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Description
The Phantom Beetle
Real Name: Daniel C. Van Loan
Powers: Peak Human Strength, Inventing, Marksmanship & Investigation; Escape Artistry; and finally Disguise Mastery.
Equipment:
-A pair of handguns.
-Bullet-proof armor made out of chain mail-like cellulose material that is hidden under Daniel's clothes.
-Has a pair of vehicles, one being a car called The BeetleMobile and a plane called The Phantom Bird.
-When dealing with law enforcement officials and other heroes while in disguise, Daniel carries a platinum badge in the shape of a beetle as proof of his true identity.
-A Beetle Signal flashlight that he uses to announce his presence to criminals to better frighten them before The Phantom Beetle attacks.
-A portable wireless phone that Daniel uses to call the police to detain the criminals that he defeated.
-Vitamin 2X - A super drug developed by his scientist colleague, Dr. Franz, that temporarily endows its recipient with super strength and healing abilities, increased speed, heightened senses, and enhanced intellectual capacity. Under the drug's influence, Daniel can rapidly recover from his injuries and returned to the streets the very next day.
-A small vial of water from The Fountain of Bones. An artifact that, when one drinks the water from it, will temporarily turn their skin and flesh transparent, leaving only the skeleton visible. Daniel uses this water to frighten criminals whenever they remove his hat and mask, revealing only a skull underneath. While the Vitamin 2X is in Daniel's body, the skull-like visage only lasts around an hour due to the drug boosting Daniel's immune system and having it purge the fluid from his body.
First Appearance: Deviantart (2/5/2020)

Origin
(---"A wealthy socialite who served during World War 1, Daniel Curtis Van Loan had a difficult time returning to his old life after serving as he craved the same level of "excitement" that he became used to while in the trenches of the Great War. At the suggestion of his father's friend, Frank Havens, who was the publisher of the Clarion newspaper; he sets out to solve a crime that had stumped the police. That crime being the disappearance of a scientist named Dr. Abraham Franz .

After solving it, he decided he had found his calling. Solving mysteries provides Van Loan with the excitement he craves and so begins the career of the dilettante amateur sleuth known as The Phantom Beetle as he trained himself in all facets of detection and forensics and becoming a master of disguise and escape. Allowing him the skills to even be able to fool his closest friends with his disguises.

And while The Phantom Beetle likes using disguises while fighting crime, he has gained assistance from Dr. Franz who made Daniel bulletproof armor to go under his clothes and the super drug known as Vitamin 2X. And it was the creation of Vitamin 2X that resulted in the doctor's disappearance as he had been kidnapped by a crime lord named Chick Alonzo to supply him and his gang with the power-granting drug. And when Daniel saved Franz from the criminals and brought the gang to justice, Franz shown his gratitude to The Phantom Beetle by working with him to help fight crime via providing Daniel with both body armor and the vitamins to give him an added edge while fighting criminals. Especially supervillains that are more dangerous then the average hired goon.

Using his wealth to fund his crime fighting operations, The Phantom Beetle had developed his own secret headquarters hidden under the city along with various crimefighting equipment such as a portable wireless phone, master keys to escape from or enter locked rooms, vehicles like The BeetleMobile & The PhantomBird, and a functional crime lab to help with investigations.

Thanks to The Phantom Beetle assisting the police, he developed a professional working relationship with the city's police chief along with gaining the trust of much of the police officers. To get the latest news on criminal activity, Daniel uses a couple of disguises such as the identity of Dan Garret, a beat cop; and Johnathan Thor, a petty criminal who frequents the seedy bars and dens where criminals hang out at.

However, one day at the Beetle's lair, Daniel and Dr. Franz experienced a major earthquake. Which is surprising since the city was not built on or near a fault line. They then felt everything drop as both the lair and the building the lair is built underneath fell through a large portal. The two felt themselves hover in the air as they fell for several minutes before falling unconscious.

The two awoken several minutes later, their bodies sore from the rough landing. After Daniel helped Franz back on his feet, he walked up the stairs and out of the secret passage to find four criminals raiding the building as they looked for valuables. The Phantom Beetle was about to surprised them with a sneak attack, until someone new barged in the front door as the criminals made their way to the door. A brightly-colored individual with a blue & yellow helmet with a bright yellow "W" in the center and grey face mask underneath. Daniel heard one of the criminals cry out, "It's Wonder Man! "

"Wonder Man" warned the criminals to put everything they pilfered back and then turn themselves in to the local Constables. However, the criminals decided to actually try and fight off this person, pulling several strange weapons , trinkets , baubles and artifacts from their pockets and rut sacks. Wonderman just shook his head, commenting that they just had to do things the hard way before he moved himself into a fighting stance.

