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, Blackguard.

When you hear "Batman villain," you probably think of the Joker. Superman has Lex Luthor, and Wonder Woman has Cheetah. It's an old adage that all heroes are defined by their opponents. But before you can battle the king, you have to work your way up the hill.

Long before Joker, Batman started his career against Doctor Death. Superman originally matched wits with the Ulra-Humanite; Wonder Woman had Princess Maru. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Booster Gold started with Blackguard in the pages of Booster Gold #1.

Blackguard's technology was a gift of his sponsor, the criminal organization 1000, who had hired him to steal technology from Metropolis' S.T.A.R. Labs. A clumsy getaway resulted in his first, accidental encounter with rookie hero Booster Gold.

The inaugural confrontation between hero and villain took up most of the pages in Booster Gold #1 as the matched pair took turns showcasing their super powers and abilities. Both had scientifically advanced power suits. Booster was lithe; Blackguard was strong. Booster had energy lasers; Blackguard had an energy mace. Booster was smarter, and Blackguard was ultimately defeated.

Everyone's got to have a gimmick, and "being defeated" would soon become Blackguard's. Despite his considerable cybernetic strength and amazing, mentally-controlled energy constructs, Blackguard's general incompetence would lead to his defeat again...

Booster Gold #2

...and again...

Booster Gold #3

...and again.

Booster Gold #4

Blackguard appeared on three of the first four covers of Booster Gold beginning in 1985, but unlike our hero, Blackguard's journey would be out of the public eye. While Booster was growing rich and/or famous, the forgotten villain spent most of the next few decades — except for a *very* brief stint as a henchman for the devil Neron — in maximum security prisons The Slab or Belle Reve. He gave himself the aspirational nickname, "The Human Killing Spree" (in Guy Gardner: Warrior #36) but given his track record, it's hard to believe he could ever successfully kill even a single person — unless it was by accident.

When he was finally paroled in 2005, Blackguard turned over a new leaf. Using his given name, Richard "Dick" Hertz, he partnered with experienced restaurateur Guy Gardner and opened a bar in the building next door to Booster Gold's Super Buddies team headquarters.

JLA Classified #4

Like so many other would-be reformed villains, Blackguard was eventually given a second chance to do bad, and he still tried to make the best of it as an agent of Task Force X, better known as the Suicide Squad. In Blackguard's case, it lived up to its name.

Ironically, Blackguard has become more famous in death than he ever was in life. He made his live-action movie debut in last week's The Suicide Squad, where he is portrayed by Pete Davidson.

Meanwhile, glory-seeking Booster Gold is still waiting for his shot at movie stardom. Blackguard didn't win at much, but at least he's got that.

Are you interested in meeting other "People in his Neighborhood"? Follow these links to get to know Trixie Collins, Daniel Carter, Jack Soo, Rani, Dirk Davis, Skeets, Mackenzie Garrison, Rip Hunter, Michelle Carter, Nurse Devlin, Monica Lake, and Doctor Shocker.

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You know who's excited about next week's Blue and Gold comic? CBR.com, judging by the number of times Booster and Beetle have been included in recent listicles.

Here is my list of ten "top 10" Booster Gold lists from CBR.com released in the past month. And yes, I had more than 10 to choose from.

10. "10 Superheroes Who Wasted Their Potential" by David Harth
#1 Booster Gold Has Saved Time And Space But Is A Buffoon

9. "10 DC Heroes Who Don't Have Super Powers (But Get By On Gadgets)" by David Harth
#3 Booster Gold's Armor Gives Him All Kinds Of Powers

8. "10 Most Balanced DC Heroes, Ranked" by David Harth
#2 Booster Gold Wins In Spite Of Himself Because Of His Variety Of Skills

As you can see, Mr. Harth doesn't much care for Booster Gold. I assume he was forced to include Booster in his lists by his corporate overlords who require 2 pints of blood and/or a 10 point list every day.

7. "The 10 Most Villainous Things DC Heroes Ever Did" by Jerry Stanford
#5 Booster Gold Stole Everything He Used To Make His Costume

Sure, theft is bad. But DC once had an entire "event" series about heroes selling their souls to the devil.

6. "10 American Superheroes Who Should Receive An Anime Treatment" by Richard Keller
#10 Blue Beetle And Booster Gold Are Ripe For A Fish Out Of Water Anime

5. "Legends Of Tomorrow: 10 DC Characters Who Should Join The Team" by Derek Faraci
#10 Booster Gold Seems Like A No Brainer

4. "10 Characters That Still Need DC Showcase Animated Shorts" By Cole Albinder
#9 Booster Gold Should Get More Of The Spotlight He Craves

Who could argue with the premise that Booster Gold should be in all media all the time? Not me.

