On Friday, DC announced via their blog that Justice League International Annual #1 will be shipping August 29, 2012. DC promises that "the ramifications of this [issue] will be felt across the board," but the best part of this news is that Geoff Johns will be co-writing the book.

Johns is probably on-board for this one-shot because the issue will tie-in with his regular gig as writer of Justice League (issue #12, specifically). For his part, co-writer DiDio is probably on-board to tie-off some loose ends dangling from the his recently-canceled gig as writer of OMAC. Fans of either series should be excited about the crossover potential here, especially since Johns and DiDio are Chief Creative Officer and Co-Publisher of DC Comics, respectively, and therefore are in a position to see that what happens in their issue of JLI is relevant to events throughout the company.

If the solicitation cover is any indication, it looks like the first thing that the powerful pair has done is ensure that Booster Gold no longer has any gold on his cowl. That's already a change for the better.

Join the discussion of this news in the Boosterrific Forum.

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What are you giving your mother for Mother's Day this Sunday? Why not give her something to remind her of your favorite hero, Booster Gold? No, I'm not recommending that you gamble away your future to pay for her operation. I mean something handmade made with love from etsy.com, where artisans provide the handmaking and you provide the love.

Remind Mom that inside every woman is a girl waiting for the prince of charming himself, Booster Gold! This hairbow is available from the Etsy.com store of Bat Cactus. (If your mom has a sister, consider picking up the Blue Beetle hairbow to complete the set!)

Looking for something a little more grown-up? Consider these earrings or a matching pendant from the Etsy.com store of Bear Accessories. She'll be the envy of all her Capitalist friends!

This Mother's Day, give mom some gold: Booster Gold!

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There were some great suggestions for other titles in last week's comments, and this poll had a large number of voters. Clearly, we're excited about Booster Gold on TV, whatever SyFy decides to call it.

Last week's poll question: What is the best title for the currently untitled Booster Gold television show produced by the SyFy network? (50 votes)

Last week, I watched children pouring out of a matinee showing of The Avengers, most of them pretending to be one of the film's heroes. How did they chose which hero they would role play? Did they innately associate with one of the characters, or did they prefer the role that they filled on the team? There's only one way to answer this question: make it a Boosterrific Poll question!

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There's no avoiding it: the DCnU Justice League International suffers from a bit of decompression, making reading each new issue an exercise in patience. Fortunately for those of us with a need for immediate gratification (e.g., Americans), today DC releases the first six issues of the series in a single, collected trade paperback, Justice League International, Vol 1: The Signal Masters.

The volume is advertised at $14.99, a savings of 50¢ off cover price -- per issue! Better, DC advertises this trade at 144 pages. Each of the first 6 issues is 21-pages long (including covers) for a total of 126 published pages. What's making up the 18-page difference, hmm?

Skeets is beginning to think that with deals like this, only suckers should buy individual issues anymore. Buy this collection and prove Skeets right.

(UPDATE 05/09/12 7:49PM: these bonus pages are mostly unfinished pencils and uncolored inks from the covers and a few character sketches. There are a few character design sketches for Fire, Ice, and Vixen. Nothing previously unseen featuring Booster Gold.)

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A rotating roster, shifting mandates, even headquarter relocations. Sometimes, it seems the only thing that's constant in the Justice League is the once-a-decade need for reinvention.

Not even two years earlier, the Justice League International concept had given way to the three-headed Justice League America / Justice League Task Force / Justice League West (aka Extreme Justice) teams, yet by 1996 the winds of change were already swirling again. In order to clear the board for the imminent Magnificent Seven of Grant Morrison's JLA, the bulk of the Justice League America team was shot into deep space in Justice League America #112, the next-to-last issue of the series.

As Wonder Woman and the Flash grasped at straws to save their team, the other two Justice Leagues did little more than idly stand by. Maybe because he's a time-traveler with knowledge of what's to come, or maybe because he's a student of history with perspective of what's been before, Booster Gold doesn't bother to open his mouth in the current emergency. Our hero leaned against a wall, coffee in hand, as Blue Beetle represents the Extreme Justice team in the Justice League America's final story. (Booster's not the only character to be seen but not heard: the rest of Extreme Justice poses in an awkwardly mid-1990s fashion. Firestorm in particular appears to hover around the ceiling like a human candelabra.)

Justice League America #112 is no better than an average comic and is probably representative of why the series was being rebooted for a more iconic line-up. The book is ugly, confusing, and chock full of characters today's audience wouldn't even recognize. It is, however, a great reminder that every once in awhile, reboots are necessary to reinvigorate even the most high-profile comic books. Take comfort in knowing that it has happened before, and it will happen again.

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