Hooked by the House Ad: Booster Gold

Booster Gold was the 1st new super-hero concept DC Comics published after it's landmark maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths, a story which not only celebrated the publisher's 50th anniversary, but also, in a pure storytelling sense, consolidated many of the company's disparate timelines, dimensions & realities.  A clean slate was created for a universe of characters, and the time was right for new talent to put a new spin on the idea of what it means to be a hero.  Booster Gold, the idea of Booster Gold, at least - as premiered in a memorable house ad just in advance of the series launch, held some promise of a new kind of hero.

Readers thumbing through their comics with a cover date of February 1986 (the above scan comes from a copy of Wonder Woman #329, the last issue of one of DC's longest running titles), were greeted by a brilliantly colored full page ad for a new title, its main figure striking a typically heroic pose - legs straight, arms akimbo.  A big smile creases his face, as he's surrounded by some slightly faded objects and vignettes.  These little scenes aren't of the hero, Booster Gold, saving victims from a fire or rescuing pets from trees, these are the trappings of a hero of the 80s: a killer logo (who designed this? Anyone?), an attractive woman, a flying robot buddy, billboards, a luxury car (was the Boostermobile a Bentley?), the Metropolis skyline, CASH!

The first super-hero of the era was a for-profit hero.  Not a mercenary, per se - Booster Gold had a heart of -- well, his heart was most often in the right place, but he didn't shun the spotlight.  He reveled in it.  He accepted endorsements, courted the press, and made lots. Of. CASH!

Booster was the brain child of Dan Jurgens, a new-ish talent at the time who'd spent most of his career to date behind the drawing board, having a 2+ year stint on Warlord.  I'm pretty certain this was his first published work as a writer - he'd go on to write and pencil all 25 fabulous issues of Booster Gold, before moving on to other projects at DC including that other hero from Metropolis.

For his greatest creation, Jurgens came up with a pretty interesting concept - Booster (real name, Michael Carter) was a disgraced college athlete from 500 YEARS IN THE FUTURE, who cleaned toilets at a place called the Space Museum.  Frustrated with his life, he thought to turn it around by stealing equipment from the Museum, including a time machine and Skeets the security robot, and high-tailing it to the past, using his & Skeets' future knowledge to earn lots of money and save lives as a super-hero on the side.  Not your typical bitten-by-radioactive-responsibility origin story.

Booster would just as soon solve problems with his checkbook as with his fists

The thievery & outlaw-ism (?) was not evident in the house ad - this would all be revealed rather slowly in the series, but the ad pointed the way, and provided a hook that make me want an issue of Booster Gold more than I wanted a Pogo Ball (which was quite a bit, I'll tell you).  Unfortunately, it
took me even longer to find an issue of Booster Gold than it did to find one of 'Mazing Man.  It wasn't until issue #19 that I was able to read about the Corporate Crusader's adventures.

My 1st issue of Booster Gold, and still one of the most cherished books in my collection

Booster ended up being well worth the wait.  Booster Gold #19 was the perfect issue for me to start with, as it made a big impression on me for a couple of reasons.  First, it definitely did CASH in on & drive home the self-serving nature of Booster's career as the hero.  He was not ashamed to reap the benefits of his celebrity (the hot girlfriend that we never see again, the ability to crash fancy art openings, etc.).  This was different from the true blue heroics on display in Super-Friends.  Something else I'd not quite seen before, was the hero of the story getting his ass completely handed to him.  The villain of the issue was the Rainbow Raider, a former Flash foe, who due to his outright dismantling of Booster Gold, I assumed was some heavyweight villain.  It wasn't until much later that I discovered his reputation as an also-ran in the Flash's Rogues Gallery.  This revelation failed to diminish the impact of the, frankly, ease with which The Raider defeated Booster Gold.  The issue also has quite a memorable cliffhanger - one of my favorites of all time. It would be over 10 years until I found out how Booster managed to come back to beat the bad guy & regain his sight, but being left hanging didn't detract from what a great introduction to the character this issue was for 9-year old me.  And following his later adventures in the Justice League was a clue that things from this particular adventure turned out alright.

One of the more 'vivid' cliffhangers in my memory

So I'd say the promise of the house ad, in this case, had been fulfilled.  It pledged something new, the beginning of a legend (and a FREE PIN with purchase) and despite many of Booster Gold's adventures in his own title and beyond being pleasant, conventional super-hero stories, and his long standing role as joke of the Justice League, the concept of a hero-of-the-time (which he most certainly was), one with a novel and quite refreshing origin story still holds true.  Booster was a departure, of sorts, from many of his super-hero contemporaries, and remains one of my favorite characters of all time.

