On a recent trip to the bookstore, I discovered a DK book I hadn't seen before. Not that it's new.

DC Absolutely Everything You Need to Know by Liz Marsham, Melanie Scott, and others was released in 2018. That's how long ago Skeets was recognized as the Number 1 Robot Sidekick in the DCU (on page 143):

Interestingly, AEYNtK gives Skeets better press than Booster, who is indexed to four different pages but is pictured on none of them. Hey, at least he has the best sidekick.

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If you buy a new DC Comic this week, congratulations! You've struck Gold!

...Because Booster appears twice(!) in the line-wide house ad for the final chapters of the "game-changing two-month epic" Lazarus Planet series.

I expect we'll find out just how much Lazarus Planet changes the game for Booster Gold when Lazarus Planet Omega arrives at Local Comic Shops on February 21.

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First things first: the "BLUE BEETLE & BOOSTER GOLD 2-PACK" teased by McFarlane Toys last weekend on Twitter is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com, EntertainmentEarth.com, BigBadToyStore.com, and McfarlaneToysStore.com.

Personally, I've authorized my Local Comic Shop to get me the figures whenever they can, so consider supporting your Local Toy Shop as an alternative (or in addition) to those websites.

Judging by the emails I've been getting, there was a lot of pent-up demand for more Blue and Gold action figures, which is good. Pre-order demand is necessary to see these figures to market. The last time DC solicited a Booster Gold/Blue Beetle figures in 2017, they canceled them citing lack of retailer interest. Let's not let that happen again.

For those of you who need to know a little more information about this toy before you buy it, McFarlane.com has the deets (and plenty of pictures):

Product Features:

• Incredibly detailed 7" scale figure based off the DC Multiverse
• Designed with Ultra Articulation with up to 22 moving parts for full range of posing and play
• Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are featured in their looks from the comic Blue Beetle & Booster Gold: Blue and Gold
• Blue Beetle and Booster Gold include a grapple launcher, a blast, a cellphone, a drone, and mechanical themed base
• Included collectible art cards with figure artwork on the front, and character biography on the back
• Collect all McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Figures

Uh, I'm not sure that I'd call "Collect all McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Figures" a "feature," but I suppose that's not really aimed at me. I gather from their other marketing, that whoever is writing McFarlane's ad copy doesn't actually read DC comic books, at least Booster Gold and Blue Beetle comics. That doesn't really bother me, as they are a toy company not a comics publisher, and they are pretty good at what they do.

You do you, McFarlane Toys; I'll just get my wallet out.

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I was surfing the web this week (when I should have been working — that's what the web is for, right?), and I happened to see the following in the superfriends.fandom.com article about the Golden Age comic character Funnyman:

DC comics featured a cameo of the character in the series "52", as one of the heroes carrying the coffin of Booster Gold.

First, a little background on Funnyman, a very late and even more obscure entry in the Golden Age of heroes. Here he is making his first public appearance in Funnyman #1 from Magazine Enterprises Inc, January 1948:

So far as origin stories go, that certain is one.

If you've heard of Funnyman at all, it probably has nothing to do with his heroic takedown of rivals Laffman and Comicman. No, it's probably because of who his parents were: Funnyman was the final comic book collaboration of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the same guys who came up with Superman.

Super heroes were out of vogue by the late 40s, and Funnyman failed to find an audience. He disappeared for decades, only returning in 1977 to make a brief cameo in his civilian identity, Larry Davis, for a celebrity telethon for DC Comics' The Super Friends #5:

words by E. Nelson Bridwell, art by Ramona Fradon, Bob Smith, Jerry Serpe, Milton Snappin

I see what you did there, Superman.

I recently read that issue of The Super Friends (as reprinted in the Showcase Presents: Super Friends collection), and that's what brought me to look at the Fandom Superfriends wiki.

Which is wrong.

As presented in 52 Week 18 way back in 2006, the scene of Booster Gold's funeral was a sad affair that looked like this:

As you can see, in addition to mild-mannered newspaper reporter Clark Kent, the only heroes in attendence were his pallbearers, a motley group of fringe players hired by Skeets. Those heroes were, in order by their position on the casket:

• Mind-Grabber Kid (first appearance Justice League of America #70, 1969)
• Beefeater (first appearance Justice League Europe #20, 1990)
• Odd Man (first appearance Detective Comics #487, 1979)
• Blimp (first appearance Showcase #62, 1966)
• Yellow Peri (first appearance The New Adventures of Superboy #34, 1982)
• Honest Abe (making his debut appearance)

Though he certainly fits the theme of an obscure superhero with a silly gimmick and a desire for greater recognition, Funnyman is definitely not among the bunch.

Which is probaby a good thing. Funerals don't have much use for comedians.

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Blue and Gold #4 was originally solicited for October 19, but when issue 3 slid to October 12, it was easy to see that that issue 4 would be significantly off target, too. Expect to see it next week.

In the meantime, may I suggest that you read a book. Maybe the kind without pictures. Perhaps a book like The Death and Life of Superman (1993, ISBN 0-553-09582-X) by Action Comics writer Roger Stern?

You'll find this historic passage early in Chapter 8:

Now that's what I call literature!

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