Happy Independence Day! If you can tear yourself away from fireworks and hot dogs, get yourself to your Local Comic Shop today and get your hands on Injustice 2 #29, featuring Booster Gold's new jacket!

Finally! A costume update that looks better than what he was already wearing!

While you're there, consider picking up a copy of the suddenly very controversial Batman #50. Your LCS probably ordered too many of them.

(A quick aside for those of you not glued to the comics press: on Sunday, with the consent of DC Comics, The New York Times newspaper spoiled the events of Batman #50. According to ComicBook.com, DC vice-president of sales John Cunningham defended the company's actions by essentially saying that DC wanted to mitigate what they knew would be terrible backlash if fans didn't find out about the issue contents until the day of release. That's practically an admission that they had promoted and sold the issue — retailers had to commit to orders for the 50+ covers two months ago — on false pretenses. I'm no lawyer, but I would think that qualifies as fraud.)

But I'm not advocating that you pick up Batman because I'm a nice guy who wants to see Local Comics Shops stay in business. No, like Booster Gold, I'm a little shallower than that. I'm suggesting you pick up an issue because Skeets is in it.

What is Skeets doing here? I have no idea. It being a Tom King written book, I bet there's no logical reason, probably just an excuse to get Booster Gold fans to buy a copy. At least in my case, it will work.

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I've seen references to Booster pop up on quite a few sites this week. Rather than spotlight any one of them and leave the others out, I'll just share what I've found and let you visit whatever you think sounds good.

Nick Kazdan has a gallery of their picks to play Booster Gold on the big screen. (HeroicHollywood.com)

Shaun Manning speculates on whether Booster Gold is now "One of DC's Most Important Heroes." (CBR.com)

Tim Adams speculates on Booster's role (and Hal Jordan's death) in upcoming issues of Batman. (CBR.com)

Edward Wallace counts Booster's force field among the "Most Powerful Weapons in the DC Comic Book Universe."(FortressofSolitude.co.za)

Russ Burlingame is careful to include a Booster Gold appearance in his list of essential Dan Jurgens' Superman reading as Action Comics approaches issue #1000. (Comicbook.com).

Booster Gold returns in the latest chapter of Injustice 2 (Chapter 40) now available digitally for 99¢. (Comixology.com)

Now you've got something to read between your green beers tomorrow, Booster boosters! Enjoy your St. Patrick's Day weekend.

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Booster Gold fans everywhere were really excited to see our hero tangling with Superman in this week's Action Comics #993, the first installment of a multi-part story. At long last, perhaps we'll find what Booster has been up to since Convergence or why he abandoned his New 52 costume.

Booster booster (and, as Comicosity calls him, "THE biggest Booster Gold fan in creation") Keith Callbeck put these questions and more to Dan Jurgens in an interview published at Comicosity.com.

Keith Callbeck: It has been a while since we've seen Booster Gold. He was trying to sort out the Convergence last time out, what has he been up to since then?

Dan Jurgens: We don't address that specifically but we do convey the general idea that he's been having fun jumping through time. I think there are some things readers can draw conclusions from as well, such as where, exactly, he came from.

KC: And we have Booster back in his pre-Flashpoint costume. Can we nickname this story Booster Gold: Rebirth?

DJ: I certainly approached this with the idea that it's a bit of a Booster Gold Rebirth story. He's been off the table for quite awhile now and things have certainly changed in the DCU since we last saw him, most notably with Superman.

I really didn't want to get caught up in the continuity weeds on this one though I did want to make it seem a bit fresh and familiar all at the same time. If you remember Booster, you'll enjoy it. If you've never seen him before, I think you'll be intrigued by the notion of who this guy is. He's quite a bit different from most of the heroes in the DCU.

Over at Comicbook.com, Russ Burlingame (who may not be Booster's number one fan but must rank somewhere in the top 10) also confronted Jurgens with similar questions:

Russ Burlingame: Of course, Booster has not been seen since the start of Rebirth, and here he shows up wearing his pre-Flashpoint costume and serving in his capacity as Time Master...seemingly right back where he was when his Jurgens-written series ended in 2011.

