In my ongoing efforts to make Boosterrific.com the best blog it can be, I find it useful to look back at which posts over the previous year made the biggest splashes with readers. Here, in descending order, are the 5 most read blog posts of 2019:

5. Friday, May 3: No Laughing Matter
In which we wonder if Booster Gold might play a role in the "Batman Who Laughs" story in coming issues of Batman/Superman. We now know the answer: he doesn't.

4. Monday, August 19: New Heroes of the Millennium
In which we get a good look at Bryan Hitch and Alex Sinclair's combined covers for Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium. Booster Gold, front and center!

3. Monday, April 29: Statler and Waldorf in Blue and Gold
In which I shared fan art by Neil R. King of the two best Muppets cosplaying as Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. That's not something you see every day. (Thank goodness!)

2. Monday, December 16: Why Don't They Just Get Married Already
In which we learn that Booster Gold will be returning to the pages of Harley Quinn in March 2020. People just love that Harley Quinn.

1. Monday, March 25: Was DC Looking to Boostle?
In which we learn that Check Please! creator Ngozi Ukazu came surprisingly close to working on a Blue+Gold Boostle comic for DC. We got Heroes in Crisis instead.

See you in 2020.

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I noted some weeks ago that it seemed that Booster Gold was appearing in a lot of lists at the website that used to be ComicBookResources.com. I was trying to keep that list of lists up to date. But the latest CBR clickbait, "10 DC Heroes Who Are Unfairly Underestimated" by Richard Keller, deserves a new post.

The Greatest Hero The World Has Never Known is number two on the countdown. Writes Keller:

Even when introduced after Crisis on Infinite Earths, Booster Gold was considered somewhat of a joke by DC's other superheroes. It didn't matter if he saved the timeline or defeated the Royal Flush Gang by himself. They chalked it up to the stolen gadgets he used.

However, think about it. He put a costume together from stolen material and knew what all the parts did. Furthermore, being a time traveler, Booster knows a thing or two about physics and math along with the consequences of changing history. He may seem like a doofus, but, when in situations like those of Heroes in Crisis, he knows what needs to be done, even when everyone else looks at him like he's crazy.

That's not the worst argument in favor of our hero. (If you're dissatisfied that Booster is only number two, know that his BFF is the hero taking up space at number one.)

Despite any personal lingering resentment I feel at the newfangled CBR's listicle content strategy, I do have to appreciate that they at least keep the torch burning for Booster Gold fans in the face of DC's ongoing disinterest in returning the original Corporate Crusader to the limelight where he belongs. Thanks, Richard. (Although, seriously, anyone who underestimates Captain Marvel — no matter what he's being called these days — has it coming.)

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This holiday, I re-gift you once again the panel that just keeps on giving.

Justice League Task Force #37 (1996)

Merry Christmas, everyone. Enjoy your adult beverages responsibly.

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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, Nurse Devlin.

Not all supporting characters are created equally. Some are far more important than others, but even the smallest has a role to play in the adventures of a superhero. Take, for example, Nurse Devlin of Metropolis General Hospital, first met in Booster Gold #13 (1987).

At the end of his previous adventure, Booster had been left battered and broken by the 1000. Because he lacked immunity to 20th-century diseases, he was nearly at death's door. Nurse Deslin helped repair our hero's body. She was also instrumental in improving his soul.

She took advantage of Booster's weakness to read him the riot act about how his selfish behavior disguised as altruism wasn't heroic.

Booster had heard the same countless times before — from no less a moral authority than Superman among others (see Booster Gold #6). This time, he listened. Near-death experiences will do that to you.

The change wasn't immediate. Booster first had to travel to the future and confront his own death squad (in events perhaps unintentionally echoing Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol) before he accepted the need to begin modifying his behavior. Growth is never easy, even for super heroes.

After returning to the present in Booster Gold #15, Booster turned over a new leaf, beginning with an anonymous donation to the Metropolis Food Shelter. (It's no accident that Booster's goodwill tour began with a donation to Nurse Devlin's charity. This suggests that wounded pride motivated him as much as a true desire to be a better person, but hey, every hero has got to start somewhere.)

Interested in meeting other "People in his Neighborhood"? Get to know Trixie Collins, Daniel Carter, Jack Soo, Rani, Dirk Davis, Skeets, Mackenzie Garrison, Rip Hunter, and Michelle Carter.

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I retweeted this sweet Blue and Gold fan art when I saw it earlier this week, but I don't want those of you not on Twitter to miss out.

Drawn by Michel Fiffe, it was shared by @HebenonPodcast. So much motion. I love it.

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