CHARACTERS
Since donning his stolen "skins" to join the DC Universe of the 20th century, Booster Gold has met an exasperating assortment of both heroes and villains, as well as a myriad of supporting players populating the sidelines of their adventures. (Or, as is usually the case for Booster, their misadventures.)
Booster has encountered hundreds of heroes, villains, and supporting players in his neverending fight for truth, justice, and substantial endorsement deal. Every significant ally, foe, and supporting character (all 683 of them) is listed in the brief entries on the following pages. You may browse the pages to see brief details about each character's relationship with Booster Gold, or if you prefer, you may select a character from the following list, presented alphabetically by first name, to view a list of comic books in which that character appears with Booster Gold.
Have fun, and do try not to get lost. There are some really ugly characters lurking out there.
Heroes
Villains
Supporting Characters & Locations
Some characters have had a major impact on the life and development of Booster Gold. Those characters, listed below, appear further down this page.
Blue Beetle II
Michelle Carter
Rip Hunter
Skeets I & II
Superman
CHARACTER NOTES
A few brief notes about the entries:
Characters are presented alphabetically by first word in their code or team name or their last name if they have no code name. Events are listed by the name conventionally associated with the event.
Each entry contains bold names hyperlinked to pages detailing the instances where the indicated character encountered Booster Gold. Names appearing in CAPITAL LETTERS within an entry have their own, separate entry.
Each entry includes a brief explanation of Booster Gold's involvement with the listed character or event. Images have been taken from a comic book containing Booster Gold and often reflect Booster's first encounter with that character or team.
Team memberships listed represent members of those teams who have come into contact with Booster Gold while members of the respective team, not necessarily accurate historical rosters.
First appearances given mark the first appearance of a character in the DC Universe, not necessarily the first published appearance of a character. This applies to characters purchased by DC Comics and introduced to their continuity.
Some entries differentiate between the "first meeting" or "first published appearance" between Booster Gold and a listed character. "First meetings" are the first time that Booster Gold and the character have been introduced or communicated. "First published appearances" are the first time that Booster Gold has appeared on panel in a comic book with the character, even though the two characters may not have met personally.
In the cases of characters assembled for an event, such as the "Heroes of the Armageddon," heroes and teams listed are those that Booster Gold is encountering for the first time. Teams listed have their own entries which include individual members.
An effort has been made not to list characters for multiple entries where possible.
MAJOR CHARACTERS
Blue Beetle II (Ted Kord)
First DC Universe appearance:
Crisis on Infinite Earths #1, 1985
First published meeting with Booster Gold:
Justice League #3, 1987
First chronological meeting with Booster Gold:
52 Week 52, 2007
Inventor-turned-industrialist Ted Kord adopted the costumed identity of the Blue Beetle in tribute to his mentor, Dan Garrett, the first Blue Beetle. Using a variety of weapons of his own design, Blue Beetle made an impression on the established heroes of the DC universe. When it came time to form a new JUSTICE LEAGUE following the Legends event, Beetle was selected for inclusion. It was in the Justice League that Blue Beetle would meet Booster Gold. The two would form a friendship that would become famous throughout the DC Universe and last throughout the remaining duration of the Blue Beetle's life.
Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, often referred to as "Blue and Gold" for obvious reasons, were the Abbot and Costello of the Justice League International era. Though Booster has been remembered as the funny man of the comedy act, he was usually playing the straight man to Beetle's wacky ideas and get-rich-quick schemes. (Notably, in recent years, Booster has been subjected to quite a bit of teasing over initiating the KOOEY-KOOEY-KOOEY Club JLI casino debacle as detailed in Justice League International #34 and #35, though it was Beetle who talked the reluctant Booster into the idea.)
Following
the destruction of Booster Gold's original 25th-century power-suit at
the right-hand of DOOMSDAY, it was Blue Beetle who manufactured a replacement
armor that would allow Booster to remain a super hero. It was the Blue
Beetle designed life-support system built into Booster's new armor that
saved Booster's life following the OVERMASTER's near-destruction of the
Earth.