Not knowing what Wonder Man was capable of, The Phantom Beetle made his presence known as attacked the nearest thug and knocked them out with a punch to the head. This resulted in the other three panicking for a quick second before they tried to counter attack. Both Wonder Man and The Phantom Beetle floored the thugs relatively quickly even with their strange weapons. Though after the fight was over, Wonder Man approached The Beetle, thanking him for the assistance. Though Wonder Man also deduced that The Phantom Beetle is a newcomer and welcomed him properly to The Ever-Changing City of Sargasso , specifically in The 30s District."---)

So I was trying to think of how to add the original Blue Beetle and The Phantom Detective to my setting. It was difficult, but then I figured, "Why not mix them together?" So I mixed my ideas for both Blue Beetle and Phantom Detective together to make The Phantom Beetle. Though those wondering what the vial that contained water from The Fountain of Bones has to do with this character, let me explain. You see, in The 30s District of The Ever-Changing City, there is a enchanted fountain hidden near the building where The Phantom Beetle makes his lair. Daniel moved the fountain to the inside of his lair and hooked it up after finding out just what the water that poured from the fountain is capable of, making it a pretty effective weapon of fear against criminals. The Fountain of Bones was originally going to be a tool for my version of The Phantom Detective.

Also if you notice a resemblance between this character and Batman, well to be technical, The Phantom Detective had a lot of things that Batman is known for back in 1933 while Batman first appeared in 1937. Like The Bat Signal, which was actually inspired by the signal that The Phantom Detective had in his books. Though his was on the roof of his friend's newspaper buisness and not on roof of Police Headquarters.

And you know what's really funny is that when the original Blue Beetle Comics were re-printed in France , his costume's color changed from blue to red and was called The Steel Phantom, mostly because the more famous purple-clad Phantom was very popular there and the Golden Age Blue Beetle had a very similar look to that character.

...Note to self, do an actual remake of The Steel Phantom.

This character was made using Hero Machine 3.

The Phantom Beetle is an open source character created specifically for use by anyone. Feel free to use it any way you wish. You must also give creator credit.

The image is copyright AFD Studios/heromachine.com and is posted here as a fair use reference.

Description
The Phantom Beetle
Real Name: Daniel C. Van Loan
Powers: Peak Human Strength, Inventing, Marksmanship & Investigation; Escape Artistry; and finally Disguise Mastery.
Equipment:
-A pair of handguns.
-Bullet-proof armor made out of chain mail-like cellulose material that is hidden under Daniel's clothes.
-Has a pair of vehicles, one being a car called The BeetleMobile and a plane called The Phantom Bird.
-When dealing with law enforcement officials and other heroes while in disguise, Daniel carries a platinum badge in the shape of a beetle as proof of his true identity.
-A Beetle Signal flashlight that he uses to announce his presence to criminals to better frighten them before The Phantom Beetle attacks.
-A portable wireless phone that Daniel uses to call the police to detain the criminals that he defeated.
-Vitamin 2X - A super drug developed by his scientist colleague, Dr. Franz, that temporarily endows its recipient with super strength and healing abilities, increased speed, heightened senses, and enhanced intellectual capacity. Under the drug's influence, Daniel can rapidly recover from his injuries and returned to the streets the very next day.
-A small vial of water from The Fountain of Bones. An artifact that, when one drinks the water from it, will temporarily turn their skin and flesh transparent, leaving only the skeleton visible. Daniel uses this water to frighten criminals whenever they remove his hat and mask, revealing only a skull underneath. While the Vitamin 2X is in Daniel's body, the skull-like visage only lasts around an hour due to the drug boosting Daniel's immune system and having it purge the fluid from his body.
First Appearance: Deviantart (2/5/2020)

Origin
(---"A wealthy socialite who served during World War 1, Daniel Curtis Van Loan had a difficult time returning to his old life after serving as he craved the same level of "excitement" that he became used to while in the trenches of the Great War. At the suggestion of his father's friend, Frank Havens, who was the publisher of the Clarion newspaper; he sets out to solve a crime that had stumped the police. That crime being the disappearance of a scientist named Dr. Abraham Franz .

After solving it, he decided he had found his calling. Solving mysteries provides Van Loan with the excitement he craves and so begins the career of the dilettante amateur sleuth known as The Phantom Beetle as he trained himself in all facets of detection and forensics and becoming a master of disguise and escape. Allowing him the skills to even be able to fool his closest friends with his disguises.

