Max Lord is the big "winner" receiving a clear majority of the vote, so I feel comfortable declaring him Booster Gold's arch nemesis, Rebirth continuity be damned!

Last week's poll question: Which villain do you consider to be Booster Gold's arch-enemy? (47 votes)

(If you voted "someone else," who did you have in mind? Dirk Davis?)

While we're on the subject of villains, someone has been making Booster Gold's life miserable recently in the pages of Heroes in Crisis. (We all agree Booster is innocent, right? Right.) The identity of the real culprit has been the subject of much debate recently as the series nears its halfway point.

One popular Internet theory is that the real villain is Skeets. This is mostly based on one panel in Batman #50 that remains unexplained. The link between these two stories is writer Tom King. Could he have been dropping Heroes in Crisis clues in Batman? I doubt it. I just can't believe that he'd crib so blatantly from 52.

The manager of my Local Comic Shop thinks that the mastermind behind the murders is Psycho Pirate. For those who don't know, Psycho Pirate — a character with key ties to the biggest crisis, Crisis on Infinite Earths — has the ability to manipulate emotions, a power that fits well into a story advertised as being about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (For what it's worth, PP is also in the aforementioned panel with Skeets in Batman #50. But then so was the Joker. Joker can't be behind all this, can he?)

Personally, I've decided that there aren't really any murders in Heroes in Crisis. I think it's all just one ongoing computer simulation designed to.... Well, I'm not sure what it's designed to do. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the matrix is. We'll all have to see it for ourselves.

If you need some evidence to support your pet theory, Vaneta Rogers put together a list of the clues at Newsarama.com. Take a look and see if you can't solve these crimes before Booster Gold does.

Comments (3) | Add a Comment | Tags: batman heroes in crisis maxwell lord newsarama.com polls skeets vaneta rogers villains

We haven't even gotten the second issue, and Heroes in Crisis is already off schedule.

Despite advance solicitations, Heroes in Crisis #2 will not be in your Local Comic Shop today. The book has been delayed at least a week. According to DCComics.com, it is now scheduled for next week, October 31, although Diamond's website, previewsworld.com, offers no such assurances at this time.

Will we see Heroes in Crisis next week? We'll all find out together.

Meanwhile, if you're looking for another excuse to visit the fine people at your LCS, remember that Batman Vol. 7: The Wedding TP is out today. It reprints Batman #45, 46, and 47, among other issues. If you missed or were trade-waiting the story that explained what Booster Gold was doing in Heroes in Crisis's doomed Sanctuary, this trade is for you.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: batman heroes in crisis new releases

I'm sure you've heard by now that printed copies of last week's Batman: Damned marked the first on-panel appearance of Batman's, um, sidekick.

Batman: Damned #1, writer: Brian Azzarello, artist: Lee Bermejo

DC Comics promptly promised to remove, er, "Li'l Wayne" from future printings and all digital copies. IGN.com reported that a DC source justified the company's abrupt about-face by claiming that "it wasn't additive to the story." If that was the case, why was it there in the first place?

The obvious answer is that this was a stunt to sell comic books.

Gratuitous nudity has long been used in comic books and other visual media to increase sales. (Generally speaking, women are the subject of this sort of exploitation far more than men — the target audience for such things is generally male — so in a way, seeing Batman's, ah, primary sexual characteristic is kind of refreshing. Kind of.) But Batman is not an outlier property. He is arguably DC's most valuable property. His name alone in the masthead moves books. If any character shouldn't have to drop trou to get some attention, it's Batman.

Which brings us to the obvious question: who's next?

If they'll do it to Batman, they'll do it to anyone. If DC has reached a point were they are willing to release "mature reader" comic books of their headliners in birthday suits, how long until we get a better look at characters who are somewhat more obscure?

In other words, it seems only a matter of time until we see Booster Gold's penis.

That's a future I don't think I'm prepared for.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: batman ign.com nudity

DCComics.com released a "DC Tales From the Vault" episode promoting Batman on Tuesday, and it includes Batman Group Editor Jamie Rich reading his own fan letter published in Booster Gold #7 (1986).

Here's the original letter so that you can read along:

Rich wasn't named Batman Group Editor until April, and Tom King's referenced Booster Gold story, "The Gift," was already deep in production by then. So we won't judge Rich too harshly for that fiasco. (I refuse to believe that any OG Booster booster like Rich would have let King lobotomize our hero if he could have stopped him!)

You get a pass this time, Rich. But know that Booster Gold fans are watching you extra closely now!

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: batman dccomics.com jamie rich letter youtube.com

Happy Independence Day! If you can tear yourself away from fireworks and hot dogs, get yourself to your Local Comic Shop today and get your hands on Injustice 2 #29, featuring Booster Gold's new jacket!

Finally! A costume update that looks better than what he was already wearing!

While you're there, consider picking up a copy of the suddenly very controversial Batman #50. Your LCS probably ordered too many of them.

(A quick aside for those of you not glued to the comics press: on Sunday, with the consent of DC Comics, The New York Times newspaper spoiled the events of Batman #50. According to ComicBook.com, DC vice-president of sales John Cunningham defended the company's actions by essentially saying that DC wanted to mitigate what they knew would be terrible backlash if fans didn't find out about the issue contents until the day of release. That's practically an admission that they had promoted and sold the issue — retailers had to commit to orders for the 50+ covers two months ago — on false pretenses. I'm no lawyer, but I would think that qualifies as fraud.)

But I'm not advocating that you pick up Batman because I'm a nice guy who wants to see Local Comics Shops stay in business. No, like Booster Gold, I'm a little shallower than that. I'm suggesting you pick up an issue because Skeets is in it.

What is Skeets doing here? I have no idea. It being a Tom King written book, I bet there's no logical reason, probably just an excuse to get Booster Gold fans to buy a copy. At least in my case, it will work.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: batman comicbook.com fashion injustice john cunningham new releases skeets tom king