DC Comics finally released April solicitations with the much ballyhooed price increases on Monday. Most monthly titles are going up from $2.99 to $3.99. (Did they have to jump a whole dollar? Golly, am I glad I'm not buying many comics anymore.)

As in too many past months, there's no sign that Booster Gold will be anywhere, not even in any of the company's trade paperbacks. Therefore, we're still waiting for Booster Gold to make his first appearance in the Reborn DCU.

On the bright side, at least Booster Gold fans don't have to worry about what that price hike might do to our comic buying budgets. So there's that.

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Last week, Ariel dropped by the Boosterrific Facebook page to tell us that the website that used to be Comic Book Resources but is now a series of lists has included both volumes of Booster Gold on Gary Smith's "The 15 Best JLI Books Ever."

Despite the title, the list is actually 17 titles long. (Because lists.) But of those 17 titles, 9 feature a strong Booster Gold presence:

17. Extreme Justice

16. Justice League International, Volume 3

8. Justice League 3000/3001

7. Justice League: Generation Lost

6. Formerly Known as the Justice League

4. Booster Gold, Volume 1

3. Booster Gold, Volume 2

2. "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League" in JLA Classified

1. Justice League International, Volume 1

If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that it's almost impossible to have a Justice League International without Booster Gold. That's a pretty good legacy.

To read what Smith had to say about each title, visit CBR.com. Thanks to Ariel for sorting through the lists and bring this to our attention.

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Until 1933, the term of the President of the United States began on March 4. This created a long delay between the election, held in November, and the incoming government's ability to take action. The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed in order to reduce this lame duck period during which the country was effectively ungoverned.

The first president to be inaugurated on the newly mandated date of January 20 was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, inaugurated to his second term on January 20, 1937, eighty years ago today.

Inauguration Day 1937 saw a record 1.77 inches of rain fall in 37° weather in Washington DC. Fun! Newspaper reports of the day say that crowds didn't linger long after FDR's public swearing in on the Capitol steps, and who can blame them? I'm sure most of them didn't have an impenetrable 25th-century force field to keep them dry.

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The unfortunately named Justice League of America: Vixen Rebirth #1 was released last week. Telling the story of how celebrity supermodel Mari McCabe returned to her superheroic persona, Vixen, it's a solid book with some great art by Jamal Campbell.

However, it's not clear how this Vixen relates to the New 52 version, Booster Gold's teammate who was nearly killed in Justice League International #6.

The New 52 incarnation of the Justice League International appears to have existed in the Rebirth Universe, at least according to Green Lanterns #9. Yet Justice League of America: Vixen Rebirth gives the impression that Vixen is a new superhero on the scene. How can both of those stories be true in a shared universe?

In an interview with Matt Santori at Comicosity.com, Vixen Rebirth co-writer Steve Orlando said that so far as he's concerned, "All of [Vixen's] appearances happened." That's a great thing to say to the press to ease Vixen's worried fans, but unless you make it explicit in the comic itself, it doesn't matter. For example, an artist could claim that he thinks Booster Gold is a Canadian citizen, but until he commits that idea to continuity, Booster's published history as an American citizen must still take precedence. (Once again: no comic DC has ever published indicates that Booster Gold is any nationality other than American.)

I appreciate that from a marketing and story-telling position, it can be an advantage to ignore what came before — especially when what came before is a confusing mess after years of unending and unexplained continuity revisions. The down side of any reboot is that it damages existing fans' relationship with a character they thought they knew.

"Continuity" is really just another word for "character development." Without it, we might as well be reading about different characters with similar tastes in fashion.

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As the DC Comics April 2017 solicitations began trickling in, the big news is that Superman is soon to be a pair of red shorts and a yellow belt away from his classic costume.

As happy as that makes us long-time Superman fans, I have to wonder if that doesn't signal bigger reversions for the DC Rebirth Universe.

Last month, we saw that Booster Gold will be appearing in a crossover with The Flintstones. The cover included in those solicitations clearly depicted Booster in his pre-Flashpoint costume.

I had assumed that the costume on that cover was an accident on the part of cover artist Mike Allred, who perhaps was using an outdated template. But since DC is now clearly backsliding on Superman's look, what's the chance they're finally fixing Booster's atrocious New 52 costume?

Maybe we'll find out more when Booster Gold/The Flintstones Annual #1 finally arrives on March 29.

Meanwhile, you can read more about DC's plans for Superman at Comicbook.com

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