For years now — over a decade, in fact — the priority for Wednesday Boosterrific Blog posts has been whatever new comic was released that day that included a Booster Gold appearance. But 2020 is changing everything. Booster Gold isn't appearing in any new DC comic today because there are no new DC comics being released today.

As all comics buyers must know by now, DC Comics is no longer being distributed by Diamond Comics Distributors as of today, July 1. While Diamond mandated the release of comics on Wednesdays (for logistical purposes), DC is rolling back to Tuesdays (as it used to be before Diamond gained dominance in the 90s). I can't say that I really care about this one way or another other than the fact that I'm suddenly unsure when I should post "new release" alerts.

Some of you may recall that for the first 6 years of this blog, I posted 5 days a week. If that were still the case, I'd just move "new releases" from Wednesdays to Tuesdays. But I stopped posting 5-days-a-week because, frankly, there's just not that much new to say about a character DC has rarely chosen to spotlight positively in the New 52 era. I've been very happy posting three days a week and would like to continue that pace, if I can make a schedule work that doesn't alienate readers.

Should I maintain the Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule and post about new comics on Monday instead of Wednesday? Or should I change the three days I post to include a Tuesday (probably a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday posting schedule) so that I can keep you informed of day and date releases? Or, should I just keep posting new releases on Wednesday, since that's when Diamond will keep releasing books and you might as well make one trip for everything?

This week's poll question: What day of the week do you want me to tell you that DCEASED: Dead Planet #1 and Harley Quinn #74 have been released?

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If you venture to your Local Comic Shop today, you may find the collected Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen TPB among the new releases. Then again, you may not. Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3 was so popular, it's already been through three printings, so it's not hard to imagine that the trade collecting the whole series won't also be popular.

If you didn't know by now, Booster Gold can be seen in three of the Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen mini-series' four issues. He doesn't have a single line of dialogue in any of those issues, so it's kind of like a series of glorified cameo appearances.

And since we're on the subject of cameo appearances:

Superman: Man of Tomorrow #7, words by Dave Wielgosz; art by Miguel Menonca, Yasmine Putri, David Baron

On the bottom left you'll see Booster Gold appearing in the digital first Superman: Man of Tomorrow #7, now available at Comixology.com. Those stories will presumably be printed on real-world paper one of these days, though DC has yet to announce a date. I'll try to keep you posted. Thanks to fabri24cr for calling our attention to that.

Booster Gold is on the left side of this panel, too, though which Booster Gold from which corner of the Multiverse, I can't be sure. That image of Greg Capullo art comes from this recent Tweet from Scott Snyder, the writer behind this summer's multiverse-spanning Dark Nights: Death Metal event. The panel doesn't appear in Dark Nights: Death Metal #1, which was released yesterday, but you still might want to pick that comic up so you'll have a chance at deciphering what's happening when Booster does arrive on the scene. (Again, thanks to fabri24cr for deciphering that the panel has to be Death Metal-related.)

DCEASED: Dead Planet #1, words by Tom Taylor; at by Trevor Hairsine, Stefano Gaudinao, Gig Baldissini

Booster Gold appears on the right for a change in the upcoming DCEASED: Dead Planet #1. Why not the left side of the panel? Maybe because he's a ghost. (Well, not a ghost, exactly. Booster didn't die in DCEASED: A Good Day To Die so much as he was erased from history. Therefore, this is really more of an hallucinatory flashback courtesy the tortured memory of Jon Constantine than it is an actual cameo appearance.) Dead Planet #1 is due out next week in two weeks, and I might have missed it if not for Booster booster Logan Peterson pointing it out. The preview is already available on CBR.com.

It's starting to look like the summer of Booster Gold.

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Booster Gold isn't in the solicitation text for today's Harley Quinn #73, nor is he in the previews (which you can see at comic-watch.com). But Booster booster Rob Snow reports that our hero is definitely in there, and I have proof:

Booster has appeared in each of the previous three issues, developing something of a romantic relationship with the title character before walking out at the end of the last issue. Today's issue #73 is only the fourth chapter of a five chapter story. The solicitation for next month's Harley Quinn #74 promises that "Harley will come face to face with the person pulling the strings" in the "epic" finale. After playing such a big part in the story so far, it's hard to believe that Booster won't be there to lend a hand. (Or be revealed as the puppeteer! Bwah-ha-ha!)

And while we're on the subject, I should mention that Issue #75 will be the last in the series. (Don't tear up. I'm sure it's just going to reboot. Again.) Writer Sam Humprhies has promised "a happy ending for all." Could that mean Booster Gold, too? I guess we'll find out in August.

Oh, and before I forget, the Infinite Crisis Omnibus is also due out today. It recollects a whole bunch of comics, including Booster Gold's appearances in Countdown to Infinite Crisis and the Infinite Crisis and The OMAC Project mini-series. I'm a cheapskate, but there are so many good comics in that book, it's probably worth the $150 cover price.

Buy something and make Skeets happy.

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Long ago in a galaxy far, far removed from COVID-19, DC Comics released a comic book called Year of the Villain Hell Arisen #3.

What DC failed to mention when retailers were making their orders two months in advance was that this new book would introduce the first on-panel appearance of the Joker's new henchman, someone called Punchline. And because far too many people think a smiling homicidal maniac is cool, Year of the Villain Hell Arisen #3 sold out in most stores before it even hit shelves.

It just so happens that book also contains an appearance by Booster Gold, which means that many Booster Gold completists now have a hole in their collection. (Not me, though. I know a guy and pulled a few strings. I may not have rights to a first-born son anymore, but sometimes that's the price you have to pay.)

Anyway. If you missed that book, DC gave you a second chance when they reprinted it in March. However, that run (of over 11,000 books) also sold out. So here comes printing number three.

I sure do like that gray on this third edition. It reminds me of the time that Quentin Tarantino had scenes in Kill Bill: Volume 1 processed in black and white to abstract some violence. Martin Scorsese used a similar trick when he desaturated the climax of Taxi Driver. (True story: with no new comics to read, I've watched 56 movies in the past three months.)

The only way to make that cover better might be to put Booster Gold on it. That just might convince me to give away rights to my second-born as well.

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Today is May 20, which means that whether or not your Local Comic Shop is open, Diamond Comics definitely is.

As you may recall, DC Comics released some books in recent weeks, including Harley Quinn #72, through direct distributors that aren't Diamond. Some stores couldn't or wouldn't take content through those distributors. Fortunately for comic buyers caught in that situation (like me), those DC Comics will also be delivered by Diamond Comics today.

That means that if you haven't yet ordered a floppy copy of Harley Quinn #72 from eBay at a considerable markup, you can probably grab a copy for cover price next time your LCS opens its doors.

Time moves strange in the COVID-19 era, so I understand if it's been so long since you read a comic that your last memory of Booster Gold and Harley Quinn was one of the many times she tried to kill him in the pages of Heroes in Crisis. Just know that they've apparently patched things up since then.

Try not too let your head spin too much thinking about that.

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