You won't find Booster Gold in your Local Comic Shop today, but that doesn't mean he's gone for good. In DC's August solicitations, we learned that Booster will be playing a bigger part in future Injustice 2 issues.

INJUSTICE 2 #31
written by TOM TAYLOR
art and cover by DANIEL SAMPERE
The Red Lanterns, backed by the power of Starro, wage an all-out assault on Oa and the source of the Green Lanterns' power. But help is on the way in the form of the Titans, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold and...Lobo? Get ready for a rumble like you've never seen before!
ON SALE August 01 · $2.99 US · DIGITAL FIRST

INJUSTICE 2 #32
written by TOM TAYLOR
art and cover by BRUNO REDONDO
Then, the fate of the world hangs in the balance as Starro and the Red Lanterns head toward Earth bent on destruction. Beetle, Booster and the Titans are in hot pursuit. Following close behind is Lobo, armed with a weapon that may ultimately do more harm than good.
ON SALE August 15 · $2.99 US · DIGITAL FIRST

As mentioned earlier this week, Booster Gold is sporting a new jacket starting in Injustice 2 #30 coming July 18. Will he keep wearing the jacket in issues #31 and #32? I know I can't wait to find out!

While we're on the subject, I should mention that Booster will also be seen in the Deluxe Edition reprint of Action Comics #1000. You can find more info about that hardcover and the whole slate of DC Comics' August solicitations at Newsarama.com.

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If you have been waiting for physical copies of Injustice 2 instead of buying them as they are released digitally each week on Comixology.com (only 99¢ per chapter!), you may be unaware that our hero has recently made a small change to his costume. And it looks pretty darn good.

Injustice 2 Chapter Fifty-Eight, art by Bruno Redondo, Juan Albarran, J. Nanjan

Check out that jacket! And it's got a collar! *swoon*

You'll be able to pick up the hard copy of this and Chapter Fifty Seven when they come to your Local Comic Shop on July 18 as Injustice 2 #30.

Thanks to Jeremy R! Hudson for spreading the fashionable news on Twitter.

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To all of my fellow Americans waking up early on a weekend to watch the much ballyhooed wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, know that you're not alone.

Booster Gold loves royal weddings, too. (He's been to all of them.)

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I'd like to stop talking about the recent Batman story "The Gift", really I would. I'd like to file the three issues away in my longboxes and forget it was ever published. But it seems Tom King doesn't want to let me do that.

Please, no.

#BEGIN RANT (Warning: rant may contain spoilers)

I'm not intimately familiar with King's entire body of work, but I find it unlikely he's grown as popular as he is if all of his stories are as carelessly crafted as "The Gift."

The premise is laughably bad, an idea that should have been left on the back of whatever cocktail napkin King first jotted it on. How, exactly, is changing time to prevent the wedding of Batman and Catwoman supposed to be a gift? What kind of person would choose a vague dream over the lives of two loving parents? What kind of person would expect someone else to? Booster Gold was a former member of the Justice League, not a super villain. The excuse of immaturity can only be stretched so far.

The conclusion is no better. It's the worst kind of time travel plot device, where the resolution invalidates everything that came before. The Booster Gold who has been tortured by Bruce Wayne for the previous year can no longer exist. How can any Booster remember an event which never happened? (By the way, what happened to the corpse of the impossible Bruce Wayne? Or Skeets? Or the "other" Booster Gold? Damn this rabbit hole!) The resolution of "The Gift," as nonsensical as it is, makes it clear that its events can only affect one character (at most), and that character wasn't even the guy whose name is on the cover. If King hadn't tweeted otherwise, I would have assumed this story was filler so the wedding could take place in an issue with a nice, round number.

Speaking of Batman, he comes off just as poorly as Booster Gold does. As I wrote back in April, King ostensibly set out to recreate Alan Moore's "For The Man Who Has Everything..." by showing that the world was a worse place without Batman. However, instead of affirming the heroic value of one of the most popular fictional characters of all time, King instead successfully invalidates another of Moore's stories, The Killing Joke. In the end, all it takes is "one bad day" for Bruce Wayne to become a gun-toting murderer. Was that the goal, to demonstrate not that the world is better with Batman in it but that *Batman* is a better person because his parents died young? Unlike Booster, who King treats as a brain-dead court jester, Batman should be deserving of some respect. But no, his character is dragged through just as much mud.

If this story is any indication, King clearly cares nothing for characterization. Any excuse to write a feral Catwoman who kills for no apparent reason or a Batman who shoots first and asks questions never. (Or worse, Green Lanterns who shoot themselves in the head on a dare.) Judging by the quote above, I'm guessing that King intentionally ignored years of character development so that Booster Gold would be in position for that other story he wants to tell. Otherwise he certainly went out of his way to mangle some beloved characters for no obvious reason.

#END RANT

Maybe you were one of those people who who read "The Gift" and liked it. More power to you. In that case, perhaps you'd like to hear what BleedingCool.com has to speculate about this announcement.

Personally, I found the ridiculous premise, careless resolution, and misguided characterization insulting to some characters and artists I'm actually quite fond of. If "The Gift" is any indication of the kind of story that King likes to write, I'd prefer that he left Booster Gold on the sidelines instead.

FOOTNOTE 2018-05-18:

I'm guessing... lobotomy? (As I said above, "the excuse of immaturity can only be stretched so far.")

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You'll find the third and final chapter of "The Gift" appearing in Batman #47 is in your Local Comic Shop today. CBR.com has the preview, demonstrating that Booster Gold has lost his mind and Bruce Wayne is a real bastard.

If you missed the beginning of this story — lucky you. But if you still want a copy, DC is releasing a second printing of Batman #45 today. The first printing sold out all 96,000+ copies. To put that in perspective, that one issue has already sold more than *twice* the number of copies of any single issue of Booster's recent 6-part "Booster Shot" story in Action Comics.

(Consider that Booster's first series was canceled because the character was rejected by 1980s audiences for being too immoral, yet the version of Booster that sells best in 2018 is a much, much bigger jerk than Dan Jurgens' original incarnation ever was. Go figure.)

Batman #47 isn't the only issue out today featuring Booster Gold and Batman. A more traditional interpretation of both characters can be found in Injustice 2 #26. Our hero doesn't play a big part in the proceedings, but at least he's easy to recognize. He's the only hero attending Batman's meeting wearing a t-shirt with his own face on it.

Who says we can't have it all? Booster boosters who like the beard can pick up Batman #47. And for those who prefer a clean-shaven hero, grab Injustice #26. Everybody's a winner today.

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