Booster Gold
| Booster Gold | |
|---|---|
| File:Booster Gold by Benes.jpg Booster Gold from Countdown by Ed Benes. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Booster Gold #1 (February 1986) |
| Created by | Dan Jurgens |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Michael Jon Carter |
| Team affiliations | Justice League The Conglomerate Extreme Justice Super Buddies |
| Notable aliases | Supernova |
| Abilities | Possesses advanced technology allowing flight, power blasts, force-fields and enhanced strength among other abilities. |
Booster Gold is a fictional character, a superhero in publications from DC Comics. Created by Dan Jurgens, he first appeared in Booster Gold #1 (1986) and has been a member of the Justice League.
Fictional character history
From the future
Michael Jon Carter is a college football star in the 25th century, who is banned from the sport when he is caught betting on his own football games. He takes a job as a night watchman at the Metropolis Space Museum, where he begins to study displays about superheroes and villains from the past, particularly the 20th century. With the help of a security robot named Skeets, he steals devices from the museum displays, including a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring and Brainiac 5's force-field belt. He uses Rip Hunter's time machine, also on display in the museum, to travel to the 20th century, intent on becoming a superhero and a corporation based around himself to make a comfortable living. As such, he is a shameless self-promoter whose obsession with fame and wealth irritates other heroes.[1]
Carter's nickname as a football player was Booster, but his chosen 20th century superhero name was "Goldstar". After saving the president, Carter mangles the two names, causing the president (at the time Ronald Reagan) to introduce him as "Booster Gold." The name stuck.
Celebrity
Booster Gold is originally based in Metropolis, the home city of Superman. He starts his hero career by preventing the shape-shifting assassin Chiller, an operative of The 1000, from killing the president of the United States and replacing him. With the public exposure he gains from this rescue, Booster is quickly able to sign a multitude of commercial and movie deals. During Booster's superhero career, his sister Michelle Carter, powered by a magnetic suit, follows in his footsteps as the superheroine Goldstar. She dies soon after, leaving him devastated. Amassing a small fortune, Booster founds Goldstar, Inc. (later Booster Gold International) as a holding company and hires Dirk Davis to act as his agent. During the Millennium event, Davis reveals that he is a Manhunter in disguise and has siphoned money from Booster's accounts for months in hopes of leaving Booster no choice but to do the Manhunters' bidding. Although the Manhunters are ultimately defeated, Booster is left bankrupt.
Justice League
Booster Gold is a key character in the late '80s/early '90s Justice League revamp by writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis. Booster Gold is frequently partnered with fellow Justice League member Blue Beetle, and the two quickly become best friends. The duo of Booster and Beetle is responsible for some of the most memorable moments in the Justice League series, including a stint as superhero repo men and the construction of a gaming resort, Club JLI, on the living island Kooey Kooey Kooey.
After one too many disgraces and longing for the reputation he once had, Booster quit the League to found The Conglomerate, a superhero team whose funding was derived from corporate sponsors. Booster and his team were determined to perform as legitimate heroes but found that their sponsors compromised those values far too often. The Conglomerate re-formed several times after Booster rejoined the League, though never finding much success.
When an alien of awesome power comes to Earth and rampages, it is Booster Gold who coins the name Doomsday for it. In the ensuing battle with Doomsday, Booster's costume is destroyed. Blue Beetle is able to design a new (albeit bulkier) costume to replace it, although this costume often malfunctions. During a later battle with Devastator a servant of the Overmaster, Booster is nearly killed and loses an arm. Again, Blue Beetle comes to his aid, designing a suit that acts as a life support system in addition to replicating the powers of Booster's previous costumes. This suit also includes a cybernetic arm to replace the arm Booster had lost.
Extreme Justice
After the Justice League falls apart, Booster Gold joins Extreme Justice, a team led by Captain Atom. While a member of this team, Booster makes a deal with the super-villain Monarch, who fully heals Booster's wounds so that he can once again remove his battle suit. Booster dons a new costume created in part by Skeets, who aids Booster and is even able to take control of the costume if Booster is rendered unconscious.
