Via Twitter.com, Dan Jurgens finally has confirmed the identity of the mysterious woman we saw on the originally solicited cover to the 2012 New 52 relaunch of the Justice League International #1.

To refresh your memory, here is the originally solicited cover, with the woman in Black, on the left and the published cover, with Godiva, on the right:

Art by Aaron Lopresti

Alexandra Gianopoulos was introduced in Booster Gold #45 when Booster quite literally fell into her bed in the "Flashpoint" timeline. Her power was the ability to "borrow" the power of anyone she touched, similar to Rogue of the X-Men. Despite also appearing on the published cover of Justice League International #5, Gianopoulos has never actually made the transition from the Flashpoint timeline to mainstream DCnU continuity.

Thanks to @Cyberjaeger for asking the question that finally resolved this longstanding mystery.

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I mentioned on Wednesday that I was going to be picking up a copy of Young Justice #4. I've actually been buying all the Wonder Comics titles, and I like most of them. (Wonder Twins is my favorite.) A great deal of what I like is the lighter tone of the books.

I have a tendency to complain about the "grim and gritty" nature of the contemporary DC universe. That makes me part of the problem. DC has, in fact, published plenty of "lighter" fare in recent years featuring the characters that I know and love, and I've done a poor job of spotlighting those. The best was unquestionably Justice League Unlimited, based on the Cartoon Network cartoon of the same name.

The series ran for 46 issues from 2004 through 2008. Booster Gold appeared in many of those, including issue 20, released on this day in 2006, in which he helped welcome Mary Marvel to the Justice League.

Art by Rick Burchett

The issue is a great example of the series' traditional, family friendly super hero hijinx that got me into reading comic books in the first place. The story, "Just Us Girls" by Paul D. Storrie, borrows notes from Booster's mainstream DC universe history while introducing readers to Mary Marvel and "girl power" fisticuffs. It's a delightful read.

Advance reviews of the movie Shazam!, opening today and focused on Mary's big brother Billy, indicate that it aims to be in the same vein. I wish it was based on the original Fawcett Whiz Comics characters and not Geoff John's New 52 re-invention of them, but I applaud DC and Warner Bros for at least trying to reach an audience other than fans of the black-as-night Zack Snyder film universe. Beggars can't be choosers.

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If you're headed to your Local Comic Shop today (perhaps looking for Young Justice #4 like me!), there is one new-ish Booster Gold appearance you could take home: Final Crisis DC Essential Edition.

That said, if you're considering buying this because you're a Booster Gold collector, I can't really recommend that you do that. Booster makes a cameo appearance in only a couple of panels of that entire crossover. Only one of those is reprinted here. In fact, here it is.

Now, if you're considering buying this because you are looking for a good read, I can't really recommend that you do that, either. Final Crisis is not DC's best crisis. It's far from Grant Morrison's best work, either. If you weren't around to read this when it was released in 2008, there are plenty of other, better comics that you could read instead.

In other words, reading Final Crisis in 2019 is the DC Comics-fan equivalent of a drug addict shooting up from someone else's discarded needle only because he desperately needs another fix. Just say no.

(Full disclosure: Despite having a run of over 350 consecutive issues of Detective Comics going, I stopped buying it when Final Crisis came along. I really didn't enjoy that story or how it handled Batman.)

(Supplemental disclosure: Detective Comics #1000 is the first issue of that title I have purchased since 2009. I enjoyed most of it except the story that leads directly into Detective Comics #1001. So it very well might be the last issue of Detective Comics that I buy until issue #2000 comes along in 2099.)

DC has a whole line of Essential Editions in the pipeline. If you like event stories, the superior Infinite Crisis DC Essential Edition will be along in July. If you like Morrison, his JLA New World Order DC Essential Edition came out last month, and his Batman Black Glove Saga DC Essential Edition will be along in in June.

In other words, there are plenty of great stories out there. Read some of them, but don't waste your time on this.

