In response to one of my tweets earlier this week, @Space_Lt_Josh commented that there is a "real Boosterenaissance beginning to unfold right now". I couldn't agree more (except for the fact that I would spell "Boosterrenaissance" the Boosterrific-endorsed way: with two "r"s!).

Our hero has come off his own Blue and Gold mini-series to play a role in Dark Crisis, DC Vs. Vampires, and Human Target. While I have grave reservations about how he is being portrayed in some of those series, I certainly think it is for the best that the character is in position to be seen by larger audiences.

Booster booster Joe Carlo informs me that at least someone at DC Comics' parent company, DC Entertainment (a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery!) is also aware of Booster's rising visibility. He knows because he got a promotional email putting Booster in the "character spotlight."

The email directs readers to the DCComics.com character page for Booster Gold (www.dccomics.com/characters/booster-gold).

It gives Booster a glowing write-up, though I have to wonder why the article's accompanying headshot is this:

Aw, come on, guys. Couldn't you find a picture where Booster hasn't spent a year trapped in an alternate timeline hell of his own making? Oh, well. I guess you can't have everything.

Viva la Boosterrevolution!

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Last week on Twitter, the image of a 1938 house advertisement for Action Comics #1 inspired Russ Burlingame to compare it to "that Direct Currents-style book that circulates as '1: Booster Gold' from time to time."

For those of you who don't know, Burlingame was talking about this, DC Releases Vol.1, No. 21, February, 1986:

DC Releases was a free handout for customers in the nascent direct comics market of the mid-to-late 1980s. (No. 48 was the final issue before it was replaced by Direct Currents, which continued to promote DC products for another decade.) This is called the "February" issue because it was promoting books with a "February" cover date, although they were mostly being sold to consumers in October/November 1985.

The solicitation text, likely written by DC's promotional copywriter extraordinaire, Paul Kupperberg, is pretty Boosterrific:

He's In It For The Bucks!

Talk shows! Prime-time commercials! Opening night bashes! T.V. guest appearances! Product endorsements! Where does this guy come from?

Just between you and me, the other heroes in the DC Universe aren't too hot on Booster Gold's strivings for star-status. But Skeets, on the other hand, is loving it! Skeets? Oh. He's Booster's flying, computerized companion. Who knows where he came from, either. But wherever it is, all the gossip columns have it that he and Booster came together!

As Metropolis goes goo-goo and ga-ga over this empowered hunk (ya gotta hand it to the guy), he keeps his priorities straight! He knows that being a celebrity super-hero means being a super-hero first, and when B.G. puts his powers into drive—watch out!

In this premier issue, Booster must recover a satellite guidance system stolen from S.T.A.R. Labs (I hope he doesn't miss his contract negotiation meeting because of that!) And: Action explodes in the streets of Metropolis when the incredibly strong Blackguard meets our affluent hero face-to-face!

Dan Jurgens, penciller on The Legion of Super-Heroes, Sun Devils, and Warlord, and Mike DeCarlo, who inked Dan on Warlord, promise a super-action series, seasoned with just the right blend of satire, urbane wit, and humor. So, as Booster Gold would say, buy, buy, buy!

While the widely-seen house ad for Booster Gold #1 that was included in Crisis on Infinite Earths #11 (and almost every other book DC published in October 1985) is more famous and much more widely seen than DC Releases, this handout was created specifically to promote books released on October 8, 1985 (including Crisis on Infinite Earths #11). Therefore, as Russ said, Booster's cover panel here is very likely the character's very first public appearance.

That's why you'll find copies going for $500 on eBay.

Personally, I'd rather spend my money on comics rather than advertisements for comics, but you do you.

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Two months ago, we learned how DC's Legends of Tomorrow executive producers Phil Klemmer and showrunner Keto Shimizu got DC to agree to allow Booster Gold to finally appear on their show.

Late last week, we learned why.

In response to fans questions on Twitter, Shimizu herself tweeted:

DC was in our corner trying to help our chances of renewal. They and WB wanted us to survive. We were asked for a new character to "excite" the audience, and attract more viewers. We requested Booster and DC agreed. It was all in an attempt to save the show.

That's right: they were counting on Booster Gold to help save them. And Booster failed.

As a Booster Gold fan, I should probably point out if you want to stir up public support, it would definitely help to actually tell us in advance to tune in to see our hero. (Early notices only teased a fallen hero whose "golden years are in the rearview mirror.") It's also really hard to boost week-over-week ratings if a character appears only in the season finale. (Booster's episode, "Knocked Up, Knocked Down," had the second-smallest audience of the season; the next-to-last episode was the smallest, meaning Booster actually did bring it up somewhat, and I certainly would have watched the following week if there had been one.)

That said, failure is kind of Booster's story, right? His heart is always in the right place, but he often overestimates his own abilities while underestimating the consequences, sometimes making a bad situation worse. Sometimes much worse. Cancellation worse.

However, Booster Gold's most sterling quality is that he is no quitter. After ruining the day, he'll dust himself off, take ownership of what he did wrong, and set out to make it right. It's the prototypical hero's journey. Everyone loves a redemption story.

And that's why I'm now strongly hoping that Legends of Tomorrow does find a way to return to the screen, at least long enough to give its fans the ending they deserve. We can all rest assured that Booster Gold will continue working behind the scenes until he has helped all those who need rescuing. Because that's what real heroes do.

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It's 3:46 in the morning, and I need to get to sleep, but I can't go to bed until I come up with something to post for you fine Booster boosters. Fortunately for everyone, The Blot has bailed me out with this recent very Boosterrific tweet:

I don't think you need to *move* the 6-inchers, Blot. I think you just need to get some more.

Thanks for the save. If you haven't seen his action figure designer art toy blog, check it out at theblotsays.com.

UPDATE 2022-04-29 3:30PM: As you've probably read elsewhere by now, legendary artist Neal Adams has died. He never drew Booster Gold in a comic book, and now he never will. But we can see what Booster would have looked like in his distinctive style thanks to a piece Blot commissioned from Adams and shared with us in 2014.

Thanks for all the good comics, Neal.

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Blech. I don't know who the characters in this week's Human Target #6 are, but they're certainly no members of any Justice League International that I've ever met before! So let's forget all about them and instead give our attention to a creator who has a better handle on our favorite characters, someone who helped make them our favorite characters in the first place.

Artist Kevin Maguire tweeted this image last week in honor of the Justice League International's 35th anniversary. The drawing has made the rounds of the World Wide Web a time or two already, but it's just too Boosterrific for me not to repost here.

"Now that the JLI 35th anniversary passed, I got to thinking what they might look like now and I think they MIGHT look something like this...#JLI #JusticeLeague" —@maguirekevin, Twitter.com, March 8, 2002

I especially love how good Booster Gold looks with white hair and wrinkles. Our hero is far to vain to let a little thing like time dull *his* looks. (It probably helps that his brush with Chronal Leprosy in the 25th century left him practically immortal. [See Booster Gold volume 2 #43 for details.])

Let's not wait so long before our next reunion, old pals.

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