I’m doing the hero origins retrospective in chronological order. But while it’s still in the very early Golden Age, I will skip ahead several decades to introduce a character that will immediately pop up in the Legion retrospective.
And I guess it’s appropriate that, if any hero was destined to screw up time, it would be Booster Gold.
Booster Gold #1 (1986)
by Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens is mostly known as a writer, but he’s a man of many talents: the story is credited as “created, plotted and written” by him.
We begin in Metropolis, where a struggling comic book artist is trying to figure out who will be star of his next series. And that’s where he learn there’s a new hero in town: Booster Gold.
Fittingly for the character, our first glimpse of the character sees him negotiating the terms of a movie based on him…
I didn’t know Booster Gold’s costume ever included a cape, but now that I see him like this… yeah he WOULD the kind of character that would INSIST on the cape.
Notably, this story doesn’t flat out tell us that Booster Gold is *spoiler alert* actually a time traveler from the future. But it does drop some hints.
Glad to see that his use of “boosterific” goes all the way back to his first story AND that it’s treated as cringe as it’ll ever be.
We later meet Skeets, the sarcastic robot that serves as Booster Gold’s sidekick. I think Skeets is one of the secrets of making the character work: Booster is… uhm… a bit much on his own. But having Skeets around helps reassuring the reader that we’re not supposed to belive Booster is as cool as he think he is.
Up to this point we haven’t seen Booster Gold do anything but revel in his fame, by the way.
Interesting to see Booster’s agent complain that the JLA is not on the phone book, because MOST incarnations of the team ARE.
We finally get an action scene when an armored vehicle attacks Booster’s limousine.
Notice that he can fly: he doesn’t NEED the limousine, he just wants to show off!
Booster Gold is not ONLY interested in money and fame; he definitely cares about the safety of civilians. The hints about him being from the future are pretty blatant now: the fact that he keeps using the wrong idioms could’ve meant he was an alien, but they’re practically announcing it now.
These guys are not exactly a big threat to him.
As is his first supervillain, Blackguard.
It’s a fun fight, showcasing the versatility of Booster Gold’s powers and his coordination with Skeets.
Booster Gold is widely considered to be a post-Crisis hero, but that’s not technically the case: this was published the same month of the next-to-last Crisis issue.
And in fact the pre-Crisis Jimmy Olsen makes a cameo! You can tell he’s the pre-Crisis one because he’s a reporter for WGBS News, but he would start as a Daily Planet photographer after Crisis.
Booster Gold has Skeets lure Blackguard away from the civilians…
…and we have another confirmation this is the pre-Crisis Jimmy Olsen, because only HE would be dumb enough to explain the hero’s plan to the villain!
Fortunately, Blackguard is almost as dumb as him.
We’re introduced to Booster’s assistant Trixie, who deals with a particularly nasty potential client for an ad campaign. I’m including the scene because it feels quite disconnected from the rest of the story: Trixie does have a role later on, but for now all this office stuff is quite bland.
Okay at this point just SAY he’s from the future!
The reason why Booster Gold will have his place in the Legion retrospective is that he debuts with a Legion ring. He wants to check with the JLA if it’s alright with them, which creates a bunch of problems if you position this after Crisis… because the post-Crisis JLA shouldn’t KNOW the Legion exists.
And finally, Booster Gold returns stolen technology to STAR Labs…
…and being Booster Gold, he f##ks it up.
In fact, his stunt simply put a target on his back to be attacked by another supervillain.
And that’s how the first issue ends!
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Considering issue 1 doesn’t tell the complete origin, I might as well talk about what follows.
If the first story was all about hyping Booster Gold, the second makes sure to knock him down.
We’re not told Booster Gold is from the future until issue 5. While I appreciate the mystery, it’s BY FAR the most interesting part of the character, and without it the debut story feels lacking.
Issue 6 is also his first meeting with Superman, who is MOST DEFINITELY not a fan.
It’s worth mentioning because this is the first time the post-Crisis Superman sees a Legion flight ring; he won’t meet the actual Legion for a bit more time.
Superman is also the first hero to learn Booster Gold’s origin story, together with the readers.
Specifically, his origin as a football player form the year 2462…
…who fell in disgrace for betting on his own games.
So he got a job at the Space Museum. That’s a neat connection to the history of DC Comics: we’ve actually seen it in my only Strange Adventures review (so far).
In fact, the father and son who were the narrators of the Space Museum stories not only make a cameo, but they’re the inspiration for Booster Gold becoming a hero.
Skeets was one of the guards of the Space Museum, which included an exhibit from another little known DC character: the time-traveling adventurer Rip Hunter.
You would think the Space Museum wouldn’t leave the FULLY WORKING TIME MACHINE out in the open, but nope!
You might think that Booster was able to repair the Time Machine with Skeet’s help, but… nope, Skeets is deactivated before doing anything!
And by raiding the Space Museum, the soon-to-be Booster Gold assembles what he needs to fake having superpowers… including a Legion Flight Ring and Brainiac 5’s belt!
Notice the reference to Brainiac 5 saving the President’s life… that will happen in Booster’s meeting with the Legion, which hasn’t happened yet.
Time travel, everybody!
You would think Superman would be a little less judgmental than this…
…but he does have a point.
It’ll take a loooong time before Superman warms up to Booster Gold.
Up to a point, since the two are basically polar opposites in many ways.
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Historical significance: 4/$$$
Booster Gold slowly becomes an important part of the DC Universe, but the first issue does very little fleshing him out.
Blackguard, despite being his first villain, has a little more than a dozen appearances. You probably couldn’t recognized he was in the second Suicide Squad movie!
Silver Age-ness: 0/$$$
Not really, although the speed at which the public begins to worship Booster Gold is very close to being a Silver Age thing.
Does it stand the test of time? 5/$$$
The series as a whole holds up rather well, but the first issue is rather weak. Like I said I appreciated the idea of keeping the mystery, but Booster Gold comes off as rather shallow and hollow in the fist story… which I know is what you’re SUPPOSED to think when you meet him, but you’re also supposed to warm up to him. And that doesn’t happen until later issues.
How close is this to the modern character? 6/$$$
Booster Gold is one of the characters that goes through the most character development over the years.
I won’t go into his full history because it’s INCREDIBLY convoluted (time travel!), but he fills a very particular niche: the too full of himself hero with a heart of gold that needs to hit rock bottom as often as possible to avoid turning into a jackass.
Fortunately for the readers, continuously hitting rock bottom is Booster Gold’s real superpower.
And of course I can’t talk about Booster Gold without mentioning one of the best friendships in superhero comics: his shenanigans with Blue Beetle.
Although I might be in the minority in preferring his scenes with Skeets.
He’s absolutely insufferable, but he’ll go to hell and back to save the day.
And to make money.
Before Booster’s origins were revealed, some readers guessed he was R. J. Brande.
There was one who thought he was Sensor Girl.
Well he is blond.