#hero hotline

[dcdreamblog]

What is the general superhero opinion of for profit superheroics? I know Booster Gold gets ragged on, and I think there was some dislike of that older team Conglomerate, but I've never heard much negative said about the Power Company and the Hero Hotline is pretty much completely ignored

I think there's a slight misnomer in the verbiage you used. Or at least a term you used is referring to something that doesn't match your examples.

The Conglomerate, The Power Company and Booster Gold aren't "for profit" superheroes. They were superheroes who have had or still have corporate sponsorships. They didn't accept money for their work at the point of contact they're superheroes who happened to be paid from a sponsorship fund and did generally agreeable superhero work while collecting a paycheck.

The Hero Hotline and its digital successor Heroz4U DO charge a cost but as we roll past our visual component for the day I want you to look up what that charge is in your area.

(The first advertising poster showing the original lineup of the Power Company)

Did you look it up? Here in NEW YORK CITY of all places, the charge for a Hero Hotline job is a toll free call, a free consultation and then should an actual superhero need to show up and do something their charge is 25 bucks an hour. You pay nothing to call them, you pay nothing if the problem doesn't actually require a superhero. If someone DOES need to come save your life and limb.

25. Bucks. An Hour. That is less than **I** make and I work in a public museum! You're only paying them 100 bucks if whatever you called them about takes more than four hours to resolve! You can't get a plumber for HALF that much in any city in America and in more rural spots their rates are even LOWER.

The existence of paid superheroes comes down to one, undeniable fact: For all our high minded ideals of a better world, in THIS world, people need to pay rent.

It would take an INCREDIBLY specific and CONSTANTLY managed lifestyle to be able to do superhero work while either maintaining a full time profession or not working at all. There are some professions where you can come and go as you please but not many and if you have any other responsibilities on your plate it basically becomes an impossible juggling act. What if you have kids? What if you're taking care of your elderly parent? What if you're still trying to get your degree?

Hero Hotline/Heroz4U have my undying respect because they give people with superhuman skills and abilities a way to help their communities with the gifts they've been given and WITHOUT having to make the impossible choice between using those gifts and having health insurance. Their service is the only reason that small to mid sized towns outside of the major superhero metropolitan areas have a worthwhile superhero response to a crisis at ALL. As far as I'm concerned crowing about them being paid is the same as complaining about firefighters being paid. If there weren't so many terrible externalities in the idea, I'd support the Hero Hotline being a public service.

As for the "higher budget" outfits like the Conglomerate or the Power Company. If you're strong enough to go toe to toe with people who fight the JLA there are SO many less "honest" ways for you to make money with your abilities if you so choose. It comes down to how they act when the chips are down and as far as these examples go, they've proven to be worth every damn penny.

[nitpickrider]

Is Hero Hotline not in the Action Comics Weekly archive for some reason, or are you just skipping it?

Honestly I just haven't had much to say about it. It's funny and an entertaining read but sort of by nature of the material a lot of it was very momentary I guess? It's good stuff for sure just not open for much more than "hah, that's funny"

[why-i-love-comics]

Hero Hotline info page

written by Bob Rozakis art by Sven DeCarlo & Tom McCraw

[nerds-yearbook]

The limited series Hero Hotline ended with issue 6# with the cover date of September, 1989. The issue introduced Batmyte created by Bob Rozakis and Stephen DeStefano. (Hero Hotline 6#, DC Comic Event)

[doctormidnight]

[ID: Eight comic book covers from titles published by DC and Vertigo.

1. The cast of Hero Hotline running at the viewer, an image of the Trinity floats above them. The comic title and DC logo at the top of the image, and Villains line the borders.

2. Text at the top right reads The Psycho. A man in a cap and skull-like mask stands holding a smoking gun. He is faced to the right but looking at the viewer. Psychedelic images float around him, including a skull, some fish, flowers, and the devil.

3. Text at the top reads Giantkiller. A Kaiju/human hybrid with black and red skin standing against a red sky over a dead Kaiju, holding his blade downwards and looking at the viewer.

4. Text at the top says Major Bummer, the first Inaction Hero. An impossibly muscular man looks bored, sitting slumped in an armchair watching TV, surrounded by junk food and comics. Behind him, aliens and supervillains are fighting and civilians are huddled in fear.

5. Text at the top says Chain Gang War. Three armed and masked men are standing huddled together, the two closest to t he front shooting their guns forward, while the third is holding his upright. Bullets are striking the wall behind them. A black chain goes down the left side of the cover, connecting to the title text.

6. Text at the top reads Menz Insana, in a triangle border. In the lower part of the triangle is a painted bust of a cartoon man with a balloon shaped head winking at the viewer, next to a detached image of a floating pair of gloves snapping on where his arms would be. A pale woman in a red dress, hat, and shoes with red hair is standing to the right of the triangle.

7. Text at the bottom reads Mighty Love. Navy blue lineart of a man and a woman in a superhero suit gripping eachothers hands and jumping into eachother. Behind their heads is a orange rectangle, and behind their torsos is a red splatter.

8. Text over the entire cover reads Beware the Creeper. There is a woman with wild red hair jumping through the middle, over a cityscape of 1920s Paris at the bottom. The sky is bright green.

End ID]

been reading a lot this week!

1. Hero Hotline by Bob Rozakis and Stephen DeStefano - It’s... fine......... DC’s comedy titles are something i read against my better judgement. i actually thought i would like this one more but it had a much more serious tone than i expected, which I guess i should be less surprised about since I’m pretty sure I learned about it while reading Wild Dog in the same Action Comics. Really enjoyed the character designs on this one though.

