Dan Garrett was an archaeologist who found an ancient Egyptian scarab, once owned by the wizard Shazam, which gave superhuman powers to its wearer. Dan never got the change to use it for very long as Jarvis Kord, the uncle of Dan’s top student Ted Kord, fatally wounded him to get the for the scarab. Jarvis retreated to his laboratory hidden in an underground cave, where he was confronted by Ted. During the confrontation, Jarvis misfired his gun and caused the cave to collapse. Jarvis was believed killed and Ted was able to take the scarab. With his dying breath, Dan asks Ted Kord to take the scarab and become the Blue Beetle. The Blue Beetle's powers include flight, telescopic vision, the ability to fire lightning from his fingertips, and super-strength. The Blue Beetle also relies on his wits and technical skills. Pilot extraordinaire and master inventor, Blue Beetle has armed himself with all kinds of crime-fighting gadgets, including a sidearm that shoots out blasts of compressed air or bright strobe flashes and "frictionless foam," a gooey substance which makes any surface incredibly slick. His pride and joy is the Bug, a solar-powered ship that can travel both by air and underwater.
However, Jarvis did not die in the cave collapse and created an army of killer robots with which he plans to conquer the world. This is where the Kords came in contact with the Justice League, as they came to stop Jarvis. Ted as the Blue Beetle helped them and Jarvis was killed in the conflict. Grateful for his help Ted was made the eleventh recruit. As a member, he met his best friend and partner in crime fighting (among other, more profitable ventures), Booster Gold.
