No, DC Comics isn't publishing anything including Booster Gold today. Based on solicitations for October released earlier this week, we won't be seeing Booster Gold at all in October, either. Solicitations tease that there will be "many other heroes and villains from the DC Universe" in Animal Man #13, but that's none to encouraging for those of us already in Booster Gold withdrawal.

In the meantime, we'll take what we can get. The above photo of Guy Gardner, Booster Gold, and Blue Beetle cosplayers, taken at the 2011 New York Comic Con by Kendall Whitehouse, proves that so long as Booster Gold has fans, we'll be seeing him somewhere. Perhaps even at this week's Comic-Con International 2012, hmm?

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Russ Burlingame and Dan Jurgens have their monthly Justice League International debriefing in the article "Dan Jurgens and Guy Gardner Prepare for the End in Justice League International #11" at ComicBook.com. I found Jurgens' answers to Burlingame's questions to be particularly un-enlightening this month, but even I will be quick to blame that on my own dissatisfaction at the issue and DC Editorial's obvious interference in the story.

Burlingame: It seems here that you're setting up the idea of Godiva and Booster as an official couple. Is that something you had hoped to pay off down the line, or just kind of beginning to wrap up your plot threads before you move onto your next project?

Jurgens: It was something I hoped to develop down the road.

Burlingame: For old times' sake, I just have to ask: Is Godiva Rip Hunter's mother?

Jurgens: Oh, c'mon. It's not like we've ever seen Rip with Elasti-hair.

I'm very frustrated by the cancellation of this series. I guess if there is an upside here, it's that Dan Jurgens still considers Booster Gold to be Rip Hunter's father, for whatever that's worth. It seems unlikely that Dan Jurgens will be investigating the Time Master when he takes over his new role as writer/penciller of The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men this October.

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Today marks the fifth anniversary of Boosterrific.com opening its doors in the digital wasteland. Since construction started on this website, Booster Gold has gone from a dead supporting character in 52 to "The Greatest Hero You've Never Heard Of" to the leader of the United Nations' Justice League team. Booster's rise to greatness and the creation of this website cannot be a coincidence. You're welcome, Booster.

Google tells me that Boosterrific.com has been reached by over 40,000 unique computers around the world in the last two-and-a-half years alone. (Site visitor tracking was turned over to Google Analytics on Jan 24, 2010.) That's about how many Booster Gold comics sell each month. Could that mean that everyone who reads Booster Gold comics monthly has already dropped by this site?

The most hits Boosterrific.com has yet recorded in a single day was 301 on April 22, 2011. That's the day that Booster Gold made his appearance on Smallville. If a one-shot guest appearance on a television show can invigorate fans like that, bring on Booster Gold: The Television Series!

Since adding the blog, Boosterrific.com now has also added an RSS feed, a forum, and regularly updated Facebook and Twitter accounts. However, that's all just advertising for the heart of this site, the Boosterrific annotated archives. The archives now contain well over 2,500 pages of information about Booster Gold's adventures, artists, and associates, with new content still added at least every month. I proudly maintain that this site ensures that Booster Gold is the best documented character in the history of comic books. That's exactly how Booster would want it.

Something else Booster would want is revenue. Limited advertising was added to the site in January 2010. As mentioned in the blog shortly thereafter, it was estimated that advertising would generate its first windfall in May 20128. I'm glad to report that thanks to the interest of site visitors, the site advertising is now on pace to pay out just in time for Christmas 2014, so long as traffic doesn't decrease too significantly.

But speaking of a decrease in traffic, it appears that interest in Boosterrific.com is declining. So far in 2012, despite the fact that comic book sales have been surging, the site has averaged 121 hits per day. Over the same period just one year ago, the site averaged 153 hits per day. The data doesn't lie: I've experienced a 20% decrease in visitors since DC destroyed their old universe. The daily hits continue a slow but steady decline begun when the "New 52" debuted in September 2012. No doubt the cancellation of Justice League International doesn't help the situaton.

Whatever the future holds, Boosterrific.com wouldn't be anything without you, the Booster Gold fans. A hearty thank you to everyone who has dropped by in the past 5 years. I've enjoyed meeting, informing, and entertaining you. I hope to see you again in the future.

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A week from now, Comic-COn International will be in full swing, with fans of superheroes and comic book culture in all media swarming through downtown San Diego, California. I suspect we'll be learning the fate of the JLI from one of the many DC artists and editors present at the convention. One notable absentee will be Skeets, who couldn't even be bothered to show up in Booster's latest series. Now I think I know why: he's been busy with his family!

These Skeetlings were the idea of Demyrie, a devoted Booster Gold fan and artist. In addition to this great idea, Demyrie's Deviant Art gallery includes several pics of gender-swapped Blue and Gold cosplay from Comic-Con International 2011 and even some fan-made SuperBuddies strips. A true Renaissance fan!

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No surprises here: the Labrador Retriever has been America's favorite dog breed for decades.

Last week's poll question: If Booster Gold was a dog, which breed would he be? (37 votes)

Jim Brown in The Dirty Dozen. Brett Favre in Something About Mary. Merlin Olsen in Little House on the Prairie. Fran Tarkenton in That's Incredible. All famous athletes making notable screen appearances. How would you expect Booster Gold to follow in their footsteps?

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