Once upon a time, Guy Gardner was an insufferable jerk who was so insufferable that he was actually kicked out of the Green Lantern Corps. Guy being Guy, that didn't stop him for long. In fact, he took on the entire Corps just to get his hand on Sinestro's yellow power ring, which, being Sinestro's ring, had a few quirks of its own, as Guy discovered in Guy Gardner #2, released on this date 29 years ago today.

But that's not what's important about that issue. What's important about that issue was Booster Gold's 1990s hair!

I'd sell my soul to Neron for hair like that.

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Long before they became breakout stars on the Batman: The Long Halloween, the team of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale honed their long-form revisionist mysteries style on Challengers of the Unknown.

The limited series focuses on the aftermath of an unintentional tragedy that disbanded the titular Silver Age super team. Booster Gold never appeared in any of the mini-series' 8-issues, but Skeets did. Kind of.

Challengers of the Unknown #5, 1991

Metal Men? Inferior Five? Ragman? Brother Power the Geek? That's quite an odd assortment of lesser-known DC heroes. And that's Guy's point. When he made the statement in 1991, those characters had been barely seen for years.

Other than a single panel cameo alongside other Silver Age castaways in Millennium #8 (1988), the Challengers hadn't been seen since Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986, and few of the others had done much better.

In fact, the only character Guy lists who had accrued any significant post-Crisis continuity was Skeets, who had been the sidekick of DC's first post-Crisis hero in 1986. Skeets was mothballed after the cancellation of Booster Gold volume 1 in 1988 and had ever since been stored in a JLI closet (as revealed in Adventures of Superman #476, 1991).

So while it seems like Guy is just being a jerk to reporter Harold Moffet, I like to think he's really concerned about the missing Skeets' welfare. What a good Guy!

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We still don't have Booster Gold: the Movie lighting up marquees, but that doesn't mean that there's no news about Booster Gold in pictures. Two pieces from recent movies news reports:

1. Booster Gold was in Shazam!

That's Shazam! director David Sandberg responding with tongue held firmly in cheek to a question on Twitter. Before you laugh too hard, know that this might be the only way we ever get to see Booster Gold on the big screen.

2. Booster's first opponent, Blackguard, will be in Suicide Squad 2.

Booster Gold and Blackguard shared the cover to Booster Gold #1, so how is it that the minor villain will make it into movies before our hero? DC and Warner Bros must be taking Booster's "Greatest Hero You've Never Heard Of" tag seriously.

To be fair, Blackguard wasn't just a Booster Gold enemy. He was a minor player in the long-forgotten Underworld Unleashed event, accepting Neron's offer to become "The Human Killing Spree" and running afoul of Guy Gardner's clone, Joe. Blackguard didn't join the Suicide Squad until 2008. Spoiler alert: he didn't survive that experience.

For more pics of Davidson as Blackguard, follow the tweet's link to dailymail.co.uk. (Don't waste time worrying that Davidson is a little small for the part. Blackguard, like Booster, gains his strength from his power suit.)

UPDATE 2019-10-15: As Steven points out in the comments, it appears that Nathan Fillion, not Pete Davidson, will be playing Blackguard. That's very interesting, in part because Fillion looks more naturally like the comics incarnation of the character and partly because of the long history of fans wanting Fillion to play Booster Gold.

UPDATE 2021-08-05: The movie has finally been released, and it is definitely Pete Davidson in the role of Blackguard.

Thanks for the tweets, tipsters.

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With the latest Superman event, "Leviathan," now unfolding in your Local Comic Shop, it's interesting to look back at another Superman event story with a curious connection to real history.

The JLA: Our Worlds At War one-shot, released 18 years ago today, was a middle chapter in the 2001 Superman "Out Worlds At War" crossover event. Booster Gold plays only a very brief role in the event as he, Blue Beetle, Guy Gardner, and Rocket Red fight to defend Russia from an alien invasion. This is Booster's only appearance in the entire comic:

art by Garney, Morales, Horie, Horie, and Starkings

(Don't worry, Booster. Guy get's better.)

It isn't the inclusion of the Justice League International that makes this issue a historic curiosity.

As mentioned, the issue's story details a surprise attack by a malignant force that opposes everything Superman stands for. To frame the magnitude and severity of this invasion, writer Jeph Loeb uses the words of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to draw a direct, overt connection to a real tragedy in American history, specifically the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor 60 years earlier.

The irony here is that although this issue, with its focus on surprise attacks against America, was released on July 5, it has a cover date of September 2001.

And now you know the rest of the story.

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Last month, Logan Peterson recommended that I include Guy Gardner's 1990s armor in the Boosterrific database. I've decided that Logan was right, but I haven't yet gotten around to validating and adding those issues yet. And now it looks like that will have to wait a little longer . . .

[CORRECTION 2018-04-27: Because I have to pause here and correct myself. It was José Fridman who suggested the armor. (In the same post, I noted that Logan found a Booster Gold appearance in Superman/Batman Secret Files 2003, and I somehow confused the two of them.) José has clarify his suggestion (you can read his comment below), which is even simpler than I first thought. You got it, José. I apologize for misattributing your suggestion, and I've already updated the costumes with your credit to make sure I don't forget again.]

. . . What Logan Peterson did do was find yet another Booster Gold appearance. Per his latest email:

I've been doing a fair bit of back issue hunting recently, and I've struck some Gold. Look what I found in JLA: Classified #35. I didn't see it in the database, so I wanted to bring it to your attention.

JLA Classified #35, Late April 2007

That's Gold all right, Logan. How did I miss that? (Maybe it was the miscolored boots/pants!) Database updated!

And I can do one better. While checking Logan's information, I found Booster also makes a cameo in the previous issue, JLA Classified #34, alongside best friend Blue Beetle!

JLA Classified #34, Early April 2007

Not coincidentally, both issues were co-scripted and co-pencilled by Booster's creator, Dan Jurgens. Also in both cases, the Booster we see is just one of billions in the alternate realities created by the villainous Red King, so neither is an in-continuity appearance. Still, it's always great to find our hero in action.

Thanks, Logan. Keep up the good work. (I promise to get to Gardner's armor eventually.)

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