From the future
Michael Jon Carter was born poor in 25th-century Gotham City. He and his twin sister, the slightly younger Michelle, never knew their father because he left after gambling away all their money. Michael was a gifted athlete, attending Gotham University on a football scholarship. At Gotham U., Michael was a star quarterback until his father reentered his life and convinced him to deliberately lose games for gambling purposes. He was exposed, disgraced and expelled. His twin sister Michelle, the more responsible of the two, took on multiple jobs to support their ailing mother. Later, he was able to secure a job as a night watchman at the Metropolis Space Museum where he studied displays about superheroes and villains from the past, particularly the 20th century.[15]
Michael's sidekick is a robot named Skeets. Skeets is a 25th-century security robot (sometimes "valet unit") with artificial intelligence. He is capable of flight, cognition, and voice projection, which are all considered highly advanced for 21st century Earth. He also has historical records which give him a vast knowledge of what will happen between the 21st and 25th centuries, though its reliability has become questionable. He possesses numerous miniature tools and weapons kept within his shell, and is also equipped with a powerful energy blaster. He is apparently immune to reality and temporal manipulation.
With the help of Skeets, Michael stole devices from the museum displays, including a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring and Brainiac 5's force field belt. He used Rip Hunter's Time Sphere, also on display in the museum, to travel to the 20th century, intent on becoming a superhero and forming a corporation based around himself to make a comfortable living.[1] He is a shameless self-promoter whose obsession with fame and wealth irritates other heroes.[16]
Carter's nickname as a football player was "Booster", but his chosen 20th century superhero name was "Goldstar". After saving Ronald Reagan, Carter mangled the two names, causing Reagan to introduce him as "Booster Gold".[17] The name stuck. In a running joke throughout the DC Universe, people erroneously call him "Buster", to his chagrin.
Celebrity
Booster is originally based in Superman's home city, Metropolis. He starts his hero career by preventing the shapeshifting assassin Chiller, an operative of The 1000, from killing the President of the United States and replacing him. With the subsequent public exposure, Booster signs a multitude of commercial and movie deals. During his career, his sister Michelle Carter, powered by a magnetic suit, follows in his footsteps as the superheroine Goldstar. Booster is devastated when she dies battling creatures from another dimension. 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 that he siphoned money from Booster's accounts in hopes of leaving him 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 1980s/early 1990s Justice League revamp by writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis. Booster Gold is frequently partnered with Ted Kord (Blue Beetle), and the two quickly become best friends. The duo's notable appearances include a stint as superhero repo men, and as the minds behind the construction of a gaming resort, Club JLI, on the living island Kooey Kooey Kooey.
After one too many embarrassments and longing for his old reputation, Booster quits the League to found The Conglomerate, a superhero team whose funding is derived from corporate sponsors. Booster and his team are determined to behave as legitimate heroes, but find that their sponsors compromise them far too often.[1] The Conglomerate reforms several times after Booster rejoins the League, though without much success.
When an alien comes to Earth on a rampage, Booster coins the name Doomsday for it. While battling the entity, Booster's costume is destroyed. Ted is able to design a new, 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, Ted comes to his aid, designing a suit that acts as a
Extreme Justice
After the Justice League falls apart, Booster Gold joins Extreme Justice, a team led by Captain Atom.[18] While a member of this team, Booster makes a deal with the supervillain Monarch who fully heals Booster's wounds so that he can once again remove his battle suit. Booster dons a new costume created by Ted. Skeets acts as its systems controller who aids Booster and is able to take control of the costume if Booster is rendered unconscious.
Following the disbanding of Extreme Justice, this suit is destroyed. Professor Hamilton subsequently creates a new one based on the designs of both the original 25th century costume and the energy containment suit Superman was wearing at this time. This costume is later tweaked to closer resemble Booster's original costume.[1]
Countdown to Infinite Crisis: The OMAC Project
After the events depicted in the limited series Identity Crisis, in which Sue Dibny is murdered, Booster Gold retires briefly, but then helps Ted discover who is manipulating KORD Industries.[19] 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 Checkmate.
In The OMAC Project limited series, Booster Gold gathers the old Justice League International heroes to investigate Blue Beetle's disappearance. At the series' end, he is ruined physically and emotionally, having destroyed much of his gear in the fight against the OMACs. He has seen his friend Rocket Red die in battle. He discovered that another friend, Maxwell Lord, is responsible for killing Ted and that in fact, Lord always hated metahumans and superheroes. 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 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 has decided to "go home", implying a return to the 25th century.[20]
Infinite Crisis
In Infinite Crisis, Gold resurfaces in the ruins of the Justice League Watchtower on the moon, along with Skeets, again branded as a criminal in his time for "hijacking historical records".[21] When Skeets fails to locate the absent Martian Manhunter, Booster searches for Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle, whom he 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.[22] The mission is successful and Booster plays a pivotal role in the destruction of the satellite.[23]
52 and Supernova
In the aftermath of Infinite Crisis, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman temporarily retire their costumed identities, and the remaining heroes attend a memorial for Superboy in Metropolis after he is killed by Superboy-Prime.[24] Booster attends the memorial, but when Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman do not arrive as he expects, he suspects his robot sidekick Skeets is malfunctioning and becomes hysterical. After Skeets reports other incorrect historical data,[25][26] Booster searches fellow time traveler Rip Hunter's desert bunker for answers, finding it littered with enigmatic scrawled notes. Booster finds photos of himself and Skeets surrounded by the words "his fault" with arrows pointing toward them.[27]
One Year Later
Following the events of 52, Booster Gold returns in his second solo series with the first story arc "52 Pick-Up". Booster puts in a request to the Justice League that they admit him and the group begrudgingly decide to monitor him over the following week. However, Rip Hunter informs Booster that history has become malleable after Mister Mind's rampage and damage to the timeline.
