UPDATE 2021-04-21: This post was originally sent live on April 21, 2021, but I have backdated it to clear the deck for some more important news!

The Flash 769 arrives in your Local Comic Shop this week. As you can see from the cover, Gold Beetle features prominently.

Says Barry Allen: "She looks like...well...like both of...you know." And that's as close as this issue gets to name-dropping Booster Gold.

The Gold Beetle in this issue is a fast talking, brash time traveler with a painfully strong Dr. Who vibe. The accoutrements and mannerisms aren't a perfect match to GB's first appearance (in Future State Suicide Squad, also written by Jeremy Adams), but as with the encounters with The Doctor, there's no guarantee we're meeting her in chronological order. Time Travel Is Complicated.â„¢

Which brings us to today's big question: should Boosterrific.com be tracking Gold Beetle appearances? When I put the site together 14 years ago, it honestly didn't occur to me that I might need to be tracking Booster Gold legacy characters. It didn't occur to me until earlier this year, in fact.

I do track Booster's sidekicks. I've logged independent Skeets appearances (though that's only happened a few times in JLA trophy rooms), but Goldstar had never yet appeared in a book without Booster. Should I be logging Gold Beetle appearances somewhere? Given that this is only GB's third appearance, maybe I can put that decision off until later.

Meanwhile, if you absolutely have to have a new comic with Booster Gold in it, there's always the Who's Who Omnibus Volume 1, a 1320-page hardcover reprint of most of DC's late 80's Who's Who encyclopedias, including Booster's entry in the Who's Who Update '87. It costs $150, but such is the price of nostalgia on glossy archival paper.

Comments (5) | Add a Comment | Tags: flash future state gold beetle jeremy adams suicide squad who's who