As Vladimir Lenin once said, "capitalists are no more capable of self-sacrifice than a man is capable of lifting himself up by his own bootstraps." Heroes should be selfless men of the people, not shameless self-promoters. With your life on the line, you would hope for someone willing to risk their life for yours. You would want a hero like Red Star.

Perhaps one of the greatest misconceptions about the DC Universe is that all of the greatest heroes are American, and therefore that Americans are winning the heroic arms race. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. The other first world powers also have their champions of the oppressed, and few are as celebrated as Russia's Leonid Kovar, better known by his code name, Red Star.

Red Star was the son of an archaeologist who set out to prove that the 1908 Siberian Tunguska Event was not a meteor strike but the crash landing of an alien vessel. Scientifically adept, young Kovar eagerly aided his father in locating the unworldly craft which unexpectedly bestowed upon him superhuman speed, stamina, strength, energy manipulation, and flight. Since that time, Kovar has used his new-found abilities to fight for his homeland as a selfless agent of the Russian government.

In his early days as the original Starfire -- a code name reflecting the origins of his powers -- Kovar wore a green costume similar to those of his Western counterparts. This costume was for propganda purposes only; Red Star needed no technological gadgets or cumbersome robotic sidekicks to augment his inherent power. His costume included goggles and a high collar with a star prominently visible on the chest. This costume looked so good, just like his original code name it would later be copied by Western heroes. Kovar has changed his costume several times since, but each has prominently featured his trademark red star.

Lamentably, the unimaginative and misguided Titans would "borrow" Kovar's original code name for their new alien teammate. This forced Kovar to change his own nom de guarre to the more fitting Red Star to avoid confusion. The Red Star is an artifact of Russian history and a potent symbol of the Communist Party that Kovar has long championed. Unfortunately for Kovar, the theft of his original code name has proven to be the least of his concerns.

Fate has been unkind to Leonid Kovar. He was ridiculed in his first encounter with the West for failing to prevent a simple jewel theft. Though he would eventually prove himself to the Teen Titans, their mutual respect has always remained strained by the differences in their personal and political ideologies.

Over time, Red Star gained greater and more positive notoriety in the Western world as his exploits grew. He nobly fought beside the heroes of the Crisis on Infinite Earths to save mankind, including defeating a Tyrannosaurus Rex in single combat. (Unlike certain self-promoting American heroes who merely boast of plans to fight dinosaurs, Red Star simply gets it done.) When Red Star makes headlines, it is because his exploits are newsworthy, not because he seeks publicity or fame.

Otherwise, Red Star has not been without more than his share of tragedies. Kovar's first love was killed as an unwilling pawn in a madman's game of international espionage. Red Star has been attacked by his countrymen, temporarily exiled from Russia, and seen his father executed as a traitor to the Russian government. Worse, Red Star was unable to prevent his new family from being slaughtered by a rampaging Superboy-Prime.

"Living life is not like crossing a meadow," reads the Russian proverb. Forged by his trials, Red Star has emerged a stronger and even more dedicated champion of justice. He is now recognized as an official State Protector of Russia, a title he takes very seriously. Red Star remains loyal to his friends and views many Western heroes as comrades even if they are still blinded to his selfless heroism by their political differences. self-interested, fame-obsessed American heroes may make for good headlines, but when you need a real hero, look for the Red Star.

See more fine heroes at these other fine sites:

FIRESTORM FAN: The Source for DC Comic's Nuclear Man!
THE INDIGO TRIBE: Green Lantern Reviews and Commentary
DC BLOODLINES: Covering a Variety of DC Comics Characters
DIANA PRINCE AS THE NEW WONDER WOMAN
POWER OF THE ATOM: Celebrating the Tiny Titan and Captain Atom
JUSTICE LEAGUE DETROIT
THE IDOL-HEAD OF DIABOLU, a Martian Manhunter Blog
SPEED FORCE: Following the Flash, the Fastest Man Alive

Comments (12) | Add a Comment | Tags: april fools heroism holidays red star

We've spent a lot of time with the Smallville version of Booster Gold this week, so let's give some equal time to a very comic-bookish version by artist/humorist Fred Hembeck.

This black and white sketch of 32 select Justice Leaguer members can be seen in greater detail on his site at hembeck.com. Act now and you can find it available for purchase via eBay.com -- auction ending today!

Hembeck and his unique style are probably best known for the Dateline: @!!?# strips, though Hembeck also can take credit for destroying the entire Marvel Universe. He hasn't drawn a lot of Booster Gold, but it's good to see that Hembeck's Booster is still rocking that high collar.

Remember, no matter where you find him or how he's dressed, Boosterrific.com is your place for all things Booster Gold!

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: ebay.com fred hembeck justice league

There's no Booster Gold schedule this week, but that won't come as a surprise to longtime comic book readers. Today is the rare "fifth week" of the month, a calendar oddity once ignored by the publishers and their precious four week schedules. For a time in the 90s, this week would have been filled with theme "fifth week event" one-shots and mini-series like "The Kingdom" and "New Years Evil." Now it seems that the fifth week is simply treated as just any other week, with whatever books might happen to come due about now seeing their regular publication.

Not that I'm complaining. The only bad week for comic books is a week with no comics. I hope I never live to see that day.

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Unless you only get your Smallville news from the blog here, you've probably seen the Booster Gold/Blue Beetle Smallville screenshot that exploded all over the web (including here in the blog comments and in the forum -- twice!) yesterday. Based on the fact that the image is now on every comic website, it seems that people are generally pretty excited about this. Too bad that doesn't translate into comic sales.

Other than the glasses, it looks pretty good, yes? Very 52, as expected. (I will politely refrain from commenting on Mobile Suite Beetle there in the background.) Booster portrayer Eric Martsolf and Geoff John shave plenty to say about their Smallville version of Booster Gold over at TVguide.com. You can read the full article -- sorry, no more pictures -- here.

UPDATE 03/30/2011: Mike Furlong has added a link to more pictures in the comments below. Thinks Mike.

Comments (7) | Add a Comment | Tags: blue beetle eric martsolf geoff johns smallville tvguide.com

This weekend, the following was posted in the comments here at Boosterrific.com Blog for a post about last year's Comic Con.

Bob posted on Mar. 26, 2011 at 8:52 AM
That's awesome Geoff Johns is writing another episode of Smallville, I liked what he did with the Justice Society in a previous episode. I don't know your personal preference, but I need my Smallville in HD. Just to let you know, DISH Network has plenty of affordable packages with HD right now and you can find information on how to get free HD on DISH Network's official website. Don't you want to see Smallville in HD?

A friend of the site pointed it out and suggested that I delete it as obvious viral marketing. However, the commenter, Bob (bot or not?), was careful to respond to the content of the original post and did not include a direct link to the site he is clearly shilling for. I happen to think that Booster Gold would be particularly pleased by this sort of viral marketing, so I think it should remain a valid comment here on the site, don't you?

Besides, I do kind of want to see Booster Gold in Smallville in HD.

(This comment also included encoding translation error artifacts, exactly like a post last week by Erin. Two in one week; it's a sign! I therefore took the time to adapt the script to eliminate these irritating bugs. Hopefully.)

Comments (3) | Add a Comment | Tags: smallville viral marketing website update