Regular players of Sony's DC Universe Online have probably noticed that something has changed about the game's version of Booster Gold. Specifically, Booster has a new voice.

Earlier this month, Sony surprised gamers by replacing the audio files for Booster Gold, previously voiced by Tracy W. Bush. This led to some hand-wringing by many who wondered at the motivation for the change. DCUO Creative Director Jens Andersen responded to these questions in the message boards at forums.station.sony.com:

The reason for the Booster change was simply because Calculator and Booster are very common on the villain side, and in fact they can often play back to back while leveling. The fact that they are played by the same actor was a bit of a problem. We wanted to keep Calculator as is because it's a lot of [voice over] and we will use him consistently in the future. With Booster coming in to the PvP DLC we saw the opportunity to recast the voice and not have the same guy talking over himself all the time.

The PvP DLC -- that's "Player versus Player Downloadable Content" for those of you who don't speak video game shorthand -- that Anderson references is The Last Laugh, and it hits the market today. I can't attest to how much Booster Gold content will be in the game, but eagle-eyed viewers will spot Booster at about the 36-second mark of the teaser trailer below.

DC Universe Online is free to play (and includes plenty of opportunity to interact with Booster Gold), but The Last Laugh DLC will set you back about $10.

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No Booster Gold this September? Big deal. Before we go whining that we Booster Gold fans have it bad, let's stop to commiserate with fans of another character who have had it worse. Specifically, fans of Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash.

Allen's first appearance marks the dawn of the Silver Age. Without Barry Allen and his interaction with the heroes of yesteryear, DC's continuity would be nothing outside of Barman/Superman crossovers. After two-and-a-half decades of entertaining stories, he was sacrificed to the gods of comic book mega-crossovers, rarely to be seen for another two-and-a-half decades. May Booster Gold never share that fate!

Booster Gold didn't debut in the DCU until nearly four months after Barry Allen sacrificed himself in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8. The two characters wouldn't cross paths for nearly 22 years in the pages of Booster Gold Volume 2, #3, and even that was an accident!

In celebration of its fourth anniversary, SpeedForce.org is currently asking Flash fans to share their favorite Flash moments. Site visitors will be able to vote on their favorite memories, and winners will receive Flash-related prizes. Submissions are open through tomorrow night, so if you've got a story to share, act fast!

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Unlike Rip Hunter, most of us don't have time-travelling parents, but that doesn't mean that we don't look up to our fathers. There's no better way to tell dad that he's your hero than by giving him the gift of Booster Gold.

Remind dad that the classics never go out of style! These vintage wool letters are available from the Etsy.com store of Emmy Lucy. These letters would look great on a classic Booster Gold-themed letterman's jacket (the kind your pop still has hanging in the back of his closet).

Just because dad still has some bad habits doesn't mean that he can't look good. Straight from the Etsy.com store of Gotham City Comics comes this one-of-a-kind Booster Gold cigarette lighter. Obviously Booster Gold can't officially endorse cigarette lighters (he's got to think of the children!), but some fan-made artwork is the next best thing.

This Father's Day, show dad your his biggest booster with Booster Gold!

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I think that Skeets is only Booster Gold's sidekick because it wants to be. After all, being a major celebrity's plus-one has to be a pretty sweet deal. Skeets never has to wait for a good table at a restaurant, pay full price for a new car, or wear last year's fashions. Stay a sidekick as long as you can, Skeets!

Last week's poll question: If it were no longer needed as a sidekick, what career would Skeets take in the DCnU? (40 votes)

Since Booster won't be needed by the JLI in September, it looks like he has some spare time on his hands. Superheroes don't usually have "free time," so Booster probably finds himself in the unfamiliar situation of not knowing what to do with himself.

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The last time Booster Gold didn't appear in a comic for a whole month was in 2006, an otherwise very busy year for our hero. In addition to the events of Infinite Crisis and 52, Booster Gold had time to make a cameo in another major event: Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers.

In Seven Soldiers: Bulleteer #3, Booster steals the scene in his one panel appearance as a presenter at the Zenith City Superhero Convention. That's right, Booster Gold was the Neal Patrick Harris of 2006. In fact, Booster's performance was so good that DC will collect it for a second time in Seven Soldiers of Victory Volume 2, scheduled for release today.

Even putting Booster Gold aside, the Seven Soldiers saga is pretty darn good. The story makes far more sense and is far more satisfying than Grant Morrison's more recent mega-event, Final Crisis. In many ways, this story is reminiscent of Morrison's best days on JLA, but with a more diverse cast and scope. Recommended.

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