The Blue Beetle comics published by Fox in the 1940's and 50's were not the end of the line for the Blue Beetle character. The insect-themed hero would return in new incarnations, and would inspire a host of imitators. This page is dedicated to story of this legacy. Entries are in roughly the chronological order of first appearance.

Peter Ward: The Scarab; fate unknown. This character made all of his comic book appearances in the late 1940's, making him a Blue Beetle contemporary, and he is different enough from Dan Garrett to not be considered a copy, but he is important to the legacy because he seems to be the real inspiration behind some later interpretations of the Blue Beetle character.

Peter Ward was the reincarnation of the high priest of  an Egyptian Sun God. In his everyday life, he was an expert on Egyptian history.

In order to transform himself into the powerful Scarab, Peter would activate the scarab ring he always wore, causing a blinding flash in which he instantaneously became the Scarab. The Scarab possessed a number of superhuman abilities, including super strength, flight, and invulnerability.

The Scarab appeared Exciting Comics 42-48, Black Terror no. 20 , and Startling Comics no. 34, published by Pines Publications Ltd.

The above information is from Pure Excitement Comics' Gallery of Golden Age Heroes.

Dan Garrett: Silver Age Blue Beetle; deceased; His mystic powers are derived from an ancient Egyptian scarab that he wears on his belt.   Dan's stories were published by Charlton Comics.

Dan was an archeologist specializing in ancient Egypt. During the excavation of the tomb of Kha-ef-Re he aquired a blue scarab with mystical properties and from this scarab derived, in the words of the comic, "the power to banish evil from the Earth for all time. The power of the sacred scarab, the power of the Blue Beetle!"

What was the relationship between the golden age policeman Dan Garrett, and the silver age archeologist Dan Garrett? Were they one and the same? Father and son? Distant cousins? Charlton Comics never revealed the truth, or even acknowledged the golden age character in the silver age stories.

This Blue Beetle appeared in 54 issues of his own magazine, in edition to stories in Captain Atom's magazine and in the origin issue of his successor's book.

In a story by Roy Thomas in the final issue this Blue Beetle's series, the Dan Garrett did combat with an ancient Egyptian artifact called the Eye of Horus. Garrett was able to defeat the artifact by speaking its true name, "the Eye of Ra". This story is notable because it is the strongest link between this Blue Beetle and a later hero of the legacy.

The apparent final story of Dan Garret was the origin story of his successor, Ted Kord.

Ted Kord: Silver age to Present  Blue Beetle; Gadget-based, has a beetle-shaped aircraft called "The Bug".

Ted was an electronic genius who had inherited a vast family fortune. For one semester at Midwestern university he took an elective course in archeology taught by guest instructor Dan Garrett. Years later, Ted turned to his old professor for help when he learned that his mad Uncle Jarvis was out to take over the world.

Jarvis Kord, like Ted, was a great inventer, and his specialty was robotics. Jarvis Kord had a laboritory in a cave on Pago Island, and at this lab he constructed an army of robot soldiers.

Dan Garrett defeated Jarvis Kord at the cost of his life. With his dieing breath, Dan asked Ted Kord to carry on in his name. Ted promised to take up the mantel of the Blue Beetle just a a cave-in buried Dan Garret, and with him, the mystic scarab.

After Charlton closed shop in the 1980's, and its characters were acquired by DC Comics, this Blue Beetle was made a member of the Justice League of America. He often fights crime side-by-side with the hero from the future, Booster Gold.

The independent publisher Americomics briefly controlled the rights to the Blue Beetle and Charlton Comics other characters. In 1983 they published Americomics #3, in which Dan Garrett returned from the dead to reunite with his successor. This story revealed that the golden age policeman Dan Garrett, and the silver age archeologist Dan Garrett, were one and the same. At the end of the story, Dan Garrett is alive. This was the last Blue Beetle story before the rights to the character were acquired by DC Comics. The story of the resurrected Dan Garret has not been mentioned in subsequent stories published by DC.

The Evil Dan Garret Robot; destroyed in first appearance.

Americomics #3 contained not one but two stories of the Blue Beetle. The first story takes place prier to the Dan Garrett resurrection story, and in this story Ted Kord encounters Dan's evil robot duplicate.

The robot was a creation of Jarvis Kord; an ultimate robot soldier who's electronic brain and senses were activated just in time to witness the death of Jarvis and the real Dan Garrett. The robot had somehow managed to escape the island, and had disguised himself as Dan Garrett to take revenge on Ted Kord for his part in Jarvis's death.