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DC Comics has announced exciting new plans for the artificial intelligences in the DC Universe, including Booster Gold's best bud, Skeets!

From their press release (via AnotherMealTicket.com):

Artificial Intelligence grows more powerful and integrated in society every day. Meanwhile, society is also becoming increasingly accepting of the LGBTQIA community. This summer, DC Comics will embrace both of these cultural paradigm shifts at the same time.

Beginning in ACTION COMICS #1015, the Kryptonian robotic caretaker Kelex and all artificial intelligences in our publications will no longer automatically be addressed by the offensive gender-neutral pronoun "it". All robots will now be referred to by the gender and pronouns that they self-identify with.

"Some artificial life forms, such as the cisgendered Hourman and Tomorrow Woman, do not need the support of our new editorial policy and will continue to be addressed as 'he' and 'she'," explained DC Comics Editor-In-Chief Bob Harris. "However, our publications are full of non-binary and gender fluid non-anthropomorphic characters, such as Booster Gold's futuristic sidekick Skeets. It's past time that we treat these characters with the respect they deserve and let them use the restrooms of their choice."

A brief, incomplete list of characters affected by this policy includes

· Amazo: identifies as male; uses singular pronoun "he"
· L-Ron: identifies as female; uses singular pronoun "she"
· Kelex: identifies as transgender; uses singular pronoun "they"
· Kilg%re: identifies as genderfluid; uses singular pronoun "ze"
· Skeets: identifies as agendered; uses singular pronoun "Skeets"

Heck, yeah! Robots are people, too! I'm on board for whatever they want to do... so long as Skeets isn't Canadian.

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The life of any comic book hero would be a lonely one if not for the many characters who have made up their supporting cast. Just as Superman has Lois Lane and Batman has Alfred, Booster Gold has also shared his adventures with quite a few people over the years. Today we look at one of those, Rani.

In the 30th century, when the evil god Darkseid will take over the planet Daxam in what will become known as "The Great Darkness Saga," time-traveller Booster Gold will do what he can to save innocent lives (in Booster Gold Volume 2, #32). Unfortunately for everyone, Booster is no match for an army of billions of super-powered Daxamites, and he manages to save the life of only one child, little orphan Rani.

With Rani's parents dead and her foster parents fallen victim to Darkseid's invasion, Booster has little choice but to take the poor girl home with him to 21st-century Arizona where she could be cared for by Booster's grown son, Rip Hunter, who Rani nicknamed "Boppy" after her own grandfather (Booster Gold #33). Hunter was concerned that Booster had damaged the space-time continuum by bringing Rani to the past, but Booster's twin sister, Michelle, refused to allow them to send the little girl back to a death sentence in the future (Booster Gold #34). Just like that, Rani became part of Booster's family.

Despite her young age, Rani has an advanced knowledge of technology (Booster Gold #35) and a drive to join the family business. In Booster Gold #38, she pilots a stolen time sphere to 1943 to confront Maxwell Lord's parents before he was born, and would later "borrow" Michelle's Goldstar costume (Booster Gold #39). In response, Michelle grounded her for two whole days.

Rani was mature for her age, but she would continue to be traumatized by her experiences on Daxam. For example, when Doctor Nishtikeit and his time-traveling Nazis attacked Hunter's Arizona home (in Booster Gold #41), Rani suffered a prolonged PTSD episode that only resolved when Booster returned to "rescue" her. She cried for the duration of Booster's 25th-century prison sentence (though that was only 10 minutes of her relative time) as seen in Booster Gold #42. So far as she is concerned, Booster is her new daddy, and he treats her like the daughter he never had.

In the last days before Flashpoint changed history and destroyed everyone's memories of the history of the world that was, Rani was fittingly last seen in Booster Gold #43 on 30th-century missing child poster.

"The Great Darkness Saga" is still in Booster Gold's future. Will Rani be there? Will Booster Gold save her? Only time will tell.

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