My Grandaddy with my Mother. That's why he's my Grandaddy, you know.

This seems like kind of a no brainer given that Father’s Day is coming and Chuck Norris and my Grandaddy are damn near the same age.  I would worry about whether or not I’m going to offend my Grandaddy, but it’s not like he ever comes to this site.  That would require him to be home from whatever exotic island he and my grandmother are seemingly always visiting.  There is one very solid difference between these two men.  I’m not frightened of Chuck Norris, and my Grandaddy scares the living shit out of me!  Find out why after the jump!

1.  A bull once kicked my Grandaddy.  His response?  To barehanded rip its horn off.  True story.

2.  My Grandaddy hasn’t grown a beard as long as I’ve known him.  Why?  He once did in his youth, and impressed a peer so much that he was never without a beard again.  That man: Chuck Norris.  Grandaddy thought he looked goofy and felt so bad about it, that he never grew a beard again.

3.  My Grandaddy’s nickname?  “Red”.  You’d think it had something to do with his hair color, but the truth is, he was so filled with rage in his youth that Red was the only color he could see.

4.  My Grandaddy works out everyday.  As he lifts boulders and cows over his head, he laughs every time he sees ones of those Chuck Norris Total Gym commercials.

5.  My Grandaddy doesn’t cut down Christmas trees.  He punches them down.  They spontaneously decorate themselves on the ground.

6.  You know that fight between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris?  Well, Bruce and my Grandaddy once fought, and THAT fight was half as long and ended with Bruce Lee crying.

7.  My Grandaddy has a bench grinder.  I thought it was for grinding, but it turns out that he uses it to scratch his back.  Like a MAN!

8.  Chuck Norris might have played a Texas Ranger, but my Grandaddy is a volunteer fireman.  No shit.

9.  My Grandaddy used to raise cattle for slaughter.  He didn’t send the cows to the slaughterhouse.  He took care of that business with his bare hands.  Because he was bored.

10.  Chuck Norris let Average Joes compete in the Dodgeball final.  My Grandaddy used to come to my baseball games.  I’m sticking with Grandaddy.  Whether or not you do is up to you, but I warn you.  He’s huge!

Hell, I'd crash my mother's wedding to get with her!

Here’s a short Hot Nerd Crush to help you through your Monday.   One is married to one of the most annoying people on the planet, and the other is Isla Fisher!  No, I’m kidding.  Arnold Schwarzenegger’s wife Maria Shriver isn’t annoying.  But, we can’t judge hotness based on one’s significant other.  Look at Isla, who’s married to Sasha Baron Cohen, the man responsible for Borat!  That would rob most of the ugly nerds out there of hope that they could find that one hot person out there that isn’t actually lying when they say that they find intelligence sexy.  Bah!  Anyways, let’s get started.  Isla Fisher and Arnold Schwarzenegger after the jump.

I first recall seeing Isla Fisher as a blonde in the first Scooby Doo live action movie (along with future Hot Nerd Crush Linda Cardellini.)  Perhaps I just didn’t think much of the movie, because I simply didn’t remember her in the movie.   She turned up again as a hot, insane redhead in Wedding Crashers.  Much more memorable this time, because her comedic timing was showcased, as well as a body double.  (Damn body doubles!)  Her turn in Definitely, Maybe  was also standout, though the idea of this diminuitive redhead being some kind of alternative rebel is a little laughable.  But, what do I know, I’m a fat nerd.

Look at your man. Look at me. I'm on a horse.

