There's a lot of terrible stuff going on in the world, and it's always nice to be reminded that there's some pretty great stuff, too.

It's only February and Cort Carpenter has been having a busy 2022 adding to his Booster Gold sketchbook. Most of the following were picked up at the recent Fan Expo 2022:

Yanick Paquette

Casey Parsons

Ramon Perez

Dax Gordine

As an added Bonus, Cort also completed some matched sets of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle!

Art Baltazar

Tom Grummett

Thanks, Cort! I don't know how you afford all these commissions in this economy, but keep up the great work.

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I was surfing the web this week (when I should have been working — that's what the web is for, right?), and I happened to see the following in the superfriends.fandom.com article about the Golden Age comic character Funnyman:

DC comics featured a cameo of the character in the series "52", as one of the heroes carrying the coffin of Booster Gold.

First, a little background on Funnyman, a very late and even more obscure entry in the Golden Age of heroes. Here he is making his first public appearance in Funnyman #1 from Magazine Enterprises Inc, January 1948:

So far as origin stories go, that certain is one.

If you've heard of Funnyman at all, it probably has nothing to do with his heroic takedown of rivals Laffman and Comicman. No, it's probably because of who his parents were: Funnyman was the final comic book collaboration of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the same guys who came up with Superman.

Super heroes were out of vogue by the late 40s, and Funnyman failed to find an audience. He disappeared for decades, only returning in 1977 to make a brief cameo in his civilian identity, Larry Davis, for a celebrity telethon for DC Comics' The Super Friends #5:

words by E. Nelson Bridwell, art by Ramona Fradon, Bob Smith, Jerry Serpe, Milton Snappin

I see what you did there, Superman.

I recently read that issue of The Super Friends (as reprinted in the Showcase Presents: Super Friends collection), and that's what brought me to look at the Fandom Superfriends wiki.

Which is wrong.

As presented in 52 Week 18 way back in 2006, the scene of Booster Gold's funeral was a sad affair that looked like this:

As you can see, in addition to mild-mannered newspaper reporter Clark Kent, the only heroes in attendence were his pallbearers, a motley group of fringe players hired by Skeets. Those heroes were, in order by their position on the casket:

• Mind-Grabber Kid (first appearance Justice League of America #70, 1969)
• Beefeater (first appearance Justice League Europe #20, 1990)
• Odd Man (first appearance Detective Comics #487, 1979)
• Blimp (first appearance Showcase #62, 1966)
• Yellow Peri (first appearance The New Adventures of Superboy #34, 1982)
• Honest Abe (making his debut appearance)

Though he certainly fits the theme of an obscure superhero with a silly gimmick and a desire for greater recognition, Funnyman is definitely not among the bunch.

Which is probaby a good thing. Funerals don't have much use for comedians.

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I feel like I say this every year, but now at your Local Comic Shop:

This softcover reprints the hardcover DC Comics: Generations, which was itself a reprint of Generations: Shattered and Generations: Forged. If you've been waiting to read these issues until DC knocked $10 off the price, your day has come!

By the way, in the very recent Justice League 2022 Annual #1 — yeah, it's an awkward name, but at least it doesn't have any colons in it, so... progress? — Batman recognized an accidentally time-displaced O.M.A.C. when the rest of the Justice League didn't. Says Batman:

words by Brian Michael Bendis; art by Sanford Greene, Matt Herms, Josh Reed

Is this evidence that the Batman who was plucked from the past for Generations is the same Batman now a member of the modern day Justice League? I choose to think so. (I don't know how, but time travel can do weird things to continuity.)

It sure seems like DC Comics: Generations has become must-read material for DC continuity wonks. Get it while it's hot!

And while you're at your Local Comic Shop, if you're interested in following Booster's appearances in Human Target, know that he gets a name drop in this week's issue 5. It's only this one panel:

words by Tom King; art by Greg Smallwood, Clayton Cowles

Speaking of continuity, I can't say I care for the rest of this issue's events and characterizations. But, hey, Greg Smallwood's art always delivers!

Enjoy your shopping!

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In 1967, in the opening episode of the second season of Star Trek, best friends Captain Kirk and his first officer, Mister Spock, are forced to fight one another on an alien planet. The episode is called "Amok Time," and it's pretty good television.

Why do I mention that? Because DC has released the preview of this week's Blue and Gold #6!

I guess this makes Booster Spock? That's... not what I would have expected. Great! I like to be surprised. I hope that writer Dan Jurgens has a few other tricks up his sleeve to put his own spin on a classic situation.

You can find the whole preview at BleedingCool.com, and tomorrow, you can buy this issue from your Local Comic Shop (or whatever now passes for Comixology) and make Skeets happy.

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OG Booster booster Shawn Baston recently notified me that he had spotted Booster Gold someplace I'd never thought to look: in the pages of DC Super-Pets Character Encyclopedia (Picture Window Books, 2013)!

written by Steve Korte, illustrated by Art Baltazar

Skeets... classified as a pet? I don't think he'd like that.

I've updated the Other Media > Books section of the site with this and a few other books that Shawn was able to confirm, but he suggested still others that *might* have Booster Gold (or Skeets!) appearances that we have not been able to confirm. I thought I'd put the word out to see if any of Booster's other loyal fans could provide any additional insights.

All of the following were published by DK. Links are to the titles on Amazon.com for reference.

LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes Character Encyclopedia: New Exclusive Pirate Batman Minifigure (2016)

LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes Visual Dictionary: With Exclusive Yellow Lantern Batman Minifigure (2018)

DC Comics Year By Year, New Edition: A Visual Chronicle (2019)

DC Comics Cover Art (2020)

The DC Book: A Vast and Vibrant Multiverse Simply Explained (2021)

If anyone can confirm or definitively rule out a Booster Gold (or Skeets!) appearance in any of those — or any other books that may not be listed on Boosterrific.com, please drop a note in the comments below.

Thanks, Shawn!

UPDATE: Logan Peterson has confirmed Booster's inclusion in DC Comics Cover Art, The DC Book, and DC Comics Year By Year. Thanks, Logan!

UPDATE February 20: J adds that Booster Gold is name-dropped in the Kingdom Come novelization that I didn't have in the books section, so I've added that, too. Thanks, J!

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