Justice League America #56 was released on September 17, 1991, thirty years ago next week. Its mawkish story takes place in the middle of the too-long "Breakdowns" event marking the denouement of the United Nations-sponsored Justice League International era.

This chapter focuses on the forsaken Leaguers struggling to adapt to life without a league. Among them, Fire and Ice struggle to join a modeling agency, and Blue Beetle finds that his poor physical health will prevent him from joining the Booster Gold-led Conglomerate. There aren't a lot of "bwah-ha-ha" moments here.

No matter how you look at it, "Breakdowns" was not a particularly good story, and this wasn't a particularly good issue. As much as we want them to be, not all comics can be masterpieces.

But this comic book is worth a look back today if for no other reason than for its cover by Chris Sprouse and Bruce D. Patterson. As pretty as it was at the time, it was made more poignant by events that transpired almost exactly ten years after the issue's publication.

#NeverForget

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The life of any comic book hero would be a lonely one if not for the many characters who have made up their supporting cast. Just as Superman has Lois Lane and Batman has Alfred, Booster Gold has also shared his adventures with quite a few people over the years. Today we look at one of those, his mother.

Today is Labor Day in America, a holiday to celebrate those who helped ensure that we don't have to work on holidays. Do you know who still has to work holidays? Mothers.

Mothers never get days off. It's a tough job, made all the tougher when you're poor, single, and have twin mouths to feed. That's true today, and will still be true for the mother of Michael Jon "Booster" Carter and his sister Michelle in AD 2462 Gotham City.

Secret Origins #35

The birth name of Mrs. Carter remains a mystery to the public record. Her last name was borrowed from a man who turned his back on his own family, and her children always call her "Ma." But what's really important is that she loved and supported her children, even the conceited one who played college football.

Justice League Quarterly #10

When Ma got sick, can anyone blame Booster for turning to a life of crime to ensure that she got the treatment she needed? Isn't that what any good son would do?

And when Ma found out her son had cheated to pay for her treatment, can anyone blame her for being disappointed in him? Wouldn't every good mother hope that she had raised her children better than that?

Sometimes, when we're angry, we say things we don't really mean and can't take back. Booster Carter wouldn't even get the opportunity to try. To distance himself from his mistakes, he made the fateful decision to steal a time machine and runaway into the past. By the time he found a way back, it was too late.

Booster Gold #13

There could be no reconciliation. Tragically, Ma Carter would never learn of her son's heroic self-redemption.

Or wouldn't she? Nothing is as straightforward as it seems in the life of a time traveler.

While Booster would live his life believing that he had missed his opportunity to set things right, fate had other plans. Years later (from Booster's perspective), an attempt to keep Superman from doing unintentional harm to history resulted in an accidental trip back to the Gotham City of 2642. Thus Booster Gold was given a rare a second chance to clear the air.

Action Comics #995

If you get a chance this holiday, maybe you should call your mother.

Are you interested in meeting other "People in his Neighborhood"? Follow these links to get to know Daniel Carter, Michelle Carter, Trixie Collins, Nurse Devlin, Dirk Davis, Rani, Skeets, Jack Soo, Mackenzie Garrison, Rip Hunter, Monica Lake, Doctor Shocker, and Blackguard.

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If you happened to pick up Wonder Woman #777 earlier this month, you may have recognized her gender-swapped Earth-11 counterpart, Wonder Man. What you may not have realized is that Wonder Man and Booster Gold have history. Sort of.

For the rest of that story, let's turn back the dial to Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Superwoman/Batwoman #1, the first appearance of Dane of Elysium, aka Wonder Man.

written by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti; art by Kalman Andrasofszky, Kanila Tripp, John J. Hill

Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Superwoman/Batwoman was released in 2008 as a tie-in to the year-long Countdown (to Final Crisis) series, and it re-introduced readers to Earth-11, an alternate universe first visited in 2005's Batman/Superman #23 — though it wasn't called "Earth-11" at that time. The reconstitution of the DC Multiverse in the wake of Infinite Crisis wouldn't be revealed until roughly two years later at the conclusion of 52. (And they say the DC Multiverse is too confusing. Pfft!)

As you can see from these panels, Earth-11 shares much of the history of Earth-1, including familiar events of Identity Crisis (2004), Wonder Woman #219 (2005), and Amazons Attack! (2007).

All Booster Gold fans will remember Maxwell Lord's killing of Blue Beetle in the accurately titled Countdown to Infinite Crisis. Well, on Earth-11, those events played out somewhat differently.

The Maxine Lord executed by Wonder Man didn't kill the female Blue Beetle. She killed Beetle's best friend: Booster Gold.

Thus, in a way, Wonder Man avenged Booster Gold's death!

A guy like that can't be all bad.

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Take heart, Booster boosters! Cort Carpenter has filled the gap of new Booster Gold art this week by sharing with us his latest sketchbook commissions.

Soo Lee

Bob McLeod

Ryan Kelly

By my count, Cort has now shared with us more than 67 pieces of commissioned Booster Gold art (many of which you can see larger on Cort's Twitter and imgur accounts). I don't know how he affords them all. Maybe he's a secret billionaire. All the best superheroes are, you know.

In his email, Cort teased the possibility that he may have as many as five new commissions to share with us before the end of the year. I think you'll agree that gives all Booster boosters something to look forward to.

Thanks, Cort!

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On Wednesday, I showed you this panel created by Steve Lieber for the June 2021 issue of Teen Titans Academy #4:

Seeing that panel, Cort Carpenter realized that the Booster Gold headshot looked incredibly similar to one he had commissioned from Lieber last year (previously shared with Boosterrific.com on October 19, 2020):

They do look alike, don't they? My first impression was that Cort's commission was a study used for the new work, but closer inspection makes it clear that Lieber used his earlier black and white commission as the foundation for the new piece of digital art. Just to make it clearer, here's a gif of the two pieces overlaid:

Isn't that cool? You can even see where Lieber erased his signature when adding color. Cort's commission is now a piece of original comic art. How often does that happen?

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