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Boosterrific.com: The Complete, Annotated Adventures of Booster Gold
Boosterrific.com: The Complete, Annotated Adventures of Booster Gold

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Showing posts 1 - 5 of 9 matching: nova

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Not Counting Halloween Costumes

Booster Gold has topped yet another CBR listicle, this time "10 Most Bizarre Alter Egos DC Heroes Have Used" by Scoot Allan.

Quoth the article:

1 Booster Gold Faked His Death And Disguised Himself As Supernova During 52

DC launched a weekly comic series called 52 following the events of Infinite Crisis that explored a year in the DC Universe without Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman. A mysterious new hero known as Supernova appeared in Metropolis that kicked off an ongoing mystery about the man behind the mask.

While many thought it was Superman, it turned out to actually be Booster Gold, who had faked his death in order to stop his corrupted robotic pal Skeets. What's really bizarre bout the Supernova identity is that it was also used by Booster Gold's ancestor Daniel Carter and then stolen by Booster Gold's father from the future, making it a multi-generational costumed alter ego.

First of all, let me say that if you have not yet read 52: why not? It's no accident that issue 15 made my list of the twelve best Booster Gold stories.

Secondly, the Supernova identity is more bizarre than even Scoot's two understated paragraphs imply. (Hint: it involves Superman pretending he's Batman.) For more information on the Silver Age comic book origins that inspired Supernova, I strongly encourage you read the July 2019 Boosterrific Blog post "Sunshine Supernova."

And thirdly, I'd say that Supernova isn't Booster Gold's most bizarre alter ego. That honor goes to Bloodspot.

© DC Comics
JLA: Incarnations #6

Comic books are the best kind of weird.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: 52 alter egos bloodspot cbr.com jla incarnations lists scoot allan superman supernova

Friday, August 14, 2020

The Best of Booster Gold: 52 Week 15

My list of the twelve best Booster Gold comics is presented in chronological order of publication. Otherwise, entry number 8 would have appeared much higher.

May I present to you the glory that is 52 Week Fifteen, the "Booster Gold Memorial Issue" and one of the earliest inspirations for what would become Boosterrific.com.

© DC Comics
Art by J.G. Jones, color by Alex Sinclair

Spoiler Alert: Booster Gold dies in this issue.

For most of the early 2000s, Booster Gold was an afterthought, a wash-up has-been of a hero out of the public eye. His time in the shadows was preparing him for a new turn in the spotlight. But before Booster could soar, he had to fall. When Booster Gold does something, he doesn't settle for half measures.

© DC Comics

© DC Comics

© DC Comics

If I didn't know better, I'd say don't be so hard on yourself, Booster. But this is only the first level of the inception.

Re-reading those panels once you learn who's wearing the Supernova costume and why, you'll start to see the play within the play. (Booster Gold as a Shakespearean tragic hero? Yes, please!) Who can't respect a character who is willing to go that far to save his friends?

I'm hesitant to say too much, as the Booster Gold story running throughout the ensemble series is as much a mystery as it is a tale of redemption. If you've never read 52 cover to cover, do yourself the favor of correcting that mistake. With all due credit to every writer, artist, and editor involved (including Dan DiDio), I say that 52 is about as great as long form American super hero comics storytelling can get.

And issue 15 is particularly good, certainly good enough to be included among the twelve best Booster Gold comics.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: 52 best of supernova

Monday, July 1, 2019

Sunshine Supernova

Booster boosters know that much of Booster's origin was based on elements of Superman's Silver Age continuity (as covered on several pages of this site, including the Boosterrific! Blog post from December 4, 2015. But just because Booster became a successful hero in his own right didn't mean he was done "borrowing" from costumes and powers from Superman 's history.

Yes, I'm talking about Supernova.

© DC Comics

Introduced in 52 Week 8 (2006), mysterious Metropolis hero Supernova's secret identity stumped even veteran reporter Clark Kent. Few at the time guessed that underneath his mask, Supernova was really the disgraced hero Booster Gold using the powers of flight and teleportation.

How did he do it? His teleportation was a clever manipulation of the Kryptonian Phantom Zone projector technology invented by Jor-El, Superman's father (first seen in Adventure Comics #283, 1961). And he flew by way of Booster's own 30th-century Legion Flight Ring, which in pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity had originally been Superboy's (first seen in Adventure Comics #329, 1965).

The best part is even the concept of Supernova as one-hero-disguised-as-another was a nod to something Superman once did.

© DC Comicscover art by Neal Adams

First seen in World's Finest Comics #178, 1968, the "Nova" persona was adopted by Superman as a way to continue fighting crime following an unfortunate encounter with an alien invader that left him powerless.