And, being a fat nerd, I would definitely draw the ire of long standing tough man, Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The former Mr. Olympia and current governor of California has shown that he’s more than either the son of a nazi or the owner of a funny accent.  He’s a stickler for fitness, damn it!  Beyond that, of course, he’s been in some of the better science fiction films ever.  Starting with The Terminator.  Of course, you had to buy a gigantic Austrian body builder who could barely speak english as a killer robot.  Later, he starred in one of my favorites, Predator.  Not his most quotable film (that’d be a toss up of Commando/Kindergarten Cop), but certainly one of the better ones.  Simply because he let’s loose with his idea of a primal scream to get the intergalactic hunter’s attention.  Makes an excellent ringtone.  Especially in church.  And, my personal favorite of Arnold’s sci-fi movies would have to be the memory hiding actioner Total Recall.  Arnold’s ripped body is probably the best reason to “git yo ass ta Mahs.”

Oh...if only I had a nickel for every nickel I've had...

I’ve gotten a lot of visitors here at ManWithPez, and, I’ve been happy to see most of them!  No, I’m kidding.  I’ve been happy to see all of them!  To give a little something back, I’ve decided to host our very first contest here!  If you want to know what’s going down, come back after the jump!  Beware, however…I’m quite cheap and broke.  The prizes won’t be much to look at, but you’ll have all the pride of knowing that you’ve added to my financial downfall!

So, let’s get to the rules.  Look up.  Do you see a picture of me dancing in the header of this website?  If you look down to the right of me (though it’s not quite clear), there’s a television.  With every new visit to this site (or refresh, or visit to a different page), a new picture comes up.  It cycles through four different pictures at the moment.  So, now we come to the meat of it.  I want new pictures, and I want some audience participation around here.  Here’s a quick listing of the rules.  We’ll get to the prizes in just a second.

1.  Send me four pictures to take the place of the four I have running on the television in my header right now. 

2.  These pictures do not have to be related in any way, nor do they have to fall in any certain category (I’d prefer you not send me porn, but I have to say that as my future in-laws visit this site from time to time.)  Also…don’t just send me four pictures of yourself.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we don’t quite have the entire ear of the internet over here.

3.  One person can only send ONE entry.  That’s four pictures per entry, but one entry.  Got it?  Gooooood.

4.  Entries that do NOT have four pictures will be ignored.  Sorry about that, but we’re not mixing and matching here.

5.  These  can be your own pictures, or pictures you find around the internet, but we retain the right to alter them as we see fit.

6.  Please send me the actual picture files!  Not descriptions of the pictures or where I can find them.  Entries that do so will be ignored. 

There.  There’s some nice easy rules for you to play under.  The contest starts today, the 9th of June 2010, and will end on the 26th of June, 2010.  The winner will be announced on June 30th, 2010, and the winning entry will be displayed beginning July 1st, 2010.  We retain the right to remove the new pictures whenever we see fit, or whenever I lose interest, whichever happens first.  What?  It’s my website, damn it!  Now, on to the fun stuff…some prizes!  Some horrible, horrible prizes.

First prize:  Obviously, your choice of pictures will be displayed on ManWithPez.com for the foreseeable future.  Beyond that, you will recieve a certificate, a Pez dispenser of my choice, and…a shiny nickel!  There!  Don’t say I never gave you nothin’!

Second prize:  While your pictures will not be displayed, you will recieve a certificate and a Pez dispenser.  Again, of my choice.  It’s not like I’m handing out the crystal ones over here.

Third prize:  You, my third prize winning friend, will win a Pez dispenser of my choice.  Congratulations.  Your family will be very proud. (Also, it should go without saying, but your pictures will not be displayed.  My legal team is telling me that I HAVE to say that!  Damn legalese!)

OH! I guess I should tell you where to end your entries as well, huh?  Very well.  You may send your entries to Pezempire@yahoo.com .   Please use the word “CONTEST” in your subject line, and I’ll be most appreciative that I don’t have to track your entries down!  After the contest deadline, I’ll take a couple of days to judge the entries, and then I’ll get back to the winners so that we can find a way to send their winnings to them.  Do NOT send that information in your entry.  We’ll cover that later.  After the contest, I’ll announce the winner, and ridicule the loser…sorry, non-winners.  No, I’m kidding.  I’ll just send you harassing emails until I’ve wrung all entertainment value out of you.  Good luck to you, and hunt down the images you want to see on this site! (Except the image of me…I’m staying.)

