While Booster boosters were occupied with last week's announcement and pre-sale of the McFarlane Toys Blue and Gold action figure 2-Pack, DC Comics tried to sneak another announcement past us:

That's the "Gatefold Main Cover" by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding of The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1, coming to a Local Comic Shop near you on November 8. And, as you can see, Booster Gold is on it.

According to the press release at DCComics.com, Jurgens and Breeding are just part of the all-star cast of writers and artists from the original "Death of Superman" reuniting for this special. The issue also brings back Roger Stern and Butch Guice, Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove, and Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummett. Yes, please.

This is obviously a big deal for DC, so obviously there are multiple covers. Nine, in fact, if you count the "Premium Polybag Variant." What you see above is the main cover. That means it'll be the cover you'll find if when you open the polybag to get your updated armband.

(Personal side note: for many, many years, I've worn a black leather jacket modeled after the Tom Grummet cover of The Adventures of Superman #501 with a Superman #75 black arm band. That armband is not a particularly durable fabric [2015 pictures here], and I look forward to replacing it.)

Anyway, while not every cover has been revealed yet, DC's announcement does include the "Funeral for a Friend" variant cover by Ivan Reis and Danny Miki. Like the Dan Jurgens variant for Justice League #75 a few months back that homaged "Funeral for a Friend," this cover also pays tribute to the Superman #75 poster, also with Booster Gold:

(Yes, that *is* Blue Beetle behind Booster on that cover. I'm sure I don't need to remind you that Beetle was not present for Superman's funeral because Doomsday put him in a coma. But if I'm going to nitpick, I probably should say something about Martian Manhunter/Bloodwynd. And let's just not go there.)

So if you're counting, that's at least *two* copies of The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1 you're going to need to keep your Booster Gold comic collection complete.

I'll let you know if that number goes up.

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Longtime Booster booster Morgenstern recently asked me a very good question:

Did you ever write an article about this dropped idea of making Tim Drake Blue Beetle and the Death of Booster Gold by Scott Beatty & Chuck Dixon?

The answer is "no." And I'll correct that oversight right now.

Before I can explain, let me set the stage. The early 2000s were a lean time for Booster Gold. He made exactly two in-continuity, non-flashback appearances in 2001, both in very small parts (just a few panels) as set dressing for the "Our Worlds at War" and "Joker's Last Laugh" crossover events. Although Booster was still friends with Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle was finding much greater success as an associate of Oracle's Birds of Prey. That's where this story begins.

In Birds of Prey #39 (released in January 2002), Ted Kord is diagnosed with a heart condition that forces him to hang up his tights. However,Birds of Prey and Robin writer Chuck Dixon and his "Joker: Last Laugh" co-collaborator Scott Beatty didn't intend this to be the end of the Blue Beetle, just an opportunity for a passing of the mantle.

The plan, as Beatty revealed on his blog in a 2019 post titled "THE CLIP FILE: How Scott Beatty & Chuck Dixon *ALMOST* Turned Robin Into BLUE BEETLE!," was that "a gravely injured Ted Kord would find a replacement Blue Beetle while he convalesced... assuming that he would survive at all. It would be a *paid* position occupied by a cash-strapped Tim Drake (a.k.a. Robin III)." Christopher Irving's 2007 encyclopedic The Blue Beetle Companion confirms the plan, quoting Dixon as elaborating that eventually "an invalid Ted Kord would direct a half dozen Blue Beetles (all with different talents) to battle international crime."

What makes all of this relevant to Booster Gold fans is exactly how Beatty and Dixon intended to launch this enterprise in the pages of a proposed mini-series they called Blue Beetles. Quoting from the mini-series pitch proposal on Beatty's blog:

We throw down the gauntlet with the death of Booster Gold.

Really.

With ground-support from Ted, Danny and Star begin an investigation into the events surrounding Booster Gold's demise, a mystery which provides the backbone to the first few issues. Their trial-by-fire begins as Ted launches an ambitious campaign to reel in any Beetle foes still at-large, sending his apprentice Beetles to capture a string of rogues and offer them clemency if they swear to renounce villainy; otherwise it's a one-way ticket to the Slab. And now that it's tucked away in polar isolation at the bottom of the world, NOBODY wants to go to the Slab.

