I don't have to look at any previews to tell you that Booster Gold will definitely be in your Local Comic Shop this week... because he was there before.

This is page 8, panel 8 of 1991's War of the Gods:

A reprint of that comic, now called Wonder Woman War of the Gods Special Edition #4, will be available at fine comic shops everywhere this week. Given that panel is Booster Gold's only appearance in this otherwise mediocre event mini-series, Skeets will understand if you choose to buy it or not.

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I keep an eye on the Google search queries that lead people here to Boosterrific.com. Most of them are usually what you might expect: "best Booster Gold comics," "Booster Gold powers," "why do people like Booster gold?" But last month I spotted something odd: searches looking for information on "Rani."

As it happens, we haven't seen Rani in a comic book since 2011, so I can't guess what would have anyone searching her out in 2023. But mine is not to question why.

Instead, in order to help out whoever out there might be curious about Booster Gold's "daughter," let me re-run a post that I originally presented in 2019 as part of my "People in His Neighborhood" series on supporting characters in Booster Gold comics.

The life of any comic book hero would be a lonely one if not for the many characters who have made up their supporting cast. Just as Superman has Lois Lane and Batman has Alfred, Booster Gold has also shared his adventures with quite a few people over the years. Today we look at one of those, Rani.

In the 30th century, when the evil god Darkseid will take over the planet Daxam in what will become known as "The Great Darkness Saga," time-traveler Booster Gold will do what he can to save innocent lives (as seen in Booster Gold Volume 2, #32). Unfortunately for everyone, Booster is no match for an army of billions of super-powered Daxamites, and he manages to save only one child, little orphan Rani.

With Rani's foster parents having fallen victim to Darkseid's invasion, Booster has little choice but to take the poor girl home with him to 21st-century Arizona where she could be cared for by Time Master Rip Hunter, who unbeknownst to Booster is his real son. Rani nicknamed Rip "Boppy" after her own grandfather (Booster Gold #33). Hunter is concerned that Booster had damaged the space-time continuum by bringing Rani back into her past, but Booster's twin sister, Michelle, refuses to allow them to send the little girl back to a death sentence in the future (Booster Gold #34). Just like that, Rani became part of Booster's family, having free rein of Hunter's Arizona Time Lab compound.

Despite her young age, Rani has an advanced knowledge of technology (Booster Gold #35) and a drive to join the family business. In Booster Gold #38, she pilots a stolen time sphere to 1943 to confront Maxwell Lord's parents before he was born, and would later "borrow" Michelle's Goldstar costume (Booster Gold #39). In response, Michelle grounded her for two whole days.

Rani was mature for her age, but she would understandably continue to be traumatized by her experiences on Daxam. For example, when Doctor Nishtikeit and his time-traveling Nazis attacked Hunter's Time Lab (in Booster Gold #41), Rani suffered a prolonged PTSD episode that only resolved when Booster returned to "rescue" her. As seen in Booster Gold #42, Rani cried for the entire duration of Booster's 25th-century prison sentence (though Booster was away for only 10 minutes of her relative time in the 21st century). So far as she is concerned, Booster is her new daddy, and he treats her like the daughter he never had.

In the last days before Flashpoint changed history and destroyed everyone's memories of the history of the world that was, Rani was fittingly last seen in Booster Gold #43 on 30th-century missing child poster.

"The Great Darkness Saga" is still in Booster Gold's future. Will Rani be there? Will Booster Gold save her? Only time will tell.

Other People in Booster Gold's Neighborhood:

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Spoiler Alert: Do not let Booster Gold touch your computer!

In honor of Booster showing up for a whole page in this week's Blue Beetle #2, I *finally* bit the bullet and bought an SSL Certificate for Boosterrific.com, as Google has been urging me to do for a decade, so that Booster boosters can feel secure when they... um, leave comments.

I didn't really think that this site needed an SSL Certificate yesterday, and I'm not convinced that today is any different. But I had the money, and... well, you know what they say about fools and money.

Quick aside here about buyer's remorse: in the year 1997, I impulsively spent all my savings on a used '95 Jeep Wrangler with 47,000 miles on it. That could be considered a dumb decision, and I berated myself quite a bit about it for a while. Fast forward to 2023: I still have that Jeep, and I am very, very attached to it. Which goes to show that not all decisions that seem in the moment to be a waste of money are.

(Although, it should be noted that not 30 minutes after I pressed the button to commit to purchasing the SSL certificate, the Jeep overheated and shut down in the middle of the road; it's now sitting in the mechanic's lot waiting for parts. Isn't that always the case? Just when you think you have enough money to upgrade a hobby website, you have to take out a loan for the mechanic.)

I still can't say as I see much value in an SSL certificate for Boosterrific.com given the kind of content I deliver — should I start charging ya'll for something? — but if it makes even one person more comfortable contributing to our community and celebrating Booster Gold, it's probably worth it.

Anyway, it's now installed, and I think everything is working correctly. Please let me know if you see anything that seems to be malfunctioning.

I'm sure it'll be fine.

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As you can see from the preview at AIPTComics.com, Booster Gold and his Justice League International pals are definitely in this week's Blue Beetle #2 to support their oft-injured friend, Ted Kord.

You don't need me to tell you that buying this issue will make Skeets happy.

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It appears there was some data loss on the host server, and I've lost everything since Tuesday morning. Which, thankfully isn't much, as I haven't even gotten around to adding Action Comics #1057 to the database yet. So maybe it's a good thing that it's been a slow month for Booster Gold.

[For future reference, the lost post was a link to a custom Super Powers Collection-styled Booster Gold and Goldstar action figure by SuperPoweredCustoms at www.etsy.com.]

Here in the wee hours of Friday morning, I'm still finding a few glitches in the web hosting services. I'm not sure what all this means exactly (hardware failure? user error? malicious action?), but rather than risk losing another post, I'm just going to backup the database again and call it a week. See you Monday, I hope!

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