While their relationship may have had rough patches (such as Booster's departure from the Justice League to lead the CONGLOMERATE), they were always able to overcome their differences and reconcile their relationship. Even after they left the Justice League, the two remained close friends. Together they owned and operated several technology-oriented businesses that combined Beetle's inventiveness with Booster's promotional skills.
Unfortunately for both men, Booster Gold was unable to help Blue Beetle when he needed it most. As a result of an explosion meant to cripple Beetle, Booster lay helpless in a hospital bed while Beetle was facing his final opponent in Countdown to Infinite Crisis. The death of the Blue Beetle has had a sorrowing effect on Booster Gold, encouraging him to redouble his efforts as a crime-fighter.
Determined to rescue his fallen friend, Booster began traveling with RIP HUNTER's technology through time with the goal of preventing the death of Blue Beetle II.
Michelle Carter
First appearance:
Booster Gold, Vol. 1, #15, 1986
Michelle Carter is the fraternal twin sister of Michael Jon "Booster" Carter, abandoned when Michael journeyed to the 20th century to adopt the role of super hero. In less than a year of time relative to Booster, he would return to the future and rejoin his sister while escaping persecution for the felony crime of unlawful time-travel. With little choice but to flee from authorities for aiding her brother, Michelle returned to 20th-century Metropolis with Michael.
The twins were never especially close to one another, and each hoped that living as exiles in their past would allow time to foster a strengthened relationship. However, they never got that chance. In the process of trying to understand her brother's affinity for super heroics, Michelle accidentally stumbled into the schemes of the aliens from DIMENSION X. The JUSTICE LEAGUE was able to prevent the aliens' imminent invasion of Earth, but Booster Gold was unable to save the life of his sister.
Michelle's death in Booster Gold, Vol. 1, #22 remained a major motivation in the life of Booster Gold. Booster vowed that Michelle's death should not be remembered as a mistake in the life of a man playing at heroics, but as an unwelcome casualty of his fight against evil.
Recently, Booster has had the good fortune of being reunited with Michelle through the intervention of Rip Hunter.
Rip Hunter, Time Master
First post-Crisis on Infinite Earths appearance:
Booster Gold, Vol. 1, #13, 1987
Ripley "Rip" Hunter, the "Time Master," is the foremost authority in the DC Universe on time travel. Without Hunter's Time Sphere technology, Booster Gold would never have arrived in the 20th century, much less survived past his first year as a hero.
Hunter's history is intentionally shrouded in mystery, and Hunter may not even be his real name. As a time-traveler, LINEAR MAN, and discoverer of Hyper-time, Hunter has been forced to take steps to change and potentially erase his own past in order to prevent his many enemies from using his inventions to change time for the worse. Hunter himself has hinted that he may be a close relative to Booster Gold, possibly even his son.
From Booster Gold's chronological point of view, Rip Hunter and Booster Gold first met while Booster was searching for a way to return to the 25th century for solutions to both technical and medical problems. Booster's knowledge of future technology, including functional future versions of Rip Hunter's Time Sphere such as the one that Booster stole from the Space Museum for his trip to the 20th century, encouraged Hunter to test his first prototype of the Time Sphere, and the two participated in their first time-travel together.
Since their first adventure together, Rip Hunter
and Booster Gold have had a rocky relationship, largely because of Hunter's
distrust of super heroes and Booster Gold's selfish personality. Rip Hunter
has spent his time surrounded by non-powered professionals who share his
interest in science and time travel, such as Jeff Smith, Bonnie Baxter,
and the Linear Men (see LINEAR MAN).
Hunter and Booster remain allies and frequent partners. For a time the two were partners in the theme restaurant PLANET KRYPTON, which served as a base for Hunter's experiments. Booster has also joined Hunter as the two travel through the time stream, handling irregularities in the fragile time streams of the nascent 52 alternate Earths forming in the wake of INFINITE CRISIS.