Meanwhile, Booster is celebrated on the evening news, showered in fifteen minutes of celebrity as unofficial biographies are published, how-to videos are hawked, and the promotional machine grinds dollars out of heroic sacrifice.

The kicker is this: Booster's death was faked by Maxwell Lord in order to capitalize on the cult of celebrity surrounding young stars dying young and leaving beautiful corpses. Lord plans on marketing the Booster Gold bio and telepic, then engineering a ballyhooed superhero resurrection.

Booster and Max are in cahoots, hoping to spike interest in the hero's eventual resurrection and subsequent product endorsement deals. What's worse, both Booster and Max were willing to silence Ted Kord in order to maintain the ruse.

That's... just.... Wow.

Although this particular pitch was denied by the Powers-That-Be at DC at the time for unspecified reasons — and I can't say I'm too saddened by that particular decision — it's amazing to see how many of these ideas presage what would actually unfold in the hands of other writers. Remember, this was 2002. Max's villain turn in Countdown to Infinite Crisis was still three years away, and Booster's death would be a key component of Infinite Crisis-follow up 52!

For more information on this particular footnote of DC history, I encourage you to read Beatty's full proposal for Blue Beetles on his blog, scottbeatty.blogspot.com.

Thanks for helping me correct my oversight, M.

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If you're like me, you've eaten enough food in the past month to survive into 2023 without taking another bite. So it's good to have motivation to get a little exercise tomorrow... by walking to my car and driving to my Local Comic Shop to pick up the newest issue of Human Target, specifically because it has this delicious cover:

Hmm. That image reminds me of something. What could it be? Ah, yes.

For the record, Dan Jurgens' splash page from Booster Gold Volume 1 #10 was metaphorical. The evil Director was not really a giant holding the employees of Goldstar, Inc.

I assume that Human Target #3 will be something similar. However, even if Human Target #3 is all about Booster Gold eating bagels, I'll still buy it. Maybe I'll buy two. Bagels are good eating.

To see more of what Smallwood's actual interior art will be, check out the 3-page issue preview at AIPTcomics.com. Once you've done that, buy this issue and make Skeets (and your mouth) happy.

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Blue and Gold #4 was originally solicited for October 19, but when issue 3 slid to October 12, it was easy to see that that issue 4 would be significantly off target, too. Expect to see it next week.

In the meantime, may I suggest that you read a book. Maybe the kind without pictures. Perhaps a book like The Death and Life of Superman (1993, ISBN 0-553-09582-X) by Action Comics writer Roger Stern?

You'll find this historic passage early in Chapter 8:

Now that's what I call literature!

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Readers of Blue and Gold #3 may be unaware that Booster's old secretary, Theresa Collins, has previous history of providing office space to superheroes.

It didn't go well.

Teen Titans #17 (1998), written and drawn by Dan Jurgens, saw the Teen Titans reforming under the leadership of former Justice Leaguer Atom who had been de-aged to a teenager by Extant in Zero Hour.

To attract attention, the team chose the "hottest hangout in Metropolis" for its new headquarters:

Teen Titans #17 additional art by Phil Jimenez, Gregory Wright, Comicraft

The Stain was a combination nightclub/arcade. In Teen Titans #18, its manager was — you guessed it — Trixie Collins.

Teen Titans #18 additional art by Phil Jimenez, Gregory Wright, Comicraft, Digital Chameleon

"Lazer Booster 2000"? A Booster Gold Easter egg!

Mercifully, this dysfunctional incarnation of the Titans was canceled eight issues after it started, but the Stain didn't last even that long. It was blown up by longtime team nemesis Deathstroke The Terminator in issue #22.

It's been two decades since the Stain was removed. I sure hope Trixie learned her lesson and has supervillain insurance for her new building.

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