Blue Beetle and Booster Gold: BFF’s
Forget Superman and Batman. Forget Green Arrow and Green Lantern. Hell, you can even forget Luke Cage and Iron Fist. If there is one team-up in superhero comics with an unmatched chemistry between them, it’s Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. And just to clarify, we’re not talking about the third Blue Beetle here, which is Jaime Reyes; we’re talking about the DC’s original BB, Ted Kord (yes, he’s DC’s original. The first ever Blue Beetle in Comics was by Fox Comics and is more of a pulp hero than a superhero). Going back to topic, the Booster Gold and Blue Beetle combination is one of comics’ most recognizable, albeit oftentimes overshadowed, partnerships. Yes, fans of the genre may be quite familiar with them, but they’re more insider knowledge than they are readily available information.
See, the thing that makes the two superheroes so appealing as a couple is because of their similarities. As opposed to other, more famous team-ups like the aforementioned Batman and Superman or Green Arrow and Green Lantern, who thrive on the contrast that exists between them, Ted Kord and Michael Jon Carter are perfect because they jive together: their personalities and themes not only align but complement each other. In fact, we could only think of very few others that come close to their dynamic, Luke Cage and Iron Fist among them. However, even the Heroes for Hire or, say, couples like Cloak and Dagger have certain limitations to them that don’t necessarily apply to Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. For one, the whole Cloak and Dagger dynamic is akin to Green Arrow’s and Black Canary’s: they’re a romantic team-up. On the other hand, couples like Luke Cage and Iron Fist or even the Flash and Green Lantern (you may also know them as the original Brave and the Bold tandem) are limited by their scope. The Heroes for Hire are more suited to grounded stories on a neighborhood/city level, while Green Lantern and Flash are in their element more with sci-fi adventures.
Wait! Aren’t the Beetle and Booster sci-fi heroes, too? The answer to that is yes. Hear us out, though. At its core, it all boils down to how established the characters are. So, the more famous a character, the more we associate them with certain settings and elements (like how The Flash is for time travel stories and Batman for deranged maniacs), which makes it harder to alter the formula, so to speak. But in the case of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, you’re dealing with two relatively unknown superheroes. As a result, even if they do have themes that they’re at home at (Booster Gold is a time traveler, Blue Beetle is a scientist/inventor), it’s still not hugely associated with them, because most fans will look at them with a sense of novelty. In other words, it’s like they’re entering the whole arena with a fresh start; they have yet to establish what it is exactly what they could be known for. And that just works to their advantage: it gives them the freedom to experiment in terms of what kind of superhero subgenre they may appear in.
Yes, they may be B-list heroes at best, but they have an untapped potential in them. So much so, that the WB has even optioned a feature film revolving around the two heroes. We for one are curious how they’ll handle it.