Beetle Girl is a legacy of rip-offs! Wait what? Meet Danni Garret, a rip-off of DC’s Danni Garrett, granddaughter of the first Blue Beetle. I hope the publisher Lucky Comics is ready to get their lawyers…(Chuckles).
And I didn’t think I could pull off the troll influencer.
But we are going to go over copyright and trademarks on Blue Beetle.
The Blue Beetle
Most casual fans might recognize the trademark from one of two sources. Either the fan-favorite kid who got an alien scarab from economic alien invaders, or the foil of Booster Gold. But before Jaime Reyes or (Ditko’s) more mature Spider-Man, Ted Kord, the first Blue Beetle was Dan Garrett.
Oh wait, that’s a typo.
Dan Garret started off as a Green Hornet knockoff.
But after his first stint, Dan got rid of the business suit to rip off the Phantom.
Frankly the whole history is better told by Linkara:
All that I need to tell ya is that the “Single T” Dan is in the public domain. Unlike “Double T” Dan who’s owned by DC including the ancient alien Scarab. Man, it would’ve been funny if Danni’s last name would’ve been Garretti.
The First Danni
But before we go into Beetle Girl, let’s talk about Danni Garrett. Danni appeared in Keith Giffen’s first run of Blue Beetle, the granddaughter of the archaeologist who first found the scarab. …Honestly, there wasn’t much to her despite showing up a decade prior. She was basically just a connection to Double T Dan and a pretty minor helper. Maybe Danni was going to be a love interest but when new writers took over, Traci 13 got that role.
Who?
As you can see, there’s a lot of distracting lore. Hence why Jenny Kord streamlines a lot of these elements together in the Blue Beetle movie.
Finally… Beetle Girl!
Which brings us back to Single T Danni. She was created to be Lucky Comics’ Blue Beetle since they couldn’t own that trademark. You ever try to share content on YouTube created by someone else only to get infringement notices? It’s like that. The Dan Garret Blue Beetle might be in the public domain, but only the name “Dan Garret” can be advertised. Hence “Beetle Girl” because “Dan Garret, Undercover Super Cop” is too many words.
In any case, Danni inherited her grandpa’s strength and endurance enhancements. …As well as his weakness, being knocked out from a blow to the back of the head!
So to make up for that, Dan’s old helper Dr. Franz refits some of Dan’s old gadgets. The scarabs aren’t just calling cards, they’re now Bat-a-rang-like projectiles. Some have aerodynamic wings, others have electroshock equipped. Plus her bulletproof supersuit is easy to carry around in ball form until Danni sprays something on it to make it unfold. Until that becomes a full spray-on costume. For a brain in a jar, Franz hasn’t lost his touch.
Beetle Girl: Simple Adventures With A Cult Following
After debuting in Lucky Comics’ Free Comic Book Day 2017 issue, she quickly became the small publisher’s best-seller. Her black-and-white 8 page adventures are all approachable and affordable for both readers and the ever changing creative teams. They all follow a simple format that goes different ways. Sometimes Danni becomes Beetle Girl to get out of her civilian life. Being a first grade teacher can get pretty boring, but at least her fiancé Thomas seems like a good partner. Meanwhile her rogues are either legacy characters like Sphinx or Red Knight, or campier underground societies. As well as dealing with more forceful opponents like SPEAR or The Bat, that clash with Danni’s more down-to-earth approaches. Other public domain characters used by Lucky Comics also appear like the Purple Zombie.
On smaller occasions, Beetle Girl also crosses over with more niche superheroes like Victory or Punchline. Not the Hero Tomorrow character, or DC’s new Harley Quinn, but the Antarctic Press hero. Unlike “Blue Beetle”, that word can’t be trademarked. In any case, this small exposure gives Danni a cult following.
Are You Following Her?
Beetle Girl continues the legacy of the original Blue Beetle, skirting between the legal boundaries to cross pollinate. DC can keep the scarab wearers, straight men, and non-characters, Danni can compete with them by being more affordable and approachable. She’s got artists who just love the simplicity of banging action figures, sometimes they even bring their own. A little cooperation goes a long way.
Thanks for coming to the end, and as always remember to look between the panels.