DJ: If you go back to Flashpoint, the two characters from the DCU that made it into the Flashpoint Universe was Booster and Flash ... So, I think there is the potential for a continuous thread here. Not sure how far I want to pull that, because again, I want the story to be more about now and not yesterday... but, yeah. I think there are certain conclusions one can arrive at.

Oooh. That Jurgens is cagey! If this is the same Booster Gold as seen in the pre-Flashpoint DCU, what are we to make of the origin story we saw in Booster Gold: Futures End? Or any part of Convergence, for that matter? Maybe it's best to leave the conclusions to the professionals.

In any event, both articles contain some pretty good Q&As, so check them out. And if you haven't already, don't forget to pick up Action Comics #993 at your Local Comic Shop.

Thanks for good work, Keith, Russ, and Dan!

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Nicole Drum reports that Arrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim told attendees of this weekend's ACE Comic Con Long Island that Blue Beetle and Booster Gold could be coming to his show.

"I will say, both those characters [Booster Gold and Blue Beetle] are characters we've talked about," Guggenheim said. "Originally Ray Palmer, who was introduced on Arrow, he was supposed to be Ted Kord and we went another way. So, you know, Booster and Blue Beetle, all the 'B' characters really, we're always talking about but nothing I can announce or speak to at the moment."

Hm. That doesn't sound very encouraging to me. However, it's not a "no," so maybe there is still a chance.

Drum goes on to speculate what exactly this comment could mean for the Arrowverse at ComicBook.com.

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DC is being generous to Booster Gold fans in 2018. The company released February solicitation earlier this week, and it looks like the "Booster Shot" story teaming Superman and Booster Gold in Action Comics will be running for at least three more months. Via Newsarama.com):

ACTION COMICS #997
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by WILL CONRAD
Cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
"BOOSTER SHOT" part five! Superman and Booster Gold are stranded in time on a world ruled by not one but two Generals Zod! As Lor-Zod asserts himself as rightful heir to the military dictatorship of their adopted homeworld, Old Man Zod turns his attention to the interlopers from the past. Our heroes' only hope of survival is to repair their craft and get home—but to do that, they'll need to travel into the belly of beast!
On sale FEBRUARY 14 • $2.99 US

ACTION COMICS #998
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
Cover by WILL CONRAD
Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
"BOOSTER SHOT" part six! Escape from Planet Zod! Superman and Booster Gold must escape to travel back to the present, where the life of the captured Sam Lane hangs in the balance! On sale FEBRUARY 28 • $2.99 US

(Point of grammar: "Zod" is his name, not his title. Therefore, if there are multiple Zods, they should be pluralized as such. Unless maybe they follow different rules of grammar on Krypton. Dictators do whatever they want to.)

I admit, six issues of "Booster Shot" is much more than I thought we would get, especially in the run up to the big Action Comics #1000. Russ Burlingame recently interviewed Dan Jurgens for ComicBook.com, and he got the story why Booster is getting such a spotlight:

"[Geoff Johns and I] had plotted out the end of the Oz storyline and wanted to do a couple of things after that," at the start of the Rebirth era, Jurgens told ComicBook.com. "One of which was 'The Oz Effect.' It's pretty heavy stuff. We wanted to lighten it up a bit and at the same time have it be a logical progression from Oz to this. So, bringing Booster into it was going to accomplish both goals and so far it's working out quite well."

"Booster Shot" sure sounds like a story everyone should be reading. And it's starting early.

Today's issue of Action Comics #992, though not technically part of the "Booster Shot" storyline, concludes with a tease of the Booster Gold story to come. So take note, Booster boosters. If you want in on the ground floor of "Booster Shot," hustle to your Local Comic Shop before indulging in tomorrow's turkey feast!

(Thanks to SuperPat for that tip.)

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, everybody.

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