Things have been changing in America lately, and not necessarily for the better. Not so many years ago, many DC Comics super hero bloggers and I participated in semi-regular crossover events. Now very few of us are still posting.

Both FirestormFan.com and AquamanShrine.net have stopped blogging to focus their efforts on podcasting (fireandwaterpodcast.com). The Martian Manhunter blog, The Idol-Head of Diabolu, has likewise gone silent as its creator also seems to be concentrating on podcasts for his other blogs (DC Bloodlines and Wonder Woman: Diana Prince). So too, Splitting Atoms is now more podcast than blog. Others that have fallen completely silent (like Tower of Fate and Being Carter Hall). Some stalwarts soldier on, including SpeedForce.org and Kord Industres. We seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

Once again, this has made me return to a question I've asked myself from time to time since Booster Gold disappeared from the pages of DC Comics: Has the time for websites dedicated to super hero blogging passed us by? Would comics fans rather listen to a podcast than read a website? Is the problem the characters or the bloggers or just shifting demographics?

Like so many of those now-defunct sites, Boosterrific.com is first and foremost a hobby. I started working on it nine years ago, and I keep it running because I want to. Personally, I have no interest in phone apps, wikis, or podcasting. If that's the future of Booster Gold fandom, I'll leave it to someone else. (The Silver and Gold podcast — now a whole network — seems to be doing just fine without me.)

Don't worry, this post isn't a lead up to the retirement of Boosterrific.com. I'm only committing my rambling grumpy old man thoughts to electronic paper. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. It's just that I'm starting to feel kind of lonely out here all by myself. I sure would like some new Booster Gold comics to keep me company.

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Every year in December, Diabolu Frank of The Idol Head of Diablou spotlights fandom's favorite 3-eyed, fin-headed alien, Despero. This year, Booster Gold joins the salute thanks to the work of a couple of clever fans.

When the classic Kevin Maguire cover of 1987 Justice League #1 looks like this, it's a job for time cop Booster Gold!

This homage by Spanish artist Pablo Alcalde Fernandez can be found on his Deviant Art page, where he posts as PabloAlcaldeFdez. Pablo titled the piece "Before New 52: Booster Gold" and provides the following description:

Booster Gold arrives a parallel Earth, where he find the original Maxwell Lord and the only superhero of that world: Despero. There he find that his supposed hero buddies have become villains, the International Crime Syndicate. From top left to right: Mr. Answer (The Question), Power Girl, Silver Spider (Blue Beetle), Owlman (Batman), Manhunter (Martian Manhunter), Maxwell Lord, Booster Gold and Despero (in Omac suit).

Despero as a One Man Army Corps? Yes, please! In fact, this piece was created to illustrate an Earth-3 story idea (wherein Booster Gold tries to correct history for the Crime Syndicate and rescue the real Maxwell Lord) by Pedro Angosto. You can read the whole pitch on Pedro's site, Hombre de Bronze. (The site is in Spanish, but you can always have Google translate it like I did.)

If you're desperate for some more Despero, consider dropping by these pages today:

The Idol-Head of Diabolu
Diana Prince is the New Wonder Woman
Justice League Detroit
Power of the Atom

See you next year, Despero!

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Since I started the week with something borrowed from FirestormFan.com, I feel it is appropriate to end that way, too.

There's a lot to see in the piece, but the best part is no doubt Booster Gold and Godiva canoodling underneath the trees. Ah, l'amour.

The above digital print on canvas by Rey Taira, Saturday Morning in Front of La Salle De Justice, is clearly modeled on the classic 1884 Georges Seaurat painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. Taira created this and a companion piece of villains lounging before the Hall of Doom for DC's "We Can Be Heroes" campaign.

This picture was found at kicada.tumblr.com, but another view and links to more pieces in the exhibition can be found at The Idol-Head of Dibolu.

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