Take heart, Booster boosters! Cort Carpenter has filled the gap of new Booster Gold art this week by sharing with us his latest sketchbook commissions.

Soo Lee

Bob McLeod

Ryan Kelly

By my count, Cort has now shared with us more than 67 pieces of commissioned Booster Gold art (many of which you can see larger on Cort's Twitter and imgur accounts). I don't know how he affords them all. Maybe he's a secret billionaire. All the best superheroes are, you know.

In his email, Cort teased the possibility that he may have as many as five new commissions to share with us before the end of the year. I think you'll agree that gives all Booster boosters something to look forward to.

Thanks, Cort!

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If you read Boosterrific.com (which I know you do because you are reading this), you know that Blue and Gold #1 was released last week, 33 years after being first announced. And it's pretty good. You have been rewarded for your patience, Booster boosters!

Of course you probably already bought the standard cover by Ryan Sook. And maybe you picked up the cardstock variant by Dave Johnson. But if you go back to your Local Comic Shop this week, perhaps you'll consider buying *another* copy, the one I'm calling the Kevin Maguire variant:

"That's a picture of the Dave Johnson cover!" you say. And you're right. But what else do you see on there?

That phone case cover isn't Dave Johnson's work. It's Kevin Maguire's. Maguire drew that image in 2014 for a DC Comics print (as confirmed by the artist himself via Twitter.com).

How often do we get comic books where two different artists have drawn Booster Gold on the same cover? Just this once. I think that's pretty Boosterrific.

But if you think that's the last we'll see of Kevin Maguire in Blue and Gold, think again. Here's DC's solicitation for October's issue 4 (from CBR.com):

BLUE & GOLD #4
Writer: DAN JURGENS
Artists: RYAN SOOK, DAN JURGENS and KEVIN MAGUIRE
Cover: RYAN SOOK
$3.99 US ON SALE October 19

Bros over heroes no more!
Booster Gold and Blue Beetle find running a superhero business together more difficult than it looks when these inseparable friends end up on the verge of a breakup! What could be the cause of such a schism? Enter Blackguard, looking to destroy this dysfunctional duo for good!

Three artists? Clearly this series has some surprises in store. Something to look forward to this October.

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On Friday, comic book writer Tom King (@TomKingTK) tweeted this image accompanied by the text "Announcement incoming.":

Those arms belong to, from top to bottom, Martian Manhunter, Rocket Red*, Blue Beetle, and Fire. Naturally, this made a lot of people excited at the teased prospect of new comic adventures of the Justice League International.

Of course, that's not what Tom was teasing.

He was baiting the hook with the JLI for a different property he revealed later that same day:

Who can be mad about a bait-and-switch that leads to art this great? (Those new arms belong to Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Batman, Ice, and G'nort.)

If you didn't know, Christopher "Human Target" Chance has been in the DC Universe since 1972 but is far more famous outside comic books. In addition to recent guest appearances on Arrow, Chance has had his own television series twice (!). Being a TV star probably explains why he and Booster Gold have never crossed paths.

Frankly, the espionage antics of Human Target are a perfect fit for King's storytelling strengths, and any project that keeps King far away from Booster Gold is a project I can support. In fact, I promise to buy a copy of the first issue... but only if they keep that amazing Smallwood cover.

* That Rocket Red arm design belongs to the armor of Maks Chazov, who was never a member of any line-up of any Justice League, international or otherwise. Chazov worked for the pre-New 52 United Nations-sponsored incarnation of Checkmate. But it wouldn't be the JLI without a representative Rocket Red, and all the Reds who appeared on a JLI roster are dead. I guess you can't bring every dead hero back to life.

UPDATE 2021-07-12: Shawn dropped by the comments to point out that Greg Smallwood has posted process and reference pics of the cover's development on Twitter.com. He includes an interior pic of the JLI, and it is glorious.

Yep. Definitely buying that.

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Because I'm a curmudgeonly old man, I don't have an Instagram account and cannot see the beautiful Blue and Gold art that series artist Ryan Sook is sharing via his account at instagram.com/rsookart/.

Luckily for all of us, @dailybluegold has been reposting some of those images on Twitter. And they. Are. Beautiful.

If those don't get you excited about Blue and Gold, due in your Local Comic Shop on July 20, then I don't know what will.

Maybe it's time I finally got an Instagram account. Thanks to Rob for making sure I saw those.

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Over the weekend @preyofbirdsdc tweeted what may be David Marquez's cover for September's Justice League #68. Whether that is true or not — we'll probably find out for sure when DC releases September solicitations in 2 weeks — the important part is who's pictured in it.

You see them there? No, not Fire and Ice there in the middle. (Hi, Fire! Hi, Ice!) Over to the side, just over smirking Batman's shoulder: it's Blue and Gold!

Such clowns!

If it turns out this *is* the cover for Justice League #68, I guess that means I'll be buying at least one Justice League comic this September.

(Special thanks to @dailybluegold for highlighting our heroes in this art.)

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