I received two emails over the weekend pointing out potential holes in the Boosterrific.com database. Thank you both so much for trying to make this website better.

Logan's email pointed me to Superman/Batman Secret Files 2003. I checked my back issues, and sure enough, there was Booster. Now the Boosterrific database is more complete than ever!

The other issue isn't quite so clear. Here's the original email from José:

Hi, I would like to ask if costumes count as appearances, like number 12 of JL 3001, where there is no appearance of Booster, but the costume does. Now, if they do, I would like to add Guy Gardner #18-21, appearing a prototype of the Booster costume.

José is talking about the power armor that Guy Gardner wore for the brief time in 1994 between the loss of his Qwardian power ring and the development of his Vuldarian shape-changing powers. That armor was designed by Ted Kord with the intention of using it to replace the power suit that Booster Gold lost to Doomsday.

Guy Gardner: Warrior #18 by Chuck Dixon, Mitch Byrd, Dan Davis, Stuart Chaifetz, Albert DeGuzman

While I certainly can see where José is coming from, I'm not sure I should be tracking these. As a rule, I always track Booster Gold appearances when he is seen on panel in a comic. Those include comics that clearly show Booster's costumes whether he is wearing them or not. (The only on-panel Booster Gold "appearances" I intentionally don't track are when he is mentioned in dialog between other characters when he doesn't actually appear in the book.) Therefore, the question here is whether Guy Gardner's armor really ever belonged to or can be identified as belonging to Booster Gold.

Evidence to support José's case can be found in Justice League America #80 when Beetle says Booster's bulky Mark II armor is based on the Rocket Red armor. Beetle says the same thing about Gardner's armor, but that doesn't make them the same armor. In Guy Gardner: Warrior #18 Beetle himself calls this suit a glitchy prototype, and there is no visual evidence in any comic book that Booster Gold ever wore it.

So is José right? Should I be tracking this costume? What do you think?

Comments (3) | Add a Comment | Tags: blue beetle guy gardner jose fridman logan peterson website update

I've seen references to Booster pop up on quite a few sites this week. Rather than spotlight any one of them and leave the others out, I'll just share what I've found and let you visit whatever you think sounds good.

Nick Kazdan has a gallery of their picks to play Booster Gold on the big screen. (HeroicHollywood.com)

Shaun Manning speculates on whether Booster Gold is now "One of DC's Most Important Heroes." (CBR.com)

Tim Adams speculates on Booster's role (and Hal Jordan's death) in upcoming issues of Batman. (CBR.com)

Edward Wallace counts Booster's force field among the "Most Powerful Weapons in the DC Comic Book Universe."(FortressofSolitude.co.za)

Russ Burlingame is careful to include a Booster Gold appearance in his list of essential Dan Jurgens' Superman reading as Action Comics approaches issue #1000. (Comicbook.com).

Booster Gold returns in the latest chapter of Injustice 2 (Chapter 40) now available digitally for 99¢. (Comixology.com)

Now you've got something to read between your green beers tomorrow, Booster boosters! Enjoy your St. Patrick's Day weekend.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: cbr.com comicbook.com comixology.com dan jurgens edward wallace fortressofsolitude.co.za heroichollywood.com injustice lists nick kazdan russ burlingame shaun manning superman tim adams

Not so long ago, Erin of Exploring the Time Lab was ruminating on some older comics she wanted to read. Included in her list was Blasters Special #1, which just happens to have been released 29 years ago today.

Art by James Fry, Robert Campanella, Carl Gafford

The Blasters were a space-faring group of super heroes spinning out of the Invasion! event. (I always think of them as a second-rate Omega Men.) Their biggest claim to fame was the inclusion of cast-off JLA mascot Snapper Carr, who had gained the ability to teleport by snapping his fingers. Snapper's inclusion in the Blasters was short lived (as were the Blasters themselves: their entire career was limited to Invasion, this one shot, and a couple of issues of Valor). Snapper would eventually move on to support the DC One Million-incarnation of Hourman in his own title.

So far as Booster Gold is concerned, his brief cameo in Blasters Special is limited entirely to the two-page spread pictured above. Of special note is the fact that this is the only time to date Booster has appeared on-panel with lesser known DC Comics heroes Brother Power the Geek or Shade the Changing Man. Oddly, Booster Gold wouldn't appear on panel with any of the Blasters until 2007, when he finally crossed paths with Snapper Carr at the wedding of Green Arrow and Black Canary.

There you go, Erin. Now you know what you've been missing.

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In case you missed the news on Friday, Greg Berlanti told TheWrap.com that the much anticipated Booster Gold movie is still "in development with DC."

According to Wrap reporter Matt Donnelly, Berlanti said

"They're trying to figure out both the distance that we still have to travel and how we want to execute it."

Another factor for the studio, he said, was "how it's going to fit into their greater landscape" — meaning the rest of the DC Films slate that has been in a state of flux given the muted critical and box office reception for films like Suicide Squad and Justice League.

"That's really on them, they're still kind of determining their order of business on that end."

The article goes on to state that Berlanti has completed a draft of the script (presumably by Zack Stentz), and he "remains open" to directing ("if the studio is excited — it's obviously their determination").

It sounds to me like Booster boosters need to start showing some love to the live-action DC films currently in the pipeline at Warner Bros (and maybe also to Berlanti's current movie project, Love, Simon) if we want to encourage the studio to finally pull the trigger on bringing Booster Gold: The Movie to a theater near us anytime soon.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: greg berlanti matt donnelly movies thewrap.com zack stentz

I've always been a sucker for the Boostermobile, so I was super-tickled to find this fan-made custom car.

This livery — that's what they call the color/design on racing cars — was created by Carl Major, aka Paxo666 on DeviantArt.com, for the racing game Gran Turismo.

I don't think any sport is as associated with sponsorship decals as automobile racing, so it's a natural fit for Booster Gold!

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