Theodore Stephen "Ted" Kord is the second Blue Beetle, a superhero who was originally published by Charlton Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. He was created by Steve Ditko and first appeared as a back-up feature in Captain Atom #83, with Gary Friedrich scripting from Ditko's conception and plot.

Blue Beetle is the name of three superheroes appearing in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle is DC Comics, which bought the rights to the character in 1983, using the name for three distinct characters over the years.