Long ago in a galaxy far, far removed from COVID-19, DC Comics released a comic book called Year of the Villain Hell Arisen #3.

What DC failed to mention when retailers were making their orders two months in advance was that this new book would introduce the first on-panel appearance of the Joker's new henchman, someone called Punchline. And because far too many people think a smiling homicidal maniac is cool, Year of the Villain Hell Arisen #3 sold out in most stores before it even hit shelves.

It just so happens that book also contains an appearance by Booster Gold, which means that many Booster Gold completists now have a hole in their collection. (Not me, though. I know a guy and pulled a few strings. I may not have rights to a first-born son anymore, but sometimes that's the price you have to pay.)

Anyway. If you missed that book, DC gave you a second chance when they reprinted it in March. However, that run (of over 11,000 books) also sold out. So here comes printing number three.

I sure do like that gray on this third edition. It reminds me of the time that Quentin Tarantino had scenes in Kill Bill: Volume 1 processed in black and white to abstract some violence. Martin Scorsese used a similar trick when he desaturated the climax of Taxi Driver. (True story: with no new comics to read, I've watched 56 movies in the past three months.)

The only way to make that cover better might be to put Booster Gold on it. That just might convince me to give away rights to my second-born as well.

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The comics industry is slowly getting back to normal, as you can tell by the release of solicitations for upcoming releases. While it doesn't look like our hero will be appearing in any of DC's August 2020 comics, the publisher's latest solicitations do include a confirmation of something we first spotted last month:

BOOSTER GOLD: FUTURE LOST HC
written by DAN JURGENS and others
art by DAN JURGENS and others
new cover by DAN JURGENS and NORM RAPMUND
The original solo series for Booster Gold, self-serving hero from the future, concludes with this collection of Dan Jurgens's formative mid-'80s stories! Booster finds himself a wanted man, and then lands in the polychromatic sights of the Rainbow Raider! Later, Superman gets in the middle of a battle between Booster Gold and...Booster Gold? Collects Booster Gold #13-25, pages from Millennium #3-6 and #7, Action Comics #594, Secret Origins #35, and more.
ON SALE 09.01.20
$39.99 US
400 PAGES
ISBN: 978-1-77950-672-6

That's right, the companion volume to the superb Booster Gold: The Big Fall collection will be in your Local Comic Shop this September. What could that "and more" mean? I'm giddy with anticipation.

See Newsarama.com for the full list of DC's August coming attractions.

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No new comics today, and still no news about when we might get our next New Comic Book Day. However, Booster booster Aaron has found something very interesting on the website of book publisher Penguin Random House.

Per the listing at http://prhinternationalsales.com/book/?isbn=9781779506726:

Booster Gold: Future Lost
Written by Dan Jurgens
Illustrated by Dan Jurgens
HARDCOVER $39.99 US DC Comics
On sale Sep 01, 2020 | 400 Pages | 978-1-77950-672-6

BOOSTER GOLD IS THE HERO OF TOMORROW...TODAY!

Booster Gold knows that being a superhero is a good business for three reasons: money, fame, and adventure! But Booster will have to learn that the easy life of super-heroics comes with results he could've never imagined.

Follow along on Booster's incredible and time-bending adventures--but what happens when the golden boy of the present...returns to the future? If Booster Gold is going back to the 25th century...he's going to need some superheroic help...maybe even a partner? What will Booster's future hold?!

Collects Secret Origins #35, Action Comics #594, Who's Who Update 1987 #1, Booster Gold #13-25, Millennium #3-7

That's such good news, it's almost worth staying inside all spring and summer for!

Times may be tough, but I promise to still have $40 in my bank account to buy this when it hits shelves this September (Coronavirus permitting). I doubt I'll be the only one.

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Hey, kids! Today's your first second chance to buy November's Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Infinite Crisis #1 one-shot, as it is included in Tales form the Dark Multiverse hardcover collection. Better late than never.

Speaking of reprints, if you're the sort of person who reads comic book related news sites — either for fun or because you run a website devoted to a comic book character who only sporadically appears as a background character in other books and you're always looking for new content — you may have heard that today's Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3 went to a second printing two weeks before the issue was ever released!

Believe it or not, that post-Final Order Cut-off/pre-New Release sellout happened because DC failed to mention in the solicitations provided to the stores that a certain super-popular character appears in it.

That character is sadly NOT Booster Gold.

Per DC's February 11 press release at dccomics.com:

The debut of Punchline, the Joker's deadly new henchperson, has led to pre-on sale sellouts of both Batman #89 and Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3—and now, DC announces that these issues, both written by James Tynion IV—are rushing back to press for second printings!

Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3's second printing covers the confrontation between Lex Luthor and The Joker, with help from Punchline and Mercy, as the conflict between the forces of Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs reaches the boiling point. Written by Tynion IV with art by Steve Epting, this issue will arrive in stores with a recolored version of its original cover by Epting.

The second printings of Batman #89 and Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #3 will both be published on March 4. If the comics aren't already on your pull lists, contact your local comic book shop and let them know you're looking for these issues to be added!

For the record, no one knew this milked cash cow "Punchline" character would be in these two books until DC announced it... on February 7. Hint to DC: if you want people to buy your comics in the specialty shops dedicated to your product, maybe you should tell us about them before those stores have to place their orders from you. Otherwise, you're kind of shooting yourself in the foot. You won't make a single penny on the two or more (or much more) times cover price I'll now be paying for a first edition printing of a new Booster Gold comic book, so you end up losing money and angering fans. That's good business, he says sarcastically.

Sigh. Oh, well. I guess it's just one last thing I can blame on newly ex-publisher Dan "don't let the door hit you on the way out" DiDio. (Double sigh. Now who am I going to blame for everything I don't like about DC Comics?)

If you can find it for a reasonable price, buy this issue and make Skeets happy.

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DC solicitations for May were released on Friday, and the biggest news for Booster Gold fans won't be making it into stores until August!

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL OMNIBUS VOL. 2 HC
written by KEITH GIFFEN, J.M. DEMATTEIS, and others
art by KEITH GIFFEN, CHRIS SPROUSE, MIKE McKONE, MARSHALL ROGERS, DARICK ROBERTSON, and others
new cover by KEVIN MAGUIRE
Maxwell Lord's domination of the Justice League continues in this second omnibus of never-before-collected issues! As the League franchises out to Antarctica, Lord Havok and the Extremists arrive on Earth to continue their galactic conquest, and Blue Beetle and Booster Gold come up with another of their countless schemes. Collects Justice League America #31-50, Justice League Europe #7-25, Justice League America Annual #4, Justice League Europe Annual #1,< /em>Justice League Quarterly #1, and Justice League International Special #1.
ON SALE 08.26.20 · $125.00

That's a whole lot of Booster Gold (including the Quarterly issue that was just reprinted this week in Justice League: Corporate Maneuvers).

Elsewhere, it looks like Booster will also be making return appearances of varying degrees (most of them very, very small) in the upcoming Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen trade (June 3) , Dial H for Hero Volume 2: New Heroes of Metropolis trade (June 3), Justice League of America by Brad Meltzer: The Deluxe Edition hardcover (June 10), and Justice League Volume 5: Justice/Doom War trade (June 17).

The solicitations don't indicate that Booster will be in Harley Quinn #73, which appears to continue the story begun in issue #70. I guess we'll find out whether that's a must-buy for Booster boosters when we get to May 6.

You can read the complete list of solicitations on Newsarama.com.

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