Type of business Restaurants Publisher DC Comics | Owner(s) LexCorp | |
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First appearance Adventures of Superman Vol. 1 #441 (June 1988) | ||
Arrow 1 03 big belly burger part 12
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, as well as on the television programs Arrow and The Flash.
Contents
- Arrow 1 03 big belly burger part 12
- Fictional history
- Superman
- Booster Gold
- Son of Vulcan
- Other heroes
- Television
- Video games
- Six Flags Parks
- References
Fictional history
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. The restaurant was inspired by Bob's Big Boy, a real-world chain of restaurants.
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 in the 1950s, various stories establish that the chain is now nationwide. 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, the Belly Bloater, and the Cheesemeister Deluxe. The Big Belly Burger mascot is a smiling, bearded, red-haired man with glasses (modeled on comic book writer and editor Andy Helfer). The mascot is often depicted holding aloft a plate on which a large hamburger rests. Variations of the mascot also appear, such as a mascot with an upraised arm and no plate. Beginning about 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. Big Belly Burger also has a catchphrase, "It's Belly Belly good" (a play on the words "very very good"). 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.
Several stories depict Big Belly Burger as a subsidiary of LexCorp. Various stories also establish that Big Belly Burger enjoys widespread brand awareness, and only O'Shaughnessy's (a fictional fast food chain with an Irish theme which also appears in DC Comics) may have more locations and be better known by the public.
Superman
Big Belly Burger has appeared more often in Superman comics than in any other DC Comics publication. 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. In 1999, Superman characters Jimmy Olsen and Perry White were depicted in an advertisement for the fast food chain:
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.
Booster Gold
The superhero Booster Gold was once depicted as working (for a brief time) at a Big Belly Burger. He also is depicted appearing in Big Belly Burger television advertisements, 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).
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. The fictional restaurant appeared again in the limited series' final issue, after Devante defeated a group of supervillains.
Other heroes
Will Payton, the teenage version of the superhero Starman, is depicted as a Big Belly Burger employee in a 1989 story, and the DC Comics alien Nix Uotan is depicted working at Big Belly Burger during his exile on Earth in a 2008 story. 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.