PSA Monday: Booster and Beetle encounter hostile Fire
April 17th, 2006
It’s another in the series of HIV and AIDS public service ads that DC ran in their comics in the early ’90s. This particular ad features Blue Beetle (the late Blue Beetle), Booster Gold (in what must be the ugliest costume ever), and Fire (though now that I look at it, her costume is pretty ugly too). It was found in Flash #87 (February 1994).
Brazil, Fire’s home country, has been hit hard by the AIDS epidemic. It saw its first case of AIDS in 1983 and now has over 600,000 individuals living with AIDS or HIV. Brazil accounts for 57% of the AIDS cases in Latin America and the Caribbean. Despite this, or because of this, Brazil has one of the world’s most aggressive HIV treatment and prevention programs in the world.
April 18th, 2006 at 9:08 am
Um, is there more to that comic than just that panel? I assume there is…
April 18th, 2006 at 9:17 am
Yes, there is a full page. Click on the single panel and it should open up.
April 18th, 2006 at 11:01 am
Really, do you need more than that panel to get the characters? Beetle is afraid to even date because of “teh AIDS.” Booster, wearing a full body condom, jumps in with both feet because he can tell who has AIDS just by looking at
them. And Fire stands in the background looking mildly annoyed, cause that’s what she does. It’s kind of a masterpiece.
April 20th, 2006 at 12:49 am
Who drew this?
April 20th, 2006 at 9:48 am
That was just a full-page PSA that appeared in DC comics in the early 90s. It actually had another version that was drawn a little differently, with Booster Gold and Fire in different costumes. One is a pre-Doomsday PSA and the other is a post-Doomsday PSA. Booster had his original costume destroyed and Fire lost her powers. For some reason, DC decided to keep on using the same PSA but just have it tweaked to reflect the character’s new status.
And I agree, that costume Booster is wearing is OOO-GLAY.
Isn’t it funny that DC thought highly enough of these characters at one time that they are in a PSA like this, but now they are the whipping boys and girls of the DCU?
April 20th, 2006 at 10:18 am
Official Comment
Chris, I’m not sure who drew it. There’s no credits on the piece, and it’s not art I recognize offhand (like Charest on the Flash PSA, for instance).
April 23rd, 2006 at 9:50 am
Blimey. Is that Booster Gold or NFL Superpro?
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