The corpse of Newsarama recently ran an article titled "Booster Gold - The comic history of DC's time-traveling himbo". And while I try very hard to ignore these sort of clickbait-y articles designed to catch-up readers who don't know any better, it does still bother me when they're misleading.

For one thing, Booster isn't "one of the first brand new DC heroes introduced after the major continuity reboot that took place in the 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths," he is THE first. (Dan Jurgens states this explicitly in print for the first time in the letter column of Booster Gold Volume 1 #12).

But that doesn't really bother me as much as this. Quoth the article:

"Alongside Jaime, Booster is finally able to use his time travel technology to go back in time and save Ted's life, bringing his best friend back from the dead."

Yeah, that technically happens at the end of Booster Gold: 52 Pick-Up. If you're only reading recent trades, you might think that's the end of the story. But as the follow-up collection Booster Gold: Blue and Gold — not to be confused with the unrelated Blue and Gold collection — makes clear, that time-displaced Ted must stay dead. (In fact, it's Ted himself who recognizes this fact and makes the ultimate sacrifice in Booster Gold Volume 2 #10.)

The reason that Ted Kord is alive and well in the modern DCU has nothing to do with Booster Gold and everything to do with the constant manipulation of the Multiverse by the likes of Doctor Manhattan, Perpetua, Pariah, and the like. Death is a very temporary condition in an infinite omniverse.

To be fair, maybe these were honest mistakes. The author's bio identifies them as a "Marvel Comics expert," so maybe they don't know any better about the goings on over at the Distinguished Competition. Maybe they were the only writer available when the "write something to fill today's quota of stories about proposed HBO properties" assignment was handed out.

I'm even willing to concede that "comic books news" blog readers who are unfamiliar with DC Comics' greatest superhero, Booster Gold, are probably not ready to understand how decades of publishing mandates have made DC's long-term continuity a nightmare for anyone trying to build a biography of one of their super heroes. So a little simplifying is probably necessary. No one runs before they walk, after all.

But none of that is any excuse for calling Booster a "Himbo."

Someone has been reading too many Tom King comics. Sure, Booster has many problems, but lack of intelligence isn't among them. Give the poor boy a little respect, please.

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I told you I had more to share of Cort Carpenter's Booster Gold sketch commissions, and I'm a man of my word. Take a look at these beauties:

Bernard Chang

Agnes Garbowska

Dan McCaid

Marcus To

I don't know how you do it, Cort, but these are all totally Boosterrific.

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The final issue of Human Target is out this week, and it's not impossible that UPDATE: Rob Snow assures us that Booster Gold puts in an appearance.

Booster might also pop up this week near Ted Kord in Blue Beetle: Graduation Day — UPDATE: he's actually in the House Ad for Lazarus Planet Omega — or referenced by Rip Hunter and his original team of Time Masters in Stargirl: The Lost Children — UPDATE: he's not, but another rarely seen time-displaced Leaguer is.

One place I wouldn't normally think to look for Booster is in the pages of this week's Batman: Gotham Knights: Gilded City, the comic tie-in to the Gotham Knights video game. Booster isn't often in Gotham City, but he is in the game. Or at least Skeets is.

Obviously, Flakies was the first cereal that Booster Gold ever endorsed way back in 1985 (in Booster Gold #2), and its great to see that they're still in business.

Gotham Knights takes place in an alternate universe where Batman is dead, so while it shouldn't come as a surprise that their cereal is star-shaped, I do have to wonder why they're called "Flakies" if the cereal itself isn't made of flakes? What kind of universe is this?

Thanks to friend James for spotting these boxes in game on top of Barbara Gordon's refrigerator.

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My favorite page from Justice League Annual #1 has little to do with Booster Gold directly but still relates very much with it means for him to be a member of the Justice League (as well as demonstrating why Martian Manhunter is the League's metaphorical heart).

Also, I really appreciate the placement of the "End," in no small part because Black Canary would not.

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It's been almost exactly a year since we last got a peek into Cort Carpenter's Booster Gold sketchbook, so I'd say we're overdue. Fortunately for all of us, Cort just sent me a bunch of new artist commissions!

Darren Calvert

Max Dunbar

Rick Leonardi

Brent Schoonover

Those are just the headshots! I've got more, but I don't want anyone to overdose on too much Gold. I'll share the rest in the near future.

Thanks, Cort! Keep up the good work.

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