Would Booster Gold fans read Booster Gold comics even if those comics were only online? The answer appears to be yes.

Last week's poll question: If Booster Gold becomes a television series, would you be willing to buy digital-only comics about the series? (41 votes)

This week's poll question was suggested by Grimmy in the forums during a discussion of the possible direction of SyFy's anticipated Booster Gold television show. I apologize in advance to Xylob, who will soon be complaining that he can only pick one option.

Comments (4) | Add a Comment | Tags: characters grimmy history polls syfy television xylob

Word on the street is that next month Firehawk will be joining the cast of Justice League International. This situation could set up an intriguing love triangle as Booster Gold reignites his old flame with Firehawk despite the jealousy of a hot-headed Godiva. But DC's solicitations for today's The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #8 throw some cold water on that smoldering scenario:

Introducing the all-new Firehawk, France's own atomic defender, and Hurricane, Great Britain's officially sanctioned Nuclear Man! Meanwhile, out of the ashes of last issue's shocking climax, Ronnie Raymond and the Russian Firestorm, Pozhar, begin a long, mutual descent toward the dark underbelly of the Firestorm Protocols.

Oh, never mind. Good-bye American Lorraine Reilly, hello unknown French girl. Thanks, Flashpoint. I hated character development anyway.

Doesn't this seem a bit sudden? Every other member of the DCnU Justice League International had appeared in at least 2 other comics somewhere before joining the team's roster. Are the Firestorms of the DCnU such jerks that their supporting cast hates to stick around? Or could it be that Firestorm has no need for a woman in his own book after (*ahem*) "last issue's shocking climax" with Pozhar? Maybe Firehawk would just be in the way as Firestorm and Pozhar (*cough*) "begin a long, mutual descent toward the dark underbelly of the Firestorm Protocols"? (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)

The best way to find the answers to these and many other burning questions is to pick up The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #8.

Comments (6) | Add a Comment | Tags: firehawk firestorm new releases

What do super heroes do in their down time? Same as you and me, I expect. They kick back and play some games with their friends.

Of course the ladies are winning: Zatanna never plays fair!

The above image of Poker Night in Gotham (between Zatanna, Black Canary, and Lady Blackhawk versus Hal Jordan, Nightwing, and Booster Gold) was commissioned from Caanan Grall for The Happy Sorceress. You can find more of Grall's work (and commission some of your own) on Occasional Comics Disorder or at his pages on Deviant Art. (Check out Grall's Deviant Art gallery for a clever Weekend at Bernie's visual gag featuring everyone's favorite dead Blue Beetle.)

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: caanan grall commissions fan art occasionalcomics.com thehappysorceress tumblr.com

According to DC Women Kicking Ass, the rumor that DC will be re-numbering all titles again has been confirmed at this past weekend's Boston Comic Con:

This afternoon at the Boston Comic Con a number of creators in the new 52 discussed various aspects of the reboot while confirming the story from Bleeding Cool earlier this week that DC will issue "0" issues in September that will feature origins or stories about the characters or their casts that happened before issue #1.

Is re-numbering to become an annual ploy with DC, or do DC's editors really think that 1994's Zero Hour crossover gimmick deserves a 18th Anniversary edition? For the record, this will be the third #0 issue to feature Booster Gold: Justice League International #0 in 2012, Booster Gold #0 in 2008, and Extreme Justice #0 in 1994 (which, running counter to DC's practice of interrupting sequences with randomly placed zero issues, was actually published before Extreme Justice #1)!

On the plus side, if there is ever a time to find out how much of Booster Gold's history and supporting cast survived Flashpoint, it'll be a zero-issue origin story. Oh, Skeets, why have you forsaken us?

Comments (3) | Add a Comment | Tags: bleedingcool.com boston comic con dccomics.com dcwomenkickingass reboot tumblr.com

Germany is the economic engine of the European continent, so would Booster Gold feel right at home there? Since we started the week with news from Germany's Morgenstern (one of Booster's biggest fans), it seems right that we should let him close the week with today's entry in the "Booster Gold International" files:

To me, he is the most American kind of hero, even more so than Superman or Captain America. Instead of simply being an example of how 'a true American Hero' should be, Booster Gold is an example how an American Hero would be (in good and bad). His obvious flaws are not there to make him more likrable (like when Superman wonders if he is doing enough or maybe even too much to help mankind), but to make him more believable.

But that just explains how Booster relates to the American culture (from our perspective), but not to us. This can be boiled down to a single feature of our favourite Time Master: The mistakes he makes and how he deals with them.

There is a long list of screw-ups, disasters or even outright crimes that can be attributed to Booster, but eventually he owns up to them. He accepts his responsibility and even is willing to go to jail for them. Yet his story is not one of simple redemption, of a character who did wrong in the past and suddenly turns his life around and banishes all his vices of the past. Instead Booster is still a man with weaknesses, but one who tries his best to learn from his past and not to repeat them, yet still manages to come up with new ones.

Other character at DC (*cough* Hal Jordan) need a huge retcon every few years to wipe the slate clean of all their mistakes to salvage them, while with Booster Gold they are used to form and grow someone who went through what was most likely the biggest & most cohesive character development of the past 10 years.

Thank you for those great points about Booster's appeal, Morgenstern. We will soon look at Booster Gold from the Swiss point-of-view. If you are from another country and wish to share what Booster Gold would mean to your culture, drop me an email at webmaster at Boosterrific.com.

Comments (3) | Add a Comment | Tags: germany guest posts morgenstern