Blackest Night
In a tie-in to the Blackest Night event, Booster faces Ted Kord who has been reanimated as a Black Lantern. At first unavailable due to reliving Ted's funeral in the past, he returns to meet his ancestor Daniel Carter, only to find the crashed, derelict Bug at his house. Then, he finds Kord pummeling Jaime Reyes, Daniel, and Skeets.[28] Attacked by him, he removes Daniel and Rose from the scene and heads to Kord Industries to arm himself. He uses a special light gun designed by Ted to blast the corpse and separate the ring with light, simulating the emotional spectrum.
Upon separating the corpse from the ring, he collects Ted's remains before the ring can reanimate them and takes them into the Time Sphere to Vanishing Point Fortress to secure them. He is somewhat relieved when Skeets uses the Fortress's special chronal surveillance equipment to display images of the days of Team Blue and Gold. Jaime promises to live up to Kord's legacy and eventually form a new Blue and Gold team. They find evidence at the warehouse of someone else entering, even though the doors were genetically coded, with only two people cleared for access: Ted and Booster.[29]
Brightest Day
Booster next finds his sister living in Coast City mere hours before its destruction. Though unable to save her boyfriend, Booster and Michelle patch up their relationship, with her agreeing not to leave him. This arc introduces an older Booster Gold, the man that trained Rip Hunter and was the master of both Time, the multiverse, and Hypertime. Rip reveals that this Booster is not only his father, but also has been watching Rip training the young Booster Gold, aiding him when needed. Older Booster also reveals that he is still married to Rip's mother, and that Michelle is with them in some unknown time.[30]
In Justice League: Generation Lost, Booster is part of the manhunt to bring the resurrected Maxwell Lord to justice. He finds Max but is beaten badly. Fire, Ice, and Captain Atom find him just as Lord uses his psychic powers to the utmost to erase all memory of himself from the minds of the entire world. For some reason, Booster, Fire, Ice, and Atom are the only ones who remember Lord and see him in recorded images.[31] Trying to convince Batman (Dick Grayson), Booster is horrified to learn that, thanks to Max, the world believes Ted committed suicide. Fire, Ice, and Captain Atom are soon set up by Max to cut them off from allies, but Booster is left alone because his reputation is already poor.[32]
Flashpoint
After the Time Masters: Vanishing Point event, Rip Hunter informed them that someone snuck into the JLI base, leaving messages on a chalkboard about the altered timeline.[33] When Earth entered an alternate timeline due to the actions of the Flash, Booster and Skeets awaken and are the only ones who remember the original timeline due to the former's suit protecting them. Gold travels to Coast City, but US soldiers attack him mistaking him to be an Atlantean threat. Skeets is damaged when Gold is attacked by the military's Project Six, which is revealed to be Doomsday.[34]
During the battle in Coast City, he discovers that Doomsday is controlled by General Nathaniel Adam. He escapes from Doomsday and then saves a woman named Alexandra Gianopoulos from Doomsday's attack. He learns the timeline has been changed, suspecting Professor Zoom. Alexandra and Booster split up, but she secretly has powers allowing her to take others' powers and follows him. Later, he flies to Gotham City when Doomsday attacks him. General Adam's control link is destroyed by Alexandra in an attempt to rescue Booster. Doomsday's true personality comes to the surface and he attacks Booster.[35]
The New 52
In The New 52, Booster Gold appears as part of the new Justice League International series.[38] In the Post-Flashpoint continuity, Booster is portrayed with his original glory-seeking personality and is chosen by the U.N. to lead the JLI due to his PR sense and naiveté. He takes his leadership role seriously, and strives to become a better hero and role model.[39] However, despite his best efforts and support from Batman who officially defers to Booster's leadership after supporting Booster for leader, the JLI falls apart due to a string of attacks against the group that leaves members killed or wounded.[40] Despite his best attempts to bring in new members, Booster later watches in horror as the hero OMAC betrays the team and inflicts more carnage, including teleporting Blue Beetle to the homeworld of the Reach.
In the end, Booster is confronted with what appears to be an older version of him, an agent of A.R.G.U.S. who warns his present self to prevent Superman and Wonder Woman from dating. Failure to prevent it, without explanation, would cause Booster Gold to cease existing. As the JLI monitor reveals Superman and Wonder Woman kissing, the future Booster disappears. The present day Booster disappears moments later.[41]
DC Rebirth
In 2016, DC Comics implemented a relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to the New 52. Booster Gold and Skeets return in Action Comics #992.[45]
Later, after traveling through a time rift, Booster Gold absorbed a significant amount of "Omega Energy" and was thrown into a post-apocalyptic future where he was captured and tortured by Darkseid's forces for two years. The Time Trapper, who was working to stop Darkseid's ascendance, directed Superman and Superboy-Prime to this future to save Booster Gold. The two Kryptonians fought the Darkseid Legion, a version of the Legion of Super-Heroes under Darkseid's control, and successfully freed the weakened yet Omega Energy-infused Booster Gold, bringing him back to the present. While it was previously thought that the heroes saved Booster, it is implied that Darkseid had taken his form and infiltrated the heroes' ranks to manipulate the tournament from within and ensure his own victory as "King Omega".[46][47]
