Late last week, Booster booster J sent me a bunch of new sighting of old ads to update the list of Boosterrific Advertisements. However, one of his finds is this:

That house advertisement comes from Flashpoint Companion, a collection of promotional material — mostly cover art — supporting the Flashpoint event.

So far as I can determine, Flashpoint Companion was a digital only release originally published online in 2012 at read.dccomics.com. Although DC discontinued that subdomain URL in 2013, you can still read it free online via DC Infinite, Google Play, Apple Books, or Amazon (and probably many others).

Other than this two-page spread — essentially a glorified reading list — the only actual "story" inside the book is a two-page "The Origin of the Flash" written by Scott Beatty (which, according to his blog, scottbeatty.blogspot.com, was originally created as a Converse shoe promotion, probably sometime around 2008-2009, as I believe it was included in the DC Universe: Origins collection of the 2-page origins published in 2010 Never mind. It's not in there).

In fact, it's probably worth mentioning that all the art for this promo was pulled from other sources. The central image of Flash comes from an Andy Kubert drawn house ad at the end of 2010's The Flash Volume 3 #1 (as you can see at Flash fansite speedforce.org). The background behind the Flash (a callback to the sublime wraparound slipcase cover for the Crisis on Infinite Earths hardcover by George Perez and Alex Ross) was taken from Flashpoint #5 (also drawn by Kubert).

The crackle section with Booster and Professor Zoom are the covers of Booster Gold #45 by Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, and Hi-Fi Designs and Flashpoint: Reverse Flash #1 by Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes.

I don't find print copies of this thing documented online in any of the usual places, but it's possible it has been overlooked given its slight content. Does anyone know if Flashpoint Companion was ever officially published (i.e., committed to paper)? Perhaps as an in-store giveaway?

As a general rule, I confine mention of digital-only content to here on the Boosterrific Blog and leave it out of the larger tracking Boosterrific Database, in large part because digital content is so ephemeral, even by comic book standards. Should I make an exception here given the ubiquity of the free copies floating around online ten years after its original release? Oh, the headaches of being an obsessive comic book chronicler!

Hearty thanks to J for your ongoing efforts to make Boosterrific better than ever.

UPDATE: J adds via email

A few years ago, DC had booklets advertising various characters, such as Batman 101 and JSA 101, where they'd print a list of essential stories, a some two-page origin stories, and comic covers.... In the "Justice League 201" booklet, they'd reprinted the Origin of Booster Gold from 52 #24. But unfortunately, it seems to no longer be available.

Like the Flashpoint Companion, I believe those also only existed digitally, and my bias against tracking digital media applies. For years, DC made those 2-page origins available for free on their website as part of their character guides; that content seems to have evaporated as well.

And that's why I prefer physical floppies: DC can't take the paper away from me (unless they back a moving truck up to my house).

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I hope everyone has awesome Labor Day plans, so I'll keep this brief.

Booster Gold may or may not be in Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 this week. He's not in the preview at aiptcomics.com. He wasn't in issue #2, so maybe Booster is taking the even-numbered issues off.

UPDATE 2022-09-06: Nope, he's in there, smiling away in a one-panel cameo appearance on page 6.

Booster probably isn't in Flashpoint Beyond #5 this week, but Rip Hunter's pre-Flashpoint Time Masters definitely are, as is Rip Hunter's secret time laboratory and future-teasing chalkboard. All of those things are visible in the preview at aiptcomics.com, which also seems to provide some spoilers to the ending of Dark Crisis, so beware.

Booster is almost guaranteed not to be in New Champion of Shazam #2, but I recommend you take a look at it anyway. I bought the first issue last month, and I loved it. What can I say? I'm a sucker for Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, especially when drawn by Doc Shaner. Some comics can be good even without Booster Gold.

Thank you for your consideration. I now return you to your regular scheduled holiday.

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Comichron.com reports that the North American comic book industry had its most profitable year ever in 2021, and it's easy to understand why. There are a lot of great comic books being published right now.

Personally, I spent over $50 at my Local Comic Shop on DC Comics alone this week. My favorite right now is Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo's Nightwing which is so well written and illustrated that it's almost a crime *not* to buy it.

Restricting the conversation to books that are out this week, I should mention that despite my misgivings about drinking from the well of Crisis on Infinite Earths one too many times, I'm still looking forward to where Dark Crisis is headed. Sadly, Booster Gold doesn't appear in this week's Issue 2, but I'm sure he'll be back soon. We already know he's on the alternate cover for next month's issue 3 due in stores on August 2.

If you didn't already pick up the first and last issues of the Justice League Unlimited mini-series for Booster's small role in that, be aware that the entire series has now been collected into a single volume.

Also available this week is DC Vs. Vampires #7. Booster Gold's role in this story is limited to the bottom corner of the full-page splash panel on page 2 (visible in the issue preview AIPTcomics.com). Booster's cameo appearance aside, I've decided this title is very, very definitely not for me, so that's all I'm going to say about it here.

Skeets likes it when you buy books with Booster Gold in them, but you do you. There are too many good options out there these days to waste time, money, and emotional energy on the ones you don't like.

UPDATE 2022-07-06: Logan writes in to point out that Booster also gets a tiny cameo in this week's Flashpoint Beyond #3. Thanks, Logan!

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Booster booster J's emails are usually in regards to the many, many typographical and grammatical errors on this site. (I'll take all the help I can get, J. Thanks!) But the message in my inbox today was to let me know that Booster Gold gets a shout-out in this week's Flashpoint Beyond #2.

And here it is, from page 2:

words by Geoff Johns, Tim Sheridan, Jeremy Adams; art by Xermanico, Romulo Fajardo Jr, Rob Leigh

For the record, the rule here at Boosterrific.com is that we track all Booster Gold comic book visual appearances but not text-only dialogue references, much less the expositional internal monologue of a murderous Dr. Batman. (Back in the day, this name drop would be inside a bubbled thought balloon!)

Therefore, Flashpoint Beyond #2 will not be added to the Boosterrific Database, and this blog post will be the only place on the site you'll see it.

If that bothers you, I recommend that you get to your Local Comic Shop and pick up your own copy of Flashpoint Beyond #2, just like I did. A compulsive collector's job is never done!

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While our hero doesn't actually appear on the pages within, this week's Flashpoint Beyond #0 can be considered Booster Gold-adjacent thanks to the inclusion of Rip Hunter's famous chalkboard of hints.

words by Geoff Johns; art by Eduardo Russo, Trish Mulvihill, Rob Leigh

Hunter's chalkboard made it's first appearance in 52 Week Six (written in part by Geoff Johns) and could be seen frequently in Booster Gold Volume 2 (written in part by Geoff Johns). That Geoff Johns sure knows a good idea when he sees one!

A variant of the Silver Age Rip Hunter and his team of Time Masters will clearly be playing a key role in Flashpoint Beyond as it goes forward. The zero issue also makes several references to other famous DC Universe time-travelers, such as Chronos, Abra Kadabra, and Professor Zoom. Of course, the original Flashpoint story was all about the chaos unintentionally unleashed by a time-traveling Flash, and the only DC Universe hero other than Flash to visit the Flashpoint Timeline was Booster Gold (in Booster Gold #44).

Will we see Booster in future issues of this mini-series? Only time will tell.

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