Thursday, December 24, 2009

Broderick

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In the 25th century a Metropolis police officer named Broderick became a fan of Gotham Universitys' star quarterback Michael "Booster" Carter. Following the athletes' progress he mused that the kid had a bright future. When the Carter gambling scandal broke he like many became jaded that the young man could have fallen from grace. Broderick would be the one to receive the call that Metropolis' Space Museum had been robbed by none other than Carter. Worse yet he had taken a time machine, an act that was punishable by death without a trial. Feeling some type of karma linked the two together Broderick became obsessed with taking down his quarry.

He refused to listen to reason when Carter returned to the 25th century. Now calling himself Booster Gold claiming to be a hero in the past Carter said that he belonged in that era. All Broderick cared about was making sure the execution was carried out even if he had to be the one to do it. Thanks to the timely arrival of Rip Hunter, Jack Soo and Michelle Carter
he was denied. As the group escaped back in time he attempted to repair a Time Platform enough to follow. Once in the past Broderick was sickened by the waste of mankind and by the praise that, at the time, was given to Carter.

His form of "justice" was denied however when Carter leapt in to protect innocents and Brodericks' own cop instincts kicked in. Together the two foiled the robbery taking place. Carter offered him back his weapon when it was over giving him two options. Either to shoot him or accept his help in returning Broderick to his time. In the end he chose not to shoot but refused to beg his former foe for assistance thinking he would need to find his own way.

Where is he now?: After the first Booster Gold series nothing has been written about Broderick. Which is a shame. I think the ironic nature of his chase and Boosters' present state would be worth looking into.


First Appearance: Booster Gold #15 Vol. 1

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Per Degaton

Per Degaton
Per Degaton has a complex backstory. Yes, I know that it's shocking to hear that a time traveler has a confusing origin so I'm going to attempt to make this as basic as I can. Degaton was an assistant in a group of scientists called the Time Trust during World War 2 that were attempting to find a means for bomb defenses in the future to help the war effort in their time. The Justice Society of America went 500 years into the future and returned with the formula to produce such defenses. Enraged and jealous of the JSA Degaton sabotaged the formula before abandoning the Time Trust. 

Obsessed with time travel Degaton had many run ins with heroes before coming in contact with a robot from the future named Mekanique. She helped him learn more of his passion. During their first five years together her body was crushed leaving only her head. Spending time together the two fell in love. (Don't you love comics?) Professor Malachi Zee, like Degaton a former member of the Time Trust, worked with the two to create a time machine. In one of the many ironic twists in his life Degaton aims to kill Zee unintentionally sending him 40 years into the future in a time machine he intended to use for his own purposes. Mekanique suggested they wait for it to reappear which drove Degaton over the edge to the point where he buried her head. 

The moment that's retconned: Originally Degaton carries on with his dastardly plans living out most of the next 40 years behind bars. Once he's out he reconstructs Mekanique and he battles the Infinity Inc. in the same spot that the Zee time machine disappeared where it soon reappears. A dying Zee comes out along with a Chronal Duplicate of Degaton made when he attempted to stop the time machine from leaving. The old Degaton commits suicide rather than return to jail and Mekanique gets her revenge by killing the double. In the retconned version the duplicate tries to change his fate prior to these events only to return to relive the same moment in a time loop when he is defeated. He recalls all these failures each time he returns to the same moment.

Accepting that on some level that he will never win against the JSA Degaton existed as a non-linear ghost like being that repeatedly watched his enemies dying taking pleasure in witnessing their pain. He lives "between the seconds" as an ageless eternal being thanks to his Time Disk which he sometimes uses to travel. Tachyons like the ones found in Hourmans' hourglass are able to get him out of his intangible state. Degaton has been able to break the pattern of the time loop since aquiring the time disk to watch more of his foes suffering.

Team Ups: The original worked with the Time Trust, and Mekanique. The duplicate has genetically advanced soldiers from the year 2666 called the Red Morgue that he uses as his own personal assassins. He has also teamed up with other time displaced villains to form the Time Stealers.

Enemies: He has an intense hatred for the JSA and his biggest rival in time travel appears to be Rip Hunter who Mr. Mind promised he could personally kill.

A/N: Because of the long history involved I have decided to only write about the Time Stealers that have previous history in time travel, i.e. Mr. Mind and Black Beetle. 

Goldstar 1: Theresa "Trixie" Collins

Goldstar 1 Trixie 2
Booster Gold was known as a corporate crusader because he was a hero that didn't shy away from making profits by promoting his heroic image. As such his manager Dirk Davis had Jack Soo created a costume for a female sidekick they hoped to make to help Booster and them earn more money for their company. This promotion never came about like they planned as they never got around to hiring anyone for the job. When the costume was finished Booster was stranded in a hospital full of a hero hating mob that blamed him as part of the problem with the violence in the world. Having no one else that could fit into the suit Davis and Soo asked Boosters' receptionist/friend Trixie Collins to don the Goldstar uniform (named after the superhero name Booster had originally planned to take himself) to save their boss.

