Last week's featured book, Booster Gold #23, was just one of three comics with significant Booster Gold content released on September 15, 1987.

The second is Millennium #1, the first entry in a months-long event that would span the entire DC Universe. If you are familiar with Millennium, you are probably aware that it is... not especially beloved, largely because of the editorial mandate that each series being published had to tie-in, often in the most ham-fisted ways possible.

Especially in relation to Booster Gold.

But that's not the topic at hand. Even misguided comics can have fun pages. A highlight of events like these is always seeing all the heroes milling around as though they were regular partygoers at a costume party, like this crowd scene from page 14.

It's actually kind of difficult to make these overcrowded group shots work as anything other than a class photo, but here artist Joe Staton and letterer Bob Lappan manage to give the scene some life as the dialog trickles back and forth down the page. Each snippet of conversation gives the impression that we're eavesdropping on natural dialog just as the camera comes to focus on the talker (or thinker, as the case may be).

Most importantly, Booster boosters are guaranteed to enjoy a callback to the running joke of people calling our hero "Buster." It's a classic!

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This will come as no surprise to most Booster boosters, but Booster Gold has long had a name recognition problem. Or, as Brian Cronin puts it at CBR.com: "'Look! Up in the Sky! It's a Bird! No, It's a Plane! No, It's Buster Gold!'"

Calling Booster "Buster" has been around since the fourth page of Booster's very first appearance (Booster Gold #1). That was 1985. The most recent appearance of that long-running gag was in Bat-Mite #4 in 2015. Thirty years is a long time to keep a joke running!

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th Edition) defines the direct address "Buster" as

Fellow. Used in addressing a man or boy, especially out of annoyance.

Booster's aggressively brash and cocky personality naturally rubs some people the wrong way, making shouts of "Buster" Gold a fitting commentary from his many detractors.

While we're on the subject, the same dictionary defines "Booster" as

One that boosts, as: An enthusiastic promoter, as of a sports team or school;
or
One who steals goods on display in a store.

You've got to give creator Dan Jurgens credit for squeezing his hero's entire origin into one name.

Booster Gold insiders will note that, as Cronin points out, the "Buster" joke succeeds on an even deeper level:

The whole idea of people mixing up Booster Gold's name is funny, because the very name BOOSTER GOLD is, itself, a mistake.

He's so right. "Booster," "Buster,"... both are a far cry from "Goldstar." (See Booster Gold #9 for more details on how that came to be.)

Cronin only lists 5 "Buster Gold" examples in his CBR.com article, but you can find the whole list of Booster Busters here at Boosterrific.com

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It might be hard for modern audiences to imagine, but in the late 1980s, "Iron" Mike Tyson was considered invincible. He had never lost a fight. His bouts averaged barely more than 3 rounds. He usually had his opponent knocked out before the end of the first round. Then came Buster Douglas.

Douglas was a heavy underdog when the two heavyweight boxers met on February 11, 1990. Casino oddsmakers had Tyson a 42/1 favorite, meaning a $42 bet earned only $1. However, if Douglas was to pull off the upset, a $1,000 bet on Douglas would pay out $37,000. Too bad that could never happen.

Except it did.

It's been said that the unexpected and improbable Douglas victory was the biggest payout for a boxing match in history, making it a perfectly safe bet for a time-traveling sports fan looking to make a quick buck. Someone like Booster Gold.

Hmm. A sports gambler using time-travel to his own advantage? Someone should make a movie about that.

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From a branding standpoint, the biggest problem with Booster Gold's costume is that it's awfully hard to trademark a simple 5-pointed star polygon. While that's bad for Goldstar International, it's good for people who want to sell unlicensed Booster Gold t-shirts.

Those are shirts available on RedBubble.com, a website devoted to allowing independent artists to merchandise their work. Hmm. Some of those pieces sure do look awfully similar to work owned by DC Comics.

Be careful, artists. While Booster might own the hearts (and wallets) of his fans, DC Comics owns him. American intellectual property and copyright laws allow some leeway for commentary and craftsmen, but they're specifically designed to prevent you from making money selling someone else's idea. If you want to sell a shirt referencing Booster Gold, be clever about it.

Or just sell a t-shirt with a star on it. There's not a lot anyone can do about that.

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I don't speak Spanish, but I know gold when I see it.

According to the Spanish-language website of the Argentine illustrator Jeremias Janikow, this sketch is of "Buster Gold (el banana del futuro)." With a subtitle like that, I have to suspect that calling Booster "Buster" is an intentional slight. Poor Booster. No respect even in Argentina.

When I first spotted this image, I had no idea what "mate cocido" was. According to Wikipedia, I now know that it is a tea-like drink prepared from the yerba mate plant that is popular in South America. The things that you learn running a Booster Gold fansite!

This is just one of several exceptional superheroes sketches by Janikow that can be found on Janikow Blog!. Thanks to The Day the Web Stood Stupid for drawing this tasty art to our attention.

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