If you look at the top of this page, you might see something like this:

It has been 69 Days since Booster Gold last appeared in a DCnU comic book.

I thought that would be self-explanatory, but as Ithildyn recently noted in a recent post on Batman, Last Knight on Earth, it does open the question of what appearances count, especially in the wake of Flashpoint now that DC is expressly disinterested in even attempting to maintain a strict continuity of events between series. Therefore, let me explain my methodology.

First of all, the DCnU, or DC New Universe continuity, is what I call the "real" sequence of events of the DC Universe in the New 52 era. It's the history shared by all characters of the familiar universe, from Adam Strange to Zatanna. In comics, the "shared universe" concept is what allows the heroes established in various titles to cross over and team-up and form a Justice League. Establishing the shared timeline of the DCnU has been complicated by Convergence, Rebirth, and Doomsday Clock, but without it, there can be no "event" stories to begin with.

Obviously, not every story published by DC Comics takes place in DCnU continuity — nor would we want them all to. In years past, there have been many "imaginary" stories, sometimes called Elseworlds and sometimes Hypertime. Although they may involve "a" Booster Gold, that character isn't "the" Booster Gold. The events of those stories have no effect on the development of our hero, so those tales of alternate realities don't count against the appearance counter.

Another thing I don't count are appearances of Booster Gold within the DCnU that aren't clearly Michael Jon Carter himself. For example, even if Batman: Last Knight on Earth involved the mainstream DC timeline, the Booster Gold we get a brief glimpse of may only be a figment of Batman's guilty imagination. If that's the case, it doesn't really count as a Booster Gold appearance, does it? I put these sort of stories in my "out-of-continuity" category and the appearance counter remains unaffected.

Accurately tracking DCnU history may be an impossible task when it changes every few months, but it's still the core of what Boosterrific.com is all about. The appearance counter is a quick and easy way for Booster Gold fans to recognize gaps in Booster Gold's ongoing character development.

I hope that answers your question, Ithildyn. In short, it counts the stories I say it counts and ignores the ones I say it ignores.

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