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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Remember that time that Booster Gold went back in time and changed history? Obviously, I'm talking about "Blue & Gold," a story written by Jeff Katz and Geoff Johns running between Booster Gold Volume 2 #0 and #1,000,000.

(No, there weren't one million issues in the story. Issue #0 was released in February and issue #1,000,000 came out in July. Issues #6, #7, #8, #9 — released 10 years ago today — and #10 came out in between, so it's only a 7-part story. Comics numbering can be weird.)

The premise of "Blue & Gold" is that Booster Gold, who has altered time for entirely selfish reasons, finds that the new timeline he has accidentally created is far, far worse than anything he could have imagined. Heroes have died. Villains are victorious. And the worst of it is that Booster has no idea how to fix the problems he created...

Hmm. Why does this feels so familiar?

Only a comic book character could learn so little from his own history.

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Booster Gold fans who voted in Monday's poll were pretty clear that they want the beard to go.

Last week's poll question: Should Booster Gold keep his beard from BATMAN 46? (85 votes)

Those of you who love the beard, take heart. You'll be seeing more of it before it goes away. Earlier this week, writer Tom King tweeted this image by artists Tony Daniel and Tomeu Morey from next week's Batman #47:

I guess when Booster broke history, he also broke his razor.

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Sometimes I worry that the delightful friendship between Booster Gold and Blue Beetle will be forgotten by the comic-reading public. After all, Ted Kord was killed 13 years ago. That's a long time in the world of comic books. For example, the DC Universe has been rebooted three times since then! (None of those reboots reinstated the Blue and Gold team.)

That's why I was so pleased to see the Pittsburgh City Paper's interview with comic artist Marcel Walker. Walker, voted the paper's 2017 "Best Local Cartoonist," was the cover artist for this week's issue, and was interviewed about it by Lisa Cunningham.

Cunningham: This week's cover features our take on Batman and Robin. Which Pittsburgh artist would you choose to be your sidekick?

Walker: Most people would say the local writer Wayne Wise and I are already an inseparable creative duo. Together, he and I have been working as lead writer and lead artist, respectively, on the CHUTZ-POW! comic book. We've known each other for years, and since we have so much creative stuff going on at any given time, we're like each other's sidekick and biggest fan. We have more of a Blue Beetle/Booster Gold dynamic, though. (The comics fans will understand that reference!)

Yes, we do understand. And it's great to see someone keeping the spirit of Blue and Gold alive in the public eye. (City Paper reports a circulation of 58,000. That's a lot of readers who are probably hearing about the adventures of Blue and Gold for the first time.)

You can see more of Walker's work (and his collaborations with Wise) on his website, www.marcelwalker.com.

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Whatever you think of writer Tom King's interpretation of Booster Gold in recent issues of Batman, I think we can all agree that we like the way Tony Daniel draws our hero. His take on bearded Booster Gold is already the talk of the Internet. (You know, the part that talks about super hero hairstyles.)

What do you think of Booster's beard? Would you like to see it stick around for future adventures? Or do you want your clean-shaven baby-faced Booster back?

This week's poll question: Should Booster Gold keep his beard from BATMAN 46? Please visit the Boosterrific Polls page to view results for this week's poll.

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