Order of Battle: Tollbooth

On this Labor Day in the US, we remember the sacrifices of American workers who brought massive positive changes to working conditions and workers’ rights in this country. I can’t think of a more hump-busting Regular Joe than Tollbooth. He’s one of those oft-forgotten figures who drives a vehicle that provides a much-needed service for the team. And in my book, combat engineers are just badass. Tollbooth is so regular in fact that his middle initial X stands for nothing.

Herb Trimpe provided the art for the character pages in Order of Battle, and I also can’t think of a better example of a solid Marvel artist, not flashy but an incredibly versatile and capable talent. He’s one of the artists that I first think of when it comes to great memories of Marvel in the 70s and early 80s. His Hulk run is iconic, he was the first to draw Wolverine, and he later worked on licensed books like Shogun Warriors and Godzilla. It was a treat to see him return and render a cross-section of Joes he hadn’t handled in his early work on the title.