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Ted Kord

Theodore Stephen "Ted" Kord is the second fictional character to use the identity of Blue Beetle, a superhero who was originally published by Charlton Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. He was created by Steve Ditko[citation needed] and first appeared as a back-up feature in Captain Atom #83 (November 1966), with Gary Friedrich scripting from Ditko's conception and plot.

Since his debut in the comics, Kord has made appearances in numerous media. He is voiced by Wil Wheaton in Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Matt Lanter in the Tomorrowverse.

Ted Kord was a genius-level inventor and a gifted athlete, sharing much more in common with Dan Garret, the Fox Feature Syndicate original, than did Charlton's reimagining of the Garrett (a second "t" was added) / Blue Beetle character. Kord's signature equipment was his bug-shaped personal aircraft, which he entered and exited typically with a cable suspended from the cockpit. He also generally eschewed personal weaponry, except for a pistol that made a blinding flash of light and, additionally, a strong airblast to gain the advantage when he closed in for hand-to-hand combat.

The character ran as a backup feature in Captain Atom #83–86 (November 1966 – June 1967) before getting his own Blue Beetle title, which ran for 5 issues between June 1967 and November 1968. A sixth issue was produced, but published in the Charlton Portfolio by CPL Gang. The Question ran as a backup series, with the fifth issue featuring a quasi-team-up in which the Blue Beetle story continues in part in the Question tale.

An origin was given in Secret Origins vol. 2, #2, linking him to the original Blue Beetle. Ted was a former student of Dan Garrett, and they were investigating his uncle Jarvis Kord, learning Jarvis was working to create an army of androids to take over Earth; Garrett fought Jarvis, but both were killed in the battle. Garrett died and passed on the responsibility of the alter-ego to Ted, but was not able to pass on the mystical Blue Beetle scarab (a convenient means for Ditko to explain his preference for a power-free character). There was a hint that one android was still left in stasis, but this would remain unresolved until the DC series of the late 1980s.

In the early 1980s, the first issue of Charlton's anthology comic Charlton Bullseye featured a team-up of the Blue Beetle and the Question. Later, AC Comics would publish a story intended for Charlton Bullseye in Americomics #3, and a one-shot of a team-up of all the Charlton "Action Heroes" called the Sentinels of Justice, as the company called its lineup. Upon losing Blue Beetle, AC Comics created a similar character called Scarlet Scorpion.

DC Comics acquired the Charlton heroes in the mid-1980s and used the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event to integrate them all into the DC Universe. During this period, Ted Kord had his own Blue Beetle series, written by Len Wein, which ran for 24 issues from June 1986 to May 1988. Also published during this time was Secret Origins #2 (cover illustrated by Gil Kane), which explained the origins and careers of the Ted Kord and Dan Garrett Blue Beetles in post-Crisis continuity. They would also follow up on the hinted android in stasis from the Charlton series, which would eventually become "Carapax, the Indestructible Man".

In his monthly, solo series, Kord was shown as an industrialist, the owner of KORD Industries, which he took over from his father Thomas Kord and transformed it from a small R&D company to a scientific industry rivaling S.T.A.R. Labs. Upon joining the newly formed Justice League (following the events in the Legends) Ted was more often portrayed as a second string joke. He was short on money, leading to his entering "get-rich-quick" schemes with Booster Gold. A brief appearance in JLA: Year One showed the young Ted working in Kord Industries R&D, where he designed the JLA HQ security system. Upon meeting the heroes, he thought, "Screw the family business. I want to be one of those guys", possibly explaining the company's fluctuating status since he took over.

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