By now you've got your hands on last week's Harley Quinn #74, right? So you've seen this:

I have mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, if Booster and Harley were real people and not comic book characters, they'd deserve the same chance at happiness as everyone else. Regardless of the fact that she was trying to kill him as recently as a year ago, the pair would still have the right to seek happy, fulfilling romantic relationships regardless of their past history or public opinion. Whatever anyone outside the relationship (read: me) thinks about the suitability of the pairing of a jock from the future and a psychopath's gun moll should be irrelevant to that relationship.

On the other hand, neither Harley nor Booster is a real person. They are comic book characters who have become widely recognized by fans for being in decades-long relationships with other members of their same sex. Booster's relationship with BFF and fellow hero Blue Beetle has always been intimate but canonically platonic, yet the dastardly damsels Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy have chosen a more physical relationship. (As is the norm in American popular entertainment, the good guys have to play it straight while the femme fatales enjoy "forbidden" love.) Is it a coincidence that these two standard-bearers of non-traditional relationships were chosen to enter into a gender-conforming heterosexual relationship by publishers, editors, writers, and artists who should be aware of the characters' metatextual associations? I find that hard to believe.

As I said, mixed feelings.

Am I reading too much into it? Maybe. That might be the fault of my liberal arts education: looking for meaning where none exists. Maybe I'm grasping at external reasons to justify my own irrational expectations of my hero's choice of girlfriend. Who knows? Since I strongly believe that one should never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence, I think I will choose to look on the bright side and give love a chance.

Good luck, you crazy kids.

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The best thing about delaying news of DC's new releases until a day after they are released is that it gives me time to see the books before I tell you about them. Or it would, if my Local Comic Ship had received their DC shipment before they closed for the day on Tuesday.

Anyway, as you may have heard (*couch, cough*), yesterday saw the release of Harley Quinn #74, the final chapter in the "California or Death" story (and the next-to-last issue in the current series). There's a preview available on comic-watch.com which was released on Monday (which makes a good case for my not running "New Releases" posts on Mondays).

Booster Gold isn't in the preview, but I promise you he's in there, as this page proves.

We also got DCEASED: Dead Planet #1. This miniseries continues the adventures of last year's DCEASED: A Good Day To Die one-shot. Comic-watch.com has a preview of that, too, proving that a guy who never existed can still put in a cameo appearance. (Confused? Read DCEASED: A Good Day To Die — if you dare!)

But wait, there's more! Booster booster Modinda reminds that the collected edition of the Flash Forward mini-series is now in stores. Booster made a cameo appearance in both issue #1 and the epilogue originally published in Flash #750, but those aren't Booster's only panels in the book.

BleedingCool.com reports that the expanded "Flash Forward: Epilogue" story that had been planned for the never-released Free Comic Book Day 2020 Generation Zero Gods Among Us has been included in the trade. So if you buy it, you'll also get this:

Three Booster Gold comics in one day? 2020 is looking up!

Buy something and make Skeets happy.

UPDATE 2020-07-08: My Local Comic Shop didn't get their shipment of DC Comics on Wednesday, either. Maybe Friday, they now say, which is not encouraging. DC, if you wanted to cut your own throat after leaving Diamond, this is how.

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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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Booster Gold isn't in the solicitation text for today's Harley Quinn #73, nor is he in the previews (which you can see at comic-watch.com). But Booster booster Rob Snow reports that our hero is definitely in there, and I have proof:

Booster has appeared in each of the previous three issues, developing something of a romantic relationship with the title character before walking out at the end of the last issue. Today's issue #73 is only the fourth chapter of a five chapter story. The solicitation for next month's Harley Quinn #74 promises that "Harley will come face to face with the person pulling the strings" in the "epic" finale. After playing such a big part in the story so far, it's hard to believe that Booster won't be there to lend a hand. (Or be revealed as the puppeteer! Bwah-ha-ha!)

And while we're on the subject, I should mention that Issue #75 will be the last in the series. (Don't tear up. I'm sure it's just going to reboot. Again.) Writer Sam Humprhies has promised "a happy ending for all." Could that mean Booster Gold, too? I guess we'll find out in August.

Oh, and before I forget, the Infinite Crisis Omnibus is also due out today. It recollects a whole bunch of comics, including Booster Gold's appearances in Countdown to Infinite Crisis and the Infinite Crisis and The OMAC Project mini-series. I'm a cheapskate, but there are so many good comics in that book, it's probably worth the $150 cover price.

Buy something and make Skeets happy.

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Today is May 20, which means that whether or not your Local Comic Shop is open, Diamond Comics definitely is.

As you may recall, DC Comics released some books in recent weeks, including Harley Quinn #72, through direct distributors that aren't Diamond. Some stores couldn't or wouldn't take content through those distributors. Fortunately for comic buyers caught in that situation (like me), those DC Comics will also be delivered by Diamond Comics today.

That means that if you haven't yet ordered a floppy copy of Harley Quinn #72 from eBay at a considerable markup, you can probably grab a copy for cover price next time your LCS opens its doors.

Time moves strange in the COVID-19 era, so I understand if it's been so long since you read a comic that your last memory of Booster Gold and Harley Quinn was one of the many times she tried to kill him in the pages of Heroes in Crisis. Just know that they've apparently patched things up since then.

Try not too let your head spin too much thinking about that.

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