Introducing Booster Gold to a whole know audience, 52 transformed our hero from a much-maligned B-list wannabe into The Greatest Hero The World Has Never Known.

Thanks to the talents of J.G. Jones and Alex Sinclair, the series has a bunch of great covers, some of which don't even feature Booster Gold. However, one stands above the others in my lists of favorites: the cover to 52 Week Fifteen (2006).

Art by J.G. Jones, color by Alex Sinclair

The cover is deceptively simple, conveying a very complex situation with a minimum of content. Too many modern comics eschew character dialog on their covers and as a result look like nothing more than out-of-context pin-up splash pages. However, this issue leans into the photographic trend by emulating the cover of photo-news magazines like Newsweek. The effect adds realism (and thusly viewer engagement and empathy) to the apparent tragedy it shows. What's happening here? Inquiring minds want to know!

Though it makes good use of the modern "no speech balloons" aesthetic, it also calls back to the Silver Age of DC Comics when covers were created first and the writers had to solve the challenges they teased. Booster Gold's broken goggles, blood, Supernova floating above the Metropolis skyline... the cover promises volumes before you ever turn a page. In addition to good art, it's also good storytelling.

And the best part is that the context of this image changes once you've finished the whole series and look back at it.

Now that's Boosterrific!

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After I asked last Monday about what your Booster Gold shrines looked like, Aaron Hale got in touch with me via Facebook. His office is like a museum for Booster Gold original art!

Check out these pics of some of his framed pieces. (Click any for a larger image.)

Dan Jurgens splash page from Booster Gold #10

Mark Waid and JG Jones signed issue and cover art from 52 Week 15

Marc Campos art from Justice League America #90

Aaron Lopresti signed cover art (with corrections) from Justice League International #1

Kevin Maguire commissions with Justice League International #8

Wow.

Just wow.

Aaron, I bow down to you. Thanks so much for sharing.

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From his early days as a solo hero with limited knowledge of the present to membership in the greatest comedy duo on the Justice League roster to his modern role as protector of the time stream, Booster Gold has had a varied career as a costumed crime fighter.

Few of his adventures have been as epic as the story revealed in the pages of 52, a story that included his own death.

art by Shawn Moll and Tom Nguyen

It was on this date in 2006 that we first met the corpse of Michael Jon "Booster" Carter in 52 #15. (Don't worry. He got better.)

I loved 52. As a long-time Booster Gold fan, it was great top see him return to the forefront of the DC Universe, especially in a story so dedicated to legacy building. Booster's featured role in that story catapulted the hero to new heights of stardom, and all his fans should be thankful that our hero ever received such a platform regardless of how he's ignored by the company today.

To sum up: if you haven't read 52, you're missing out on one of the best Booster Gold comics of all time. Go read it. And if you have read it, read it again.

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Cryptozoic Entertainment released their DC Comics Justice League trading card set months ago, and somehow I've failed to mention it here despite the fact that there is a Booster Gold card.

Maybe I've failed to mention it because it features Booster's New 52 costume. But the artwork by Alejandro Germánico Benit is too good to ignore. It looks great, especially when the cards are assembled into the nine-slice collages, like this one of the short-lived New 52 era Justice League International.

Booster Gold is card #61 in the base set of 63, which means you have pretty good odds of getting one if you buy a box at your Local Comic Shop or wherever fine trading cards are sold.

(I owe a thanks to dcinthe80s.com, whose recent review of Batman trading cards reminded me to post this.)

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Back in 2011, Rachel E. Ordway reimagined the entire DC Universe as a friendlier, funner New 52. Among the redesigns were a female Blue and Gold.

Visit crackpotcomics.DeviantArt.com to see a much larger graphic with even more characters.

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