If you were buying DC Comics in the mid-90s, you might remember the company's trend of having a single story conceit linking all their summer annuals. In 1996, the theme was "Legends of the Dead Earth," a series of Elseworlds-style imaginary stories considering how DC's heroes might live on in the far future.

Most of these stories featured legacy heroes, but Justice League America Annual #10 took a different tack. While its story, "The Alliance" by Christopher Priest, did take place in the far future, its central hero and villains were all active Justice League members of the time. Max Lord, Captain Atom, and, yes, Booster Gold all play central roles, as illustrated in original art from the issue that is now being sold on eBay.com for a very reasonable price.

Pencils by Sergio Cariello, Inks by Nick J. Napolitano

Given that the big bad is Maxwell Lord and the Justice League of the future were "volunteers" with altered DNA, this annual might have been more than a little influential in stories that would come along years later in Countdown to Infinite Crisis and Justice League 3000.

It is also the first time Booster wore a costume with an asymmetrically placed star!

For either of those reasons, it might not be a bad issue to own some original art from.

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Via Twitter, Benni Beard called my attention to this custom Booster Gold minifig (with Legion Flight Ring!) now available from bilbobaggins7919 on ebay.com:

It was just back in March that I spotlighted a different custom LEGO-compatible minifig.

There must be a growing demand for block versions of our hero in the wake of the LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham video game and The LEGO Batman Movie. Are you paying attention, LEGO?

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The Internet is just like the rest of the world. Some of it is good, and some of it is bad. And some of it is Boosterrific!

I accidentally stumbled across this sketch on Instagram while researching cosplay pics. Of course, I'm keen on any Booster Gold sketch that includes the high collar, but I'm even more taken with the bird on his shoulder!

Why does Booster have a bird? What kind of bird is it? Parrot? Raven? Eagle? Why is it dressed in it's own costume? Is it a robot? Is it a new look for Skeets? Inquiring minds want to know!

Forget politics and pictures of cats playing pianos. More Booster Gold's robotic pets, please, Internet.

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As the first character introduced to the DC Universe after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Booster Gold was too new for his own entry in the original Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe character encyclopedia. (Volume III: Black Lightning to Byth was cover dated May 1985, nearly a year before Booster's first appearance.)

While Booster would have to wait for the 1987 Who's Who Update to receive his own listing, Booster's impact on the DC Universe was felt much sooner. Therefore, Booster first appeared not in his own entry but in support of one of the DCU's more established characters (insofar as a seldom used star of a back-up feature in Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane in the early 1970s can be considered "established").

If you look closely, you'll see our hero in the background of the entry for Rose and Thorn in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe Volume 19, released 31 years ago today.

Art by Dan Jurgens and Dick Giordano

(The less said about Thorn's costume the better. Obviously Thorn and Batman and the Outsider's Looker shopped from the same designer label in the 80s.)

Whereas Booster went on to become an integral member of the Justice League International, Rose has rarely been seen in the decades since. Maybe it's time for Booster to return the favor.

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Dick Giordano would have turned 84 years old today. If you don't know who he was, you should.

Giordano was the Managing/Executive Editor at DC Comics during the decade that saw Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Killing Joke, and Watchmen. Without him, there wouldn't have been a Booster Gold. Literally.

This is what Booster's creator, Dan Jurgens, had to say when I asked him about Booster's origin in 2010:

Boosterrific: You had not done a lot of work for DC prior to Booster Gold Volume 1. How was it that as a relatively inexperienced writer/artist, you were given such an opportunity as creating a new series for the mainstream DC Universe?

Dan Jurgens: Why was I allowed to do Booster? Well, I didn't make the decision but I do know this: When I first explained it to Dick Giordano and told him the basic idea of what the character could be and who he was, Dick saw him as someone who was entirely different than anyone else in the DCU. I think some of Dick's background as an editor, where he often handled somewhat offbeat characters, may have had something to do with that. But he was attracted to the book and as Managing Editor, gave me the thumbs up and approved the project. Sometimes younger, untested talent, will actually pay off with somewhat different ideas and concepts.

Giordano may have died in 2010, but his legacy lives on. Thank you, sir.

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