The first time Harley Quinn and Booster Gold met at a lunch counter in Heroes in Crisis #1, they didn't exactly hit it off.

A little over a year later, when they were re-introduced in a meet-cute in a karaoke bar in Harley Quinn #70, their relationship took a considerably different turn.

That's quite an emotional one-eighty. It sure looks like someone needs relationship counseling.

Personally, I've never been much into 'shipping. I've typically tried to keep my nose out of other people's personal business in the hopes that they would return the favor. Generally speaking, I think Booster Gold should be able to date whoever he likes.

However.

Harley Quinn, Booster? Really? Do you really think it's a good idea to make goo-goo eyes at the Joker's crazy former flame? Does anyone?

This week's poll question: Should Booster Gold be in a romantic relationship with Harley Quinn? Please visit the Boosterrific Polls page to view results for this week's poll.

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If you've been reading recent issues of Harley Quinn, you may have noticed that the relationship between the title character and her recurring guest star, Booster Gold, is not what you might have expected from a pair who this time last year were trying to kill one another.

Some of us readers might call that bad writing. Others might say that people forced into dysfunctional relationships have been known to form traumatically bonded pairs. Still others are so happy to see their heroes in a relationship that they'll ignore all that went before. That's more or less the tact that Brandon Zachary takes in his article "Harley Quinn's New Love Interest Could Be... a Justice League Hero?!" for CBR.com.

Booster Gold is far from the worse candidate, especially given their shared sense of humor, similar optimistic personality, and mutual attempts to move past trauma. While Harley has long conquered much of the trauma in her life, she's suffered more of it in the recent events in her life. Booster has been through his fair share of problems too, and the two can probably be helpful to one another as they try to sort their emotions out. Booster also proves to at least be trying to be more empathetic, immediately apologizing when Harley reveals the full extent of what's been happening in her life. The fact that they met during the tragic circumstances of Heroes in Crisis but ended up able to work together proves they're at least somewhat compatible.

Counterpoint: They didn't "work together" in Heroes in Crisis so much as they just sort of succeeded in not being killed themselves.

That said, who am I to judge? Harley Quinn #71 writer Sam Humphries' interpretation of the characters isn't any worse than Tom King's take on the pair in Heroes in Crisis. (No take can be worse than that.) If Humphries decides he wants Booster and Harley to couple up — a sentiment that even Zachary admits isn't explicit yet — so be it.

But I have to warn you, I've heard that relationships based on intense experiences never work.

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Planning on doing some online shopping this Black Friday? Why not take a look at my fantasy novels?

You can purchase both paperback and Kindle eBooks at Amazon.com. Until Sunday, you can get the Kindle edition of The Wizards of Ranaloy for free.

Thank you for your support.

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I've been trying to get to posting this for about two weeks, but I didn't figure there was any hurry. Everyone already knows who the biggest bromance in comics is, right? Joe Mortimer sure does.

Although the bromances on this list aren't really in any kind of order, Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) and Booster Gold (Michael Jon Carter) definitely rank No. 1. This is like the original superhero bromance. Meeting as members of the Justice League International, the pair of C-List superheroes become instant best friends. Their misadventures include becoming superhero repo men, opening a casino/resort called Club JLI on the living island of Kooey Kooey Kooey, and stealing Martian Manhunter's cookies.

You can read the whole list of Mortimer's best comic book bromances at TheFreshToast.com.

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Booster Gold has never been especially lucky in love. In fact, he's never been very lucky in anything at all. But his love affairs stand out as particularly star-crossed.

While Booster has had semi-stable relationships with actress Monica Lake and Firestorm's main squeeze, Firehawk, he's just as likely to be seen striking out. Justice League International fans may recall Booster made a fool of himself hitting on Justice League Europe liaison Catherine Cobert. Superboy fans might remember the embarrassing time Booster and Beetle both failed in their desperate attempts to pick up Superboy's fellow Raver Aura. But does anyone remember that time during Invasion! when Booster Gold struck out with Dove?

As seen in a flashback in Hawk & Dove Volume 3, #1 — released 27 years ago today! — Booster decided that the middle of an alien invasion of Earth was the right time to make a move on Dove. (The heart wants what the heart wants!) Both Dove and Hawk disagreed.

Awk-ward! For a Time Master, Booster Gold can have some pretty bad timing.

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