By the way, does anyone have an extra Booster Gold pin they'd be willing to part with?

Hooked by the House Ad: 'Mazing Man

Through the years, DC Comics has published innumerable house ads, highlighting new books, or changes in existing titles.  Many of these have been memorable (here's one advertising our good friend Steve Savage, the Balloon Buster's book at the time), and some I'd consider 'Hall of Fame'-worthy.  My one rule for a Hall of Fame house ad is simple: did it directly lead to me buying the book, either new on the shelf or by hunting through back issue boxes?

One of my favorite house ads was for the title 'Mazing Man.  I consider 'Mazing Man to be something of a masterpiece by series creators, writer Bob Rozakis & penciller Stephen DeStefano.  This series presented readers with episodes, humorously & poignantly, in the life of a Queens, NY neighborhood, whose residents' lives were touched by the presence of a strange (possibly deranged), but good-hearted little man dressed in a DIY hero outfit & going by the name, 'Mazing Man.  'Maze's title was a unique comic that had a tragically short run - 1986 was the year of The 'Maze, as the book ran from January of that year and ended 12 issues later in December (3 annual specials followed in 1987, 1988 & 1990).  The book, in a way, was part of a long tradition of humor titles DC had published since the 1930's, but this one was different.  It had heart and a self awareness other humor comics in the past lacked.  It was a modern title, made for the 80's and tackled seemingly mundane, everyday issues confronting everyday people ('Mazing Man, aside). 

The house ad introducing the book appeared in various DC Comics with the same cover date as 'Mazing Man #1, Jan. 1986 (the above scan came from Green Lantern #196).  The ad made a big impression on me: the 8 year-old accustomed to flipping by ads depicting various muscle-bound Hulks or bodacious babes stopped short at the image of a mock-up cover to issue #1 under the slogan 'In this crazy world we all need a friend like . . . 'Mazing Man'  Who doesn't?  At the bottom of the ad the copy reads, 'DC. We've made comics fun again.'  This was significant and must have been a breath of fresh air to readers who at the time may have been overwhelmed by the violence and grittiness of the vigilante adventures that were increasingly the norm from comic companies both major and independent.

My 1st issue - a well-loved, dog-eared copy of 'Mazing Man #7

The little headshots of 'Maze's buddies surrounding him on the cover mock-up stood out, too.  'Eddie?' not something-Man?! Instead of whose-it-Woman, we get 'Brenda?'  And in 'color'-'noun'-Man (ala the Red Bee)'s place, is 'Guido?!'  Denton looks like a cartoon dog, but it turns out he's a man that just happens to look like a cartoon dog.  It also turns out that the people in 'Mazing Man's life, despite some caricature-like moments resemble real, well-rounded people.

Slice of life stuff that 'Mazing Man did so well - set up for the night out; Brenda and Eddie can't agree on B.'s new hairstyle

When I write 'turns out,' I mean to say that despite being drawn to this ad which promised a new kind of comics reading experience, as an 8 year-old I had not yet the grasp of a monthly release schedule, or the means of transportation to hunt down comics that were not offered at the local drug store.  It wasn't until issue #7, that I was able to fulfill my desire to hop aboard the 'Mazing Man express, at a point when it was almost too late.  And you know what?  It didn't matter.  Having since completed my 'Mazing Man collection, I can attest to the fact that the quality of this book never faltered (though I will say that it's with Karl Kesel on inks that the art is at its sharpest), and #7 was as perfect an entry point into the world created by Rozakis & DeStefano as any other.

Denton meets a brick-wall-of-a-bouncer; these panels were opposite a house ad for Angel Love, a new attempt at an old genre (romance)

A night at the local bar for 'Maze & his friends was the 'plot' of my initiation story, and I find Brenda & Eddie's domestic squabble, Guido's inferiority complex, and Denton's frustrating experience getting in to the bar, just as hilarious re-reading the story now as I did back then. It just holds up.  I'm still looking for a bar like 'October's.'

Stephen DeStefano's superb storytelling - Guido & friend renew a rivalry

Now, I've got a feeling that the 8 year-old age group was not DC's target demographic for this book, 'Mazing Man was never able to find the right audience during its publication life.  Had 'Mazing Man been published 10 years later, in black & white by an independent publisher, I bet we'd now be seeing the trailers for the Netflix original series.  I'm tempted to use my 'Where's the Trade?' label on this post, because damn it, where's the trade?  This series needs a new shot at a new audience, and a slim Showcase Presents . . . (like the Bat Lash one) would give it just that.