3. "The 10 Best Uses Of Time Travel In The Comics" by Derek Faraci
#10 Booster Gold Decides To Be Famous

That list doesn't go for the obvious choices. I respect that even when I disagree with it.

2. "10 Funny Comic Characters That Will Make You Laugh Out Loud" by Scoot Allan
#1 Booster Gold And Blue Beetle Were DC's Comedy Duo For Years

They still are!

And the number one list from CBR.com to feature Booster Gold in the past month is

1. "10 Things To Know About Blue and Gold Before Their Miniseries" by Richard Keller
#1 They're More Admired Than They Think

Don't read too much this weekend, everybody. You'll want your eyeballs well rested for Blue and Gold #1 coming to a Local Comic Shop near you this Tuesday, July 20!

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Over the weekend @preyofbirdsdc tweeted what may be David Marquez's cover for September's Justice League #68. Whether that is true or not — we'll probably find out for sure when DC releases September solicitations in 2 weeks — the important part is who's pictured in it.

You see them there? No, not Fire and Ice there in the middle. (Hi, Fire! Hi, Ice!) Over to the side, just over smirking Batman's shoulder: it's Blue and Gold!

Such clowns!

If it turns out this *is* the cover for Justice League #68, I guess that means I'll be buying at least one Justice League comic this September.

(Special thanks to @dailybluegold for highlighting our heroes in this art.)

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Not so long ago, Booster booster Fin called my attention to a comic I had long overlooked. It wasn't a missed Booster Gold appearance. Not quite, anyway.

Just see if this banter doesn't sound familiar:

art by David Williams and Kelsey Shannon

Those panels are from The Authority: The Lost Year, a series in which the Authority bounced from one alternate universe to another. (This was back in 2010, before the New 52 folded the Wildstorm Universe into the mainstream DCnU.)

Issues #8 and #9 were written by Grant Morrison, Keith Giffen, and J.M. DeMatteis and featured an alternate universe in which the local Authority looked and acted a lot like a particular, best-selling DC Comics team of the late 1980s.

The meta-textural take on the Justice League International by the JLI's original writing team is delightful, especially as contrasted with the modern, no-nonsense Authority concept (itself strongly reminiscent of the extreme 1990s love affair with "mature" sex and violence content).

As you can see, that's Blue Beetle in the role of the Authority's Midnighter (a Batman-like vigilante) and Booster Gold as Apollo (whose character is a riff on Superman — so fitting!) In their original continuity, Apollo and Midnighter are a homosexual couple, allowing the issue's writers to directly tackle the longstanding Boostle phenomenon 'shipping Blue and Gold into a romantic relationship.

I'm sorry I hadn't realized this book existed sooner. Thanks, Fin.

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Did you miss out on Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3 two weeks ago? You could buy a copy on eBay for $40, or, if you're lucky, you can find a rushed second printing today at your LCS for $3.99.

Sigh. (Seriously, I've been collecting comics for four decades, and I still marvel at how the speculator market works.)

While we're on the topic of speculating, I guess now's as good a time as any to mention that pop culture site wegotthiscovered.com reports... well, I'll let them say it.

Warner Brothers is looking to bring [Ryan] Reynolds back to DC but not as the Green Lantern. Instead, they want him to play Booster Gold.

Ok, sure. I'd buy a ticket to see Reynolds bring Zack Stentz's 2017 still-unproduced Booster Gold: The Movie script to life. But then, I'd buy a ticket to see Rob Schneider play Booster Gold. I'm not a hard sell in the Booster Gold department.

And now that I'm on the topics of actors, I should probably take the opportunity to mention what card -carrying Booster Brigade member Shawn Baston spotted in a youtube video tour of comedian Pete Davidson's apartment given to Netflix. Feast your eyes on this:

No, not the picture of Davidson's grandfather with Judd Apatow. Over there in the corner.

Yep, that's a copy of 1985's first printing of Booster Gold volume 1 #1. You've got good taste, Pete. That issue sells for upwards of $30 on eBay!

Double sigh.

UPDATE 2020-03-18: wegotthiscovered.com now reports that Reynolds has turned down the role. That means I've mentioned them twice in this post, which shows you how much mileage there is in speculating about such things.

UPDATE 2020-03-19: wegotthiscovered.com updates their own reporting to say that since Ryan Reynolds passed, WB now wants Chris Pratt. So, they're determined to poach all the Marvel actors then. I guess next week they'll be after Tom Holland.

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