Spoilers ahead for Blue and Gold #2!
DC has admitted that Blue Beetle and Booster Gold’s new business venture is a riff on Marvel’s “Heroes for Hire” concept—and they manage to improve on it along the way. In Blue and Gold #2, on sale now in print and digital, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold announce a new business venture similar to Luke Cage and Iron Fist’s Heroes for Hire, only they have improved it by subsidizing it.
Blue Beetle is Ted Kord, a tech genius turned superhero, who uses an amazing array of gadgets to fight crime; Booster Gold is a glory-seeker from the 25th century. The bromance between Blue Beetle and Booster Gold is considered one of the greatest in comics history, tracing its roots back to their time together in the Justice League. The two played well off each other, both in and out of combat. Their friendship has survived years of continuity reboots, as well as through the death and resurrection of Blue Beetle. There is undeniable chemistry between the two, and now they've decided to go into business together, and in the process, improve on Marvel’s Heroes for Hire! Blue and Gold #2 is written by Dan Jurgens, with art by Ryan Sook and letters by Rob Leigh.
At the end of the issue, Booster Gold has called a press conference to introduce his and Beetle’s new company, called “Blue and Gold Restorations.” A reporter asks Booster if he and Beetle will be “heroes for hire.” Another expresses concerns that Booster and Beetle will be profiting off the misery of others. Booster tells the crowd that Blue and Gold Restorations will be subsidized by “philanthropists who believe in our mission.” These “philanthropists” turn out to be Beetle, who is seeking to fund Blue and Gold Restorations through his own company, Kord Industries. Unfortunately, the funding for Blue and Gold’s subsidies falls through, throwing the future of the company into serious doubt.
The reporter who referred to Blue Beetle and Booster Gold as “heroes for hire” nailed exactly what they were. This idea is nothing new—Marvel paired Luke Cage and Iron Fist together utilizing this idea and created comic book gold with their Heroes For Hire comic decades ago. Now DC has taken the idea a step further—not only can someone hire Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, they can do so for free, or at least a reduced rate. Another reporter asked if this company was in poor taste by profiting off other people’s troubles and subsidizing such a business is the perfect solution to this.
Marvel’s original Heroes for Hire concept is one of the best in comic book history, and it is only natural others will try to improve on it; DC does that here by bringing it into the modern era. DC has slyly acknowledged that Blue Beetle and Booster Gold’s new company is influenced by Marvel’s Heroes for Hire book that came before it. But rather than it being a straight rip-off, Blue and Gold takes the concept and improves it.