Trixie was a somewhat shy young woman from Kansas that had developed a crush on Booster that he seemed to be oblivious of. Feeling self-conscious of her body and the powers of magnetism the suit provided Trixie nevertheless agreed helping Booster escape so that he could return to the future to save his life. Despite having misgivings of being a superhero she worked well under pressure and managed to control the magnetic abilities. Afterwards Trixie was only too happy to put heroism behind her when Boosters' twin sister Michelle Carter decided to see what the appeal of being a hero was for herself and took the suit on an ill-fated test run. Since Trixie and Booster have parted ways she has become a business woman in her own right. 

Goldstar 1 Trixie
Art Mistake: In the second Booster Gold series Boosters' own past with Michelle has his sisters' hair colored red when she is in fact a blond. This may be confusion because of Trixies' short time as Goldstar.
First Appearance: Booster Gold Vol. 1 #1 as Goldstar in Booster Gold Vol.1 #13-15 

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Chronopolis

Chronopolis
Chronopolis is a city that is unaffected by the passage of time. Because of this most of the events taking place inside it's walls are happening simultaneously though it's visitors are only aware of this when time fluxes around them to show "ghosts" of events that have either happened or will happen.The city was co-created by Gravesend, a mysterious being that runs the city before he comes in contact with an adult Walker Gabriel

Bad Future Chronopolis
Many time travelers visit the city, one of the ways being through the Trans-Avant-Garde that runs directly into the citys' terminals. The city holds many secrets into Walkers' past and future. 

Fate?: Unclear. In one future The Countess ends up claiming ownership over it. While in another it's other creator returns. 

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Times Spheres and Time Packs

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Time Spheres have been in the DC Universe since at least the Silver Age. Back then they were pretty common place in superhero comics from the Legion of Superheroes to Lois Lane hopping into one to visit Krypton before it exploded. Since then the use and invention of them has been harder to come by. After Crisis on Infinite Earths it's generally accepted that Rip Hunter invented them with his friend Jeff Smith sometimes credited in helping him. At present it seems that Rip Hunter is one of the few to be able to perfect a Time Sphere. Even the Time Stealers who have vast intellects at their disposal and members who regularly time travel could not perfectly duplicate one. Having borrowed one of the Time Stealers spheres Booster Gold commented that it was a "piece of junk" that was difficult to maneuver. Being able to use Rips' own devices made this far more apparent.

Time Pack
Post-Crisis during the Time Master mini series Rip Hunter invented what he called a Time Pack. Which would allow each wearer to make one trip to the desired timeframe and one return trip back. Smaller in size this time machine was much easier to conceal. 

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Time Stealers

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To bring about the end of the Time Masters so they can truly command the time line Mr. Mind joined forces with other villains to form a group called the Time Stealers. Taking matters into their own hands they destroy anyone that gets in their way and do anything they can to get Booster Gold to quit his role as Time Master. Mind informed them that their usual method of killing enemies won't work with Gold. The reason for this was never told only that he could not realize his destiny or that of his line.

The members of the Time Stealers are: 

Mr. Mind: (Not Shown) A two inch Venus worm that previous became a Hyperfly only to have his plans for the 52 stopped by Booster Gold, Rip Hunter and Daniel Carter.

Despero: Plucked from time shortly after his first battle with the Justice League, before he mutated.

Supernova 3: Taking the uniform Rip Hunter created from it's newest user (Daniel Carter), Jon Carter the father of Booster Gold became the third Supernova. Acting the part of a villain instead of a hero, Jon a con man through and through,attempted to disillusion his son.   

Maximillon: A vastly upgraded version of Booster Golds' robot buddy Skeets, the self proclaimed enemy of the droid. 

Degaton: A time traveler that fights the Justice Society of America hailing from the 1940s'. 

Ultra-Humanite: taken from his days fighting Infinity Inc. when he was in the form of an ape.

Black Beetle: Not much is known about the Black Beetle. His own tales of his origin change with each telling. Thus far he has claimed to be a Blue Beetle from the 27th century,Hector (a former friend of Blue Beetle 3/Jaime Reyes), Jaimes' greatest enemy and a future version of Jaime Reyes. Needless to say he's not the most trustworthy of guys. 

Jason Goldstein/Rex Hunter:(Not shown)A former member that the rest of the team decided posed too much of a risk once he was captured by Rip Hunter.