And while The Phantom Beetle likes using disguises while fighting crime, he has gained assistance from Dr. Franz who made Daniel bulletproof armor to go under his clothes and the super drug known as Vitamin 2X. And it was the creation of Vitamin 2X that resulted in the doctor's disappearance as he had been kidnapped by a crime lord named Chick Alonzo to supply him and his gang with the power-granting drug. And when Daniel saved Franz from the criminals and brought the gang to justice, Franz shown his gratitude to The Phantom Beetle by working with him to help fight crime via providing Daniel with both body armor and the vitamins to give him an added edge while fighting criminals. Especially supervillains that are more dangerous then the average hired goon.

Using his wealth to fund his crime fighting operations, The Phantom Beetle had developed his own secret headquarters hidden under the city along with various crimefighting equipment such as a portable wireless phone, master keys to escape from or enter locked rooms, vehicles like The BeetleMobile & The PhantomBird, and a functional crime lab to help with investigations.

Thanks to The Phantom Beetle assisting the police, he developed a professional working relationship with the city's police chief along with gaining the trust of much of the police officers. To get the latest news on criminal activity, Daniel uses a couple of disguises such as the identity of Dan Garret, a beat cop; and Johnathan Thor, a petty criminal who frequents the seedy bars and dens where criminals hang out at.

However, one day at the Beetle's lair, Daniel and Dr. Franz experienced a major earthquake. Which is surprising since the city was not built on or near a fault line. They then felt everything drop as both the lair and the building the lair is built underneath fell through a large portal. The two felt themselves hover in the air as they fell for several minutes before falling unconscious.

The two awoken several minutes later, their bodies sore from the rough landing. After Daniel helped Franz back on his feet, he walked up the stairs and out of the secret passage to find four criminals raiding the building as they looked for valuables. The Phantom Beetle was about to surprised them with a sneak attack, until someone new barged in the front door as the criminals made their way to the door. A brightly-colored individual with a blue & yellow helmet with a bright yellow "W" in the center and grey face mask underneath. Daniel heard one of the criminals cry out, "It's Wonder Man! "

"Wonder Man" warned the criminals to put everything they pilfered back and then turn themselves in to the local Constables. However, the criminals decided to actually try and fight off this person, pulling several strange weapons , trinkets , baubles and artifacts from their pockets and rut sacks. Wonderman just shook his head, commenting that they just had to do things the hard way before he moved himself into a fighting stance.

Not knowing what Wonder Man was capable of, The Phantom Beetle made his presence known as attacked the nearest thug and knocked them out with a punch to the head. This resulted in the other three panicking for a quick second before they tried to counter attack. Both Wonder Man and The Phantom Beetle floored the thugs relatively quickly even with their strange weapons. Though after the fight was over, Wonder Man approached The Beetle, thanking him for the assistance. Though Wonder Man also deduced that The Phantom Beetle is a newcomer and welcomed him properly to The Ever-Changing City of Sargasso , specifically in The 30s District."---)

So I was trying to think of how to add the original Blue Beetle and The Phantom Detective to my setting. It was difficult, but then I figured, "Why not mix them together?" So I mixed my ideas for both Blue Beetle and Phantom Detective together to make The Phantom Beetle. Though those wondering what the vial that contained water from The Fountain of Bones has to do with this character, let me explain. You see, in The 30s District of The Ever-Changing City, there is a enchanted fountain hidden near the building where The Phantom Beetle makes his lair. Daniel moved the fountain to the inside of his lair and hooked it up after finding out just what the water that poured from the fountain is capable of, making it a pretty effective weapon of fear against criminals. The Fountain of Bones was originally going to be a tool for my version of The Phantom Detective.

Also if you notice a resemblance between this character and Batman, well to be technical, The Phantom Detective had a lot of things that Batman is known for back in 1933 while Batman first appeared in 1937. Like The Bat Signal, which was actually inspired by the signal that The Phantom Detective had in his books. Though his was on the roof of his friend's newspaper buisness and not on roof of Police Headquarters.

And you know what's really funny is that when the original Blue Beetle Comics were re-printed in France , his costume's color changed from blue to red and was called The Steel Phantom, mostly because the more famous purple-clad Phantom was very popular there and the Golden Age Blue Beetle had a very similar look to that character.

...Note to self, do an actual remake of The Steel Phantom.

This character was made using Hero Machine 3.

The Phantom Beetle is an open source character created specifically for use by anyone. Feel free to use it any way you wish. You must also give creator credit.

The image is copyright AFD Studios/heromachine.com and is posted here as a fair use reference.