Things have been changing in America lately, and not necessarily for the better. Not so many years ago, many DC Comics super hero bloggers and I participated in semi-regular crossover events. Now very few of us are still posting.

Both FirestormFan.com and AquamanShrine.net have stopped blogging to focus their efforts on podcasting (fireandwaterpodcast.com). The Martian Manhunter blog, The Idol-Head of Diabolu, has likewise gone silent as its creator also seems to be concentrating on podcasts for his other blogs (DC Bloodlines and Wonder Woman: Diana Prince). So too, Splitting Atoms is now more podcast than blog. Others that have fallen completely silent (like Tower of Fate and Being Carter Hall). Some stalwarts soldier on, including SpeedForce.org and Kord Industres. We seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

Once again, this has made me return to a question I've asked myself from time to time since Booster Gold disappeared from the pages of DC Comics: Has the time for websites dedicated to super hero blogging passed us by? Would comics fans rather listen to a podcast than read a website? Is the problem the characters or the bloggers or just shifting demographics?

Like so many of those now-defunct sites, Boosterrific.com is first and foremost a hobby. I started working on it nine years ago, and I keep it running because I want to. Personally, I have no interest in phone apps, wikis, or podcasting. If that's the future of Booster Gold fandom, I'll leave it to someone else. (The Silver and Gold podcast — now a whole network — seems to be doing just fine without me.)

Don't worry, this post isn't a lead up to the retirement of Boosterrific.com. I'm only committing my rambling grumpy old man thoughts to electronic paper. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. It's just that I'm starting to feel kind of lonely out here all by myself. I sure would like some new Booster Gold comics to keep me company.

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Not too long ago, I shared a bunch of images of a Smallville-style Booster Gold jacket and pointed out that they were all badly altered versions of the same cosplayer.

I finally found a picture of another Eric Martsolf jacket. This one belongs to cosplayer Michael Boruff.

Boruff doesn't just have a jacket; he has a Skeets! Boruff indicates on his DeviantArt page that he's put a speaker inside Skeets so that it will talk. Now that's Boosterrific!

Great job, Michael.

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"Booster Gold helps the skin restore youthful and healthier look."

That is, at least, according to Leorex Cosmetics.

Leorex, an Israeli cosmetics company, debuted their Booster Gold product last month. According to their website, the product is a gold and silica based anti-wrinkle cream that benefits "immediate physical wrinkle flattening, brightening, increased blood circulation, delicate yet effective peeling, and noticeable firming."

I don't know whether Loerex Booster Gold works or not (although, given what I've read about the dermatological use of gold, I doubt it), but I do have to think they're going to get a cease and desist letter from Goldstar International's lawyers.

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Today's fan art comes to us by way of Celebrenithil.

I hope you like it some, despite it maybe being too gimmicky or crowded — but hey! I got the collar back, and that's the hallmark of a good BG costume, no? :P

Of course, Celebrenithil redesigned Blue Beetle, too. You can see it at celebrenithil.tumblr.com.

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Vulture.com has posted an article by Abraham Riesman titled "The Single Most Important Year in Superhero History Was 1986." Riesman writes

But 1986's legacy was cemented by products belonging to the super-set, in particular four introductions to the canon: The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, the conclusion of Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the rise of the concept of the permanent crossover event.

It seems to me that Riesman is missing one key event: the debut of Booster Gold.

Riesman credits some of those other books for introducing the words "grim" and "gritty" to the comic book reading audience, but it's undeniable that Dan Jurgens' criminal-turned-self-promoting-hero was a creature just as ahead of his time. It just took Booster a little longer to earn his recognition.

Obviously, Riesman is excluding Booster on a technicality. The first issue of Booster Gold, despite being cover dated February 1986, was actually released in 1985 (to comic shops in October and newsstands in November). I'm sure that must be why Riesman failed to mention our favorite hero.

Anyway, if you like opinionated think-pieces on comic book history, you'll find the whole article at Vulture.com. (It's worth reading the comments just to see American Flagg!'s Howard Chaykin's complaints about what else Riesmans' history of 1986 is missing.)

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