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| The Bouncing Beatnik
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© Juke Box Productions
AstroFacts
| Status:
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Inactive as this identity, beyond that, his current status is unknown.
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| Real Name:
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?
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| Origin:
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not revealed (yet)
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| Base of Operations:
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Astro City
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| Range of Operations:
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same
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Personal Data
| Occupation:
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let's start with beatnik, the rest is loose and free-flowing man.
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InfoDump
| Appearances (in Publication Order):
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Kurt Busiek's Astro City Vol.1 #2
Astro City: Silver Agent #2
Astro City #43
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Event Timeline
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The Bouncing Beatnik
An acrobatic and jive talking beatnik hero. He aided Honor Guard in the first fight against Shirak.
History
There is a definite sense of a long history associated with the Bouncing Beatnik, but to date, he has made very few on-panel appearances within the pages of Astro City comics. At least in this form, with this identity.
According to a Pyramid computer file, he took down a Pyramid base in Los Angeles in the mid 1960s.[1]
Observations
- On Bruiser's, the (now discontinued) Comics Forum dedicated to all things Astro City, Kurt mentioned, "There will eventually be more of the Beatnik -- or another of his incarnations. He has shown up in two forms, so far."
- Astro City: A Visitor's Guide notes he's never been an Honor Guard member in any of his incarnations. He's teamed up with them, but never joined.
- He has a yellowish/golden skin color, and only three digits on each hand, indicating he's not completely human.
- The Broken Man confirms the Beatnik is part of the legacy that began with Mister Cakewalk, i.e. an incarnation of living music that manifests as part of a particular era's counterculture.
- People don't seem to like him for some reason. According to the Broken Man, this is key to something.
Speculations, Theories
- In 1959, the Bouncing Beatnik teamed up with Max O'Millions' freshly formed super-hero team, Honor Guard to turn back a dimensional invasion by Shirak the Devourer. It seemed a rather odd collaboration however, given the cultural differences and fighting styles between the Beatnik and Honor Guard, especially with Max O'Million. Follow up commentary[2] about the battle from reporters who frequented a local pub appropriately called the Deadline, strongly reinforced this notion.
- The Halcyon Hippie as depicted in the early 1970s might be a subsequent presentation of what was the Bouncing Beatnik. Fan commentary and letters page response to his first appearance (Kurt Busiek's Astro City Vol.2 #1/2) hint that he might be an alternate reality's version of the Beatnik. A repeat appearance in Astro City: The Dark Age Book One #4 strongly infers that the Halcyon Hippie is of this dimension as well.
- Based on certain physical similarities, it is possible that in addition to being the Halcyon Hippie, he could also have another identity as the Broken Man.
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