MORDECAI P. BOGGS

Real Name: Mordecai P. Boggs

Identity/Class: Human, American citizen

Occupation: Agent, manager, owner of Mordecai Promotions

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Big Mother, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Rachel "Dandy" Dandridge, Carol Danvers, Genis-Vell, Gertie, Hulk (Bruce Banner), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Iron Man (Tony Stark), Rick Jones, Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff), Lou-Ann Savannah, Sub-Mariner (Namor MacKenzie), Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd), the Teen Brigade, Thing (Ben Grimm), Vision, Jim Wilson

Enemies: Living Laser robot, Nitro (Robert Hunter)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Papa" (nickname used by Rachel Dandridge), "pal" (nickname used by Rick Jones)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
                                    formerly Mordecai Promotions, Greenwich Village, New York, USA

First Appearance: Captain Marvel I#18 (November 1969)

Powers/Abilities: Mordecai P. Boggs possessed no known superhuman abilities. A gifted orator with a knack for grandiosity, he considered himself one of the top promoters in show business. Though more than a bit full of himself, Boggs did have a talent for both publicity and recognizing talent in others, as well as great determination. A natural schmoozer, he was capable of impressive charm offensives, often dazzling people with promises of wealth, celebrity and fame. Boggs seemed instinctively aware how to best promote whatever he happened to be selling. Boggs was a smoker, who preferred cigars.

(Captain Marvel I#18) - Always looking for new acts to add to his stable, Boggs visited a Manhattan coffee house where Rick Jones was giving an impromptu performance while trying to impress a waitress. Boggs was taken by Rick's playing, even though Jones knocked out an audience member who tried to heckle him. Afterwards, he introduced himself to Rick, telling the teenager fate had thrown them together. Jones dismissed Boggs' verbose propositions, telling him to "save the corny W.C. Fields take off for his next party" before departing. Unperturbed, Boggs assured Rick they would meet again.

(Captain Marvel I#20) - Some time later,  Boggs attended another one of Rick's performances, this time at coffee house in Greenwich Village. Seated among the audience that mostly consisted of teenage girls, who openly swooned over Jones, Boggs waited until after the show to approach Rick and repeat his offer of becoming his manager. Once again, Rick refused because he felt he needed to get his own act together before signing any deals. As he walked away, Rick sarcastically told Boggs "don't call me... I'll call you. Maybe."

(Avengers I#89 (fb)) Boggs watched Rick on stage when right in the middle of introducing his next song, Jones seemed to be overcome by a mysterious malady and ran off (in reality, Rick was being contacted by Captain Marvel).

(Captain Marvel I#22 - BTS) - Boggs continued to scout and was very taken by a young female singer called Lou-Ann Savannah.

(Captain Marvel I#22) - Lou-Ann performed for Boggs at a coffee house on Bleecker Street. Smoking his cigar, he looked at her and couldn't help but feel she was "a fine little lady with a fine little voice" and "a little teacup just ripe for the friendly hand of Mordecai P. Boggs." Before he could make his move, Boggs was interrupted by the arrival of Rick Jones, who had returned after a lengthy absence fighting in the Kree-Skrull War. Boggs was so busy trying to schmooze Rick, he was unable to prevent Jones and Lou-Ann from leaving together.

(Captain Marvel I#22  - BTS) - Hard up for money, Rick asked Mordecai for a loan which he used to rent a hotel room. Jones disliked the idea of being indebted to Boggs, but felt he had no choice.

(Captain Marvel I#30 - BTS) - Losing touch with Rick Jones for a while and keeping apprised of Rick's adventures with the Avengers through the papers, Boggs prospered. He gained quite a bit of weight in the process.

(Captain Marvel I#30) - Learning that Rick was at Avengers Mansion, Boggs decided to visit him one evening. Led in by Jarvis, Boggs was taken to one of the mansion's studies where he met Jones. Rick initially feared Boggs had come for the money he still owed him but Boggs instead repeated his offer to make Rick a star, promising he'd be "the idol of teen-age America." Seeing as he was broke and feeling he had outstayed his welcome with the Avengers, Rick accepted Boggs' proposal and told Mordecai he could start the following Monday. Boggs was thrilled, telling Jones to meet him at the Greenwich Village cafe they'd first met at.

