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, Nurse Devlin.

Not all supporting characters are created equally. Some are far more important than others, but even the smallest has a role to play in the adventures of a superhero. Take, for example, Nurse Devlin of Metropolis General Hospital, first met in Booster Gold #13 (1987).

At the end of his previous adventure, Booster had been left battered and broken by the 1000. Because he lacked immunity to 20th-century diseases, he was nearly at death's door. Nurse Deslin helped repair our hero's body. She was also instrumental in improving his soul.

She took advantage of Booster's weakness to read him the riot act about how his selfish behavior disguised as altruism wasn't heroic.

Booster had heard the same countless times before — from no less a moral authority than Superman among others (see Booster Gold #6). This time, he listened. Near-death experiences will do that to you.

The change wasn't immediate. Booster first had to travel to the future and confront his own death squad (in events perhaps unintentionally echoing Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol) before he accepted the need to begin modifying his behavior. Growth is never easy, even for super heroes.

After returning to the present in Booster Gold #15, Booster turned over a new leaf, beginning with an anonymous donation to the Metropolis Food Shelter. (It's no accident that Booster's goodwill tour began with a donation to Nurse Devlin's charity. This suggests that wounded pride motivated him as much as a true desire to be a better person, but hey, every hero has got to start somewhere.)

Interested in meeting other "People in his Neighborhood"? Get to know Trixie Collins, Daniel Carter, Jack Soo, Rani, Dirk Davis, Skeets, Mackenzie Garrison, Rip Hunter, and Michelle Carter.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: nurse devlin people in his neighborhood supporting characters

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, Michelle Carter, Michael Jon "Booster" Carter's twin sister.

Fraternal twins Michael and Michelle Carter were born into a state of poverty in 25th-century Gotham City. Abandoned by their ne'er-do-well father abandoned them family, and the twins were raised by their mother. With Michael absorbed in athletic pursuits, Michelle was the more responsible sibling, taking multiple jobs to support their ailing mother. The news of Michael's illegal gambling shattered the family, and the twins would not speak for years afterwards.

Eventually, Michael was captured and sentenced to execution for the theft of a time machine. His friends came to his rescue in Booster Gold #15 (1987). They only escaped thanks to the timely intervention of Michelle. She had forgiven her brother (thanks in part to the intervention of Skeets) and risked her own life to ensure that Booster Gold was safely returned to the 20th century.

To repay his sister, Booster bankrolled her adventures across 20th-century America, which she considered "the best idea" she'd ever had (Booster Gold #19). Interested in exploring what it was like to be a hero, she took the Goldstar power suit with her. That proved to be a mistake.

Interdimensional aliens sought to use the Goldstar costume for their own nefarious purposes, and kidnapped Michelle to get it (Booster Gold #20). Booster Gold and the Justice League repelled the alien invasion, but Michelle payed the ultimate price while escaping from Dimension X (Booster Gold #22).

Booster would grieve the loss of his sister for many years until Time Master Rip Hunter bent the laws of time and space to reunite the Carter twins in Booster Gold, v2, #1,000,000 (2008). For a short time, Michelle would use the Goldstar power suit to aid Booster and Rip Hunter in their self-appointed task of policing history. But when Rip's former protege, Rex, revealed to her how history had been changed so that she could cheat death (Booster Gold, v2, #18), she rebelled and sought her own path in life.

Michelle returned to the 20th century and found a partner, Drew. Fate had other plans. The happy couple unwittingly visited Coast City at the moment of its destruction (in Booster Gold, v2, #30) and would have shared its fate if not for the intervention of another time traveler — this time a much older Booster Gold. Drew did not survive, and the twins were forced to accept that some things were outside a Time Master's control.

From that point forward, Michelle would become a valuable ally in Time Master operations, assisting in the search for a time-lost Batman (in Time Masters: Vanishing Point) helping to raise the orphan Rani (beginning Booster Gold #34), and joining the quest to resolve the "Convergence" crisis (Booster Gold: Future's End).

Michelle's whereabouts in the wake of the DC Universe "Rebirth" remain unknown, but don't worry. History has proven that not even death can keep the Carter twins apart for long.

Interested in meeting other "People in his Neighborhood"? Get to know Trixie Collins, Daniel Carter, Jack Soo, Rani, Dirk Davis, Skeets, Mackenzie Garrison, and Rip Hunter.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: goldstar michelle carter people in his neighborhood supporting characters

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, Ripley "Rip" Hunter, also known as the Time Master.

The details of Rip's early life are vague, and that's just the way he wants them. In one telling, Rip was a wealthy adventurer who invented time travel to "solve mysteries that have plagued mankind for centuries." In another, he was an MIT graduate obsessed with conquering the mysteries of time travel to save the world from Vandal Savage. In yet another, he was a member of the time policing Linear Men. The truth has been intentionally obfuscated to prevent interference from those who would change history for their own nefarious means. Even "Rip Hunter" is a pseudonym.

How deep do Hunter's deceptions go? He would have Booster Gold believe that they first met in Booster Gold #13 (1987) when Booster was desperately looking for a way to return to his own future for medical treatment. From Booster's chronological point-of-view, that's true. However, only Hunter knows that he is actually Booster's son — revealed in Booster Gold #1,000,000 (2008) — sent from the future to ensure that his father got the help he needed. Talk about your classic time paradoxes!

Once Booster was out of danger, Rip continued as a consultant for Booster's B.G.I. corporation while still managing to have his own adventures elsewhere. After B.G.I. closed its doors, years would pass before the two would work together again -- but what's a few decades for a time traver? Together, Rip and Booster (and Booster's 20th-century ancestor, Daniel) saved the multiverse from Mister Mind (in 52).

