Hey, kids! Today's your first second chance to buy November's Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Infinite Crisis #1 one-shot, as it is included in Tales form the Dark Multiverse hardcover collection. Better late than never.

Speaking of reprints, if you're the sort of person who reads comic book related news sites — either for fun or because you run a website devoted to a comic book character who only sporadically appears as a background character in other books and you're always looking for new content — you may have heard that today's Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3 went to a second printing two weeks before the issue was ever released!

Believe it or not, that post-Final Order Cut-off/pre-New Release sellout happened because DC failed to mention in the solicitations provided to the stores that a certain super-popular character appears in it.

That character is sadly NOT Booster Gold.

Per DC's February 11 press release at dccomics.com:

The debut of Punchline, the Joker's deadly new henchperson, has led to pre-on sale sellouts of both Batman #89 and Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3—and now, DC announces that these issues, both written by James Tynion IV—are rushing back to press for second printings!

Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3's second printing covers the confrontation between Lex Luthor and The Joker, with help from Punchline and Mercy, as the conflict between the forces of Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs reaches the boiling point. Written by Tynion IV with art by Steve Epting, this issue will arrive in stores with a recolored version of its original cover by Epting.

The second printings of Batman #89 and Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3 will both be published on March 4. If the comics aren't already on your pull lists, contact your local comic book shop and let them know you're looking for these issues to be added!

For the record, no one knew this milked cash cow "Punchline" character would be in these two books until DC announced it... on February 7. Hint to DC: if you want people to buy your comics in the specialty shops dedicated to your product, maybe you should tell us about them before those stores have to place their orders from you. Otherwise, you're kind of shooting yourself in the foot. You won't make a single penny on the two or more (or much more) times cover price I'll now be paying for a first edition printing of a new Booster Gold comic book, so you end up losing money and angering fans. That's good business, he says sarcastically.

Sigh. Oh, well. I guess it's just one last thing I can blame on newly ex-publisher Dan "don't let the door hit you on the way out" DiDio. (Double sigh. Now who am I going to blame for everything I don't like about DC Comics?)

If you can find it for a reasonable price, buy this issue and make Skeets happy.

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Here's something I missed in the run up to Comic-Con: a teaser poster for DC's Year of the Villain event!

You probably can't see him, but Booster Gold is in there, right between Flash and Wonder Woman!

This ad was released online in July and appeared in all DC imprint comics published this week. (Does anyone recognize the artist? Drawn by Nick Bradshaw, inked by Cully Hamner, and colored by Hi-Fi Designs.) It specifically teases the first storyline in the upcoming Batman/Superman #1.

Booster's inclusion here shouldn't come as a surprise, as he had already been linked to the issue in May's DC's Year of the Villain Special. I guess we'll have to buy Batman/Superman #1 — in stores August 28 — to find out if Booster is truly among the "Secret Six" victims of the Batman Who Laughs.

In very related news, Jonathan Reichman pointed out that this week DC announced six new series to tie directly into the Batman/Superman series and four (and counting) Tales from the Dark Multiverse one-shots. One of those stories hints bad things for our hero.

Per the press release from DCComics.com:

TALES FROM THE DARK MULTIVERSE: INFINITE CRISIS #1
Writer James Tynion IV (Justice League, Justice League Dark) and artists Aaron Lopresti (Wonder Woman) and Matt Ryan (Damage) team up with cover artist Lee Weeks for this dark turn on DC's mega-event Infinite Crisis. The destruction of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, the rise of Alexander Luthor and Superboy-Prime, and the rebirth of the Multiverse all began with Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle. Kord saw it all coming and died with secrets that could have saved the world. But in the Dark Multiverse, Blue Beetle survives, and with the death of Maxwell Lord by his hand, Ted sets off events that irreversibly alter the lives of not only the Justice League, but also his best friend, Booster Gold. In trying to prevent a crisis, Blue Beetle becomes the crisis, and the Dark Multiverse will never be the same.

Thanks for warning us that was coming, Jonathan. Let's see if we learn more when DC releases November solicitations (probably next week).

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Begin the year with more death! Heroes in Crisis #4 is in stores today.

DCComics.com has the issue preview. Barry Allen still thinks that Booster is guilty, but that cover says differently.

Honestly, I'm beginning to think that there have been no murders at all. Perhaps the whole thing is just one big, bad hallucination in the mind of one PTSD-addled character. But Tom King wouldn't do that twice. Would he?

Buy this issue and make Skeets happy!

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Today's the big day!

A preview of Heroes in Crisis #1 is online at DCComics.com.

As you can see on the cover above, the series' limited run has been extended from seven issues to nine. Per Friday's announcement at DCComics.com:

First announced as a seven-issue series by Tom King and artist Clay Mann, HEROES IN CRISIS now expands to nine issues, with King collaborators Lee Weeks and Mitch Gerads providing art for the added issues. These issues will provide added insight into King and Mann's epic tale, with Weeks (BATMAN/ELMER FUDD) handling art duties for issue #3 and Eisner award-winning Gerads (MISTER MIRACLE) providing art for issue #7.

HEROES IN CRISIS #1, written by Tom King, art by Clay Mann and Tomeu Morey, lettered by Clayton Cowles and edited by Jamie S. Rich and Brittany Holzherr, hits shelves September 26.

King elaborated on Twitter, explaining "we were going to do 7 issues of HiC and 2 HiC 'specials,' and instead we (I) decided it would work better if we incorporated the specials into the numbering." So this isn't a big change (and also probably explains the mysterious disappearance of that Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy Heroes in Crisis prelude special that was solicited by Dynamic Forces back in July). Good to know.

Also of note is King's recent description of Booster Gold's role in the series. He spoke to Kiel Phegly of CBR.com:

CBR: Is there a piece of DCU lore or a corner of the comics that might not be central to the action that you really wanted to bring in just to play with it in some small way?

King: There are C-level characters that are fun. I mean, Booster Gold! The trinity are the stars of the series, but the other two star characters are Booster and Harley. Booster to me doesn't seem like a character I'm pulling off the shelf because he feels like someone at the heart of the DCU. Maybe I've been watching too much Justice League Action over and over with my kids. He's the center of that show, and he's amazing.

That's not so good to know. While I agree that Booster is amazing, I'm not eager to see JL Action's goofy interpretation become his dominant characterization in the mainstream DCnU. (Does anyone remember what Elongated Man, Doctor Light, and Jean Loring were like *before* Identity Crisis? Just saying.)

Buy Heroes in Crisis #1 from your Local Comic Shop and make Skeets happy.

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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!

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