(Captain Marvel I#34 - BTS) - Without telling Rick, Mordecai decided to pair him up with another one of his clients, singer Rachel "Dandy" Dandridge. As "Rick 'n Dandy" they were supposed to debut in Denver as an opening act, which might even lead to a 14-city tour.

(Captain Marvel I#34) - Mordecai tried to smooth things out when Rick met and immediately disliked the strong-willed Rachel. Boggs' famous diplomacy skills nevertheless prevailed. The three of them decided to travel to Denver by car, with Boggs behind the wheel and Rick and Dandy bickering all the way. At one point, the argument got so heated, Mordecai didn't notice an oncoming truck commandeered by the super villain Nitro, who had been hired by the Lunatic Legion to obtain the deadly nerve gas contained within the truck. The two vehicles almost had a full on collision, but Nitro's truck toppled over and even lost a wheel, making the villain furious and ready to claim Mordecai's car  for his own. Boggs, seemingly unaware he was dealing with a super villain, tried to assure Nitro everything was going to be fine because he had no-fault insurance. Nitro knocked the promoter out with a single blow, eventually forcing Rick Jones to switch with Captain Marvel and fight the villain.

(Captain Marvel I#34 - BTS) -  During the fight, the seal on one of the nerve gas cannisters was breached, potentially threatening the entire globe. At great risk to himself, Marvel fixed the leak.

(Captain Marvel I#35) - In the aftermath of the fight between Captain Marvel and Nitro, Boggs recovered from getting knocked out and was met by airforce captain Carol Danvers, who had been sent to deal with the stolen nerve gas situation. Together with Dandy, they found Rick Jones, who was still somewhat dazed from the fight and needed some alone time. Boggs would hear nothing of it, figuring that the fact Jones had helped Captain Marvel prevent disaster would make for great publicity. He insisted they accompany Danvers back to her base to at least give a statement. On the way there, Rick tried to mentally contact Captain Marvel but his spirit instead was drawn to Mar-Vell, who was suffering from a mysterious ailment following the nerve gas situation. However, to Boggs, Dandy and Danvers, it looked as if Jones had suddenly slipped into a coma and they rushed him to the nearest hospital

(Captain Marvel I#35 - BTS) - Hoping to capitalize on the events, Mordecai P. Boggs did several television and radio interviews in which he emphasized Rick's role during the nerve gas mishap, falsely claiming Jones was in the hospital because he was subjected to the gas. Overhearing this, the Lunatic Legion sent their operative, the Living Laser, to kill Rick Jones as Ant-Man and the Wasp arrived at the hospital to help out their friend Rick.

(Captain Marvel I#35) - Mordecai was at Rick's bedside with Dandy, quietly contemplating the repercussions of Jones not waking up from his mysterious coma. After all, with Rick still out, all that high media visibility he had conjured up was useless and very bad for business. Moments later, the Living Laser came crashing into the hospital room, ordering both Boggs and Dandy to stand aside as he prepared to zap Rick Jones. The Laser was briefly forced to retreat when Ant-Man and the Wasp engaged him but he soon returned in full force to finish the job. Boggs attempted to offer the Living Laser a substantial amount of money if he'd consider standing down but he was, once again, knocked out for his troubles. As Mordecai remained unconscious, the Wasp managed to sabotage the Living Laser's circuitry, causing his powers to overload and short circuit. Not too long after that, Rick woke up, none the worse for wear. He revealed that Captain Marvel was, in fact, exposed to the nerve gas. With doctors standing by with the antidote intended for him, Rick quickly switched places with Mar-Vell, who could then be saved. In the aftermath, Rick Jones told Boggs about his adventures with Captain Marvel. All Mordecai could say that Rick was indeed unorthodox in his lifestyle but "we can't all walk the straight and narrow."

(Captain Marvel I#37) - Determined to end the threat of  the mysterious Lunatic Legion that had been plaguing them recently, Captain Marvel forced Rick Jones to accompany him to the Moon, where a clue about their enemies' whereabouts might be found. Jones balked at this because he was scheduled to perform in Denver. Captain Marvel  reminded him that gig wasn't for another five days and he insisted the young teen complied. Boggs and Dandy were a little surprised to hear Rick Jones say he needed to take care of "a personal thing" but that he would meet them in Denver in a couple days. Mordecai agreed to this unusual request even though, according to Boggs, free spirits like Rick turn a manager's hair prematurely white. He also figured this would be a great P.R. bit, seeing as this was exactly the kind of action craved by "the depraved denizens of adolescence." Shaking Rick's hand, Boggs assured him he'd spread the word of his mysterious disappearance from the mountains to the prairies.

