The Flash Meets The Bureauc-Rat (Hostess Ads #87)
| On a site dedicated to making a wiki history of all things comics, comics ads should not be forgotten. Especially the ads for Hostess Fruit Pies, Twinkies, and other snacks. Starting in 1975, Marvel and DC heroes (and the Harvey,Archie, and Gold Key/Whitman characters as well!) spent seven years throwing Hostess snacks at a bizarre line of villains to stop their crimes. Although many of the villains were completely silly, they were created specifically for these ads, and in many cases, not even the names have been used again, since the ads stopped in mid-1982. |
So I thought I'd show an ad here, and make a list of the comics I find it in, as I run across them. This list features: The Flash Meets The Bureauc-Rat. As noted on the Hostess Superhero Advertisements page:
Using a Red Tape Gun to tie up the city's traffic flow, former traffic official Bureauc-Rat found himself facing the Flash. Distracting his foe with Hostess Fruit Pies, Flash bound the villain up in his own red tape to end the threat.
Bureauc-Rat has never been seen outside of this ad, but being tangled up in red material did not escape DC altogether. Sylph first appeared in October, 2000's Nightwing #48. When first solicited, I was skeptical- to me, it looked like a recolored Nightwing/ Ghost crossover that never happened. If it was supposed to be a crossover, DC changed the character more than enough to make it original. I'll save you the trip to Sylph's page, and just quote some of the bio here:
Sylvan Schofield is motivated purely by revenge. ...Her father, a chemist, had created the miracle textile [Achilloron], but had committed suicide when others stole his designs. Sylph wrapped herself in a bolt of Achilloron and slew some of the most prominent business leaders in Bludhaven.
After Sylph's first two killings, Nightwing ...captured Sylph as she tried to murder the third of the patent thiefs. In the struggle, Sylph became entangled in her fabric and apparently broke her neck.
It only took them twenty-nine years to come up with a better looking, sexier version of Bureauc-Rat...and then kill her. Way to go, DC.
| There was another red-material-shooting character out there, about 2007 by the copyright notices, called Z Strap- a promotional character for Skechers. Sounds dumb, and it was certainly silly, but it spawned a couple of promotional comics, a couple of companion characters called Elastika and Kewl Breeze, and a cartoon, if I can believe what I found on the Internet. Not shabby. |  |
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Concise Listing:
| You Get A Big Delight In Every Bite <86 (Hostess Treats) 88> Enjoy. |
The list below is in chronological order.
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