Henry Ballard was the Director, a Metropolis crimelord who turned the 100 into the 1000.
History
Origin
After Black Lightning destroyed the 100, Ballard rebuilt the remnants of the organization into the high tech criminal juggernaut, the 1000. He also layered the 1000's outposts in lead preventing Superman from detecting them. No longer leading a gang of common criminals, Ballard broadened his horizon to bigger things.
The Corporate Crusader
As the Director, he hired the killer Chiller to assassinate the President and Vice-president of the United States. Where Chiller had to take on the president identity and play out a hostage deal, where senator Henry Ballard engineers a fake rescue deal that would free the president and make Ballard a hero. Chiller would appoint Ballard as the new Vice president and then resign his post due to ill health, leaving Ballard as President - free to appoint members of the 1000 to positions of influence and authority around the US. The plan was foiled by Booster Gold with help from Brainiac 5, Ultra Boy and Chameleon Boy. With his political career ruined, Ballard wanted to discover Booster's identity and dispose of this new nemesis.
An operative got Booster's fingerprints at the health club, but there was no match as if the person in question never existed. Ballard believed this was the case and used it to his advantage: a man that doesn't exists can't pay his taxes. As a result, he brought Booster to court, but the judges took his accomplishments into account and gave the hero an identification number so he could pay the state from now on.
The 1000 stole a satellite guiding system from S.T.A.R. Labs, but the man under Blackguard and the man himself where stopped by the golden hero. The hired mercenary Mindancer bested Booster gold and recaptured the device. Impressed by her latest exploit, Ballard offered her a new assignment, springing Blackguard out of jail so he could be disciplined for his failure. As an added bonus, she also captured Booster Gold at the cost of the lives of 90% of the Thousand present. Booster Gold and Blackguard would have surely perished if the superheroine Thorn hadn't rescued the two and shut down the hideout.
Directing His Demise
Thanks to these defeats, Ballard realized he underestimated Metropolis new hero and the conflict became personal. He and Doctor Shocker discovered the hero's energy weakened with every charge of his power suit at the cost of 3 battle robots. Ballard began to realize it wouldn't be long until the hero lost his powers, but as the Director he couldn't wait.
He ordered the capture of the creative team of the Booster Gold Comic published by Blaze Comics in hopes they had inside information about the hero. After the 1000 was done with them, Ballard made sure the men would send a message that the 1000 was after Booster Gold: their shot corpses were later found by the police.
Ballard also ordered the abduction of Dirk Davis' daughter, Sarah Davis, and his assistant Trixie Collins. The 1000 warned the manager they would kill the two females if Mr. Davis did not comply to their demands. With Dirk Davis at their mercy, the 1000 was able to hack into Skeets, the robot sidekick of Booster Gold.
Ballard and his troops sprung Shockwave out of prison and gave him the assignment to wreck Booster Gold's home. Ballard was furious when Shocker did too good a job and almost killed the weaker than expected hero, but was defeated by the combined effort of Booster and Davis. Davis confessed the 1000 blackmail to his friend. Pleased to see that his nemeses was still alive, Ballard challenged Booster as the Director to go to the Millennium Shipping Warehouses and rescue the women. The many traps in the warehouse left Booster Gold bleeding and powerless. Ballard ordered the compound to be evacuated as he planned to fight the hero on equal terms. Before the women were rescued, Ballard made sure they had seen the captured senator when they were moved to another cell. Trixie pleaded to Booster to rescue the man, unaware she was leading her friend into a trap.
Booster "rescued" the senator and for his trouble Ballard revealed his true color, activating Skeets to fire at the hero until its power battery was depleted. With the hero at his mercy, now Ballard schemed to simply shoot the hero and dump his corpse in a dark back alley[1]. However, Ballard did not take the droid's reserve batteries into account, and was blasted by Skeets who attempted to save his friend's life. Booster got the upper hand again, but before he could capture Ballard both men were caught in an explosion. Only Booster Gold, carrying a deactivated Skeets, came out alive from the destroyed building.[2]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Symbiotic Link (Android)
- The Director can establish a short range link with an android of the 1000 and control it mentally.
Recommended Reading
Related
- 11 Appearances of Henry Ballard (New Earth)
- 3 Images featuring Henry Ballard (New Earth)
- Quotations by or about Henry Ballard (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Henry Ballard (New Earth)
External Links
Footnotes
- ↑ It is ironic that Booster Gold's best friend Ted Kord met his end in a similar fate at the hands of Max Lord
- ↑ Booster Gold #12
  This character, team or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of Booster Gold in any incarnation, including legacy characters and alternate universe equivalents. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Booster Gold Villains" category. |