Following the disbanding of Extreme Justice, this suit was destroyed. A new costume was created by Professor Hamilton, based on the designs of both the original 25th century costume and the energy containment suit Superman was wearing at this time. This costume was apparently later "tweaked" to more closely resemble Booster's original costume.
Infinite Crisis
Countdown to Infinite Crisis
After the events depicted in the limited series Identity Crisis, in which Sue Dibny is murdered, Booster Gold hangs up his costume and retires from crime-fighting only to once again assume the role to help Blue Beetle discover who is manipulating Kord Industries.[2] Booster is badly injured in an explosion at Kord's home, and it is revealed that his companion Skeets has been dismantled for its 25th-century technology by the Checkmate organization.
The OMAC Project
In The OMAC Project limited series, Booster Gold gathers the old Justice League International heroes to investigate Blue Beetle's disappearance and ultimately find his killer. At the series' end, he is ruined physically and emotionally, having destroyed much of his gear in the fight against the OMACs, seen more friends fall in the battle, and lost his trust toward the other heroes of the DC universe. In a moment of self-reflection, he realizes that if only he had bothered to recall more of what was history in his native era, he might have been able to warn his friends. Giving a tender farewell kiss to the forehead of his wounded teammate Fire as she lay in a hospital bed, he drops his trademark goggles on the floor and leaves, saying only that he had to "go home", the implication being a return to the 25th century.[3]
The new Blue Beetle
In the pages of Infinite Crisis, Booster Gold resurfaces in the ruins of the Justice League's Watchtower on the moon, along with Skeets, again branded as a criminal in his time for "hijacking historical records".[4] When Skeets fails to locate the absent Martian Manhunter, Booster searches for Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle, whom he promptly takes to the Batcave. Booster tells Batman the subject of the stolen records: Batman never finds Brother Eye, but Booster implies that, with Jaime's aid, they can succeed.[5] The mission is successful, and Booster plays a pivotal role in the destruction of the satellite.[6]
52 and Supernova
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In the aftermath of the Infinite Crisis, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have temporarily retired their costumed identities, and the remaining heroes attend a memorial for Superboy in Metropolis.[7] Booster Gold attends the memorial, but when Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman do not arrive as he expects, he suspects his robot sidekick Skeets is malfunctioning. After Skeets reports other incorrect historical data[8][9], Booster searches fellow time traveler Rip Hunter's desert bunker for answers, but finds it littered with enigmatic scrawled notes. Booster finds photos of himself and Skeets surrounded by the words "his fault" with arrows pointing toward them.[10]
Booster is angered when a mysterious new superhero named Supernova appears in Metropolis. His reputation ruined by this and other events, including his various unscrupulous dealings in pursuit of publicity and sponsorship deals, Booster tries to regain the spotlight by containing an explosion, but he is killed in the attempt.[11] Skeets uses Booster's ancestor, Daniel Carter, to regain access to Hunter's lab, where he sees the photos and arrows pointing at him. Skeets traps Carter in a time loop in the bunker and sets out to locate Hunter himself.
Supernova meets with Rip Hunter in the Bottle City of Kandor, and Hunter examines a number of high-tech items Supernova has brought him. When Skeets discovers the two, Supernova reveals himself to be Booster Gold and fights him, revealing how he and Rip Hunter used time travel to fake his death and create a rivalry between Booster and himself as Supernova. Hunter and Booster attempt to trap Skeets in the Phantom Zone, but Skeets appears to eat the subdimension and pursues his two adversaries through time.[12]
Powers
Booster Gold gains his powers from the artifacts he steals from a museum in the future. A power suit grants him super strength and wrist blasters allow him to project force blasts. The wrist blasters contain the primary controls and power supply for the suit as well as communications equipment to monitor communications frequencies. Circuitry from a force field belt that is incorporated into his costume allows Booster to resist physical and energy attacks, and he uses the force field to repel objects with great force and generate a breathable self-contained environment. The force field centers around Boosters body but can expand and even project outward. The costume's goggles had infrared and magnifying capabilities as well. In addition to the powers from his suit, Booster could fly thanks to a Legion flight ring. Booster can also absorb mass and eject it either in its original form or as a melted mass,[13] although this depletes his force field for a time afterward.[14]
Booster's later costumes use many different technologies to grant him his powers, but the powers themselves remain basically the same despite changes to the source. Booster's third costume acts as a mobile life support system in addition to its granting him super powers.
