In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the first appearance of Booster Gold, I've spent the year asking Dan Jurgens questions about Booster Gold's earliest adventures. Today I conclude this year-long column with two final questions about Booster's powers.

In the pages of Secret Origins #35 (1989), Mark Waid pointed out that all of Booster's original powers and abilities were based on equipment found in Superman's pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths adventures, including Superboy's Legion flight-ring, Brainiac's force-field, and Lex Luthor's power suit. Most of those original powers are still part of Booster's ability set today, except for the Mass Dispersal Force, originally based on Jor-El's Phantom Zone Projector.

Being able to dematerialize and rematerialize matter at will is a pretty significant power. I asked Jurgens why it faded into the land of forgotten powers so quickly.

People seemed to have a hard time grasping what it was.

On top of that, I'd had a conversation with a couple of people at DC who thought it seems a bit too "magical". So, with that in mind, we dropped it.

On the other hand, one of the most enduring components of Booster's power set didn't have any clear antecedent: his Booster Shots ray blasts.

What could have inspired Jurgens to give Booster ranged gauntlet attacks? And perhaps more importantly, which came first, the power or the "pun"-ny name?

Good question!

The name really did come first in that case. I had been scrawling ideas in a note bad -- just sort of an idea matrix, if you will -- and wrote down "Booster Shots".

Once I did that, I simply had to find a way to use it!

There you have it. (And yes, I did save that one for last because Jurgens said it was a good question. Hooray, me.)

Thank you, Dan Jurgens. I've really enjoyed quizzing you on thirty-year-old trivia.

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When DC rebooted its entire universe, part of the point was to make everyone younger. Outside of Batman — really, the less said about the mess that is his continuity now, the better (hello, Hawkman!) — most other heroes were stripped of their sidekicks and history.

That's part of what makes the new Superman: Lois and Clark series so unusual. The Superman of the previous DCU has returned with his wife — and son! There have only been two issues so far, but it's really pretty good.

Of course, the series writer is Dan Jurgens, who has an extensive history with both Superman and family dynamics. Jurgens spent the last few years of the last DCU giving us the adventures of Booster Gold and his son, Rip Hunter.

Naturally, once Booster discovers that his frienemy Superman has a kid of his own, Booster will turn child-raising into a competition. Superman might be morally perfect, but that's a hard example for anyone to follow. Comparatively, Booster has made plenty of mistakes, and therefore has lots of experience to draw from when coaching his own son. Who do you think will do a better job?

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Scheduled for release today is a $40 hardcover collection of work by Ivan Reis titled Graphic Ink: The DC Comics Art of Ivan Reis, including "the complete Blackest Night." Since Booster Gold made token appearances in the first and last issues of that mini-series, we can expect to see him in this.

It looks like the only Booster we've been seeing recently in the DCU is in reprints. Is that better than nothing? I'm not sure.

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Morgenstern recently spotted this beauty dressed as our favorite hero:

That's Maki Roll in a costume of her own design. Photograph by Ron Gejon Photography.

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Just before Thanksgiving, DCComics.com revealed new cards in their upcoming deck of tarot cards designed by Sara Richard. Guess who's included?

In western tarot readings, the Six of Wands often symbolizes success, acclaim, or positive self-esteem. That sounds like the perfect place for Booster Gold (with high collar and weird Skeets)!

The deck will be available in December with a suggested retail price of $24.95.

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