak.

11:11 Thor Ragnarok's problems in a nutshell. (PS. I actually liked the movie. But it was seriously firing jokes off too rapidly.)

Can you do one of these Masive history review like this for She Hulk and Amazing Spider Man? (If you haven't already)

I feel like getting DC Showcase Blue Beetle now

Could you give a hint what eipsode 400 could be except just a comic book / grafic novel?

batman telling someone to lighten up? Damn we kinda need that today, don't we?

Geff Johnes Master of retcon

10:56 Do I even want to know what that yellow stuff on Oberon is?

@Linkara-AtopTheFourthWall So, now that Ted's alive again since Rebirth, what are your thoughts Linkara?

Actually, it was well documented that Hybrid were made exactly to be a version of X-Men. The used to do that all the time back and forth between them.

And I hate to admit this, but it was Ted Kord's death that made Booster Gold "grow up" and become a more responsible hero in the 52 series and its own series afterwards.

I kind of worry that his head is going explode when he gets into full rant mode like that. :)

Last i heard Tim Drake took up the codename Drake

*pauses the EXTREME segment* "Check the puzzle again?" Hmm...

19:26 Okay, how in the depths of the cave did they manage to go through Waynetech and not disturb the bat!? Or at least Lucius Fox?

When Batman tells you your grim, then you need some help

The Calculator...a villain so worthless they figured if some tech villain had to be Felicity Smoak's father it was him. At least that version didn't actually have a calculator on his chest.

No joke I got an ad with Stan lee in it before this show

Actually, there's something I want to ask since you brought it up in this review, Linkara. What did you think of Final Crisis, or at least Superman Beyond?

11:46 The JLI Had a whole hob for debating whether to do something?

It sounds like Geoff needs a good editor, a continuity reminder (basically the inverse of your alarm's original role), and a general metaphorical leash.

15:26 Holy crap they didn't even try to make him look different in this panel.

9:15 Leave it to Linkara to be one of the few people who understands the difference between Sentience and Sapience these days.