Hector Hall: The Silver Scarab;deceased, resurrected, deceased again, trapped in the dream dimension, destroyed, reincarnated; Hector Hall has one of the most convoluted histories of any comic book character.

Hector was a member of Infinity, Inc., a superhero organization made up of grown children and protégées of the W.W.II era Justice Society of America. He is the son of Carter Hall, making him also a part of the Hawkman legacy. but the characters name suggests that the writer, Roy Thomas, was thinking of the Blue Beetle when he created this character.

Hector is connected to the Blue Beetle by more than just his name and symbol; in Roy Thomas's Infinity Inc. sequel to the story "The Eye of Horus", Hector's mind was taken over by the Eye of Ra. At the end of the story (Infinity Inc. #44), the now evil Silver Scarab, who had been purged of all but the slightest traces of Hector's soul, laid dead. But this was not the end of Hector Hall.

Hector's soul returned in Infinity Inc. #49, this time in the body of Sandman, Weaver of Dreams. This Sandman was a character from the 1970's. H had originally been scientist named Dr. Garrett Sandford who discovered a way to physically enter the dimension of dreams. where he had become trapped, unable to return to the waking world for more than a few minutes at a time. The Infinity Inc. story revealed that Sandford had died, and his minions in the dream dimension had chosen Hector's soul as his successor.

In a later Sandman comic, Hector was again destroyed, this time by Morpheus, the incarnation of dreams. Morpheus himself later ceased to exist, and his position as the master of dreams was given to Hector's son.

Recently Hector Hall was reincarnated again. As told in a story in the new Justice Society of America comic book, he was born to an unidentified woman who was brought to a hospital after she was found submerged in a lake, but alive, and comatose. Hector was rapidly aged to adulthood by the Mystic Helm of Nabu, an ancient mask that had once been worn by magician Doctor Fate. Hector has now taken Fate's place, apparently permanently..

Ted Kord: Kingdom Come Possible Future Blue Beetle; Created by artist Alex Ross. Possesses insect-like mech. armor, possibly incorporating the powers of Dan Garrett's mystic scarab. The armor gives the wearer apparent enhanced strength and the power of flight. It has never been stated whether or not Ted Kord also had access to vitamin 2X

In this futuristic story, Ted joins a superhero faction led by Batman in opposition to a faction led by Superman. The factions ultimately join forces in a final battle against a faction of merciless rogue superhumans, and the Blue Beetle is counted among the dead.

The Scarab; Injustice League doppleganger from a parallel universe; His costume is like that of the silver age Dan Garrett, and he possesses super strength. After one battle with the Justice League (Justice League Quarterly #7) he returned with his teammates to his home dimension and has not been seen since.

While on the subject of dopplegangers from parallel universes and Roy Thomas creations, there is at least one other Blue-Beetle-inspired comics character of note.

In Marvel Comics series The Invaders, a recent series set during World War Two, Captain America and his team of golden age heroes encounter the Scarlet Scarab, a Marvel version of the Blue Beetle. The story begins in ancient Egypt, with a sorcerer and a warrior, both of whom had familiar names.

Garret was a "powerful pre-dynastic Egyptian sorcerer" who as an old man joined his soul, along with that of a young warrior named Dann, to "vapors arcane" to create the Ruby Scarab  to combat the "four humanoid sorcerers" known as the Elementals. Nothing more is known about Garret; his actions against the Elementals took place around 3500 B.C.

During World War Two Egyptian archaeologist Abdul Faoul discovered the Ruby Scarab. When Faoul took possession of the Scarab, with the aid of the Human Torch I and Namor, he gained various mystical abilities. Faoul then named himself the Scarlet Scarab and used his powers during the war to defend his country against all foreign invaders. In 1950 the Ruby Scarab mysteriously disappeared, and Faoul spent the next several decades searching for it. He was definitely active during World War Two, however.

Scarlet Scarab Appearances: Invaders #23, 25, Thor #326
Garret Appearances: referred to in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #9

The above is taken from Jess Nevins' Comic Book Annotations

And finally, the Blue Beetle that some people may want to forget:
On The Electric Company, an educational  television show design to teach children to read, there was another, very different, Blue Beetle
This Blue Beetle was a slow-witted comedic character that regularly appeared in short sketches.You may remember his battle cry, "Never Fear, the Blue Beetle is here!!!". He was played by Jim Boyd, probably better known for his Mr. Crank character on the same show.
This Blue Beetle does not appear to have been authorized by Charlton Comics, then owner of the character.
Boyd's costume, a sponge-rubber beetle shell, may have been the partial inspiration for the Alex Ross's mech armor design used in Kingdom Come.