The fourth issue of DC's self-promotional magazine, DC Nation, was released this week. A six-page article by Andrew Marino titled "The Sanctuary Files" is devoted to revealing "real-life" psychoanalyst John Foster Elliott's profiles of key characters of the upcoming Heroes in Crisis mini-series. Naturally, Booster Gold was included.

PSYCHOTHERAPY ASSESSMENT: Michael suffers from generalized anxiety, the "poser" syndrome, mainly because he is...just that. He has little respect for the law or the rights of others and believes that he is entitled to act because the end justifies the means. Yet he still has compassion for others and seeks to redeem himself, primarily through shortcuts that often fail. Michael needs to work on his morality, respecting the rights of others and accepting his limitations. Like most narcissists, he operates on double standards and is truly afraid of genuine intimacy.

NOTES: Axis I ICD F411 Sociopathic and narcissistic traits

I'm no expert on psychology like Mr. Elliott, so I had to look up the last bit of his assessment notes. As defined by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, "Axis I" is the classification for almost all psychological diagnostic categories of mental disorders. "ICD" is shorthand for the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases system, in which "F411" identifies "Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)."

According to the National Institute of Mental Health website:

"People with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) display excessive anxiety or worry, most days for at least 6 months, about a number of things such as personal health, work, social interactions, and everyday routine life circumstances. The fear and anxiety can cause significant problems in areas of their life, such as social interactions, school, and work."

Symptoms for at least six months? Wow. Tom King has really f'd up our hero.

Booster Gold has certainly always exhibited sociopathic and narcissistic traits — that's what we love best about him! — but in recent years he had matured beyond his early days as a "poser." I guess DC's "Rebirth" is about taking everyone back to their roots, but I sure hope that doesn't mean we're going to have to rehash Millennium again. Or Extreme Justice.

You can read Elliott's diagnosis of other heroes, including how damaged Superman really is, in DC Nation #4 for free on Comixology.com. And, of course, you can find Heroes in Crisis #1 for sale in your Local Comic Shop on September 26.

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Our hero made the cover to today's Injustice 2 #33! Some people say Booster is all talk, but it takes a real hero to fight a giant alien starfish with your bare hands.

"The battle against Starro comes to a tragic conclusion," teases the issue's solicitation text. That sounds ominous for our hero, especially since we know that Blue Beetle survives the encounter to appear in the series' namesake video game. *gulp!* Good luck, Booster!

Buy this issue and make Skeets happy.

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On this day in 2003, DC Comics began publication of JLA-Z, a Who's Who-inspired excuse for a pin-up anthology of Justice League characters. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle were judged so important to the history of the JLA that they appeared in the very first issue!

(It probably didn't hurt that their codenames both begin with the second letter of the alphabet.)

Art by Kevin Maguire, Joe Rubinstein, Tom McCraw.

On a related note, BleedingCool.com reports from Fan Expo Canada that Ted Kord might be rejoining the Justice League in some capacity in the near future. The sooner the better, if you ask me.

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Something must have been in the air this week as I was emailed by two different people out of the blue who were proud to show off their recent Booster Gold sketch commissions!

First up is from our old friend The Blot, whose magnificent Booster Gold Sketchbook is bulging at the seams. His latest piece is by Invincible artist Ryan Ottley:

Our second piece is shared by Cort, who picked up this sketch commission from the very prolific Leonard Kirk at last years's Fan Expo Vancouver:

Those are some good looking sketches, guys. Thanks for sharing.

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DCComics.com released a "DC Tales From the Vault" episode promoting Batman on Tuesday, and it includes Batman Group Editor Jamie Rich reading his own fan letter published in Booster Gold #7 (1986).

Here's the original letter so that you can read along:

Rich wasn't named Batman Group Editor until April, and Tom King's referenced Booster Gold story, "The Gift," was already deep in production by then. So we won't judge Rich too harshly for that fiasco. (I refuse to believe that any OG Booster booster like Rich would have let King lobotomize our hero if he could have stopped him!)

You get a pass this time, Rich. But know that Booster Gold fans are watching you extra closely now!

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