Nova used Batman's utility belt as his inspiration to create a costume with its own powers. Amusingly enough, this included a cape created by Leonardo da Vinci that Superman had picked up during an earlier time-traveling adventure. (In fact, Superman and Leonardo da Vinci had worked together as recently as the previous issue!)

The Nova personality was used only for a few misadventures, including a villainous turn against Batman and the triumphant defeat of a criminal mastermind. The costume was eventually shelved as Superman returned to his former costumed identity.

© DC ComicsWorld's Finest Comics #180, by Cary Bates, Ross Andru, Mike Esposito, Ben Oda

Every Nova adventure took place in one of DC's infamous "imaginary" stories, but that doesn't make them any less influential. Booster Gold may be a thief, but at least he steals from the World's Finest!

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: batman nova superman supernova worlds finest

Friday, February 8, 2019

Character Spotlight on Daniel Carter

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, Daniel Carter.

The People in His Neighborhood: spotlighting the characters who have made Booster Gold such a star

After a gruesome injury ruined his promising football career, Daniel Carter had became stuck in an unfulfilling job as Evergreen Insurance Company's fifth-best term-life salesman. He dreamed of being a super hero and reclaiming his lost glory. Perhaps it was that dream — or maybe it was fate — that lured him to Booster Gold's sparsely attended funeral in 52 #18.

Daniel was completely unaware that Michael Jon "Booster Gold" Carter was his descendant until Skeets told him the truth. Unfortunately for Daniel, that was the only truth Skeets told him (52 #19).

© DC Comics

Skeets wasn't Skeets at all, but the villainous Mr. Mind in disguise. Fortunately for Daniel, Rip Hunter was already aware of Mr. Mind's schemes. Hunter enlisted Daniel to become the second Carter to don the mask of Supernova, world-famous super hero. Together with faked-his-own-death Booster Gold, Daniel defeated Mr. Mind and saved the multiverse (52 #52). Daniel Carter's dreams had come true!

Afterwards, Booster and Daniel became roommates (Booster Gold Volume 2, #1). Though Daniel meant well, he was also rather stupid. He was often left behind while Booster was out adventuring. This made it easy for Booster's ne'er-do-well father to steal the Supernova costume and use it for evil (Booster Gold Volume 2, #2). It would also present the opportunity for Daniel to meet his future wife, reporter Rose Levin, when she came snooping into Booster Gold's personal life (Booster Gold, Volume 2, #3).

© DC Comics

Rip Hunter would eventually recover the Supernova costume, and Daniel would continue to play the role of hero for Rose. He traveled through time to find his wife the perfect gift — and only accidentally gave longtime Justice League foe Starro the Conqueror the ability to conquer all history (Booster Gold, Volume 2, #13). He would redeem himself by protecting Rose from a maurading Black Lantern Blue Beetle in Booster Gold, Volume 2, #27.

Supernova hasn't been seen since Flashpoint, but so long as Booster Gold is still around, Daniel and Rose have to be out there somewhere.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: daniel carter people in his neighborhood rose levin supernova supporting characters

Monday, January 7, 2019

The Worst of the Worst

What does it take to make a villain a hero's arch-enemy? If it's familiarity, then the villains vying for Booster Gold's most-hated award must be one of these:

Royal Flush Gang and Jonar Jon Carter (aka Supernova III): These long-time foes are tied with 7 encounters each.

The Director (The 1000): The Director was certainly the most dominant of Booster's early villains, racking up 8 encounters before his untimely demise.

Black Beetle: The villain with the most central role in Booster Gold's second volume, Black Beetle crossed paths with our hero 12 times with hints of more to come. Unfortunately, his story will probably remain forever untold thanks to Flashpoint and the arrival of the New 52.

Mr. Mind: Mister Mind has a surprisingly high count of 19 encounters with Booster Gold, a statistic increased both by his tendency to masquerade undetected as Booster's allies and his role in the weekly 52 title.

Maxwell Lord IV: Few characters have such frequently recurring roles in Booster's adventures as Max Lord, who has amassed a total of 65 encounters with our hero to date. Sure, most of those appearances were in supporting roles for the Justice League International (and all of those appearances take place outside modern Rebirth DCnU continuity), but nothing makes for a better antagonist than a former friend and mentor gone bad.

Now that you've seen the numbers, what do you say? Which villain deserves the title of Booster Gold's arch-nemesis?

This week's poll question: Which villain do you consider to be Booster Gold's arch-enemy? Please visit the Boosterrific Polls page to view results for this week's poll.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: black beetle director of death maxwell lord mister mind polls royal flush gang supernova villains


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