Booster booster Eskana has recently found Booster Gold in a very unexpected place: a 1987 issue of the academic Journal of Consumer Research.

The journal article, "Material Values in the Comics: A Content Analysis of Comic Books Featuring Themes of Wealth," as its author Russell W. Belk explains, "seeks to investigate a more detailed agenda of materialistic themes expressed in comic books." To do this, he studied stories from popular series featuring wealthy characters, specifically issues of Fox and Crow, Archie, Uncle Scrooge, and Richie Rich.

Comic book aficionados will not be surprised to learn that the results of this qualitative and quantitative analysis of American pop-culture reveals that American pop-culture generally reflects Protestant Christian values. "In terms of wealth and consumption per se, the message in the stories seems to be that material possessions can be both good and bad."

Booster Gold appears more or less as a footnote following the article's conclusion, wherein the author concedes that the stories of yesteryear may not be indicative of future themes, especially considering the more "fallible and human superheroes" who began appearing in the 1970s and 80s. Particular attention is drawn to — you guessed it — Booster Gold Volume 1. "If Booster Gold is a prototype, it will be extremely interesting to examine the messages about materialism that are delivered to the next generation of comic book readers."

Given that nearly four decades later, Booster continues to be a polarizing figure explicitly because of his unquenchable twin desires for wealth and fame, I'd say not all that much has changed. Thank goodness. (And thanks to Eskana for bringing this article to our attention.)

REFERENCES

Russell W. Belk, Material Values in the Comics: A Content Analysis of Comic Books Featuring Themes of Wealth, Journal of Consumer Research, Volume 14, Issue 1, June 1987, Pages 26–42, https://doi.org/10.1086/209090

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The Internet's premier Booster Gold reporter, Russ Burlingame, is writing another book, this time an oral history of DC's Legends of Tomorrow television show.

Now, I've always been a little ambivalent about Legends. I watched a few episodes the first season because it had a "Rip Hunter" in it, but when I discovered Legends' take on characters in the pages of DC Comics (especially "Rip Hunter") was a bad match for my headcanon, I lost interest quickly.

That said, Booster Gold did appear in the series' final episode, and any oral history of the television show will have to cover how Booster was introduced just in time for the show to get canceled. I could definitely read more about how all involved felt about that.

I asked Russ what else Booster Gold fans should expect, and he said:

I already talked to Dan Park (who wrote the BG backup comic [Earth-Prime: Legends of Tomorrow #3]) and to some folks about the direct influence of Time Masters: Vanishing Point and Booster Gold #5 (which seems to have clearly been the emphasis for the episode "The Fixed Point"). So while Booster isn't a huge presence in the book, he's definitely a bigger presence than you would expect from a Legends book.

That's good enough for me.

If you'd like to join me in helping Russ, you can pre-order a copy of his book at Kickstarter.com.

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On a recent trip to the bookstore, I discovered a DK book I hadn't seen before. Not that it's new.

DC Absolutely Everything You Need to Know by Liz Marsham, Melanie Scott, and others was released in 2018. That's how long ago Skeets was recognized as the Number 1 Robot Sidekick in the DCU (on page 143):

Interestingly, AEYNtK gives Skeets better press than Booster, who is indexed to four different pages but is pictured on none of them. Hey, at least he has the best sidekick.

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I've been innundated by great tips lately, and I do mean that in the best possible way. The latest tip comes from J, who writes:

I don't know if you're aware of the children's book "I am Superman", by Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos. (I couldn't find it when I searched this website.)

Near the end of it, there's a two-page spread of superheroes, and Booster has a cameo at the top of the right-hand page. At the back of the book, there's also a guide, listing all the heroes in the spread, and Booster is marked as #55.

This is the second half of that two-page spread, where you can see Booster Gold hanging out with Superman's best friend, Krypto!

Thanks for letting us know, J. I have already updated the Boosterrific Books! page with your find.

Keep your eyes open, everybody. Booster Gold is everywhere!

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Booster booster Logan Peterson works in a bookstore and writes in to tell us that he has spotted our hero in the new book DC Greatest Events coming soon from Stephen Wiacek and DK.

I meandered my way through and can report that Booster makes several visual appearances--mostly in group shots from events like Zero Hour and Heroes in Crisis. He is listed in the index, though, which directs one to this particular page in the Flashpoint entry:

Golly. At the time, I believed Flashpoint was nothing more than a naked cash grab before the "New 52" launch. Reading that recap description of the "16 interlinked but self-contained three-issue limited series" makes me think my original opinion was too generous.

Thanks for the heads-up, Logan. Now everybody knows what to ask for from Santa this Christmas!

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