Charlton Comic's Blue Beetle #3Charlton Comic's Blue Beetle #3
Review by comics obscurist Mikel Midnight, reprinted with permission.
"The Madmen"
The Blue Beetle interrupts the Madmen in the process of robbing a bank.They manage to overpower him through strength of numbers, and also manage to steal his gun. Later, at their hideout, the Madmen discover that when they attempt to use the weapon, all it does is hum; nevertheless they make use of it during their crimes, terrorizing victims with the detructive potential of the Beetle's gun. After several confrontations with the Madmen in which they consistently escape, the Beetle finally tracks them down to their headquarters. He engages them in a heated battle and manages to recover his gun, and the secret is revealed: the weapon is only a flash gun! He blinds the villains and captures them, delivering them to the police. Meanwhile, Dan Garret has been spotted again in Hub City. Lt. Fisher investigates further, and Ted Kord is left wondering whether he should continue as the Blue Beetle.
As the story opens, one of the owners of the 4 Square Construction Company is found drowned ... six stories above sea level. The remaining owners, who 10 years ago had murdered a business partner back when they were in the salvage business, view each other with suspicion; they's already nervous because reporter Vic Sage has been investigating their operations.Visiting the office of Mr. Crane, one of the owners, Sage interrupts a murder attempt by a man in a diving suit. Sage transformes into the Question and pursues the villain. He is nearly drowned during the battle with water generated from the diver's gloves, and the killer manages to escape. The Question investigates the office of the old salvage operation and finds a clue which leads him to the home of the killer. He mocks the diver of death's attempts to bribe him, and unmasks him to reveal ... Mr.Crane, who had staged the attack on himself to divert suspicion (the identity of the second man who wore the diving suit, who was payed to attack Crane, is never revealed).