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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Just about any way you slice it, the back half of Booster Gold Volume 1 is a downer for our hero. And them comes Millennium to take what's left of our hero's fortune, family, and reputation. What a bummer.

The big reveal of Booster Gold #24 is that the Manhunter who betrays Booster is the same "friend" who betrayed Booster before. If this seems unsatisfying to the reader, rest assured that it was also unsatisfying to the issue's creator (as I detailed in my 2015 post "The True Story of Booster Gold: 30 Years of Character Development").

But just because the story is ultimately unsatisfying doesn't mean that the comic doesn't have its moments. Lots of them, in fact. Big, dumb deathtraps are always fun, and Ty Templeton's inks make everything better.

Crushing walls are a pretty old-school trap. I'm glad Booster got a chance to play the classics on his way out.

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In many ways, Booster Gold volume 1 number 4 is exactly what you might expect from a Bonze Age DC comic: two disparate heroes are forced to team-up to have a fist fight with a would-be world conquering super villain and his minions. However, the story has several elements that make it unique, not the least of which is that after several issues subverting heroic tropes, Booster Gold gets to play the role of the prototypical hero and be morally contrasted with Rose, a "hero" who shuns attention.

That said, I actually prefer the pauses the story takes to show us Trixie Collins feeding her fish or Skip Andrews trying to get a comic book off the ground. And I cannot tell you how excited I get every time I read the final page of the story, which promises Booster's next big foe: the Internal Revenue Service!

I am always disappointed that this subplot is eventually resolved off-panel. I think it would be interesting to meet Booster's bookkeeper.

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I am not deluded enough that I would call Extreme Justice a great comic series. But comics don't have to be great to be enjoyable, and I certainly enjoy Extreme Justice.

Which is why I was so pleased to see a recent article in support of the much maligned series last week on ComicBeat.com.

Article author Deidre Freitas points out many of the things wrong with the series (though I think she undersells just how bad the art is), but she specifically (and correctly) singles out Booster Gold as one of the better parts.

One thing about this series is that it seems to be discarded as a byproduct of the '90s, and its certainly of its time, from its Extreme label to the outfits, hairstyles and even mannerisms of the characters. But beneath the lingo and fashion choices, there are some genuinely good storylines in this book.

Booster Gold, who had nearly died at the end of Justice League America, is kept alive by a suit that Blue Beetle made him. He lost an arm, and his vitals are only stable because of the alien technology surrounding his body. For all intents and purposes, Booster is disabled for much of this run. Several times in the series he questions his own usefulness, wondering if all of this is worth it. Booster even goes after his former manager, spiraling into a dark depression and anger because the man embezzled all of his money.

Yeesh. Without a doubt, the "Extreme" era of the 1990s is the longest, darkest period of Booster's long career, though that was probably true for most of the DCU. Is that darkness why Extreme Justice is so derided? Who wants to see heroes at their worst?

Extreme Justice #6

On second thought, don't answer that.

Just know that it gets better, Booster.

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Westfield Comics has posted an article detailing the origins of Booster Gold Volume 1 in advance of the reprinting of those issues for the upcoming Booster Gold: The Big Fall hardcover.

The article was written by Robert Greenberger, a former DC editor who worked on the Who's Who series. Greenberger spoke with Booster's creator, Dan Jurgens, for a first-person take on the occasion. Most of what was said will be familiar to long-time Booster boosters (much of it is corroborated by what Jurgens had previously told me in my Secret Origin interview) but it's always interesting to hear Jurgens speak of the old days at DC.

Writes Greenberger:

Jurgens pitched the idea to Giordano and was surprised at how quickly the series was picked up. "At the time, DC was a remarkably fun place to work," Jurgens recounted. "They were very, very open to new ideas and concepts. The company was committed to trying new things.

"I was at a convention in Dallas that Dick Giordano and Pat Bastienne were also attending. Dick was always highly encouraging and always said if I had anything in terms of a project idea, to bring it to him.

"We had breakfast before the Con started and I pitched him the basic concept of Booster—where he came from, what motivated him and what would make him different. At that point, I didn't even have the pitch written out. I believe I had a preliminary sketch.

Booster Gold being born in Dallas makes perfect sense. There are few times/places more associated with American capitalism than Dallas, Texas in the mid-80s. (Booster Gold versus J.R. Ewing!)

Speaking of villains, Jurgens also admits to a lingering affinity for Dirk Davis. Maybe one day Booster's selfish agent will get a shot at redemption. Until then, you can relive his glory days in Booster Gold: The Big Fall when it is released this September.

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