Aww..how cute, and utterly annoying.

Okay, maybe finding new ways to annoy iconic comic book characters wasn’t the best way I could have spent my time, but damn it, I’m a nerd, and that’s just how I roll.  Now that my Superhero time is done, let’s get back to the basics of simply annoying our fellow man (or woman…it’s suprisingly easy to annoy women)!  I’m a big fan of annoying people.  Mostly people they annoy the hell out of me beforehand!  Anyways, let’s get to it.  Ten new ways to annoy people after the jump.

1.  Empty someone’s sunblock bottle, and replace it with a mixture of vegetable oil and horseradish.  Sunburn and spicy goodness is a winning combination.

2.  When your server brings you a mint with your check at a restaurant, refuse to pay it if the mint is not “wafer thin“.

3.  The next time you’re at church, see if you can exchange a hymn for a hardcore rap song, ala Bart Simpson and his replacement of a hymn with Iron Butterfly’s “Innagaddadavida“.  Replacing cursewords with holy words IS acceptable in this case.

4.  Dress like a witch/wizard from Harry Potter and run around with a stick placing spells on people.  For no reason whatsoever.  Bonus points for doing this in full robes in the blazing sun.

5.  Buy a watermelon and some M-80s and head to the Gallagher show.  Show him how to REALLY deal with a melon.

6.  Head to the local bar and do a shot for every celebrity that’s bitten the dust this year.  If you should happen to throw up, curse the name of John Forsythe as much as possible.  (Not because he’s bad, but because you were stupid enough to try this, and he did die this year.)

7.  Dress like a typical opera performer, with the metal breastplate and horned helmet and head out grocery shopping.  If someone asks you if your an opera singer, say “No.” and walk away.

8.  Fake pictures of yourself on the Grassy Knoll.  Hang them in your house.

9.  See if you can reenact the movie “Duel” with the local ice cream man.  In case you’re wondering, your the killer truck in this scenario.

10.  Head to see your biggest local baseball team play.  When someone hits a homerun, jump up and yell “TOUCHDOWN”!  Then try to explain to the people around you that you were making a joke.  Explain this for the rest of the game.

Damn Clint! Save some of that Beefcake for the rest of us!

You know what?  It feels good to get back to listing actual people for the Hot Nerd Crush again.  And, today, we’re going to look at a couple of more mature actors.  Mostly cause they’re still really hot.  Besides that, they both have distinguished acting careers.  And, they’ve actually appeared together in the same movie.  More on that later, however.  Let’s take a look at the combined hotness of Clint Eastwood and Patricia Clarkson after the jump!

Clint Eastwood, I’m proud to say, is one of my idols.  First off, he built an entire career on being a hardass.  After he got done being a hardass, he decided to show people that where his real talent was.  He’s a brilliant director that is as home directing small features as he is directing huge action scenes.   When you think of an archetypical cowboy, who do you think of?  Okay, besides John Wayne.  That’s right, Clint Fuckin’ Eastwood, that’s who!  From an uncountable number of spaghetti westerns directed by Sergio Leone, people thought they had an idea who Clint Eastwood was.  Turns out, along with the hardass cowboy in him, there was also a hardass cop in there too!  And his name is “Dirty” Harry Callahan!  After five Dirty Harry movies (No shit…there’s five of them!), he moved on to play roughneck bareknuckle fighter Philo Beddoe in Every Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can.  Ah, as Kevin Smith pointed out, the concept of a man and his monkey never gets old.  After that, we got to take a look at Eastwood’s hardass Marine character Gunnery Sgt Thomas Hiway in Heartbreak Ridge.  Okay, it’s not that great a movie, but when you get done seeing it, you will come away thinking that Clint Eastwood plays the best Marine in HISTORY!   He starred in and directed Unforgiven, an antiviolence western that somehow ends up being violent as hell!  To me, though, his best recent accomplishment was his part in directing and starring in Gran Torino, an absolutely amazing film.  I won’t even start to describe it.  Just go see it, trust me, and you’ll see how an 80 year old man ended up as this week’s Hot Nerd Crush!

