Like my favorite super hero, I'm planning to start the year watching my alma mater play football. In the meantime, I present for your nostalgic enjoyment the 5 most-read Boosterrific.com blog posts of 2020, presented in ascending order of hits:

5. Monday, April 6: This Day in History: Without Great Power
In which we revisited Booster Gold's participation in Justice League Europe #50, his first taste of superheroic action after losing his powersuit to Doomsday. Say what you will about his motivations, but Booster Gold's got guts.

4. Friday, March 13: That Time Booster Gold Defeated a Disease
In which we took at look at the events of Booster Gold Volume 1 #17 in light of the pandemic that was sweeping the globe. Conclusion: an impenetrable force field is better than a vaccine.

3. Monday, October 26: The Strong and Silent Type
In which I improved Superman & Batman Magazine #8 by cutting out most panels that don't include Booster Gold. Sorry, I couldn't do anything about that bulky 1990s power suit.

2. Monday, November 9: Two of a Kind: Shattered and Forged
In which we clear up the confusion surrounding DC's announcements of Generations: Shattered and Generations: Future State comic books. Hint: they're the same book. Or, at least we think they are. We'll be more certain when we finally have the book in our hands next week.

1. Friday, December 18: The Best of Booster Gold: Action Comics 995
In which we conclude our year-long series of the 12 best Booster Gold comics. (Maybe those clickbait comic book listicle sites are onto something.)

Let's make 2021 another Boosterrific year!

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: action comics best of blog justice league europe justice league international lists plague recap superman

December brings us to end of our list of the twelve best Booster Gold comics. We've come full circle.

In the second entry on the list, 1986's Booster Gold #6, Skeets reveals Booster Gold's origin story to Superman for the first time. Thirty two years and several continuity reboots later, some things haven't changed. In our final entry, 2016's Action Comics #995, Skeets once again reveals Booster Gold's origin story to Superman.

Booster's creator Dan Jurgens took partial inspiration for Booster's origin from the Silver Age adventures of Superman. In this issue, he expands their connection by exploring the difference between the upbringing of the two characters. How much credit do their parents deserve for setting them on their respective heroic journeys? (Hint: a lot.)

The entire issue is rife with this sort of parallelism.

The story starts with Superman confronted by a Kryptonian policeman, the Eradicator, and it ends with Booster hunted by 25th-century federal agent Broderick (last seen in the excellent Booster Gold #18). Despite the comparable situations, Superman is seen as history's greatest hero while Booster Gold is considered nothing more than a criminal. Perception is reality, even in comic books.

By the way, since we're keeping track of such things, in their first meeting, Superman taught Booster Gold about the responsibility of using his super powers in Booster Gold #7. This time around, it's Booster's turn to explain the rules. I love that.

Perhaps the best thing about this issue is among its least consequential. The first time we visited this story, Booster's mother had died believing her son was a failure. It was long overdue that Ma Carter finally learn her only son would go on to become one of history's greatest heroes.

I think you can see why I include Action Comics #995 on my list of the twelve best Booster Gold comics.

And those twelve are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many, many more great Booster Gold comics to discover, and hopefully many more to come in the years ahead.

Here's to Booster Gold forever.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: action comics best of broderick dan jurgens skeets superman

Xylob recently wrote to say that I didn't have an explanation of how I classified the different continuities on the Continuity List. I fixed that. (The definition now appears as part of the page text.) Thanks, Xylob!

While fixing it, I took another look at Booster Gold's first DCAU appearance in Superman & Batman Magazine #8.

Here is a very condensed version of the story, "Let Justice Be Done" written by Roger Stern, containing every panel that Booster Gold appears in. See if you don't agree with me that this is the very best his 1990s armor looked.

Apparently, when Booster Gold lost his original suit in the Animated Universe, he also lost his voice. But you have to agree that his then-new suit sure looks as good as it ever did under the pencils of Ty Templeton and pens of Rick Burchett! (Captain Atom's long hair is pretty cool, too.)

My new motto for the 1990s: "It wasn't all bad." Especially in comparison to the 2020s.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: batman rick burchett roger stern superman ty templeton

First things first: if Booster Gold appeared in a new comic today, I remain unaware of it. But Batman Beyond #48 is due next week, so we've got that to look forward to.

Second things second: Jennifer wrote me to note that Booster Gold's cameo from Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #7 is not in the Boosterrific database. She's right. It's not.

I mentioned the cameo here on the blog the week it was released back in June, but I never added it to the database. As a reminder, here's what that cameo looks like:

Superman: Man of Tomorrow #7, words by Dave Wielgosz; art by Miguel Menonca, Yasmine Putri, David Baron

You might ask why I haven't gotten around to adding that yet. It's a good question. Four months is a long time. There have already been ten more issues of Superman: Man of Tomorrow already! How lazy can a guy be? While I can be pretty darn lazy, the exclusion of Superman: Man of Tomorrow #7 has been intentional.

As a matter of tradition, all the books in the Boosterrific database are the printed editions (you know, the old-school kind that you can read without LED screens and batteries). Therefore, I had been waiting for DC to reprint the Digital First Superman: Man of Tomorrow series before adding it to the site. That's what DC did in the past. Until lately, they have combined 2 or more of these digital comics into a single floppy available at your Local Comic Shop.

But 2020 is interesting times, and DC isn't the same company it was at the start of the year. They have yet to announce any printed editions of Superman: Man of Tomorrow. It might come eventually as a trade collection of the whole series, but these days who can tell?

So the question becomes: should I change the way I've done things in the past to start adding individual issues of digital exclusive content? Or should I hold fast to my old fashioned concepts of what a "real" comic book is? What do you think?

This week's poll question: Should the Boosterrific database include comics existing only in digital formats? Please visit the Boosterrific Polls page to view results for this week's poll.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: jenniferd polls superman website update

DC has been doing their part in COVID-19 pandemic messaging by including "social distancing" PSAs in their comics and shipping posters to comic shops. It's an admirable incentive to get important information to superhero fans, but I think their choice of spokespersons could use some improvement.

One poster features Superman and Wonder Woman playing tug o' war. As much as I admire their wisdom, they aren't the pair I would pick to pose for an anti-virus PSA. He's invulnerable and she's immortal. Their unique talents are better used preventing authoritarian armies from trampling peaceful protesters than preaching to the public about the dangers of airborne pestilence particles.

Another poster tries again with Batman and Robin. Two of the things that Batman is most famous for are 1) not being much of a hugger, and 2) never wearing a mask over his mouth. He might the world's greatest detective, but a reclusive man who dresses like a mouth-breathing flying rat is probably not the guy we need leading the charge of a public education campaign.

While I applaud all those heroes' good intentions, I think if you want to sell people on the importance of maintaining a six-foot halo to impair the spread of communicable disease, the spokespersons you need should be both vulnerable and relatable. And a healthy sense of humor would certainly help their delivery.

Hmm. Do we know any heroes who fit that bill? You bet we do!

Art by Kevin Maguire via Antonio Perianes at comicartfans.com, template by DC Comics

Fixed it for you, DC.

Do what Booster and Beetle say. They've only got your best interest at heart.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: antonio perianes batman blue beetle comicartfans.com kevin maguire plague social distancing superman wonder woman