Simple: although the scarab doesn’t work for Ted Kord, it DOES work for Booster! He gets the Blue Beetle I’s powers: super-strength, flight, energy blasts, etc. and a spiffy blue and gold costume. Does Ted have issues over his best buddy getting the powers he “should” have gotten? Is there a reason the scarab “chose” Booster over Ted?

Mr. Mind being drawn as a cutesy animated bug wearing glasses and a speech box around his neck ain’t gonna cut it. I picture him as a parasite like in the Ordway run of Shazam. Make him look more like a bug and drop him in peoples ears to take them over. A much more covert villain that way too.

The more I think about this, it’s a HUGE undertaking! But it’s fun too because you get to world build with some of your favorite (and dead) characters. Plus alternate Earth’s rule!

I still have to read volumes 3 and 4 of 52, but I do like the idea of the 52 new Earths being around. This allows for new stories and crossovers. Elseworlds was too restrictive in that those stories were closed off from the main DC Universe.

Earth-1 I have not read anything from this Earth. At some point when I catch up on all of my other graphic novel reading, these will be at the top of my list.

Earth-2 I CAN NOT WAIT FOR JAMES ROBINSON TO HAVE HIS OWN PLAYING FIELD TO DO WHAT HE DOES BEST, WRITING THE GOLDEN AGE HEROES.

Earth-3 Again I have to read the rest of 52

Earth-4 I believe the Charlton characters were bought right before the crisis. I used to have a few of the Charlton issues. In one of your Tweets after you posted this blog entry, you said you would include Booster Gold on this Earth. I think that would be a spectacular move. Booster and Beetle are like the C-3PO and R2-D2 of the DC Universe. Only they can be more serious when they need to be. In fact, after Final Crisis, I find them to be very serious and tragic. Booster, at least before the DCnU, still felt the loss of Beetle very strongly. Their friendship and all they have been through together would lend humor and seriousness to Earth-4.

BOOSTER GOLD: I would lose the commercial sponsorship aspect of Booster. I find it to be very 90’s and never liked it.

CAPTAIN ATOM: Going with a combination of both Captain Atoms would be a wise move as there would be confusion with both floating around. Why not take the best of both?

BLUE BEETLE I: I might keep Dan Garret around as the mentor of the group. He could be a link to the past. This would allow readers to “see” where the legacies came from and there could even be “Times Past” stories done with Dan as the narrator. Just a thought.

BLUE BEETLE II: I like all of your ideas. I would want him to be more than second fiddle. He never got the respect I thought he was worthy of getting. He could be Earth-4’s Batman without the attitude. Would his base be the team’s headquarters?

THE QUESTION: Again I wouldn’t change any of your ideas. Where Blue Beetle II has the Batman gadgets, The Question would have the Batman grittiness and attitude.

I like the idea of Maxwell Lord as a Luthor type villain. I really like what he became before Wonder Woman took him out.

Earth-5

CAPTAIN MARVEL AND THE MARVEL FAMILY: I like the idea of how you would bring everyone into the present day. However, I would not make them fun and goofy. I think that time has passed for The Big Red Cheese. I wouldn’t forget his past, but I would try a more serious take on the Marvel Family. Jeff Smith did a great job writing the characters. I would not make them so young though. Keep Cap as an adult and Mary and Junior as teenagers. Tawny could be an actual tiger or even a human/tiger spirit that works with Ibis.

IBIS: I always like a magic user. I don’t know much about Ibis, but an immortal magic user who has fathered children throughout time, lends itself to many stories.

BULLETMAN: The modification to his helmet could be that it was melted down and then made into chain mail or plate mail armor under a leather jacket.

MR. SCARLET & PINKY: Going the Daredevil route is perfect for these two. Since they had a variety of weapons (wikipedia quote: Attorney Brian Butler and his adopted son used their ace acrobatic skills and strange weaponry against all varieties of crime) I would give them utility belts.

SPY SMASHER: He would be a Nick Fury type. He would lead a SHIELD government type agency and maybe be a liaison between the government and the super hero community.

MINUTE MAN: I like the idea of a Minutemen Militia of super soldiers. Maybe they could be the group that Spy Smasher heads.

THE VILLAINS: The Sivana’s and The Black Atom Family (52) are ripe for being made more modern.

MR. MIND: A worm villain is a bit on the silly side for me. He is a part of the goofy Captain Marvel era. I would have him inhabit a humanoid robot and possibly be a tiny alien instead of a worm.