Yesterday BleedingCool.com set our hearts atwitter by suggesting that Booster Gold might be part of DC's latest Universe relaunch. (I guess the last one didn't take?)

The relaunched rumor became the news of the day week month on the Boosterrific Forum, where many hands were wrung in anguish that the latest Booster reboot may lead to a "grimmer and grittier" interpretation of the character.

This is where I, as the chronicler of all things Booster Gold, remind you that we've been here before. In fact, it was 19 years ago today that DC published Extreme Justice #0, the first issue in what was intended to be a grimmer and grittier, pro-active Justice League.

Extreme Justice is infamous as the apex — or nadir, depending on your point of view — of DC's 1990s artistic excesses. I'm not going to defend the book. I think it speaks for itself:

One of the better panels from Extreme Justice #0 (1994) by Marc Campos and Ken Branch.

Uh, yeah. Maybe some things are best left in the past.

(Thanks to Gio3432 and CaptainHeq for spreading the news in the Forum.)

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Ouch.

Last week's poll question: With Booster Gold sidelined, which of his former JLI teammate's DCnU adventures are you currently following instead? (49 votes)

I don't mean to suggest that we should all start thinking about Booster Gold in the past tense, but there isn't much present tense Booster Gold to be thinking about, is there?

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Today you'll find Astro City #6 on the shelves of your Local Comic Shop. It has no ties to Booster Gold. It doesn't even take place in the DCnU. It isn't even published as a DC imprint: it's a Vertigo book! In spite of this — or maybe because of it — this title gets my vote as the best super hero comic on the market today.

In fairness, I've been a big Astro City fan for years. I consider Kurt Busiek's poor health (the reason the title is published so sporadically) to be the biggest tragedy in comics in recent years after Booster's extended absence from the DCnU, of course. Astro City consistently manages to capture the awe and hope of super hero comics that is missing in the DC and Marvel Universes, what with their constant civil wars and forever evilness. It's just fun to read comics where the good guys not only win, but also manage to avoid billions of dollars in property damage and hundreds of thousands of collateral casualties.

If you're still interested in reading comics but don't care for a DC Universe without Booster Gold, consider giving Astro City a read. I think you'll be glad you did.

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I recently got my hands on the first Italian trade of Booster Gold Vol. 2. Apparently published in 2010, it collects issues #20 through #27. I have no idea why they started there — Blackest Night? — but I get a big kick realizing that "PESL" is now in print worldwide.

Panel from Booster Gold Vol. 2, #23 (in Italian!)

After I noticed that some of the "bwah ha ha"s had been changed to just "ha ha"s, I decided to check the Italian dialogue against the original English publication (via Google Translate) to see if anything else had changed. My test was this line from the panel above:

Sul sito di Booster Gold, curato dal mio fan club, potrete trovare tutto quello che volete sapere a proposito del vostro eroe preferito.

In the original American edition, Booster says

The Booster Gold website, maintained by my very own fan club, will be the place to go to learn about your favorite heroes.

In this case, the Italian translation is actually an improvement.

On the site of Booster Gold, edited by my fan club, you can find everything you want to know about your favorite hero.

See what I mean? The Italians know that the only hero we care about is Booster Gold.

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On November 11, 1918, Private Henry Gunther was killed storming a German machine gun blockade one minute before the armistace that ended World War I. He was the last soldier known to die in combat before the end of "the war to end all war."

Panel from Booster Gold, Vol. 2, #16

It is in memory of Private Gunther and every other soldier that we now set aside November 11 as a day of remembrance for the sacrifice soldiers have made on behalf of their countries.

If you know a veteran, take the time today to thank them for their service.

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