I'm thinking pretty seriously about abandoning Twitter altogether, especially in the wake of the company adopting the Dogecoin icon as its logo. I tire of the new management's shenanigans.

And I have to say I'm going to miss it when I go. Where else could I see something like this?

If you're not familiar with "Tom Sawyer," go listen to it on Youtube.com

This is pretty fitting from just about every angle. Rush's sci-fi loving, envelope-pushing progressive-rock sounds (and mysterious lyrics) encapsulate the spirt of Booster Gold, just as Booster himself embodies Mark Twain's literary archetype of the (usually) well-intentioned but mischievous All-American Boy. In hindsight, it's an obvious pairing.

If you need me, Twitter, I'll be in the garage listening to my 1981 Rush Moving Pictures album on 8-track. Newer isn't always better.

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Up front, let me say that I bought two copies of the first issue of Human Target, one by Greg Smallwood — showing Booster Gold's fist! — and one by Hairsine, Miki and Beredo — showing Booster Gold's leg! (I like to think of them as parts of a "Build-A-Figure" cover.) Having read the issue, I do not regret that decision.

However, that should not mean that I'm ready to endorse the story based on the first issue alone. I am on record as no fan of Tom King's storytelling, especially in reference to the way he handles Booster Gold. It is very clear that King and I have very different interpretations of the character (and most of the other inhabitants of the DC Universe).

Earlier this week, King was interviewed by Jenna Anderson for comicbook.com, and he explained why he chose the Justice League International for his story:

"What Giffen and DeMatteis put into these characters, they all feel very fleshed out," King added. "They all feel very real. When you picture them in your head, you just see that Kevin Maguire face looking up at you. They're very easy and very fun to write. The thing I most love to do in comics is to take silly ideas seriously and find the depths in them, and that concept was all over this — the idea that these little silly flaws that are implanted in these characters actually show real heart and real depth. Like I wrote this thing for Booster, why Booster's good. And the idea is, Human Target expressed my opinion on Booster as 'Booster is a joke. He makes mistakes all the time, but he doesn't hide them. He shows himself. He is himself. Booster is Booster. Yeah, he's a joke, but everyone is. At least Booster's funny.' That kind of stuff is incredibly fun to do. These characters have such potential — each one of them could launch their own series."

Ahem. Almost all of them have launched a series. Or two. Or more.

I have to admit, I can kind of see where King is coming from calling Booster "a joke." Yes, he has some terrible ideas, and yes, he takes advantage of his friends, and he even occasionally misjudges his own abilities. But those traits could just as easily describe Batman.

Maybe it's my incredible dissatisfaction with the way King depicted Booster Gold during his run on Batman or my anger at the horrible handling of the promotion and resolution of Heroes in Crisis that make me suspicious that Booster will be treated badly by Human Target. But at least I can rest assured that this will be the last time King will use Booster in a story, right?

King continued. "Booster Gold [is] my favorite character to write in all of fiction — who is always trying to do good, and always slipping on the banana peel."

Grr. You can't always get what you want. Sometimes, you can't even get what you need.

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Booster Gold gets his hands on a karaoke microphone in Harley Quinn #70 to sing

When I was lost, you took my hand
When life was gray, you made it grand
When I was damned, you knew the deal
When my heard was sand, you made it steel

I'll call you babe, and you call me boo
I'll love you strong, and you love me true!
Until the end of the world, I love you!

Don't be surprised if you don't recognize the song. It's not real. It was created by issue writer Sam Humphries specifically for the occasion ("to pass legal"). But he didn't create it without inspiration.

According Humphries himself (@samhumphries on Twitter.com), the song was inspired by "For Crying Out Loud," written by Jim Steinman and performed by Meat Loaf on his 1977 epic operatic album, Bat Out of Hell.

I've always thought of Booster as more of a U2 fan, but who am I to tell a Justice Leaguer what to sing.

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I interrupt this Booster Gold blog to ask a serious question: should I continue to maintain a Facebook page for Boosterrific.com?

I created the Boosterrific.com fan page on Facebook 8 years ago this month as a convenience for those fans who also spend a great deal of time on the world's largest social media site. While I don't want to lose those (or any) readers, I personally dislike using the site and would prefer if I could just ignore it entirely.

Therefore, the question becomes how valuable is it for me to maintain that relationship with a service I find increasingly unpalatable? Is having a Facebook page for Boosterrific.com necessary to maintain readership?

To answer that question, I need your help telling me how useful you, the Booster Gold fan, consider Boosterrific.com's Facebook presence to be.

This week's poll question: Do you visit Boosterrific.com on Facebook? Please visit the Boosterrific Polls page to view results for this week's poll.

Thank you for your support.

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Two weeks ago, when I posted a link to some Booster Gold-inspired punk rock, Eskana dropped by the comments with a YouTube link to a song called "The Ballad of Booster Gold".

This "little ditty of mediocrity," as it is described, has been online for over a year. It's from the album Music From My Bedroom Walls published by AcousTic Media Productions and credited to Jacob Pence.

How much other Booster Gold-inspired music is out there that I don't know about? It's starting to look like quite a bit.

Thanks, Eskana.

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