Back off, the rest of you! She's waving at me and me ONLY!!!

Patricia Clarkson.  I don’t even have to say anything else.  Just Patricia Clarkson.  If you want to see what I’m talking about watch the SNL Digital Short Motherlover.  Beyond that, however, she’s just a hot looking lady, and one hell of an actress.   As for that film I mentioned that she was in with Clint Eastwood?  Oh, that’d be the last Dirty Harry movie, The Dead Pool.  (And, might I say, one hell of a step up from normal Clint Eastwood muse Sondra Locke.  Not being mean…I’m just saying.)  It just seems anymore, that if you need a hot older lady in your movie, the go to’s have changed.  It used to be Susan Sarandon or Goldie Hawn.  Now, we go with Patricia Clarkson, and you know…I can handle that.  I thought she brought some much needed pathos and a feminine touch to The Green Mile.  It’s that hair, that body, and that smoky voice.  There’s just something about her that screams sex!  Or rather, SEX!!!  Anways, she’s my pick for Hot Nerd Crush this week, and I stand by it.  She can get mad and leave if she wants, but that means I get to watch her walk away.  Rowr.  Hee hee.

Why, Dick! You are quite the little badass, aren't you?!

We’re drawing to a close in our last week of Superhero and Supervillain love here at ManWithPez.  For one last hurrah, let’s take a look at some videos that I’ve liked for sometime, and two of them are fan made.  For the most part, I’ve never liked fan films, but when it comes to comics, people just like to let their natural geek flag fly.  The results, as I’m sure you’ll see, are filled with equal parts love and awesomeness.  The third one…well, that’s just a little something for me.  Mostly because I really, really love The Flash.  Streaming Internet Theater occurs after the jump!

I first saw this clip at Dragon Con, on their excellent Dragon Con TV.  If you ever get to go to that Con…and you should, make certain that you tune in on your motel TV and check out some of the cooler things they have to show you.  Here’s a look at fan film Fast Times at Hero High (Personally, I love Lex Luthor in this!):

Coming up next, another favorite of mine, and another short that I caught at Dragon Con.  Admittedly, as a friend pointed out to me, the movie that this trailer would be showing you would be roughly 10 hours long.  But those would be the most awesome 10 hours you ever spent in your life!  I present Grayson, one of the best fan films ever made!  And, if you get the chance, swing by Youtube and check out the making of commentary by the maker of the film, John Fiorella.

And, last but by no means least, here’s a glimpse of a Flash video game that never finished production.  As you can see, it would have been a pretty badass game.  I’m guessing that the problem with finishing the game (besides not being able to find a distributor) is that The Flash really doesn’t have any bad guys that are worth a shit (Besides Gorilla Grodd…and he’s a MONKEY!) Here’s a look at The Flash video game that never was.

Strip by Scott Kurtz. Pretending That Kurtz Isn't An Asshole by ManWithPez.

Face it!  Bruce Wayne has it coming, and not just the Goddamn Batman version of him, either!  He’s just so damn smug and confident in himself and his intellect, and you just want to slap the everlovin’ shit out of him.  Maybe that’s just me, though.  Batman…he’s awful hard to fool, but I’ve noticed something about the character.  In his race to prove to the world that’s he a big hardass, he’s revealed that he’s very, very easily annoyed.  So, come with me, and let’s discuss different ways to annoy Batman, after the jump.

1.  Replace the pointy bat ears on Batman’s mask with fuzzy white rabbit ears.  See how long it takes him to figure it out.

