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.

Comments (4) | Add a Comment | Tags: polls skeets vacation

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.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: grant morrison new releases seven soldiers

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.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: cancellation comicbeat.com firestorm graph sales

I can't explain why some of this music video looks the way it does. However, this video isn't for looking at, it's for listening to.

According to Facebook, Basement Bob is a singer/songwriter from Edmonton, Canada. Facebook doesn't mention that he has fantastic taste in super heroes.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: basement bob chibob55 facebook.com music youtube.com

Russ Burlingame's latest no-longer-titled-"International Exchange" column with Dan Jurgens is already posted at ComicBook.com. As usual, it's a good place to go for creator commentary.

Burlingame: Godiva, meanwhile, is advocating for we Booster fans a little, suggesting that she needs to get a look at Skeets. Was that tossed in after you realized you probably wouldn't have time to write him in to a future issue?

Jurgens: No. At the time that issue was written I was unaware of that, and plans for Skeets were pretty much planned out.

Don't toy with my heart like that! I for one am still holding out hope that we'll get to see Skeets before this series ends. Don't take that hope away from me!

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: comicbook.com dan jurgens international exchange justice league international russ burlingame skeets