Today marks the 1 week anniversary of Booster Gold having no ongoing title for the first time since 2006. As we all know, Justice League International was cancelled for failing to meet "greater expectations." Yes, for a variety of reasons the stories failed to spark widespread excitement with comic book readers. However, that doesn't mean that the book shouldn't be considered a success.

Calvin Reid noted earlier this week at Publishers Weekly that many of the collected trades of New 52 series have sold well enough to make the New York Times Graphic Bestseller list in recent months. Among the 11 New 52 titles to break into the Top Ten since May is Justice League International Volume 1: The Signal Masters. It charted at #5 for the week of June 5, 2012. While that was the only week that the book made the bestseller list, it's a pretty good showing for a book about to be cancelled.

The rest of the article crows DC's recent reboot success, but was published too early to include DC's newest addition to the New York Times list: Showcase Presents: Rip Hunter, Time Master, Volume 1 (#9 for the week of August 12, 2012). It's not likely that we've heard the last of the New 52, but so long as DC and its fans haven't entirely forgotten the past, there's hope yet for Booster Gold recovering a series.

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Last week, Newsarama.com ran "BATWING Goes Global for JLI, Back to Africa for ZERO MONTH," an interview between Vaneta Rogers and Judd Winick. Included in that article was a quote about Winick's hopes for Batwing #12.

Nrama: Fans of your work on Justice League International are looking forward to you writing some of those characters again. How was it for you to return to them in the New 52?

Winick: Oh, it was a blast. I wish it was longer. I had 20 pages to do a lot. I wanted Booster to talk more, you know? So I could write him! I could have done 60 pages on these guys.

But it was really fun to get back to those guys for just a little bit. Just a little bit. I loved doing that entire run. It was fun for me when they announced that Batwing had joined the JLI. I'm sorry to see the book go. But it immediately opened the door for this. I said, "Oh! Can they come play over here? Please?"

I had this idea about this big old fight in Africa, and I thought they could come along. I knew it would be great. And I really enjoyed writing it.

That's what issue #12 is. It's one of those big superhero issues where it actually feels right. You know? You only get to do it now and again where it feels right and makes sense, and doesn't feel like an overload — a whole, big old superhero dogpile. That's what we have for issue #12. It's good fun.

While Winick may have intended Batwing #12 to be a "big old fight," the issue as published feels more like a bait and switch. Yes, Winick sets the scene for a battle royal by establishing bad-blood (and international intrigue!) between the combatants before maneuvering them into their respective corners. But just as the opening bell is rung, the broadcast edits the match for time and cuts straight to the finale. How disappointing!

The issue is all pre-fight and post-fight, with nothing in between. If I only wanted to know who won the fight, I could skip watching the bout and read the headlines in tomorrow's newspaper. Even that would be a waste of time here, since there's never any doubt that the forces of good will ultimately triumph over the forces of evil in mainstream comic books. If we're not paying to see the fight, what are we buying with our $3.00 admission ticket?

To be fair to Winick, he is just part of the team of creative personnel and editors responsible for the finished product. Perhaps penciller Marcus To forgot to include the panels with the real action. Throughout the issue, it's unclear how one panel is supposed to lead to the next; maybe To doesn't understand that sequential art is similar to film making in how it's supposed to tell a story. Or maybe issue editor Harvey Richards decided that showing the widespread combat this issue was theoretically centered around would be too graphic for the desired teen audience. This wouldn't be the first issue of the New 52 that DC Editorial had damaged its published product with enigmatic decision-making.

Whatever the reason, this issue ultimately feels like 5-10 pages were left on the cutting room floor. Winick did deliver big in the 26-issue Justice League: Generation Lost, where he had plenty of space to develop his story into a semi-satisfying finale (that thanks to DC's post-Flashpoint market strategy will never have its necessary follow-up). This begs the question of whether it is even possible to deliver an epic plot in the modern 20-page comic book that promotes digitally-aided pin-up art over old-fashioned plot narrative. If Batwing #12 is any indication, the answer is "no."

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Have you been enjoying the 2012 London Olympics? As you watch this final week of games, don't forget that the Olympics are partially responsible for Booster Gold. As Dan Jurgens details in the Secret Origin of Booster Gold interview here at Boosterrific.com:

DAN JURGENS: Much of Booster was inspired by the '84 Olympics when I saw an athlete described as having an endorsement contract without ever having won a medal. Many of the BG ideas were already in place but that sort of galvanized it.

Looking back, how different would it have been if Jurgens had been keeping his eye only on the winning athletes? I doubt that "Mary Lou Retton Gold" would have had the same lasting effect on the DC Universe.

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Now that Justice League International has come to an end, Russ Burlingame and Dan Jurgens have their final monthly wrap-up with "Justice League International #12: The End of the Road" at ComicBook.com. The series was bittersweet, to say the least. As good as it was to have Booster Gold included somewhere in the New 52, the stories always tasted half-baked. Even this final conversation between Burlingame and Jurgens feels a little uncomfortable, as though Jurgens is unwilling or unable to directly answer some of Burlingame's more pointed questions about the activities behind-the-scenes at DC that led to the cancellation of this book despite what appear to have been positive sales.

Burlingame: "Our adventure together proved otherwise." We get a little on-page indication by Batman of a little bit of the nature of his past with Booster. Was there a particular story you had in mind, or was it just a New 52 riff on the adventure they had together during Booster Gold vol. 2?

Jurgens: No, there was a particular story we had in mind that was actually going to be our issue zero. Sadly, we didn't get there.

Burlingame: It almost seems like a weird kind of mirror of the end of Generation Lost, for Aaron to have to set up the end/beginning again.

Jurgens: I hadn't quite thought of that, but you're right. I was just trying to do something fitting. The cancellation was something of a last minute decision so we didn't have a lot of room or time to do things differently.

Burlingame: All of that "turning the page" stuff in this issue —- was that a bit of metatext? If Booster is moving on to the next stage in his evolution, is it time for fans to do the same and let go of our hopes and conspiracy theories that he might be a tether to the DC Universe of old?

Jurgens: My feeling has always been, that, regardless of the character, if there's something about him/her that fans want to hold onto, they should do so.

Here at Boosterrific.com, we'll be holding on to Booster Gold, all right, high collar and all.

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Hmm. How to interpret this poll? Jaime has a small but strong following? Blue and Gold fans still mourn Ted Kord? Ah, I got it: give us back our Booster Gold, DC!

Last week's poll question: How would you respond to a new series pairing Booster Gold and the new Blue Beetle? (61 votes)

Yesterday's issue of Justice League International #12 confirms that the JLI will no longer have any support, financial or otherwise, from the United Nations. One international organization's mistake is another man's opportunity.

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