2.  Tell the Joker that Batman is really Alfred Pennyworth.  You know…close to the mark, but not quite a bullseye.  Stick around to see Batman’s reaction to having the Joker in stately Wayne Manor.

3.  The next time you see Batman with Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, BatWoman, Huntress, Catwoman, or any number of other Batfamily, ask him if there’s just too much crime for him to handle on his own.

4.  Ask Bruce what he’s going to do for Mother/Father’s Day. 

5.  Feed Ace, The Bathound a pound of laxative and set him loose in the Batcave.

6.  Ask Batman if the Batmobile is so big because he’s compensating for something besides the death of his parents.

7.  Tell Robin wit in earshot of Batman that it’s okay to reveal if Batman has engaged in a Bat-Touch in a bad way.

8.  Secretly (Good luck!) glue Batman’s cape to his BatBoots.  See how far he can run THEN!

9.  Give the Goddamn Batman (or any Frank Miller version of Batman, really) a cookie and a glass of milk and tell him it’s going to be okay.  You might want to run.  That particular Batman isn’t picky about killing people.

10.  Create a storyline where Bruce’s mom was a crack whore, Bruce’s father was a drug dealer, and Alfred was really Bruce’s father, with Bruce being conceived during a gangbang.  Oh wait…scratch that…it’s been done. (You might want to avoid the last two years of Batman comics, by the way.)

Oh yeah! The Poison Ivy Pinup!

For our last Hot Nerd Crush of May, and the last comic hot ones we’ll be looking at….oh, for quite some time, let’s take a look at a Batman bad girl and the leader of the X-Men.  Both of them have quite unique abilities, but one has a festering hatred for men, and the other…well, he’s a man.  Besides playing for opposite comic book teams, they have little in common, other than the odd ability to pull high class tail despite the fact that the two of them do have rather odd appearances (Green and bald parapalegic, respectively).  Ladies and gentlemen (Yeah…like either one of those demographics come to THIS site), I present Poison Ivy and Professor X after the jump.

Pamela Isley, better known as Poison Ivy in the Batman universe is a bad, bad girl.  She was once a hot, young botanist in love, until her lover (The Floronic Man.  No shit!  Way to pick em, there, Pamela.) tried to poison her with plant toxins.  Ivy discovered that she is immune to all poisons and toxins, deciding to use them against everyone else in her agenda of keeping the world as natural as possible.  See, that’s the real problem with this chick.  She’s not really that bad of a person.  At least, her goals aren’t bad.  She, of course, coming from Gotham City, is batshit crazy.  Using her knowledge of plant toxins, she develops a lipstick (no shit), and anyone she kisses while wearing it is under her control.  It’s been seen working on Batman, Catwoman (HOT!)….even Superman.  Despite the silliness of her usual modus operandi (Oh shit!  Killer dandelions!  RUN!), whenever she’s on the scene, people are more than a little intimidated by her.  Mostly because human beings mean exactly dick to her when compared to the importance of plant life.  She does weild a wrist mounted crossbow, and you can guess what she coats the tips of the arrows with.  Different artists depict her different ways, but I like the green skinned Orion slave girl version of her.  Mostly because in this guise, it seems so odd that someone would just make out with a green chick…but they must have at some time!  That’s the other thing about Poison Ivy…You have no plausible deniability.  If you’re under her spell, that means you just got caught making out with a green woman who ISN’T She-Hulk.  She’s still ridiculously hot for all her greenness, though.

When I said the Professor gets the pussy, I totally meant something else.

