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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Yesterday, DC announced solicitations for the month of September, making it official that September 2012 will be the first month since November 2006 in which DC publishes no book including Booster Gold as a featured character. Even the best heroes need some time off every 69 months or so.

[Be aware that sales data in the graph above is not entirely accurate. In addition to unreported digital sales, sales priort to issue #9 were likely under-reported by up to 10% to account for estimated retailer returns. Therefore, it is unlikely that there was any significant sales upturn for issue #9. Unadjusted numbers for months prior to May can be seen at Comicbeat.com.]

It is important to remember that Justice League International wasn't canceled for poor sales alone. Many New 52 series are selling far, far worse. (For example, even with a guest appearance from the Booster Gold, Firestorm #9 sold almost half as many issues as JLI #9 did, and it still isn't canceled.) While expectations are certainly higher for Justice League titles, Justice League Dark has been selling only slightly better (+/-2,000 issues) than JLI, and it still isn't canceled. The evidence seems to indicate that DC has something else in mind for either the JLI or its star, Booster Gold.

Whatever the reason, I'll be saving an extra $4 come September.

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