Once upon a time, Booster Gold appeared quite regularly in the annual crossover events uniting the DCU. For example, it was just 25 years ago today that Booster Gold appeared in a supporting role in Action Comics Annual #4.

Words by Dan Vado, Art by Chris Wozniak and a team of inkers

Back then, Booster and other members of the Justice League International were on the scene to try and free Superman from the clutches of Eclipso. These days that job would go exclusively to Batman, because... well, Batman.

It might be interesting to note that Blue Beetle wasn't with the rest of the Justice League for this mission (he had gone missing in the JLA Annual the previous month). That is consistent with the approach to the character taken by the current Blue Beetle series.

According to writer Kieth Giffen in an interview with Vaneta Rogers for Newsarama.com, the modern "rebirth" incarnation of Ted Kord was never a member of any Justice League. But Giffen also says that the events of Justice League 3000 are in Blue Beetle's future. JL3k was openly stated to take place in the same continuity as the original Justice League International stories. So . . . I have no idea what all that means for the current status of Blue and Gold.

Congratulations, DC. I'm not even trying to make sense of your continuity anymore.

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The fourth issue of the fourth DC Comics volume of Blue Beetle was released one week ago today. Since this issue finally got an origin story for the "Rebirth" versions of all three Blue Beetles, let's run a quick recap.

In 1966, Ted Kord inherited the mantle of the Blue Beetle from his predecessor, Dan Garret. Although Garret did not give Kord the magical scarab that gave Blue Beetle his powers, Kord made do with advanced technology making up for the lost abilities.

In 1986, it was revealed that Kord had found the scarab, but it never worked for him. The new hero Booster Gold would soon become Ted Kord's partner in crimefighting and his best friend.

In 2006, Jaime Reyes found the scarab after Ted Kord's death. He soon learns that the scarab wasn't actually magical but was instead a malfunctioning alien device. Booster Gold locates Reyes and introduces him to the super hero community.

In 2012, in the wake of the universe-changing Flashpoint, Dan Garret and Ted Kord are erased from history. Jaime Reyes becomes the first (and only) Blue Beetle when he comes into contact with an alien scarab following a heist by the Brotherhood of Evil. There is no connection between Booster Gold and Blue Beetle in the New 52 Universe.

In 2016, after yet another universe rebooting Rebirth, Jamie Reyes comes into contact with an alien scarab that was floating down a river. He is mentored by Ted Kord, a retired super hero who once called himself the Blue Beetle after a chance encounter with his neighbor, the previous possessor of Reyes' scarab. There appears to still be no connection between Booster Gold and Blue Beetle in the Rebirth Universe.

But note: for the first time, Booster Gold predates Blue Beetle. Kord name drops "Booster Gold" as a bad example for a name when trying to think up his own moniker on page 17 of Blue Beetle Volume 4 #4.

In the Rebirth Universe, Ted Kord has had time to develop his technology, become the Blue Beetle, and retire from heroics to mentor his successor. If Booster Gold has been around that whole time, what has he been doing? (It's been 519 days since we've last seen Booster Gold make any significant appearance within the DC Universe.) And why do they have to keep changing Jamie Reyes' origin story?

Despite my desire to see Blue Beetle and Booster Gold eventually reconciled, Blue Beetle volume 4 is not a series I can endorse. Keith Giffen's scripts are disjointed and meandering. Rather than resolve the confusion, Scott Kolins only muddies the water further with a loose art style that lacks any subtlety and makes comprehension a chore instead of a joy. (After four issues and a one-shot, I still don't know if the characters have freckles or bad acne. Perhaps the dots are fleas given how they relocate from panel to panel.)

For my money, Blue Beetle has been the biggest disappointment of Rebirth so far. So until Booster Gold is reintroduced to Ted Kord, I won't be paying much attention to the ever-changing origins of the Blue Beetles from now on.

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Earlier this week, J.M. DeMatteis posted this picture of his Justice League International co-collaborator, Keith Giffen, and two other guys on Twitter.com:

I always liked seeing artists draw themselves into their comic book adventures. But I like it even more to see the heroes come alive to stand beside their creators.

On a related note, DeMatteis participated in a roast of Giffen at Terrificon last weekend, and he posted a video on his website, Creation Point (by way of The Angry Geeks Show). There's definitely some salty language (okay, "some" might be an understatement: think Beverly Hills Cop), but it's still an entertaining series of anecdotes — including a brief argument about who came up with "Bwah-Ha-Ha" — presenting an oral history of Giffen's long association with DC Comics. I enjoyed it.

Here's to many more years for both Giffen and Dematteis (both separately and together)!

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Blue Beetle: Rebirth #1 is out today. It features the return of Ted Kord as the mentor to Jaime Reyes. You can find two previews online at comicbookresources.com and majorspoilers.com.

On a related note, DC Comics released solicitations for comics shipping in November earlier this week. As has become the norm, Booster Gold was nowhere in sight.

Could a future issue of Blue Beetle be where we'll next see our hero? Given that the series is written by Keith Giffen, it seems a possibility. Consider picking up this issue and getting in on the ground floor.

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No title in recent memory has been as unpredictable as Justice League 3001. The title is the personal playground of Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, and there are a whole bunch of players in their sandbox, all moving in apparently random directions. Even the covers tend to be something other than what you might expect.

The cover on the left is the cover to issue 6 that was solicited two months ago. The cover on the right is the cover you'll see at your Local Comic Shop today. If you take a good look at it, you'll see Booster Gold's legs on the upper left behind the creators' names. That makes it pretty likely we'll be seeing Booster in this book.

If you'd like to try before you buy, find a preview of the issue alongside an interview with Keith Giffen at Comicosity.com.

UPDATE 2015-11-28: No, there is no Booster Gold inside, only on the cover. The Booster-drought continues unabated.

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