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Big Belly Burger

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Big Belly Burger
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceThe Adventures of Superman #441 (June 1988)
Created byJohn Byrne
In-story information
Type of businessRestaurants
Owner(s)LexCorp

Big Belly Burger is a fictional fast food restaurant chain in the DC Comics universe. It has appeared in a number of comic book titles and stories, alongside multiple appearances in other media, most notably including various television series set in the Arrowverse.

Fictional history

John Byrne, who created Big Belly Burger.

Big Belly Burger was created by writer John Byrne in the comic book Adventures of Superman in June 1988. The fast food chain was given its initial visual appearance by penciller Jerry Ordway.[1] The restaurant was inspired by Bob's Big Boy, a real-world chain of restaurants.[2]

In DC Comics publications, Big Belly Burger is said to be one of the largest fast-food chains in the United States. Founded in Coast City[3] in the 1950s,[4] the chain opened restaurants across the world following its purchase by LexCorp.[3] Big Belly Burger is well known in the DC Comics universe for its French fries, milkshakes, and large hamburgers. Its signature menu items include three burgers: the Belly Buster,[5][6][7] the Belly Flop,[7][8] and the Cheesemeister Deluxe.[9][a] Its signature milkshake is the "Chocorrific",[11] although it also sells a strawberry-banana shake.[12] Desserts sold include apple pie and a "Drizzle Doodle" (whose exact composition is not defined).[11] The restaurant is depicted as also selling a hot dogs[6] egg salad sandwiches,[13] chicken sliders, fish sandwiches,[12] and breakfast items.[14] The chain's products include "value" combination meals (main item, side, and drink)[14] and "Jolly Meals",[15] a child's meal that comes in a box with an action figure.[16] The "Smiley Meal" is a similar boxed meal including a burger, fries, and cookie.[17]

The Big Belly Burger mascot is a smiling, bearded, red-haired man with glasses (modeled on comic book writer and editor Andy Helfer).[18] The mascot is often depicted holding aloft a plate on which a large hamburger rests.[19] Variations of the mascot also appear, such as a mascot with an upraised arm and no plate.[20] Beginning around 2008, a Big Belly Burger logo began to be depicted in DC Comics. This logo consists of a large red circle with a heavy black border, a smaller white smiley off-center at the top of the red circle, and two three-fingered cartoonish hands (one in the red circle, one opposite the smiley at the top of the red circle). The image looks like a rotund, smiling person patting a fat stomach and giving a thumb's up.[21] Big Belly Burger also has a catchphrase, "It's Belly Belly good" (a play on the words "very very good").[17][22][23] The slogan "Big Choices, Big Value, Big Belly!" has also been used.[14]

All Big Belly Burgers have a drive-through.[12][15] Some Big Belly Burger locations are depicted in the comics as having a "Playplace", an area where small children can play on jungle gym equipment and slides.[16] At least one has a jukebox.[13]

Notable appearances

Superman

Big Belly Burger frequently appears in Superman comics. One notable appearance was in a 1990 story in which the villainous magical imp Mr. Mxyzptlk animated a Big Belly Burger mascot statue and used it to fight Superman.[22] In 1999, Superman characters Jimmy Olsen and Perry White were depicted in an advertisement for the fast food chain:[24][b]

Jimmy Olsen: You'd better hustle with those Big Belly Burgers, Mr. White. Perry White: Great Caesar's Ghost! I'm grilling as fast as I can, Olsen... and don't call me Chef!"

In January 2016, Jimmy Olsen mentions that the first time he and Clark Kent spent time together was at a Big Belly Burger, and that he had his first interview with Superman at the same restaurant after the meal. A background image in the same issue of Superman shows a Big Belly Burger "Employee of the Month" named Stan, who bears a strong resemblance to legendary comic book writer, editor, and publisher Stan Lee.[25]

Booster Gold

The superhero Booster Gold was once depicted as working (for a brief time) at a Big Belly Burger.[26] He also is depicted appearing in Big Belly Burger television advertisements,[27] and a Big Belly Burger sticker appeared on Booster Gold's coffin along with other corporate sponsors (including Soder Cola, Cap's Hobby Shoppe, EZ Caskets, Guardian Cigarettes, Lit Beer, Pep Cereals, and Vertigo Comics).[28]

Son of Vulcan

Big Belly Burger made two appearances in the Son of Vulcan limited series comic book. The first issue of the publication depicted Big Belly Burger as the location where 14-year-old orphan Miguel "Mikey" Devante worked when he met the superhero Vulcan and received his powers from him.[29] The fictional restaurant appeared again in the limited series' final issue, after Devante defeated a group of supervillains.[30]

Other heroes

Will Payton, the teenage version of the superhero Starman, is depicted as a Big Belly Burger employee in a 1989 story,[31] and the DC Comics alien Nix Uotan is depicted working at Big Belly Burger during his exile on Earth in a 2008 story.[21] The superheroine Skyrocket of the superhero group Power Company also was depicted working at a Big Belly Burger in order to earn money prior to becoming a hero-for-hire in a 2002 tale.[32] Captain Marvel ate a Big Belly Burger at almost every meal during his time with the Justice League.[33]

