Booster Gold : the greatest hero you've never heard of

"In the super hero game there's usually one fail-safe technique used to solve problems. Beat the stuffing out of the bad guys. Other times you gotta use your brains. Or lack of 'them " --Booster Gold
He just had his live appearance debut in Smallville, if you can not get enough of the guy in gold here's a few more tidbits about the character.

Who is Booster Gold?
Booster Gold is Michael Jon Carter. A promising athlete in the 25th century, but disgraced after betting on and throwing his own games. Unable to get a good paying job, he finds himself as a security officer in a museum showcasing heroes of the 20th century. Planning to change his lot in life, he stole some powerful artifacts in the museum and travelled to the 20th century to become one of the superheroes he saw in the museum. He was always at odds with other superheroes because of his brand of superheroics which is based in making money than the goodness of his heart. Later on he became a guardian of the timestream, learning the qualities of a real hero, but he needs to continue to act as the careless and egotistical buffoon to protect the people he cares for. He adventures alongside his robot sidekick, Skeets.

Booster Gold is a DC comics character created by Dan Jurgens, and first appeared on Booster Gold #1 (February 1986).

Visual History
First Appearance:
1986: In his first appearance Booster Gold wears a sleek collared blue and gold powersuit that grants him several abilities. He also have a visor that enhances his visual and auditory functions. He was the first significant new character introduced into DC Universe continuity after the reboot of Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Note: If you look at the leftmost picture you'll notice that the star on his chest is not blue but gold. Michael Carter planned to use the name Goldstar as his superhero alias but after rescuing President Reagan, and in a public medal presentation the President accidentally called him "Booster Gold". Michael then just sticked with the name.

Bulky Booster Gold

1993: After battling the alien, whom he dubbed Doomsday, his power suit got torn into shreds. He then turned to his good buddy Blue Beetle to design for him a new suit. Unfortunately the Blue Beetle cannot make something like his previous suit because the technology was from the future. Booster Gold ended up with a new bulky costume.

Booster Gold Bulky Armor II
1994: Booster Gold has an aesthetic upgrade on his previous armor. It looks more put together than the previous one, and provides Carter with better protection with his a full on helmet.

Extreme Booster Gold
1995: The Justice League has fallen apart, and a new tougher group arose in its place the Extreme Justice. Booster Gold was part of this group he is still wearing his previous heavy armor tweaked a little, which now flaunts his hair again.

Extreme Booster Gold Armor II
1996: Blue Beetle presents Booster Gold a new exoskeleton suit modeled on alien technology. Stylistically, the armor is very similar to Booster's original costume, just a little thicker and without the high collar. Skeets' 25th-century software has been downloaded into the suit of armor in order to bridge the gap between terrestrial and alien technology.

Booster Gold combined LexCorp & S.T.A.R. Labs suit
1997: The Extreme Justice is no more along with it is Booster Gold's suit. A new power suit 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 that time.

Time Master Booster Gold
2006: Back in 2000 he returned to his classic look, and after the event of Infinite Crisis, he updated the costume by removing the collar. In 2007 he started working with Rip Hunter to become a guardian of the Time Stream. Unknown to Booster Gold that Rip Hunter is actually his future son.

Supernova
2006: Michael Carter for a time used another specialized suit and used the name Supernova. The suit and the name are now passed on to other member of Carter's family.

Live Media
Booster Gold appearedin the 18th episode of the 10th and last season of Smallville. Booster Gold was played by Eric Martsolf. Much like in the comics, Booster is portrayed as a fame-seeking superhero from the future who travels back in time to become a superstar. His antics bring him into conflict with a young Clark Kent, who has not yet taken on the Superman identity. After Booster's misguided heroics lead to an alien parasite bonding with a teenager named Jaime Reyes, the boy attacks Booster Gold. Booster Gold is able to convince Jaime to fight the Scarab's influence, and the youth ultimately gains control over it. After his near-death, Booster Gold confesses to Clark that he is a washed-up athlete from the 25th century, and that he had traveled back in time in hopes that he could take Superman's place in the timestream and thus become a beloved superhero. Realizing the error of his ways, Booster Gold chooses to stay in the 21st century and help Jaime learn to use his powers for good. Skeets does not appear physically, but instead exists as voice speaking in Booster's earpiece from an unknown location. Additionally, Booster is shown in possession of a Legion Flight Ring, which he admits he stole from a member of the Legion of Superheroes.

Booster Gold's Power and Abilities
Note: Due to the nature of comicbooks being an on-going tale, the character's powers along with his appearance, is in a constant state of flux.

Legion Flight Ring: provides Booster Goldwith flight.

Power Suit: In lieu of any metahuman powers, Booster Gold uses an advanced microcircuitry-powered all-purpose combat suit that allows him a wide range of options to use in combat.

Enhanced Durability: The suit is extremely durable, very lightweight, and easy to wear. The suit itself is able to withstand bullets without losing its integrity.

Super-Strength: The microcircuitry woven into the mesh affords Booster a high measure of super-strength, enough to easily shift twenty tons - and a great deal more if he exerts himself.

Force-field Generation

Time-Travel Circuitry: Booster Gold had time-travel circuitry built into his suit, enabling him to travel through the time stream, both into the past and the future. The suit has since been upgraded by Rip Hunter to enable him to traverse chronal anomalies without any adverse effects.

Gauntlets: The suit is able to provide powerful energy blasts, via blasters in the costume's gauntlets. At their highest setting, the blasts are capable of plowing through two solid feet of concrete.

Visor Devices: Booster Gold's visor is outfitted with both sensory amplification devices and a HUD for targeting and threat-identification, along with broad scanning along the electromagnetic spectrum, providing infra-red, ultraviolet, and X-ray vision.

sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booster_Gold : http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Michael_Jon_Carter_(New_Earth) : http://www.comicvine.com/booster-gold/29-1786/ : http://www.boosterrific.com/booster/history.php : http://www.comicbookdb.com/character.php?ID=714 : http://www.comicbookdb.com/character.php?ID=53686 : http://www.comicbookdb.com/character.php?ID=6665 : http://www.boosterrific.com/booster/costume.php

This is the 27th article in my Know Your CBM Character series. Any requests and suggestions for an article for this series write it down in the comment section BELOW.

P0llMaster
5/7/2011
DCMU

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