Maybe DC isn't giving us any new Booster Gold comics, but that doesn't mean that they aren't publishing anything worth reading. My pull list is short, including only three titles from DC: Dan Jurgens' Action Comics, Kurt Busiek's Astro City, and Mark Russell's The Flintstones.

As disparate as they are, all three titles all have something in common, and it's not subject matter. Action and Astro City are both classic super hero fare. The Flintstones is a beautifully subversive view of modern society in the same cynical vein as Russell's all-too-short Prez in 2015.

What these comics have in common is that all are predicated on an understanding of what has come before. Action builds heavily on the differences between the shared universe environments of the New 52 and the post-Crisis era. Astro City is an exploration of the impact of Silver/Marvel Age style comic-book situations from the point of view of real humans. Flintstones uses characters and situations explored in a famous cartoon to poke its finger in the eye of traditionalists.

In all of these titles, knowledge and familiarity with the referenced source material only makes them better. This is something that DC failed to do in its New 52 reboot. The goal there was to retread old tires without bringing anything new to the experience. If endless reruns worked as a business model, DC wouldn't be trying a Rebirth now.

So while I wait (impatiently) for DC to give me another Booster Gold comic (which is not happening this week), I've still got some comics to read. I hope you do, too.

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