(Captain Marvel I#40) - After a lengthy sojourn in outer space, Rick returned to Earth, where he materialized in Denver on the afternoon before his first performance. He found Mordecai already at the venue, busy setting up the lighting for the show. Boggs was thrilled to see Jones, absolutely loving his spacesuit and demanding he wore it on stage because he felt it would be just the thing for the act. When Rick said he felt a little rusty and needed a little time to rehearse, especially since he'd been gone so long and hadn't really performed with Dandy, Mordecai assured him it wasn't necessary. According to Boggs, the charm of Rick's performances was to be found in his spontaneity and "rough-hewn, home-spun truth."

(Captain Marvel I#40 - BTS) - Explicitly trusting Mordecai, Rick went on stage that night after Dandy finished her set. However he bombed horribly, with audience members describing him as "the renaissance man of decadence," because of the 50's haircut, the 60's ballads and the 70's spacesuit. Furious that he was being mocked, Jones decided to give the audience what they wanted: a freakshow. He smashed his guitar on the amplifier and destroyed most of the stage before storming off.

(Captain Marvel I#40) - Watching Jones lose his cool from their place in the wings, Dandy commented to Boggs that Rick might be a hit but he didn't dig it. Mordecai told Dandy that he never promised anyone happiness, only success and that it wasn't his fault if the "youngsters" didn't know the difference. While Dandy looked on, stunned, Boggs revealed he had taped Rick's destructive debut, assuring him the novelty smash of the year.

(Captain Marvel I#47 (fb) - BTS) - When Rick Jones was stuck in the Negative Zone, Boggs, unaware what had happened to Rick Jones, started to comb the country for him, putting ads in all the rock papers.

(Captain Marvel I#47) - After Captain Marvel managed to save him from the Negative Zone, Rick Jones looked up Boggs in New York City, who was overjoyed to see his rising star and likened his long absence from the music scene to the way Elvis Presley had remained popular. He then presented Rick with a contract that Jones immediately signed, without even reading it, figuring he might as well sign his life away because he wasn't doing anything with it at the moment anyway. He then said goodbye to Boggs, promising to stick with him this time. Mordecai cheerfully accepted this, telling Rick he accepted promises... mainly because he had no choice. 

(Captain Marvel I#54 - BTS) - Boggs kept working to advance Rick's career, even planning a European career which was supposed to start in France.

(Captain Marvel I#54) - Mordecai found himself besieged in his office by Rick's romantic fling Gertie, who was overwrought with grief when Rick had been kidnapped. Boggs tried his best to console her but found he'd forgotten how ill crying women made him. Mordecai hugged her, cigar in hand, assuring Gertie everything would be fine. As if on cue, Rick stormed into Boggs' office, making both Mordecai and Gertie happy to see he was alright. As Gertie hugged Rick, Mordecai announced to Rick that his European tour was starting tomorrow, presenting two plane tickets for Jones and himself to France. However, Rick insisted that Gertie go as well.

(Captain Marvel I#55) - As soon as the plane headed for France left New York City, Mordecai fell sound asleep, even though he was sitting next to Gertie who was rather excited by the entire experience. He even slept through the consternation Captain Marvel caused when he briefly buzzed the plane to give his former partner Rick Jones an informal send off.

(Avengers Spotlight I#25/2 - BTS) - Mordecai P. Boggs was a tad late trying to vy for the rights to Rick Jones' autobiography.

(Avengers Spotlight I#25/2) - Mordecai met Rick moments after he returned with Betty Ross following an extended, lengthy ordeal during which several alien races fought for the exclusive publishing rights to his book. However, as soon as they realized that Rick's pivotal role in ending the Kree-Skrull war was little more than a fluke, they lost all interest. After this ordeal, Jones was relieved to see his old manager and happily signed a contract with Boggs. 

(Incredible Hulk I#417) - Mordecai P. Boggs attended the bachelor party of Rick Jones, even showing the assembled guests (among them several superheroes) a softcore porno movie that, unfortunately enough, featured Rick's fiancee Marlo Thomas.

