Booster Gold tells us he's from the future, and we believe him because that's the kind of nice, trusting fans we are. But if he was really from the future, he should be able to prove it, right? He could accurately predict an earthquake or tell us who wins next year's World Series or, at the very least, give us a hint about what the popular toy will be far enough in advance of Christmas that we can get one before it sells out.

That said, maybe Booster *has* told us about the future, and we didn't understand. After all, sometimes you don't know what you're looking for until you've already passed it.

Here are five instances from DC Comics where, in retrospect, future-boy Booster Gold prophesized coming events:

1. The True Value of Toilet Paper
Justice League America #89 (1994)

It seems like a frivolous joke, but if COVID has taught us nothing else, it's that toilet paper is really the first thing to go.

2. Air Rage
Justice League International #9 (1988)

When I first read this as a kid, I assumed it was one of those adult references that went over my head. Now that I know better, it's funny because it's true.

3. Legends of Tomorrow
Justice League Spectacular #1 (1992)

What, you were thinking George Clooney? St. Elsewhere is *still* great television.

4. The Rise of Non-Fungible Tokens
Booster Gold #1 (1986)

Internet salesmen want you to think that NFTs are new, but they have definitely been around for a while.

5. Being a Real Man
Justice League #4 (1987)

In hindsight, this one seems weirdly specific.

The future is a very strange place indeed.

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As all Booster boosters know by now, DC has announced a new Blue Beetle/Booster Gold mini-series coming in July 2021. What you may not know is just how long it has taken to get to this blessed event. On Twitter, Dan Jurgens wrote:

To be clear, this is the third, maybe even fourth time this project has been on my board, the first in '88or '89. Nice to have it become a reality and even better to have the incredible Ryan Sook drawing it. So good! (@thedanjurgens, Twitter.com, Apr 21, 2021)

I can attest that 1988 is the date that fans first learned about it. What follows is the first in a series of three posts that originally appeared here on Boosterrific in June 2011:

In Boosterrific.com's never-ending quest to catalog every Booster Gold appearance in a DC publication, I recently perused several issues of DC's pre-Previews solicitations, Direct Currents. Many of the early issues include interviews with DC artists. The artist interviewed for the "People At Work" column in issue #8 (August, 1988) is Dan Jurgens.

The article -- presumably written by Paul Kupperberg -- includes a brief biography, including the facts that Jurgens was inspired to read comics by the 1966 Batman television show, and that his first work for DC on Warlord resulted from a chance meeting with Mike Grell at a comic book convention. It even contains a bit about the origin of Booster Gold. But the part I found most interesting was this paragraph:

"Then there's next year's ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN ANNUAL, which I'm co-writing with Jerry Ordway and pencilling. And, of course, the one project I'm really excited about is something that DC's still got in the planning stages, called THE BLUE AND THE GOLD, a new series starring Booster Gold with the Blue Beetle. They've gotten real popular as buddies in Justice League International, so I think a book co-starring the two of them is a natural. It's going to have that unique JLI flavor to it."

We know it was never released, but how close did DC come to publishing The Blue and the Gold series teaming Booster Gold and Blue Beetle?

It's worth noting that there was no Adventures of Superman Annual released in 1989, and that no Adventures of Superman Annual shares writing credit between Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway (though both contributed to Action Comics Annual in 1989 and several issues of Adventures of Superman). So it seems that DC was being very flexible with their schedule in the late 1980s.

Next time, we'll look for more clues about the series that almost never was in Justice League letter columns from the 1990s.

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I don't normally post here at Boosterrific.com on weekends, but I'm making an exception today in support of Russ Burlingame's "Best Movie Ever: A Totally Jerkin' Book" Indiegogo project.

Russ is the world's foremost Booster Gold journalist who has been reporting on our hero at a number of websites for going on two decades now. You may remember his "Gold Exchange" interviews from a decade ago with Dan Jurgens and other creators recapping each issue of Booster Gold Volume 2, Time Masters: Vanishing Point, Justice League International Volume 3, and more.

(Or maybe you don't remember, since those interviews have disappeared from the Internet as many of the comic-book-news websites that hosted them have fallen victim to larger media corporations in their incessant search for new outlets to promote their soulless productions to the entertainment-starved masses. Hmm. Someone should make a movie about that.)

Russ's current project is a book about Josie and the Pussycats, the 2001 movie based on the Archie Comics property. As I said above, he's already taking pre-orders and offering other incentives at Indiegogo.

I hear you asking "What does this have to do with Booster Gold?" To which I answer that it's enough that we're supporting a friend.

(And, in a conspiratorial, almost subliminal whisper, I may add that if this goes really well for Russ, I'm betting he'll finally re-release those "Gold Exchange" columns in book form. I'd really like to get my hands on that book. Grease those wheels, Booster boosters!)

Good luck, Russ.

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Today I'm hijacking my own blog in promotion of my latest novel, a cozy murder mystery in a fantasy setting, Apprentice to Murder: The Tale of Robin the Rascal in the Wizard's Own Words.

According to the book cover (which I also wrote):

Life is easy for young Prince Robin. Growing up with the luxuries afforded members of the royal family, he dreams of one day becoming a knight like his late father. But the young nobleman's dreams are derailed when his cousin, heir apparent Prince John, dies under questionable circumstances. Fingers quickly point to Robin, who inconveniently happens to be the next in the line of succession and the last person to have seen John alive.

To prevent civil war, Robin abdicates his birthright for an apprenticeship under Royal Wizard Septimus. Robin's sacrifice saves the kingdom, but one by one, the inhabitants of Windwick Castle begin to die, each new death seeming to further incriminate the fallen prince. The only way for Robin to save himself is find John's real killer.

The apprentice wizard is going to learn the hard way that even magic has its limits.

If you'd like to read more, the first chapter is available for free at JamesWalterStephens.com.

And if you like what you see there, the book is now available as both a $15 paperback and a $2.99 ebook on Amazon.com.

Thank you for your consideration.

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If I write "Deathmetal" and "Bloodspot," you'd be forgiven for thinking I was just a bad typist.

One of the biggest talking points to emerge from last week's FanDome has been the upcoming Suicide Squad movie. Because its central tenant — belied by its title — requires the eradication of its members, the Suicide Squad has always been populated by lesser known villains from the fringe of the DC Universe. As Booster boosters have known for nearly a year, one of the characters in the upcoming film will be Blackguard, the villain Booster Gold fights on the cover of his very first appearance. Blackguard will be played by comedian Pete Davidson.

Another barely known Suicide Squad character who has been creating ripples in the fan press is Bloodsport. That's probably because Bloodsport is being played by Idris Elba. Like Blackguard, Bloodsport made his first appearance on the cover of a comic (Superman volume 2 #4, 1987). Also like Blackguard, he hasn't had a very illustrious career. Think of him as a deranged version of Rambo First Blood Part II who kills innocent people to protest how the American government treated Vietnam vets. It's not creator John Bryne's best work, and there's really not a lot of reason you should remember him.

Unless you have a head for Booster Gold trivia and remember the extremely Boosterrific JLA Incarnations #6, in which Booster Gold parodied the excessively violent, heavily muscled, tank-top and bandanna wearing Bloodsport. About the biggest change Booster made to Bloodsport's shtick was dropping the "r."

Blue Beetle and Booster Gold will always be the real Deathmetal and Bloodspot to me.

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