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 two of those, Benny and Marty.

From the moment Booster Gold made his public debut, publisher Skip Andrews realized the larger-than-life hero would be a perfect addition to the Blaze Comics universe of characters. And thus did Andrews unwittingly set in motion the events that would lead to the death of his star writer/artist team of Benny Lindgren and Marty Kramer.

This is their story.

Booster Gold #4, 1986

Booster Gold #7, 1986

Booster Gold #9, 1986

Booster Gold #10, 1986

Being a comic book creator is a dangerous life!

By the way, in 2015, I asked Booster Gold writer Dan Jurgens whether Benny and Marty were based on real world New Teen Titans creators Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. Jurgens answered:

I wouldn't go that far with Benny and Marty, though there may be a hint of truth to it. In a way, they were based more on the idea of team books and their creative teams of that era.

Thanks, Dan. And thanks to Marv and George for being so inspiring!

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

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The legendary artist George Pérez has drawn a lot of comics, but he will probably always be most associated with 1985's Crisis on Infinite-Earths, indubitably the best showcase for his inimitable ability to depict an entire multiverse of characters in a single panel.

Booster Gold, being the first character to debut in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Universe, arrived too late to appear under Pérez's pencil at the time, but Pérez has managed to squeeze Booster into a few adventures in the decades since:

History of the DC Universe #2 (1986)

War of the Gods #4 (1991)

JLA/Avengers #1 (2003)

JLA/Avengers #3 (2003)

Brave and the Bold #6 (2007)

Each a masterpiece! Thanks for all the great work, George.

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I didn't expect to find Booster Gold in any of today's comics, so imagine my surprise when I spotted this fine looking group:

That's Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Wonder Woman: War of the Gods #1, the "Dark Multiverse" version of the 1991 "War of the Gods" crossover event. Ironically, Booster appears in three panels in this self-contained one-shot issue, which is two more panels than he appeared in during the original 25-part story!

For the record, it was this panel in War of the Gods #4:

As you can see, the original story had layouts by George Perez. It is a dark multiverse indeed without George Perez in it.

If you'd like to see more of Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Wonder Woman: War of the Gods before you decide whether you want to spend $6 on a Booster Gold cameo appearance, CBR.com has the preview.

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Not even a pandemic can keep Cort Carpenter's Booster Gold sketchbook closed. Take a look at his latest additions:

Sami Basri

Aaron Lopresti

Sean Galloway

George Perez

Rod Reis

Travis G. Moore

Not a stinker in the bunch! (I could probably use that last one as one of my corner box images.) You can see all these and more at imgur.com.

Stay safe, Cort. No matter what else happens in 2020, the sketchbook must survive!

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Over the weekend, I listened to Dan Jurgens' interview with Keith Callbeck on Comicosity.com. (You did too, right?) A lot of great things were discussed, but it is incumbant on me, as the unofficial chronicler of all things Booster Gold to correct one error in the interview.

When asked who was his favorite Booster Gold artist (other than himself), Dan Jurgens said Kevin Maguire. That's not the error. Everyone loves Kevin Maguire's expressive work. But Jurgens also said he believed that Maguire was the first person (after himself) to draw Booster Gold. That's the error.

Booster Gold #1 debuted in November 1985. For the better part of a year, every appearance of the new character, including advertisements, was drawn by a young up-and-coming artist named Dan Jurgens. It wouldn't be until August of the following year that Booster would appear under someone else's pencil. That person wasn't Kevin Maguire, but legendary artist Carmine Infantino!

As you can see, Infantino included Booster (and Skeets!) in his entry for the Space Museum in Who's Who #21 released August 14, 1986. Even if you want to pick nits and say that Infantino was drawing Micheal Carter and not Booster Gold, Maguire still wasn't second. Several other amazing DC artists also got there before him.

George Perez included a panel of Booster in costume History of the DC Universe #2, November 27, 1986.

Eduardo Barreto drew Booster in his rarely seen cape for his first true DCU crossover action in New Teen Titans #29 and #30, beginning December 18, 1986.

Jim Aparo showed Booster Gold working crowd control in The Outsiders #17, January 2, 1987.

It wasn't until March 5, 1987, that Kevin Maguire would finally get his hands on Booster for Justice League #2. (The famous Action Comics #594, in which John Byrne drew Booster Gold beating Superman, wasn't released until August 25 of that year.)

So while Maguire wasn't second to the drafting table, he was in great company. And Maguire has since overcome his late start to become the artist who has draw Booster Gold in more comics than any other artist (except for Dan Jurgens). He clearly has an affinity for the character. Check out his Twitter header:

Jurgens may have had the timing wrong, but he had the artist right. That Kevin Maguire is pretty good.

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