2. The Psycho by James Hudnall and Dan Brereton - great character designs esp the protag, probably wont revisit unless to look at pictures caus the plot was actually pretty whatever.

3. Giantkiller by Dan Brereton - I loved this! Beautiful art, Yochu and Jill were both great. devastated to realize i missed out on a hardcover copy and now i have to wait for a collector to part with theirs OTL i did pick up a copy of the monster field guide

4. Major Bummer by John Arcudi and Doug Mahnke - Ya another one I dont think i’ll revisit... I love how Mahnke draws really grotesque muscle man but there wasnt really anything like. enjoyable about it actuallyyy actually wait the blonde guy was funny.

5. Chain Gang War by John Wagner and David Johnson - I actually thought this was an original/out-of-continuity so (spoilers?) Slade showing up and getting locked in a basement prison for the entire run and the random Azbat appearance was kind of like huh ok... Interesting ig, to have it set in-universe and people go after revenge in a totally non superhero way.

6. Menz Insana by Christopher Fowler and John Bolton - Beautiful art but. hm. im not sure how to describe the experience on this one... frankly it could be 

7. Mighty Love by Howard Chaykin - So so so bad. I forgot why everyone told me he sucked so i read it anyway and was like Oh. Ohhh

8. Beware The Creeper by Jason Hall and Cliff Chiang - Somewhat interesting overall? I actually waited a bit before writing this so I think i forgot a bit already. Usage of shitty topes but ive seen other comics do it much worse, Cliff Chiang’s art helps with it imo

(Queued post from November 2022)

[number1superhero]

sun, gemini, 11h

sun ✩ name 5 things you like about yourself?

First of, I'm super cool, obviously

My optimism and can do attitude

Being heroic and strong and cool

The fact that I'm hot and like totally jacked and NOT fat at all, it's muscle and you are a hater

And also how despite being so perfect I'm still so down to earth and real... You know?

gemini ✩ do you have a good relationship with your siblings? if you're an only child, would you like to have siblings? how many?

Oh, I'm a twin actually!! The cooler one, obviously. Actually grew up kinda separated from him but we do hang out nowadays. He lives up north so we usually talk online. Though honestly, I usually forget to reply to him hahahah...

11H ✩ describe your friends in 3 words

Yo, they might see this so I'll try to be sneaky about it...

cﾚ甘_甘) ー quiet, chill, dork

(^し^) ー scary, hostile, cold

ﾐ；-」-] ー strict, organized, stressed

(´点｀ζ ) ー fancy, sassy, foodie

～τW’ワ’) ー small, chaotic, old

(=ヮ=)੭ ー silly, flirty, italian

(言_言) ー just kinda sucks

[inhousearchive]

House-ad for Hero Hotline (1989).

[dcdreamblog]

Hey di you know about the relatively obscure legacy heroine known as Ms. Terrifc? From the Hero Hotline?

Yes but only barely. As with many folks who moonlighted for the Hero Hotline there's little, if any, publically available information about her and search the internet as I might I could only turn up even a single PICTURE of the woman.

(Ms Terrific, alongside some of the other members of the Hero Hotline's "Night Crew") Ms Terrific actually predates Michael Holt's appearance as Mr Terrific by several years which can be seen by the fact that she's cutting much closer to the bone of Terry Sloane's original Mr Terrific costume from the 1940s. There's no reports of her showing any truly astonishing superhuman feats or abilities though that comes down to the nature of the Hero Hotline, its mission statement and its general attitude.

While many folks don't really remember the Hero Hotline, it was originally founded by Tex Thompson, the former Americommando, as exactly what it would seem to be. You dialed 1-800-555-HERO on any telephone in the country and you got SENT a superhero who would then act in your best interest for a small fee depending on the severity of the action at hand, the amount of heroes required to put a handle on it, and the amount of time taken.

It was, unfortunately, often taken as a joke by people who didn't use the service but its because for most of us the idea of needing to dial up a "lower tier" superhero has never been relevant to us. Most people are never involved in a violent crime in their entire lives, even fewer are even caught up in a metahuman incident especially if you live outside of a few dozen large cities around the world. To 99% of the population superheroes are these untouchable actors upon the world stage that appear whenever they're needed and vanish just as quickly. But say, for instance, that your ex husband breaks into your home waving a gun around and takes your children away in the night. Or you're a medium sized influencer with a metahuman stalker. Or you're a member of any number of minority groups who know that calling the police is just as much a risk as allowing whatever crime you're witnessing to go unreported at all. Well, you dial a toll free number, you pay a PITTANCE considering what you're getting and you KNOW that someone with your best interest at heart is on their way. And if you're a metahuman? Someone with special abilities or skills and you want to do your best for your community but don't see yourself facing the alien invasions or standing up to the end of the world. If you are in a living situation where you can't survive without a consistent wage and access to benefits for your time. Then you take whatever power you've got, you sign on the dotted line and you can help people in your very own community just like a homegrown Superman. People who USED the service swore by it, and that's still true in the modern day with the service's digital successor Heroez4U. The service has even become so prominent that multiple actual "big league" heroes like Black Condor, Red Tornado and Power Girl have offered their services to it. Maybe I should coin something like "The Booster Gold Rule". Superheroes have to live in a capitalist society with the rest of us and I am not going to look down on them for wanting to do it for a wage. ESPECIALLY heroes of this caliber who are doing what they have to to make sure some 10,000 headcount town in the middle of Nebraska has a superhero response to trouble at ALL.