Upon first read, I thought I was okay with Heroes in Crisis #1. Yes, it is heavy on atmosphere and light on story, but after Tom King's criminal misuse of Booster Gold in "The Gift", I decided that this was at least somewhat more respectful of my hero (even as it spits in the eye of the entire DC "Rebirth" initiative).

Then I read what ScreenRant.com and IGN.com and ComicBook.com had to say about it. (Warning: links contains spoilers.)

Now I'm wondering if perhaps my worst fears about this series weren't fearful enough. Since so many people seem to think that writer Tom King is some kind of literary genius — an opinion I have not shared since I read Batman, Volume 4 #1 — might Heroes in Crisis poison Booster Gold for the general public in the same sort of way that Marvel's revelation that Hank Pym was a mentally addled wife beater tarnished that once great character? *Gulp*

But maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe I'm just overprotective of my favorite character. Call me Chicken Little.

Am I alone? Let's find out.

This week's poll question: What is your reaction to Heroes in Crisis #1? Please visit the Boosterrific Polls page to view results for this week's poll.

Comments (4) | Add a Comment | Tags: comicbook.com heroes in crisis ign.com polls screenrant.com tom king

Today's the big day!

A preview of Heroes in Crisis #1 is online at DCComics.com.

As you can see on the cover above, the series' limited run has been extended from seven issues to nine. Per Friday's announcement at DCComics.com:

First announced as a seven-issue series by Tom King and artist Clay Mann, HEROES IN CRISIS now expands to nine issues, with King collaborators Lee Weeks and Mitch Gerads providing art for the added issues. These issues will provide added insight into King and Mann's epic tale, with Weeks (BATMAN/ELMER FUDD) handling art duties for issue #3 and Eisner award-winning Gerads (MISTER MIRACLE) providing art for issue #7.

HEROES IN CRISIS #1, written by Tom King, art by Clay Mann and Tomeu Morey, lettered by Clayton Cowles and edited by Jamie S. Rich and Brittany Holzherr, hits shelves September 26.

King elaborated on Twitter, explaining "we were going to do 7 issues of HiC and 2 HiC 'specials,' and instead we (I) decided it would work better if we incorporated the specials into the numbering." So this isn't a big change (and also probably explains the mysterious disappearance of that Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy Heroes in Crisis prelude special that was solicited by Dynamic Forces back in July). Good to know.

Also of note is King's recent description of Booster Gold's role in the series. He spoke to Kiel Phegly of CBR.com:

CBR: Is there a piece of DCU lore or a corner of the comics that might not be central to the action that you really wanted to bring in just to play with it in some small way?

King: There are C-level characters that are fun. I mean, Booster Gold! The trinity are the stars of the series, but the other two star characters are Booster and Harley. Booster to me doesn't seem like a character I'm pulling off the shelf because he feels like someone at the heart of the DCU. Maybe I've been watching too much Justice League Action over and over with my kids. He's the center of that show, and he's amazing.

That's not so good to know. While I agree that Booster is amazing, I'm not eager to see JL Action's goofy interpretation become his dominant characterization in the mainstream DCnU. (Does anyone remember what Elongated Man, Doctor Light, and Jean Loring were like *before* Identity Crisis? Just saying.)

Buy Heroes in Crisis #1 from your Local Comic Shop and make Skeets happy.

Comments (4) | Add a Comment | Tags: cbr.com dccomics.com heroes in crisis kiel phegly new releases tom king twitter.com

I'm sure you've heard by now that printed copies of last week's Batman: Damned marked the first on-panel appearance of Batman's, um, sidekick.

Batman: Damned #1, writer: Brian Azzarello, artist: Lee Bermejo

DC Comics promptly promised to remove, er, "Li'l Wayne" from future printings and all digital copies. IGN.com reported that a DC source justified the company's abrupt about-face by claiming that "it wasn't additive to the story." If that was the case, why was it there in the first place?

The obvious answer is that this was a stunt to sell comic books.

Gratuitous nudity has long been used in comic books and other visual media to increase sales. (Generally speaking, women are the subject of this sort of exploitation far more than men — the target audience for such things is generally male — so in a way, seeing Batman's, ah, primary sexual characteristic is kind of refreshing. Kind of.) But Batman is not an outlier property. He is arguably DC's most valuable property. His name alone in the masthead moves books. If any character shouldn't have to drop trou to get some attention, it's Batman.

Which brings us to the obvious question: who's next?

If they'll do it to Batman, they'll do it to anyone. If DC has reached a point were they are willing to release "mature reader" comic books of their headliners in birthday suits, how long until we get a better look at characters who are somewhat more obscure?

In other words, it seems only a matter of time until we see Booster Gold's penis.

That's a future I don't think I'm prepared for.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: batman ign.com nudity

Booster Gold fans are less optimistic than I expected.

Last week's poll question: Are you still expecting Warner Bros to release a live-action Booster Gold movie? (43 votes)

I can't say as I blame you. Warner Bros certainly doesn't seem to know what they're doing, and that makes it awfully hard to have faith that they'll do our hero justice.

Those of you who have lost faith may enjoy reading the somewhat rambling opinion piece "The DC Extended Universe needs to die" at Destructoid.com. I did.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: destructoid.com movies polls

DC Comics' solicitations for December don't give Booster Gold fans much to talk about. (Heroes in Crisis #4 is delayed to January, and The New Teen Titans Omnibus Volume 4 reprinting New Teen Titans #29 and #30 won't ship until May). But blogs abhor a news vacuum. Therefore, let's dig into the Boosterrific fan mailbag for a question very much related to yesterday's poll question.

On Monday, Bob dropped by to ask

Boosterrific-did you get DC all access? and if so what do you think of it? I got it and it only has 12 issues of Booster Gold's 45 issue second run. It has none of the first run. And none of Rip Hunters -Time Masters. I am curious to know your thoughts.

Hi, Bob! First of all, I have to admit that I'm not an early adopter. I'm also a cheapskate. Therefore, I like to hear from friends and critics if something is going to be worth $8 a month before I buy in to the DC Universe streaming service. I found Mike Sterling's review on ProgressiveRuin.com helpful, but I'm still waiting for a thumbs-up from a couple of my die-hard DC-fan friends before taking the plunge myself.

That said, it still might be a while before I check it out. I got the impression that the service wasn't going to give me much I hadn't already seen, and so far, it looks like I was right. Sure, I like Super-Friends and Batman TAS, but I don't feel the need to pay to watch them for the dozenth time.

The highlight for me would be access to comics I haven't read (and don't own), and I might be more interested in the service once a better selection of DC's back catalog of comics is online. I've read waaay too many comic books to need someone to "curate" my options for me. (By the way, Bob, anyone can currently buy and read Booster Gold volume 1 online at Comixology.com. Is Booster Gold not good enough for your streaming service, DC?)

In other words, I get the impression that the service isn't for me, at least not yet. But I'm willing to be patient about it. Good content isn't time-sensitive.

UPDATE 2018-09-19: Booster makes brief appearances (kind of) in today's Harley Quinn #50 and Mister Miracle #11.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: bob rossetto dcuniverse.com progressiveruin.com solicitations teen titans