As usual, I'll be taking New Years Eve off to watch football. In the meantime, consider revisiting these, the top 5 most read Boosterrific.com posts from the past year.

5. Friday, May 4: More Fung at C2E2
In which Herbert Fung shared his Booster Gold commission from Tom Grummett.

4. Wednesday, May 16: New Releases: Batman 47 and Injustice 2 26
In which I showed you a picture of Booster Gold wearing a Booster Gold t-shirt from Injustice 2 #26.

3. Friday, February 2: This Day in History: Superfriends
In which I highlight the Linda Medley/Art Adams JLI pin-up from Action Comics #600.

2. Wednesday, September 19: A Streaming Pile
In which I explain my reasons for not subscribing to the DC Universe streaming service.

1. Wednesday, July 18: New Release: Injustice 2 30
In which I announced that Injustice 2 #30 had gone on sale featuring Red Lantern Starro (and Booster Gold's new jacket).

See you in 2019.

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Today marks the negative 424th birthday of Jon Michael "Booster" Carter, born this day in the year 2442.

Booster Gold cake by Annette Price

Negative four hundred twenty-four years is a long time. For comparison, 424 years ago was 1594, the year that William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus and Italian Renaissance painter Tintoretto died.

Congratulations, Booster! Here's to many more birthdays to come, negative or otherwise.

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The Blot dropped by on Twitter to point out another unusual Booster Gold product, something called an "Ooshie."

This is, apparently, the fourth wave of Ooshies pencil toppers, which means that I am very old and out of touch with... whatever is going on here.

Ooshies are generally sold via blind bags, meaning you never know what Ooshie you might be buying and might spend forever hunting one down to find out what they really look like. Luckily for me, I live in the Internet age. Voila!

That image comes via eBay, where you can bid on your very Booster Gold Ooshie here. What a wonderful world.

Thanks, Blot!

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Few comics publishers have much new to offer today, the first New Comic Day after Christmas and the final New Comic Day of the year. DC in particular is offering only reprints. That wasn't always the case.

DC's Elseworlds weird western tale Justice Riders was released 22 years ago today. I reread it yesterday, and I have to say that it stands up rather well.

As with most westerns, the premise is rather simple: Sheriff Diana Prince gathers a posse of men with unusual talents to hunt down the man who destroyed her town, a robber baron by the name of Maxwell Lord. Booster Gold earns his way onto the team thanks to his unusually potent firepower created by a familiar, gifted inventor.

Justice Riders (1996) story by Chuck Dixon; art by J.H. Williams III, Mick Gray, Lee Loughridge; letters by Bill Oakley

Everyone who has ever seen a John Wayne western can probably imagine how this plays out. The fun isn't so much the destination but how the story gets there and, for comics geeks, how it ties to post-Zero Hour DCU continuity. That and the amazing art by J.H. Williams III.

If you can't find anything else to buy at your Local Comic Shop today, consider treating yourself to Justice Riders for $1.99 at Comixology.com.

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One of the responses to my list of my Booster Gold's rogues gallery posts last week came from Boosterfett:

One big glaring omission-- The 100! They were instrumental in fleshing out our hero's early motivations and if they were updated, could be a major contender for that evil organization that could be the Hydra to Michael's Captain America!

Without a doubt, the 1000 was integral to the development of Booster Gold. They were the first criminal organization he fought as a 20th-century hero. It was their planned assassination of Ronald Reagan that introduced Booster Gold to the public. Nearly half of Booster's original run was devoted to the 1000's attempts to destroy our hero.

But no, I didn't include them in my rogues gallery. I didn't include them specifically because Booster isn't the biggest Thorn in their side.

from "Death House Honeymoon," Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #105 (1970)

The 1000 debuted as the 100, "The Centipede of Crime," in Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #105. Star Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent described them as "hoods [who] have a finger in every racket" in Metropolis. In other words, they were too big for even Superman to snuff out.

When Metropolis police detective Phil Forrest was murdered by a 100 assassin, the trauma was too much for his daughter, Rose. Her psyche was split into two personalities. After that, each night Rose became Thorn, a hardened vigilante with only one enemy: The 100.

from "Nightmare Alley", Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #130 (1973)

Thorn's crusade continued through the next three years of Lois Lane comics until the trail of the 100 grew cold in issue #130 (1973). As Thorn moved further into the background of the DCU, Thorn's father remained unavenged. The 100, however, would have a second act.

from "Black Lightning", Black Lightning #1 (1977)

Enter Black Lightning. Four years after Thorn lost their trail, Jefferson Pierce would run afoul of 100 associate Tobias Whale in Black Lightning #1 (1977). Black Lightning locked horns with the Whale for 8 of his 11 issues, and their feud continued in various appearances across the DCU even after the infamous DC Implosion of 1979. The 100 didn't care for the attention that the Whale brought them, and they eventually parted ways with their former associate, paving the way for their rebirth.

from "Death Ransom", World's Finest Comics #257 (1979)

When the 100 reemerged as the high-tech 1000 in Booster Gold Volume 1, #1 in 1985, their oldest foe reappeared with them. Booster Gold was the star of the series, but both Rose Forrest and Thorn joined his early supporting cast. (In this way, even Booster's first enemy "borrowed" heavily from pre-Crisis on Infinite Earth DC continuity.) Together and apart, they opposed the Director's nefarious plans for world domination through almost a full year's worth of comics.

from "Crash", Booster Gold #4 (1986)

Like Tobias Whale before him, the 1000's leader, the Director of Death, would become obsessed with one hero. Unlike Tobias, Director's obsession was largely one-sided. (Booster Gold was largely indifferent to the Director's goals and was content to ignore him until he turned to kidnapping his staff. ) The Director eventually died in the pursuit of his obsession. The 1000 died with him, and Booster Gold hasn't given them a second thought since.

Not so, Thorn.

The 100 survived the Director's death, and they remain Thorn's driving motivation. She has been seen continuing her crusade against them in appearances in the Showcase anthology of the middle 1990s and Birds of Prey issues in the 2000s.

from "Hero Hunters Part 4: She Rides the Eye of a Hurricane", Birds of Prey #79 (2005)

Yes, the 1000 could be updated to bedevil Booster Gold once more, but why should they when they're still locked in a life-and-death struggle with another hero even more deserving of their hatred. For nearly a half century, the 100(0) has been Thorn's Lex Luthor, and she has been their Superman. For that reason, any incarnation of the 100 belongs in her rogues gallery, not Booster Gold's.

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