On the “not green” side of the ledger, there’s Professor Charles Xavier, or leader/founder of the X-Men, Professor X.  Apparently his mutant ability early in the comics was to get his ass kicked right out of his wheelchair, and then psychically call for the team “To me, my X-Men.”  Kinda lame, really.  Sooner or later, the writers figured out that they might need to do more with “the world’s most powerful telepath”.  So, they did, turning him into an occasionally absent powerhouse who very nearly killed most of the Marvel Universe when he got a hard-on for the wrong girl.  More on that in a second.  My favorite appearance of his would have to be during the giant X-crossover “Fatal Attractions”, when Professor X decided he’s simply had enough of archvillain Magneto’s shit.  When Magneto crashes Illyana Rasputin’s funeral, Professor X grabs him, commandeers his power, and drives Magneto into the upper atmosphere.  Later in the story, he completely wiped Magneto’s mind, turning him into a vegetable.  It set the stage for possibly the single greatest threat the Marvel Universe had faced.  You see, what was left of Magneto fused with the worst parts of Charles Xavier’s brain…including one part that totally had the hots for Jean Grey.  Ewwww!  This fused being became Onslaught, a villain that bitchslapped the Hulk just for looking at him the wrong way.  Fascinating stuff, but Charles, for a bald guy in a wheelchair, gets the girls.  Be it the famous mutant doctor Moira McTaggert, or the Queen of the Shi’ar Lilandra, Charles pulls the tail.  I’m guessing his ability to manipulate minds might have something to do with it.  But in a sexy way…not a date rape kind of way at all!

Oh Max...you bad, bad boy!

Here at ManWithPez, we do not discriminate against the good guys and the bad guys when it comes the Hot Nerd Crush.  Last time, it was Mystique, who really was as bad as they come.  This time, we’re going to have a look at a bad guy and good lady!  One is as bad as they come, and very nearly destroyed the entire DC universe with his murderous machinations.  The other is a mutant who controls weather.  As goofy as that sounds, she’s really not to be trifled with.  Maxwell Lord and Storm, Hot Nerd Crushes, after the jump.

Now, you might be asking yourself, after including Booster Gold in the last Hot Nerd Crush, why would I pick the man who killed his best friend, Blue Beetle?  (And, he didn’t just kill him…he blew his friggin’ head off!)  Well, the truth is, he was ridiculously dangerous!  So much so that he had to be put down like a dog!  He wasn’t always a bad guy, though.  He helped establish the Justice League International.  He was always a bit ruthless, however, and when it was revealed that he had mind control powers, you just knew he was up to no good.  During Infinite Crisis, he set loose the OMACS, who were actually people that had been injected with nanotech to imbue them with superpowers.  Of course, he used them to try and take over the world, but it didn’t stop there!   After killing Ted Kord, The Blue Beetle, he took over the mind of Superman, and began to use him to take out the Justice League.  The only thing that stopped him?  Well, that’d be Wonder Woman, snapping his neck for him.  You don’t mess with the Amazon.  Lord damn near dared her to do it.  And, of course, it was recorded and rebroadcast the world over, making Diana a virtual world criminal.  His machinations continued after his death, and it damn near destroyed everything!  Now, that’s foresight!  You simply have to admire it!  And, I do…which speaks volumes about the kind of person I am, I suppose.

She's quite an electrifying presence, huh?

Ororo Tchalla nee Munroe is one of the baddest MF’ers in comic book history.  She’s a mutant with the ability to locally control weather patterns.  An ability she’s weilded to devastating effect time and again.  She’s now married to the King of Wakanda, The Black Panther, making her the queen consort of an entire African nation.  Before that, however, she was a leader of the X-Men.  My single favorite moment of hers occured in the sewers.  The Morlocks, a group of mutants who live in the underground have a new leader, Marrow.  Or, they thought they did.  You see, at one time Storm was the leader of the Morlocks, and relinquished control to Callisto.  The only way to assume leadership?  Mortal combat.  Which this girl Marrow wanted from Ororo.  Storm gave it to her in spades in a brutal hand to hand battle (Marrow, a mutant who has bone growing out of her skin, used her powers in the fight.  Storm did not) the culminated with Storm tearing out Marrow’s heart!  (To be fair…it had a bomb wired to it.)  Now THAT’S how you settle a damn fight!  Storm is hot, she’s badass, and she does NOT take shit off anyone…making her a perfect choice for Hot Nerd Crush.