As Supernova, Michael Carter uses a Phantom Zone Projector built into his suit to teleport matter from one place to another.[12]
Booster Gold's Legion Flight Ring and Force Field Belt
As stated, Booster Gold's flight powers came from a Legion of Super Heroes Flight Ring. As well, his suit's force field capabilities come from Brainiac 5's Force Field Belt. Booster stole both items in the 25th century, however, both were invented in either the 30th or 31st century according to various Legion reboots.
Originally, Booster Gold #8-#9 told the story about how the Time Bubble Booster used to travel from 2462 to 1985 was discovered in 2986 with pieces of Brainiac 5's Force Field belt aboard. This prompted Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy and Ultra Boy to travel back to 1985 to investigate. In the process, they assisted Booster in foiling an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
Brainiac 5 left his Force Field Belt and Flight Ring with Reagan and determined that these would end up being the ones Booster would eventually steal in 2462, thus completing the causality loop.
In a more recent Legion continuity reboot, the Legion had an adventure where they traveled in time to shortly before the time Booster came from and ended up loosing a Flight Ring and Force Field Belt.
In the current Legion continuity reboot, there is thus far no explanation where Booster's Flight Ring and Force Field Belt come from.
Enemies
Booster's enemies include the 1000, the Director, Mindancer, Blackguard, Shockwave, Rainbow Raider, Mr. Twister, the Manhunters, Devastator and Skeets.
In other media
Booster Gold appears as a member of the Justice League in the animated series Justice League Unlimited. In the episode The Greatest Story Never Told, Booster is voiced by Tom Everett Scott, and Skeets is performed by Billy West. Booster's colleagues in the Justice League dismiss the shameless, showboating and self-promoting superhero as a hopeless wannabe. Children ask for his autograph, thinking he is a Green Lantern. During an epic battle with Mordru, Booster is assigned to crowd control, but when another danger presents itself, Booster's calls for help are assumed to be complaints about his assignment. Booster, with the aid of Skeets and Dr. Tracy Simmons, must save the day. Booster halts a scientist's unwitting rampage and saves Skeets and the girl. When Booster returns to his post, Batman scolds Booster for not following orders and for leaving his post. Finally, Tracy shows her appreciation for Booster's work by going on a date with him.
In the first episode of 2006's Legion of Superheroes cartoon, Booster Gold and Skeets make a cameo appearance as the janitors in the Superman museum.
Trivia
- The Super Buddies TV promotional featured in Formerly Known as the Justice League, in a nod to the Golden Age controversy on Batman and Robin being a gay couple, featured Booster Gold and his best pal Blue Beetle as A heterosexual dynamic duo for the new millennium. The ensuing embarrassment led to the idea being dismissed.
- During the same series, Booster Gold claimed to have married a much older wealthy woman, Gladys, hoping to become her heir. His embarrassing matrimonial life (it was hinted that Gladys forced him to dress as Wonder Woman during their sexual performance) was erased due to the aftermath of Infinite Crisis [1], albeit resurrected as a rumor in his obituary page [2]
References
- ^ Booster Gold #1 (1986)
- ^ Countdown to Infinite Crisis (2005)
- ^ The OMAC Project #1-6 (2005)
- ^ Infinite Crisis #2 (2006)
- ^ Infinite Crisis #5 (2006)
- ^ Infinite Crisis #6 (2006)
- ^ 52: Week One (2006)
- ^ 52: Week Two (2006)
- ^ 52: Week Three (2006)
- ^ 52: Week Eight (2006)
- ^ 52: Week Fifteen (2006)
- ^ a b 52: Week Thirty-Seven (2006) Cite error: The named reference "52w37" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Booster Gold #3
- ^ Booster Gold #7