Booster Gold: The Greatest Hero You’ve Never Heard Of

Michael Jon Carter was born in the year 2442 in Gotham. He is the twin brother of Michelle Carter (Goldstar). Both were born to a loving mother and a father who later turned to gambling, leaving the family struggling for money and shouldering a huge debt. Michael became a football player in college but when his mother became ill, he started betting on and throwing his own games to make money to afford his mother’s treatment.

Michael was eventually caught and sent to prison, and after he was released he went to work as a security guard in a Metropolis museum - where he subsequently stole a time machine and a security droid called Skeets. He used the time machine to travel back in time to the 20th century to become the hero Booster Gold.

Soon after, Booster met Ted Kord, The Blue Beetle, and the two became fast friends, leading to some funny adventures involving the two heroes.

Booster also became a member of the new Justice League International. During his time in the JLI, he was part of the team that fought Doomsday during his first appearance on Earth. Booster is actually credited as the person who first referred to the monster ‘Doomsday."

Later on, after Superman lost his powers, Booster used Skeets’ database of historical information to prevent crimes and disasters, effectively replacing the Man of Steel and encouraging companies to sign him to lucrative sponsorship deals. After being caught having an actor stand in his place a few times, his credibility as a hero was shot. He then created the superhero identity known as Supernova to draw attention away from the Booster Gold name, which had garnered a lot of negative publicity.

Booster then began working for the time-traveling hero known as Rip Hunter, who (unbeknownst to Booster) was actually his son. He and Rip used time travel to save people close to Booster, including his best friend Ted Kord. Unfortunately, it was revealed that Ted’s death at the hand of Maxwell Lord was necessary so that other heroes would not suffer the same fate. Choosing to sacrifice himself to save others, Ted allowed Booster to take him back to the moment in time when he was killed - a heartbreaking moment in their long friendship.

More recently, Booster tried to give Batman the perfect gift for his upcoming wedding to Catwoman (which never happened...yet), so he traveled back in time and saved the Waynes to give Batman a taste of the life he lost. Of course, this plan royally backfires and he is subsequently sent to The Sanctuary, a place for heroes with PTSD. Booster's stint in The Sanctuary coincides with 12 other patients being killed, making him one of the prime suspects and forcing him to prove his innocence.

In the most recent mini series called Blue and Gold, Ted and Booster are back to having more lighthearted adventures. They started an agency to help "the little guy" using Ted’s company for funding.

So, if you're ever in need of a hero, go for the Gold Standard - go for Booster Gold!