Superhero Origins: Booster Gold

When you’re is a superhero, fame is just part of the game. But here's one superhero who wanted fortune to go with the fame. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we will explore the comic book origin of Booster Gold. As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginations and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen primarily to follow the storyline which unfolded in 1986's Booster Gold #1 and #6 and which was expanded upon in 1989's Secret Origins #35 and 2008's Booster Gold #0 and #1,000,000. The dynamic figure of Booster Gold was introduced to readers in the first issue of his own 1986 comic book. Rather than meeting our hero in the midst of a deadly battle, readers were greeted with Booster negotiating a highly remunerative film deal. Clearly this Booster Gold was a celebrity, but there were some rather odd things about him. For example, he frequently stumbled over every day expressions and idioms, he had a flight ring from the Legion of Super-Heroes and his robot sidekick Skeets made oblique references to the future. All was explained in the sixth issue when Booster met Superman. The Man of Steel deduced that Booster and Skeets were from the future. Skeets confirmed that they were indeed from the 25th century and that Booster's real name is Michael Jon Carter. In his own time period, Michael had been a college quarterback with a brilliant professional career awaiting him. Unfortunately, before Michael could embark on that career, it was revealed that he had been betting on his own football games. His dreams of fame and fortune disappeared overnight, and his personal life dive-bombed as well. His father had been a compulsive gambler who deserted his family; his distraught mother therefore disowned her son. Michael was reduced to working as a night watchman at the Space Museum. As luck would have it, one of the exhibits at the museum was a time machine used by Rip Hunter, the pioneer time traveler. Michael devised a plan whereby he would steal several items, including the Legion flight ring and other weapons and travel back to the 20th century to find his fame and fortune as a superhero. The twist, of course, was that Michael would use his knowledge of history to help amass a fortune – and use his celebrity as a superhero to gain product endorsements and other opportunities that would increase his wealth even more. Thus began Booster's career in the 20th century, which would earn him respect for his heroics, scorn for his avaricious goals and suspicion about his true motives at any time. Booster's origin story remained fairly stable over the years, but some new details were added over time. The most significant addition came in 1989's Secret Origins #35. Relating his origin to his buddy the Blue Beetle, Booster revealed that the reason he began gambling on his football games wasn't because he was greedy; it was because his mother was seriously sick and he needed money to get her the expensive treatment she needed. In 2008, another element was added to Booster's origin. In this re-telling, Michael stopped his illegal football gambling after his mother received the treatment she needed; however, Michael succumbed to pressure from his father to resume gambling, hoping it would gain him the paternal love he had never had. Unfortunately, that didn't work out the way Booster planned. Yet another piece of information about Booster came out at this time. Over the years, Booster had come in contact with Rip Hunter, whose time machine he had used to travel to the present time. Hunter had enlisted his help in dealing with anomalies caused by time travel, and readers soon learned why: unbeknownst to Booster, Rip Hunter is Booster's grown-up son. Booster, with his striking blue and gold outfit, makes a stunning visual impression and has been featured in several episodes of DC Universe TV series. Time alone will tell when he will turn up next – but for a guy who bounces from one century to another, time isn't really much of an issue. Are you a fan of Booster Gold? For more comic book origins, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.