Stop me if you've heard this one, Booster boosters: a young man with good intentions, feeling frustrated about not getting credit for his accomplishments, adopts an outlandishly over-the-top artificial personality (and a "borrowed" suit) and leverages savvy media performances into a public brand that rewards him with fame and fortune.

Sound familiar? Over the weekend, I watched the recent HBO documentary of Pee-Wee Herman, Pee-wee as Himself, and it turns out that Pee Wee and Booster Gold have a lot in common beyond just being associated with breakthrough appearances in the mid-1980s.

The man behind the makeup, Paul Reubens moved across the country to California in search of fame and fortune, which, despite his artistic talent, continually eluded him. He eventually made the conscious decision to hide behind the "Pee-Wee" persona in a calculated attempt to build market recognition. Reubens borrowed a suit to create Pee-Wee's trademark look, then made opportunistic guerilla television appearances to get himself in front of audiences. Though he often played an immature fool, he was also generally interested in spreading a positive message and helping people. Audiences responded, and the character became a big star.

Also like Michael Jon Carter, Reubens relied on a small pool of personal friends, minimized any romantic entanglements in favor of a single life focused on his work, and was prone to making the occasional mistake that would drop the mask and deal irreparable damage to his hard-crafted public persona, thus reinforcing the decision to hide his true self from the public eye.

As the documentary makes clear, Reubens knew he was his own worst enemy. I suspect that our hero may privately share some of those same concerns.

Superman #74, 1992

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