According to DC Women Kicking Ass, the rumor that DC will be re-numbering all titles again has been confirmed at this past weekend's Boston Comic Con:

This afternoon at the Boston Comic Con a number of creators in the new 52 discussed various aspects of the reboot while confirming the story from Bleeding Cool earlier this week that DC will issue "0" issues in September that will feature origins or stories about the characters or their casts that happened before issue #1.

Is re-numbering to become an annual ploy with DC, or do DC's editors really think that 1994's Zero Hour crossover gimmick deserves a 18th Anniversary edition? For the record, this will be the third #0 issue to feature Booster Gold: Justice League International #0 in 2012, Booster Gold #0 in 2008, and Extreme Justice #0 in 1994 (which, running counter to DC's practice of interrupting sequences with randomly placed zero issues, was actually published before Extreme Justice #1)!

On the plus side, if there is ever a time to find out how much of Booster Gold's history and supporting cast survived Flashpoint, it'll be a zero-issue origin story. Oh, Skeets, why have you forsaken us?

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Germany is the economic engine of the European continent, so would Booster Gold feel right at home there? Since we started the week with news from Germany's Morgenstern (one of Booster's biggest fans), it seems right that we should let him close the week with today's entry in the "Booster Gold International" files:

To me, he is the most American kind of hero, even more so than Superman or Captain America. Instead of simply being an example of how 'a true American Hero' should be, Booster Gold is an example how an American Hero would be (in good and bad). His obvious flaws are not there to make him more likrable (like when Superman wonders if he is doing enough or maybe even too much to help mankind), but to make him more believable.

But that just explains how Booster relates to the American culture (from our perspective), but not to us. This can be boiled down to a single feature of our favourite Time Master: The mistakes he makes and how he deals with them.

There is a long list of screw-ups, disasters or even outright crimes that can be attributed to Booster, but eventually he owns up to them. He accepts his responsibility and even is willing to go to jail for them. Yet his story is not one of simple redemption, of a character who did wrong in the past and suddenly turns his life around and banishes all his vices of the past. Instead Booster is still a man with weaknesses, but one who tries his best to learn from his past and not to repeat them, yet still manages to come up with new ones.

Other character at DC (*cough* Hal Jordan) need a huge retcon every few years to wipe the slate clean of all their mistakes to salvage them, while with Booster Gold they are used to form and grow someone who went through what was most likely the biggest & most cohesive character development of the past 10 years.

Thank you for those great points about Booster's appeal, Morgenstern. We will soon look at Booster Gold from the Swiss point-of-view. If you are from another country and wish to share what Booster Gold would mean to your culture, drop me an email at webmaster at Boosterrific.com.

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It's kind of comforting to know that every canceled title was somebody's favorite.

Last week's poll question: Which other character(s) of a recently-canceled New 52 title should join the JLI next? (41 votes)

Beginning last week, DC is now publishing Smallville: Season 11 online as a weekly digital comic. If this is the beginning of a trend in how the company plans to handle the ongoing continuity of its television licenses, how will this new digital initiative affect Booster Gold comics should SyFy decide to produce the series?

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As most fans know by now, DC Comics has just canceled Hawk and Dove again. The pair has a terrible track record at maintaining a series, in no small part due to the fact that they have never had a first-tier writer. Their stories tend to be hackneyed and dull, typically accompanied by lackluster art.

DC was no doubt acutely aware of the pair's limitations when they launched the third Hawk and Dove series in 1989. To ensure a good launch, the series included several higher profile guest stars in an extended Invasion! flashback. Naturally, this flashback was designed to make Hawk and Dove -- and not their guest stars -- look good.

Always smooth with the ladies, Booster. (At least Firestorm couldn't have done any better, right Shag?) Two years earlier, Booster had saved Hawk's life in the Mexican desert in Booster Gold #17. Booster was quite rude at the time, though Hawk had been unwittingly assisting in a madman's genocidal plot. Perhaps catching a falling Booster is Hawk's way of returning the favor.

Outside the character pieces presented in the flashbacks, the rest of the book is really quite dull. Hawk and Dove pal around with some friends that are not introduced to the reader, then the heroes make a mess of stopping a run-of-the-mill supervillain who is naturally using his advanced, lifelike robots to rob jewelry stores. This issue is costumed comic books at their most droll, a time-capsule of late-1980s mainstream storytelling given a golden lining with the inclusion of Booster Gold.

Perhaps this very lack of a signature adventuring style is the reason that the pair have had so much trouble maintaining their own series over the years. Maybe they need a home in a more forgiving ensemble environment. I hear the JLI is hiring.

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Morgenstern wasn't the only Booster-phile to send us Booster Gold-related news this weekend. Reader Jeremy Hudson sent along the following picture and related description:

Just thought I'd pass something personal along that might be of interest to your visitors. The attached photo is what I had painted over my sons crib/bed shortly after he was born. As time went on other superheros were added to the room, but Booster and Beetle were always right over head.

I've recently sold that house and moved the family into a new one. Tonight, when I put the boy to bed (he's 3 now) he asked where Booster Gold was and then proceeded to tell me that I have to paint him above his bed this weekend.

I believe I have done my part to make sure future generations keep going for the gold.

That's one lucky kid. I'm sure that we would all like to open our eyes to Blue and Gold each and every morning. Thanks, Jeremy!

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