The Balloonist is a costumed identity used simultaneously by two unrelated supercriminals in the 18th issue of Jolt City, "War of the Balloonists!"-- one a psychotic who created living balloon animals and the other a harmless schemer who committed nonsensical, victimless crimes from a hot-air balloon. To differentiate them, officials referred to them as Balloonist One and Balloonist Two; outside the story, reviewer Saxon Brenton referred to them as the Squeaky-Toy Balloonist and Flying Balloonist, respectively.
Balloonist One[]
Godfrey Granger, a disgruntled former Cradle Industries employee, came across extra-dimensional gas (likely brought over during the first half of 2007, when Vibra-Jackets were heavily used) that he used to bring various balloon animals to life. Obsessed with Anders Cradle and what he percieved as his undeserved wealth, Granger was considered to be the more dangerous of the two Balloonists by the Martin Rock (Green Knight) and Derek Mason (Blue Boxer). With the help of Dr. Fay, the two heroes destroyed all the balloon animals and the gas that brought them to life. Granger has not been heard from since.
Balloonist Two[]
The flying balloonist, a corpulent, moustachioed man whose identity is as of yet unknown, rankled at being regulated to "number two". Determined to be taken seriously, and having survived his encounters with Jolt City's two costumed heroes largely through the ineptitude of Blue Boxer, he kidnapped Anders Cradle, the object of the other Balloonist's obsession. Anders, having been the victim of kidnapping once before, defends himself by shooting his assailant in the face. Balloonist Two died instantly.