In the wake of their success, the two joined forces on a more permanent basis. As the new Time Masters, they have saved history from the likes of Per Degaton's Time Stealers (in Booster Gold Volume 2, #10), Black Beetle (Booster Gold Volume 2, #19), Darkseid (Time Masters: Vanishing Point), and Maxwell Lord (Booster Gold Volume 2, #34) to name a few. And they did it all in secret.

Hunter played an essential role in helping Booster resolve the multiverse-colliding events of Convergence, but he has managed to stay otherwise mostly hidden since Doctor Manhattan meddled with known history behind the scenes of Flashpoint. Where will we see the Time Master in action next? If the past is any indication, he'll return when Booster needs him most. That's what family is for.

Interested in meeting other "People in his Neighborhood"? Get to know Trixie Collins, Daniel Carter, Jack Soo, Rani, Dirk Davis, Skeets, and Mackenzie Garrison.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: people in his neighborhood rip hunter supporting characters

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, Mackenzie Garrison.

Even people who have been following the adventures of Booster Gold for years are unlikely to remember Mackenzie "Mac" Garrison, the former Vice President of Booster Gold International, first seen in Booster Gold #21 (1987).

After returning home from his second trip through time, Booster Gold boldly decided to dramatically expand his business empire. Though the former staff of Goldstar, Inc. were Booster's friends, they didn't have the experience or expertise to run the globe-spanning enterprise Booster had in mind. Therefore, in his role as President of B.G.I., Booster hired a no-nonsense, professional business woman to oversee operations.

However, no sooner was Garrison on board than a series of tragedies befell the new organization. First Booster's sister Michelle was killed by aliens from Dimension X (in Booster Gold #22). Then the company's reputation was tarnished when its president (actually an android duplicate) kidnapped and tortured Julianna Berkowitz, the the daughter of the mayor of Metropolis, in a failed attempt to kill Superman (Action Comics #594). And then someone embezzled all of the funds from B.G.I.'s corporate coffers (in Booster Gold #24)

Unfortunately for her, Garrison would take much of the undeserved blame for these disasters.

Garrison was last seen when Booster was forced to side with the Manhunters during the Millennium crisis (also in Booster Gold #24). Given that B.G.I. was insolvent and its president was widely considered to be a villain, she probably chose to move to greener pastures. Perhaps she had better luck in her next position and is still running a business elsewhere in the DC Universe.

Interested in meeting other "People in his Neighborhood"? Get to know Trixie Collins, Daniel Carter, Jack Soo, Rani, Dirk Davis, and Skeets.

Comments (3) | Add a Comment | Tags: mackenzie garrison people in his neighborhood supporting characters

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, Skeets.

Most heroes select a sidekick to help assist them in their heroic mission. Not Booster Gold. No, he wouldn't even *have* a heroic career without the assistance of his robotic sidekick, Skeets.

Skeets, a BX9 Security Robot, was Michael "Booster" Carter's co-worker at the Space Museum in the 25th century when Booster got the idea to steal a time machine and travel into the past to begin a life of super-heroics. Realizing he would need help, Booster added to his list of crimes by also kidnapping Skeets.

Rather than resent being displaced from his own time, Skeets embraced the opportunity for a first-hand observation of what to him was ancient history. Using his database of cultural knowledge, Skeets aided Booster in assimilating into 20th century culture, including supervising his tactics on the way to establishing Booster Gold as a powerhouse of both business and crime-fighting.

Due in part to Booster's immaturity, their relationship remained largely one-sided. Though Booster called Skeets a confidant, the robot was often treated exclusively a coach and mentor. When Booster left Metropolis to join the Justice League International, he deactivated Skeets and had him placed in storage, consulting him only on rare occasions when he needed access to 25th-century knowledge or technology. Despite this mistreatment, Skeets held no ill-will towards his former kidnapper. When Blue Beetle used alien technology to replace Booster's 20th-century power suits, Skeets voluntarily became the new suit's operating system, reuniting Booster and his sidekick in an unorthodox way.

This coupling of sidekick and powers would last through several different super suits. However, when Booster rejoined the Justice League International's successor group, the Super Buddies, Skeets was once again left behind. At least this time, Skeets was allowed to go his own way. The two drifted apart, and it would be at least a year before Booster learned that Skeets had been captured and disassembled for parts by Maxwell Lord's anti-hero Checkmate organization.

Though the details remain a mystery, Booster Gold traveled through time and repaired his robotic friend, this time using the body of a 25-century valet robot. Thanks to the timely intervention of Rip Hunter (with an assist by Doctor Magnus), Booster was able to save Skeets from a second destruction by Mister Mind in an adventure that led to Booster and Skeets joining Hunter in his mission to protect the correct course of history. To this end, Skeets would take on more responsibility (and power), eventually leading to evidence that he was transcending his original programming.

Whether or not Skeets was truly evolving is a question left unanswered following Doctor Manhattan's meddling in the continuity of the DC Universe. In the aftermath, a new Booster Gold emerged accompanied by a new Skeets, this time an SKS-1 prototype soldier's assistant. The new Booster is less mature than ever before. Thankfully, the new Skeets, in addition to being even more powerful, is also more independent.

Perhaps this third time around, Skeets will finally get the respect he deserves as Booster Gold's equal partner and not just another sidekick.

For a bit of insight into what Dan Jurgens was thinking when he created Skeets, see my Secret Origins interview. You can also click here to read my post from April 24, 2015.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: people in his neighborhood skeets supporting characters