Following the release of the second episode of Lanterns on HBO Max, there has been a lot of talk about Manhunters. Which, of course, got me thinking about Booster Gold's very own Manhunter agent. Or, if you prefer, just his agent.

Here, updated from its original April 2019 appearance, is the Boosterrific! Blog character spotlight on Dirk Davis:

The life of any comic book hero would be a lonely one if not for the many characters who have made up their supporting cast. Just as Superman has Lois Lane and Batman has Alfred, Booster Gold has also shared his adventures with quite a few people over the years. Today we look at one of those, Dirk Davis.

As seen in Booster Gold Volume 1, #9 (1986), Dirk Davis was covering a presidential visit to Metropolis as a member of the press when he got his first glimpse of Booster Gold in action. Davis knew then and there that Booster could be worth a fortune.

According to Davis in Booster Gold #2, Booster approached him about becoming the business manager for a super hero, presumably because of Davis's experience managing the careers of larger-than-life professional wrestlers. Within just a few months, Davis had built Goldstar, Incorporated into marketing empire, with lucrative contracts promoting Flakies breakfast cereal, Brysler Motors, Blaze Comics, and Dusk Cologne. He had a super suit created for a potential sidekick, and worked diligently to make Booster a Hollywood movie star.

Unfortunately for Dirk, not all press is good press. His close association with a genuine super hero led to some unwanted attention when the criminal organization 1000 kidnapped his daughter, Sarah, in an attempt to lure Booster Gold into a trap (Booster Gold #7). Things got worse when the 1000 also kidnapped Goldstar, Inc. secretary, Trixie Collins (Booster Gold #10), and forced him to turn over the access codes to the Goldstar computer mainframe (Booster Gold #11).

Booster eventually managed to defeat the 1000 at great personal cost. The only way to repair his power suit and his health was to travel back to the future. While Booster was away, Davis reorganized Goldstar, Inc. into Booster Gold International (B.G.I.) with the intention of building a multi-national corporate conglomeration to compete with the likes of Lex Luthor's LexCorp (Booster Gold #16). As a reward, Booster promoted Dirk from agent to C.E.O. This would prove to be a mistake.

When Earth became ground zero in the war between the Oans and Manhunters during the "Millennium" event, a Manhunter agent stole all B.G.I. assets in an effort to force Booster to joining their side (Booster Gold #24). That Manhunter agent was Dirk Davis.

The Manhunters lost "Millennium" (in no small part because of the actions of double agent Booster Gold in Millennium #7), and it would be years before Booster relocated and confronted Davis over his betrayal (Extreme Justice #6). By then, Davis had lost the entire B.G.I. fortune on a series of terrible investments, so Booster seized control of Davis's corporation, Lightspeed Entertainment.

As Dirk Davis was thrown out of his own building, he swore that Booster hadn't seen the last of him. Like so many of Davis's promises, it has proved to be so much hot air.

To read creator Dan Jurgens' take on Dirk's journey from confidant to villain, click here to read my post from May 29, 2015.

Other People in Booster Gold's Neighborhood:

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