Some people take Labor Day off, but not me, not when I've got to tell you about Booster Gold coming to your Local Comic Shop this week!

As you can see in the issue preview at AIPTComics.com, Booster gets a cameo appearance on the very first page of Blue Beetle #1!

I'm pretty sure that's a "Bwah-Ha-Ha" being cut off by the narrative box in that panel.

And if one panel isn't enough homage to Kevin Maguire's famous Justice League #1 cover, remember that there's also a 1:25 Justice League #1-inspired variant cover to this week's Fire and Ice: Welcome to Smallville drawn by... Kevin Maguire:

(For the record, neither Booster Gold nor Fire nor Ice appear on the original cover to Justice League #1, which wouldn't be re-titled Justice League International until issue #7. Booster joined the team in issue #4, and Fire and Ice joined in Justice League International #14. All three are on the updated roster cover of Justice League International #24, which was the very first book to homage the cover to issue #1. It is no coincidence that Issues #1 and #24 also bookend artist Maguire's run on the series.)

Buy one or both of those issues and make Skeets happy!

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I had little choice but to order a copy of the San Diego Comic Con exclusive "Silver Screen Edition" reprint of Booster Gold Volume 1 #1 from eBay, making it the most I've ever paid for a single comic book.

But somehow no one told me it was polybagged.

I had to order another just to open one of them up (just like Superman #75 all those years ago). So now I've paid the most I've ever paid for two single comic books! And they're both reprints! Living in the future is expensive.

As you can see from the first-page indicia above, these shouldn't be called "Silver Screen Edition Booster Gold #1" because they are officially Booster Gold 1 (SDCC 2023 Facsimile Edition). "Facsimile Edition" is how DC has been labeling all of their recent single-issue reprints of classic comics. Could there be a non-foil Booster Gold #1 Facsimile Edition coming to comic shop near you in the near future?

To its credit, other than the foil wraparound cover, this Facsimile Edition is a very faithful reproduction of the original material, including commercial ads (for the likes of M.A.S.K. and Voltron) and house ads (for 'Mazing Man and the 1986 DC Wall Calendar), with only some small deviations.

• The book is 3 millimeters taller and 2 millimeters wider than the original, identical to modern DC Comics proportions.
• The price and bar code box have been removed from the original cover (reproduced on traditional cover stock) underneath the outer foil.
• The interior paper is much better quality than the original newsprint.
• The story pages use the remastered and recolored art used to produce 2019's The Big Fall.
• Unlike The Big Fall, which removed all ads and condensed the page count, all pages here are laid out on the left and right as originally presented except for the "continued on 2nd/3rd page following" editorial boxes, which have been removed from the bottom of story pages 4, 8, 16, and 20.
• Many, if not all, the full-page ads have been blown up to cover the entire page, minimizing and sometimes removing their original borders. (In the original printing, story pages and ads had the same border spacing on each page.)

Speaking of the ads, I'm not sure I enjoyed being reminded that we're exactly half way in between Halley's Comet visits. (And some friendly time-traveler might want to go back and warn the Red Cross about making that endorsement deal.)

Expense aside, I'm otherwise very happy to have this issue in my hands. It's gorgeous. I just wish I could touch it without getting fingerprints on the foil.

Considering that my very first, newsstand-purchased floppy Booster Gold #1 has long been what might politely be called a "reader's copy," I'd love for DC to release yet another "facsimile edition," preferably without the foil and priced at a more reasonable $5 ("reasonable" being a very relative term). If they do, I promise to buy another one. Two, if they come polybagged.

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San Diego Comic Con officially starts tomorrow, so now is the time for me to remind everyone that I really, really want one of these:

Well, not one of those 10, exactly. Those are Dan Jurgens', and he deserves them. Heck, if you ask me, he deserves all of them. All 1000.

That's right, according to DCComics.com, that convention exclusive "Silver Screen Edition" of 1985's debut Booster Gold #1 is limited to 1,000 copies sold for $15.00 each. Those numbers seem awfully low to me, especially considering that subtracting Jurgens' 10, there can't be more than 990 available to rabid Booster Gold fans (like me!).

Since it's very, very unlikely — some might say "impossible" — that I'll find my way to San Diego with a convention admission badge, I'll stay here by my computer with an eye on eBay until one of these shows up.

Maybe, if I get lucky, Dan will decide to sell off one of his.

UPDATE 2023-07-20: Yep, as of 4PM EDT Thursday, there are 2 of them already up on eBay, each with an asking price over $100 (including shipping). That sure seems like a lot of money for a comic I already own several of in other formats. On the other hand, can you even buy a stick of gum for $100 anymore? Maybe I'll ask Santa for one for Christmas....

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No sooner was my local network restored than I got an email from Joe Carlo, who pointed me towards some big Booster Gold news coming to San Diego Comic Con this July.

To quote from the official press release at DC.com:

DC announced today their highly anticipated return to Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) with a new DC Booth on the convention show floor from Wednesday, July 19, through Sunday, July 23. ...

On sale in DC's all-new booth will be a wide variety of comic books, graphic novels, and new merchandise from DC and DC Shop. While supplies last, DC will be selling limited printings of Superman "Big Blue" Edition, Silver Screen Editions of Batman #655, Booster Gold #1, Authority #1 and Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow #1....

The press release includes images of the "Silver Screen Convention Exclusive Variant Cover" editions of Authority, Batman, and Supergirl, which have monochromatic black and white cover-images repeated on the front and back of the issue. So we can expect that's what the (not pictured) Booster Gold will look like, whether they're referring to Volume 1 or Volume 2.

So, is anyone going to San Diego who can get their hands on one of those for me?

Thanks for the alert, Joe.

UPDATE: As Marty has pointed out in the comments, Dan Jurgens has tweeted what the book will look like.

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AIPTcomics.com has all of DC's solicitations for September, and oh, boy, they look great.

I've had my eye out for Blue Beetle #1 ever since DC.com revealed back in April that Ted Kord (and the Bug!) would be on the Adrian Gutierrez cover.

I've also been anticipating Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1 for months, and although I don't like incentive variants, I just might be convinced to pony up for this 1:25 Kevin Maguire variant cover.

I hadn't been planning on buying any of the four monthly books written by Tom King, but Julian Totino Tedesco makes riding a kanga look like so much fun on the variant cover for Wonder Woman #1, I just might change my mind. (It wouldn't be the first time I'd've bought a comic just because of a Tedesco cover.)

Ooh! And how about the Chris Samnee variant for Shazam #3? Or the two part Mikel Janin acetate cover for Superman #6? And don't even get me started on the Old Man Red Bee (and Old Man Blackhawk!) appearing on the 1:25 Rahazzah variant for Peacemaker Tries Hard! #5.

Now, if you've read down this far, you might have noticed that I haven't mentioned Booster Gold yet. Well, that's because the solicitation doesn't either. I was trying to soften the blow with all those great covers.

Did it work?

If it helps, DC also announced that the first six issues of The Human Target will be collected (for the second time) in October. Booster will be in that. Come to think if it, it's also got some great covers.

Booster may be hard to find these days, but at least it isn't hurting my eyes to keep looking.

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