And THAT'S what Mystique is SUPPOSED to look like! You hearin' me Rebecca Romijn?

Oh, Hot Nerd Crush…how I’ve missed you!  I suppose a recount of the guidelines are in order, huh?  Okay…first off, I’m not gay.  Doesn’t mean I can’t find a man attractive, and I stand by that. I just highlight a few people now and again that I think your typical dork might find attractive.  Just lately, they’ve all been fictional people. In the last few instances of Hot Nerd Crush, I’ve been highlighting comic book superheroes, and as is my wont, I changed the rules in the middle of the game.  For the rest of the month, we’re adding the villains in too.  So, this week, let’s take a look at favorite Marvel badgirl Mystique and current DC good guy (That you’re never heard of) Booster Gold!

Boy…character histories don’t come more convoluted than the blue hotness that is Raven Darkholme, or Mystique!  All I know is that she’s an all around badass!  While normally, she chooses to strike and then use her shapeshifting abilities to disappear into a crowd, when she’s pressed on the attack, the effects are devestating to anyone she’s up against.  Her abilities make her age indeterminate, and she’s given birth two times (that we know of) making her one of the hottest MILFs in comics!  She had a son with gnarly X-Men villain Sabertooth (Ugh…that’s not right!).  Their offspring was the completely human Graydon Creed.  Mystique wanted nothing to do with him after finding out he was Homo Sapien rather than Homo Superior…Harsh!  Also, along with the demonlike mutant Azazel, she gave birth to one of my favorite mutants, Nightcrawler!  She’s mean, she’s smart, she’s into chicks (Seriously…she raised Rogue with some help from a female mutant named Destiny…rowr!)  And she’s damn near unkillable.  Personally, my favorite storyline of hers is “Get Mystique” wherein Wolverine has a bone to pick with Mystique…and he does, to fanboy satisfaction.

Protecting your future to save his ass....PAST! I meant past!

My personal favorite superhero just lately has changed. Normally, Spider-Man would hold that billing, but along comes Michael Carter, aka Booster Gold!  (Or, Booster F’n Gold as he’s known around this house.  No, really…that’s what my kids call him.  They pronounce the F and everything!)  While Booster’s history hasn’t always been the greatest (Indeed, he was thrown out of the sport of football for throwing games against bets he had placed himself…Naughty, Booster…just naughty!)  he is a superhero of the future come back to save us all.  Originally for fortune and glory, kid…fortune and glory.  He was a night watchman in a museum in the future in Metropolis along with his trusty security robot, Skeets (YAY, SKEETS!), Michael steals a forcefield belt and a Legionaire flight ring, and journeys to the past, where he knows what’s going to happen to whom and where, and decides to make himself a superhero!  While Booster is a shameless self promoter, you can’t help but love the guy!  If you read his current comics incarnation, then you know that his new job is travelling throughout time with his son Rip Hunter and righting certain temporal wrongs.  The downside…no one can know that he was involved.  Kinda puts a dent in the fortune and glory stuff.  Of course, he’s fantastic at it.  He’s Booster F’n Gold!  He gets the job done, even when the job is impossible!  Booster can’t help but show that inside him are all the characterstics of a great superhero, and while he seems self involved, he will do what needs to be done.

On a side note for Booster Gold:  Booster has appeared in two of the DC Animated Universe’s shows, to great effect.  In Justice League Unlimited, he was in one of my favorite half hours of television ever in an episode called “The Greatest Story Never Told“, and he lent a hand to Batman in Batman:  The Brave and the Bold in “Menace of the Conqueror Caveman“, and was just as great as ever.  Kudos to Tom Everett Scott for his brilliant voice work as Booster, and to Billy West as Skeets in both of those episodes.  Watch either one of these episodes, and you’ll see what makes these two brilliant!