Skeets (Skeets I & Skeets II)
Skeets
I
First appearance:
Booster Gold, Vol. 1, #1, 1986
Skeets II
First appearance:
Infinite Crisis #2, 2006
Without a doubt, Skeets can be considered Booster Gold's sidekick. Diminutive and endearing -- and rather coincidentally shaped like an American football -- Skeets serves Booster loyally as a strategic, technical, and cultural advisor as well as an occasional battle partner. Without Skeets, Booster Gold would never have been able to rise to the level of wealth and prominence that Booster has managed to achieve. Booster has frequently referred to his small golden companion as "Coach."
Skeets
is a robot from the future that Michael Jon "Booster" Carter
stole to provide historical detail for his adventures as a twentieth-century
super hero. Rather than resenting Booster's kidnapping of him, Skeets
has always assumed the role of co-conspirator in Booster's plans for the
"present." In fact, Skeets has suggested that it willingly joined
Booster's schemes because the existence of a twentieth-century Booster
Gold is a historical fact in the 25th century, mandating his involvement
to ensure history.
Skeets I was a 25th-century BX9 Security Robot owned by the SPACE MUSEUM. This Skeets was stolen by Booster when he journeyed to the present. Skeets I notably lacked a sense of humor and relied heavily on its onboard stun ray, which fired from its red visor. During most of Booster Gold's tenure with the JUSTICE LEAGUE, Skeets was deactivated and stored. In later versions of Booster Gold's 20th-century based armor, Skeets served as an integrated operating system. Skeets I was confirmed destroyed in Countdown to Infinite Crisis, some months after Booster had apparently returned it to his original body.
Skeets II is a 25th-century valet robot. Skeets II returned from the
future with Booster Gold during Infinite Crisis #2. It remains
unclear from what point in time Skeets II was retrieved and how Skeets
II is different from Skeets I other minor changes in their exterior design.
It has been hinted that Skeets II has time travel capabilities and that
its exoskeleton is made up of the skin of the chrononaut WAVERIDER, though
this remains unconfirmed. Certainly Skeets II has demonstrated prehensile
arms and a sense of sarcasm that Skeets I never possessed.
Recently, Skeets has undergone another physical change, appearing much slimmer than previously. In addition, Skeets II has been upgraded by RIP HUNTER to improve his encyclopedic knowledge of historical events as well as sharing time travel capabilities with Booster.
Superman (Clark Kent)
First appearance:
Action Comics #1, 1937
First meeting with Booster Gold:
Booster Gold, Vol. 1, #6, 1986
Without a doubt, if not for Superman, there would be no Booster Gold. Though that can be said for the genre of the Super Hero in general, it is especially true in the case for Booster Gold.
In the 25th century, pariah Michael Jon Carter studied the selfless heroics of Superman at Metropolis University. In the SPACE MUSEUM, the displays of Superman memorabilia inspired Booster to travel back in time to Superman's era to perform heroic acts while reaping the rewards of fame and glory that Superman shunned.
Once
in the Metropolis of the past as Booster Gold, Michael most sought the
approval of Superman. However, the two heroes were so idealistically opposed,
that they developed a rivalry that would lead to multiple physical confrontations.
Eventually, Metropolis' devotion to Superman and the high standards that
Superman represented would force Booster out of Metropolis.
The two heroes met again on multiple occasions, even serving as simultaneously active members of the JUSTICE LEAGUE. Despite the shared adventures, it remained clear that little had changed in their adversarial relationship. Booster still wanted and needed the approval that Superman remained unwilling to give.
It would be over a decade before Superman finally, if reluctantly, admitted that he accepted that Booster was a real hero, not just a glory-seeking thief. This grudging respect has encouraged Booster Gold to develop and mature into, if not a selfless hero, than at least a more considerate one.
Major Characters | Heroes | Villains | Supporting Characters