In other media

Television

Film

Miscellaneous

References

Notes
  1. ^ This is apparently the cheeseburger which Deadman craves.[10]
  2. ^ The advertisement plays off the running gag in Superman comics in which Jimmy calls White "Chief" in reference to White's role as editor of the Daily Planet newspaper, after which White consistently orders Olsen to never call him that again.
Citations
  1. ^ The Adventures of Superman #441 (June 1988).
  2. ^ Boycillo, Andrea Dawn (2023-08-17). "Is Big Belly Burger in Blue Beetle Real? DC's Fast Food Restaurant Chain Explained". Epicstream. Archived from the original on 2023-10-14. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  3. ^ a b Jaffe, Alex (June 17, 2020). "Ask...The Question: How Can Mr. Terrific Be an Atheist if He's Met the Spectre?". DC Universe Infinite. Archived from the original on July 21, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  4. ^ The Flash (vol. 4) #32 (August 2014).
  5. ^ The Adventures of Superman #564 (February 1999); Superman (vol. 2) #36 (October 1989).
  6. ^ a b Nightwing (vol. 2) #104 (April 2005).
  7. ^ a b Showcase '95 #10 (November 1995).
  8. ^ The Power of Shazam! #16 (July 1996).
  9. ^ Superman (vol. 2) #59 (September 1991).
  10. ^ Justice League Dark #19 (June 2013).
  11. ^ a b Action Comics #973 (April 2017).
  12. ^ a b c Justice League (vol. 2) #20 (July 2013).
  13. ^ a b Brightest Day #7 (October 2010).
  14. ^ a b c Suicide Squad (vol. 4) #30 (July 2014).
  15. ^ a b Formerly Known as the Justice League #1 (September 2003).
  16. ^ a b Black Canary (vol. 3) #1 (September 2007).
  17. ^ a b Impulse #50 (July 1999).
  18. ^ Byrne, John (September 5, 2008). "Unexpected Byrne references". Byrne Robotics. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  19. ^ The Adventures of Superman #480 (July 1991).
  20. ^ Justice League Spectacular #1 (April 1992).
  21. ^ a b Final Crisis #3 (September 2008).
  22. ^ a b The Adventures of Superman (vol. 2) #463 (February 1990).
  23. ^ Superman (vol. 2) #92 (August 1994).
  24. ^ Superman Secret Files and Origins #2 (May 1999).
  25. ^ Superman (vol. 3) #46 (January 2016).
  26. ^ JLA Classified #6 (June 2005).
  27. ^ 52 #4 (May 2006).
  28. ^ 52 #18 (September 2006).
  29. ^ Son of Vulcan (vol. 2) #1 (August 2005).
  30. ^ Son of Vulcan (vol. 2) #6 (January 2006).
  31. ^ Starman #16 (November 1989).
  32. ^ Power Company #1 (April 2002).
  33. ^ The Power of Shazam! #22 (January 1997).
  34. ^ Guggenheim, Marc; Kreisberg, Andrew (October 24, 2012). "Lone Gunmen". Arrow. Season 1. Episode 3. The CW.
  35. ^ Schwartz, Beth (February 20, 2013). "Dodger". Arrow. Season 1. Episode 15. The CW.
  36. ^ Kreisberg, Andrew; Guggenheim, Marc (October 9, 2013). "City of Heroes". Arrow. Season 2. Episode 1. The CW.
  37. ^ Mericle, Wendy; Schwartz, Beth (April 23, 2014). "Seeing Red". Arrow. Season 2. Episode 20. The CW.
  38. ^ Kreisberg, Andrew; Johns, Geoff (October 7, 2014). "Pilot". The Flash. Season 1. Episode 1. The CW.
  39. ^ Schapker, Alison; Godfree, Grainne (October 21, 2014). "Things You Can't Outrun". The Flash. Season 1. Episode 3. The CW.
  40. ^ Wu, Kai Yu; Geoff, Johns (January 20, 2015). "Revenge of the Rogues". The Flash. Season 1. Episode 10. The CW.
  41. ^ Stanton, Gabrielle; Kreisberg, Andrew (May 19, 2015). "Fast Enough". The Flash. Season 1. Episode 23. The CW.
  42. ^ Meiojas, Julian; Walczak, Katherine (October 20, 2015). "Family of Rogues". The Flash. Season 2. Episode 3. The CW.
  43. ^ Sokolowski, Ben; Godfree, Grainne (November 3, 2015). "The Darkness and the Light". The Flash. Season 2. Episode 5. The CW.
  44. ^ Jierjian, Harry; Horgan, Dana (October 21, 2018). "Fallout". Supergirl. Season 4. Episode 2. The CW.
  45. ^ Talalay, Rachel; Maala, Matthew; Faust, Morgan (May 9, 2021). "Meat: The Legends". Legends of Tomorrow. Season 6. Episode 2. The CW.
  46. ^ Castorena, Jake; Dini, Paul (August 10, 2017). "Best Day Ever". Justice League Action. Season 1. Episode 33. Cartoon Network.
  47. ^ Zwyer, Mel; Vietti, Brandon (July 2, 2019). "Influence". Young Justice: Outsiders. Season 3. Episode 14. DC Universe.
  48. ^ Bishop, Sean; Ryan, Michael (July 2, 2020). "One Minute Mysteries!". Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?. Season 1. Episode 16. Boomerang.
  49. ^ Liu, Sam (director) (March 30, 2019). Justice League vs. the Fatal Five (Motion picture). United States: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
  50. ^ Burlingame, Russ (2023-07-08). "New Blue Beetle Poster Teases Big Belly Burger". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on 2023-09-15. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  51. ^ Piñata, Rory (2023-08-20). "Blue Beetle: Most Fans Completely Missed These DC Easter Eggs". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on 2023-09-21. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  52. ^ "Restaurants & Dining". Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Six Flags. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  53. ^ "Restaurants & Dining". Six Flags Magic Mountain. Six Flags. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  54. ^ Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Five #9 (May 2016).
  55. ^ Weiss, Josh (February 10, 2021). "WANT A BIG BELLY BURGER? OR JITTERS COFFEE? TAKE A SUPER-SIZED BITE OUT OF THE DC UNIVERSE WITH JUSTICE LEAGUE MEAL KIT". Syfy Wire. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
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