It was announced back in April that Cartoon Network's Robot Chicken would have a "DC Comics Special" in their upcoming sixth season. Yesterday, we finally got a quick look at the episode by way of IGN.com. Surprise, surprise, it includes an appearance of Booster Gold (at about 1:34).

So mark your calendars! Booster Gold may not have any comic appearances scheduled through November, but he'll be on your TV this September 9th. (Thanks to Russ Burlingame at ComicBook.com for calling this to my attention.)

UPDATE 09/07/12: According to Vaneta Rogers' Newsarama.com interview with Robot Chicken writer Kevin Shinick, Booster Gold's speaking part has been cut from the episode. You may or may not still see Booster in the episode, but he won't be opening his big mouth. Thanks to MetalWoman for pointing out this disappointing news.

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Like Justice League International, the Olympics are now over. But like Justice League International, they'll be back.

Last week's poll question: In which individual Olympic event would Booster Gold most be most likely win a Gold Medal? (39 votes)

One thing that will never be back is Joe Kubert. When Kubert died earlier this week, the world lost one of its great artists. Kubert's passing denies us the opportunity of seeing his interpretation of Booster Gold. I'm sure his Skeets would have looked amazing.

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DC released solicitations for the month of November earlier this week, and there was no sign of Booster Gold or the Justice League International. How long can this insanity go on?

Meanwhile, DC is still publishing Blue Beetle. Issue #12 hits the stands today. With Beetle promised to appear in the Justice League International Annual, it may be worthwhile to keep track of his adventures in the meantime. Buy it or not; either way Skeets doesn't care.

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The Justice League International Annual isn't due for another two weeks. While it might seem odd to release an annual to a series that has already been canceled, it certainly won't be the first time that this has happened to a Justice League title. Sixteen years ago today, DC published Justice League America Annual #10 more than two months after the series had been canceled at issue #113. Then, as now, Booster Gold took center stage.

The theme of the DC annuals in 1996 was "Legends of the Dead Earth," a series of tales about how the heroes of the DC Universe would go on to inspire humanity years after their own deaths. While many of the stories in these annuals could be considered unlabeled Elseworlds tales of an alternate reality, the Justice League story was heavily linked to ongoing continuity.

The story focuses on Captain Atom during one of his many unintentional trips through the quantum field to a future where Maxwell Lord's villainous schemes were oppressing humanity. (Sound familiar, Justice League: Generation Lost readers?) Lord has created a new JLI-inspired team called the Alliance that spend most of their time violently putting down "Trogs" bold enough to oppose Lord's tyranny. Whatever his original motivation, it becomes clear that Maxwell Lord has become corrupted inside former JLI-foe Lord Havok's robotic body (expanding on a plotline last seen in Justice League America #100).

The other original member of the JLI on the team is Michael Jon Carter. Refusing to be called Booster Gold, Michael acts as the team's field leader. Michael's position as Lord's right-hand man is fitting given that Lord had once hand-picked Booster to join his new JLI (as seen in Booster Gold #16). Michael is still something of a time traveler, having survived the intervening centuries by replacing his organic parts with mechanical imitations (a process begun in Justice League America #90). Wearing a prototypically Extreme! 1990s costume, this Michael exhibits a no-nonsense demeanor, increased power, and a warped set of personal values, even by Booster's admittedly questionable standards.

Before the story careens to its conclusion, it is revealed that Maxwell Lord is an evil megalomaniac who relives his past with living puppets based on his JLI template. Booster's motivations are never made clear, though Captain Atom expresses many uncharacteristically derogatory theories. Booster Gold fans are likely to be far more forgiving to our hero's actions.

Clearly a product of its era, this book is hardly the best annual in which Booster Gold appeared. Christopher Priest's story really doesn't make much sense, and Nick Napolitano's inks are especially unattractive. With the bar for annuals of cancelled series set this low, Geoff Johns and Dan DiDio won't have to do much work to top this effort.

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Last month, Super-Team Family ...The Lost Issues gave us Skeet's new team. With the JLI on hiatus and Skeets going his own way, it was only a matter of time before Booster sought out new company, too.

If DC and Marvel can't get their acts together to give us comics this good, at least we have Super-Team Family ...The Lost Issues to make everything right in the world.

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