Late last week, Booster booster J sent me a bunch of new sighting of old ads to update the list of Boosterrific Advertisements. However, one of his finds is this:

That house advertisement comes from Flashpoint Companion, a collection of promotional material — mostly cover art — supporting the Flashpoint event.

So far as I can determine, Flashpoint Companion was a digital only release originally published online in 2012 at read.dccomics.com. Although DC discontinued that subdomain URL in 2013, you can still read it free online via DC Infinite, Google Play, Apple Books, or Amazon (and probably many others).

Other than this two-page spread — essentially a glorified reading list — the only actual "story" inside the book is a two-page "The Origin of the Flash" written by Scott Beatty (which, according to his blog, scottbeatty.blogspot.com, was originally created as a Converse shoe promotion, probably sometime around 2008-2009, as I believe it was included in the DC Universe: Origins collection of the 2-page origins published in 2010 Never mind. It's not in there).

In fact, it's probably worth mentioning that all the art for this promo was pulled from other sources. The central image of Flash comes from an Andy Kubert drawn house ad at the end of 2010's The Flash Volume 3 #1 (as you can see at Flash fansite speedforce.org). The background behind the Flash (a callback to the sublime wraparound slipcase cover for the Crisis on Infinite Earths hardcover by George Perez and Alex Ross) was taken from Flashpoint #5 (also drawn by Kubert).

The crackle section with Booster and Professor Zoom are the covers of Booster Gold #45 by Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, and Hi-Fi Designs and Flashpoint: Reverse Flash #1 by Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes.

I don't find print copies of this thing documented online in any of the usual places, but it's possible it has been overlooked given its slight content. Does anyone know if Flashpoint Companion was ever officially published (i.e., committed to paper)? Perhaps as an in-store giveaway?

As a general rule, I confine mention of digital-only content to here on the Boosterrific Blog and leave it out of the larger tracking Boosterrific Database, in large part because digital content is so ephemeral, even by comic book standards. Should I make an exception here given the ubiquity of the free copies floating around online ten years after its original release? Oh, the headaches of being an obsessive comic book chronicler!

Hearty thanks to J for your ongoing efforts to make Boosterrific better than ever.

UPDATE: J adds via email

A few years ago, DC had booklets advertising various characters, such as Batman 101 and JSA 101, where they'd print a list of essential stories, a some two-page origin stories, and comic covers.... In the "Justice League 201" booklet, they'd reprinted the Origin of Booster Gold from 52 #24. But unfortunately, it seems to no longer be available.

Like the Flashpoint Companion, I believe those also only existed digitally, and my bias against tracking digital media applies. For years, DC made those 2-page origins available for free on their website as part of their character guides; that content seems to have evaporated as well.

And that's why I prefer physical floppies: DC can't take the paper away from me (unless they back a moving truck up to my house).

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Don't let that headline mislead you; I'm not expecting to see Booster Gold in this week's The Flash #799. But as the issue preview now available at AIPTComics.com demonstrates, we will definitely be seeing Gold Beetle:

As I said a few weeks ago, I'm expecting we'll see Gold Beetle again on June 6 in The Flash's "extra-sized" final issue #800. (Don't worry, DC is restarting Flash with a whole new number one in September... because, um, the number one is cooler.)

What I was NOT expecting, and what I learned from reading the Flash #800 preview also already online at AIPTComics.com, is that the issue will feature an appearance by Booster Gold's long-lost second foe, Mindancer!

I can't wait to find out what she's been up to for the last 37 years!

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I've been really, really busy lately, so I haven't even made it to my Local Comic Shop in a week. Therefore, I wouldn't have known about this week's Gold Beetle appearance if not for Booster booster Marty. Thanks, Marty!

As you can see above, Gold Beetle and Wally West have their first meeting (from her perspective) in this week's Flash #798.

Of course, their first meeting from his perspective was in Flash #767, during which he was displaced in time and inhabiting Impulse's body in the 30th century. So their objectively chronological "present day" first encounter would be Flash #795. Confused yet?

One of these days I really need to devote more time to Gold Beetle, and that time might be soon. It sure looks like she'll be back for Flash #799, and no self-respecting heir to the legacy of Booster Gold would dare miss a milestone issue like #800....

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Since Gold Beetle is a Booster Gold legacy character, I'm sure Booster boosters everywhere will want to know that AIPTComics.com previews reveal that she's in this week's The Flash #796.

But I can't talk about it. Not yet.

You'll recall that just last week, I mentioned that The Flash #795 ended with a big reveal related to Heroes in Crisis. Well, it seems that in this week's book, Gold Beetle tells us what she's done and how.

Even though I've got a bone to pick about this particular revelation — why can't we all just agree that Heroes in Crisis never happened? — I'm not going to talk about it yet. I'm not even going to link to the preview because it definitely counts as spoiler territory (even though Heroes in Crisis came out four years ago!).

At the very least, I should read the whole story before I form a solid opinion about it. For all I know, by the end of the "One-Minute War" storyline, time travel shenanigans will have rewritten history (again). It certainly wouldn't be the first time a Flash has changed history.

Maybe this time, they can finally excise Heroes in Crisis from all continuities. That would be nice.

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Flash's so-called "one minute war" has been rolling along for months, and in last week's The Flash #795, we finally got another appearance by the Gold Beetle (last seen in January's The Flash: One Minute War Special).

"The One-Minute War, Part Six: Give Me Liberty"; written by Jeremy Adams; art by Roger Cruz, George Kambadais, Fernando Pasarin, and many more

Gold Beetle is in only a few panels in this issue, most of which are pretty spoiler-y. What I *can* say is that despite multiple Multiversal reboots, it seems that DC just can't let Heroes in Crisis go.

We'll have to pay attention to future issues for more information.

Thanks to Rob Snow for keeping tabs on Gold Beetle for us.

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