(Incredible Hulk I#441) - Riding on the popularity of his autobiography, now enjoying its tenth printing, Rick got offered his own talk show in Los Angeles. He accepted the offer and had Mordecai Boggs work out all the details like set design and hiring the band. Boggs made the set and hired the Jenerators as the show's house band.

(Captain Marvel IV#21) - Boggs was on hand to sign Big Mother to his agency. Seemingly oblivious to the fact she was a mythical, man eating monstrosity, he agreed to represent her, offering to make the creature pro wrestling's new star. He assured Big Mother that big stars could get away with anything, including eating people. Several days later, after signing her to a five year contract with the Female World (of) Wrestling (FWW), Boggs talked up Big Mother during a press conference. He promised that she would change the face of wrestling with the demonic entity adding "I'll eat them alive."

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Gil Kane, John Buscema and Dan Adkins.

How can you not love a name like Mordecai P. Boggs? In his first appearance, Boggs' penchant for verbosity earns him a comparison to late 19th century comic W.C. Fields (1880-1946). Just how a 'hip and happening cat' like Rick Jones would know about a vaudeville legend who died years before he was even born remains a mystery for the ages. Also, Mordecai's seemingly endless stream of good natured hucksterisms is rather reminiscent of Stan Lee, especially since both men pepper their pitches with amicable alliterations.
   --Maybe Rick grew up seeing reruns of W.C. Fields' films on television? -Proto-Man

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Mordecai P. Boggs should not be confused with

• Mordecai Jones - Dark Messiah--Daredevil I#97 (March, 1973)
• or any other "Mordecai" or "Boggs" characters 
  

images: (without ads)
Captain Marvel IV#21, p17, pan2 (main image)
Captain Marvel I#18, p9, pan2 (first appearance)
Captain Marvel I#22, p7, pan1 (up for tea)
Captain Marvel I#34, p14, pan3 (about to be punched out by Nitro)
Captain Marvel I#51, p4 pans 4&5 (love to promote the Avenger's Rick)
Captain Marvel I#55, p5, pan2 (sleeps through the excitement)

Appearances:

Captain Marvel I#18 (November, 1969) - Roy Thomas (writer), Gil Kane, John Buscema (pencils), Dan Adkins (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Captain Marvel I#20 (June, 1970) - Roy Thomas (writer), Gil Kane (pencils), Dan Adkins (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Avengers I#89 (June, 1971) - Roy Thomas (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Sam Grainger (inks) Stan Lee (editor)
Captain Marvel I#22 (September, 1972) - Gerry Conway (writer), Wayne Boring (pencils), Frank Giacoia (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Captain Marvel I#30 (January, 1974) - Jim Starlin (writer, pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Captain Marvel I#34 (September, 1974) - Jim Starlin (writer, pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Captain Marvel I#35 (November, 1974) - Steve Englehart (writer), Alfredo Alcala (pencils & inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Captain Marvel I#37 (March, 1975) - Steve Englehart (writer), Al Milgrom (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Captain Marvel I#40 (September, 1975) - Steve Englehart (writer), Al Milgrom (pencils), Al McWilliams (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Captain Marvel I#47 (November, 1976) - Gerry Conway (writer, editor), Al Milgrom (pencils), Terry Austin (inks)
Captain Marvel I#50 (May, 1977) - Scott Edelman (writer), Al Milgrom (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Captain Marvel I#51 (July, 1977) - Scott Edelman (writer), Al Milgrom (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Captain Marvel I#54 (January, 1978) - Scott Edelman (writer), George Tuska (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Captain Marvel I#55 (March, 1978) - Scott Edelman (writer), Pat Broderick (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Avengers Spotlight I#25/2 (December, 1989) - Glenn Herdling & Dwight Jon Zimmers (writers), Rod Ramos (pencils), Don Hudson (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Incredible Hulk I#417 (May, 1994) - Peter David (writer), Gary Frank (pencils), Cam Smith (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Incredible Hulk I#441 (May, 1996) - Peter David (writer), Angel Medina (pencils), Robin Riggs (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Captain Marvel IV#21 (September, 2001) - Peter David (writer), Chris Cross (pencils), Anibal Rodriguez (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)

First posted: 09/18/2014
Last updated: 05/07/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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