To borrow another quote from Tom King's interview with Russ Burlingame exclusive to The Gold Exchange The Boosterrific Edition book:

Booster puts up a lot of shields — he's got forcefields; it's a good metaphor — but he puts up a lot of shields around himself, and some of those shields hide a lot of depth.

I couldn't agree more with that. If there's anything that Booster Gold is known for, it's his over-the-top confidence, but that confidence is often just an act, a projection of how Booster *wants* people to see him.

Rarely is the difference between Booster's private and public persona more visible than in my favorite page from Booster Gold volume 1 #9, the scene in which Michael Jon "Booster" Carter officially becomes Booster Gold.

Golly, I miss thought balloons in comics.

That "At least it's... different!" really sums up another key aspect of Booster's personality: his determination to make the best of every situation (even when he's responsible for making the current situation so bad).

He might be a time traveler, but Booster Gold is always looking forward.

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When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president, the United States was in a shambles. The Great Depression had hit the country hard, and something drastic had to be done to restore the economy before things got worse.

As part of his "New Deal," Roosevelt rushed to restore American's faith in their currency and ease the suffering. Among other measures, the new president encouraged Congress to inject more currency into circulation. To do this, he first had to uncouple the United States dollar from the value of gold.

The key event in this process took place on this day in 1933, when Congress passed the Gold Repeal Joint Resolution, legally substituting United States currency for all debts public and private. In other words, it suddenly became impossible to make payments in gold.

An unintended side effect of this measure was that it made it very difficult for certain time-traveling superheroes to barter their services for appropriate compensation.

Thankfully, Gerald Ford corrected this problem forty years later, paving the way for Booster Gold to return and reap the benefits of Ronald Reagan's "trickle-down" system in the 1980s.

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Even by comic book standards, "Booster Gold" is kind of a funny name. In the now-classic origin story in Booster Gold #9, Booster himself tells us that the name was an accident!

I always wondered if there was any real-world truth to this scene. Was Goldstar the original working title for Booster Gold? Did Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens flub the pitch to DC executives, resulting in a "Booster Gold" comic instead of the intended "Goldstar" comic? For the answer, I went straight to the source and asked Jurgens directly. In a nutshell, the answer was "no." Here's what he said:

I was really hooked on "Booster Gold" right from the start. I liked the way it rolled off the tongue and, more importantly, touched on two aspects of his character:

1) "Booster" signifies both the concept of stealing something (to boost a ring, for example) as well as the the self-promoting aspect of it.

2) "Gold" clearly pertained to his quest for star status and money.

In other words-- it fit!

There's only one Booster Gold. Accept no imitations.

Thanks to Dan Jurgens for indulging my quest to document every little thing I can about the history of the original Corporate Crusader.

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I like it when bloggers I like talk about Booster Gold because that means I get to share links to their work.

Today I point you to Siskoid's Blog of Geekery, where Siskoid gives Skeets full credit for saving the life of America's Greatest President as seen in Booster Gold, Volume 1, #9.

One note about the encounter that Siskoid leaves out: Reagan rewarded Booster with the gift of a pair of kittens, Jack and Jill. Skeets never liked the cats, so they were gifted to Booster's secretary, Trixie Collins. And that's the last we ever heard about that. (Get to work on correcting that oversight, Geoff Johns!)

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When you're out buying a car or mattress today, remember what this holiday is really all about: Booster Gold.

Booster Gold, Volume 1, #9

In 1985, Ronald Reagan gave Booster Gold his codename. I think that is something we can all celebrate.

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