Honestly, I expected the opinion pieces to be among the least favorite blog topics. Boy, was I wrong. (And who would have guessed that "25th-century erotica" would receive more votes than non-Booster comics news?) I guess I shouldn't be shy about giving you a piece of my mind.

Last week's poll question: What type of content would you most like to see more of on the Boosterrific.com blog? (38 votes)

Death. It happens to all of us sooner or later. In real life, it always marks "The End" of our personal stories. In comics, that's not necessarily the case.

Comic book characters suffer death much like real humans suffer the common cold. It's an inconvenience, but it will pass. This condition jades audiences, and the resulting difficulty to maintain suspension of disbelief then requires something unusual or spectacular to make an audience pay attention, as recent events in Justice League International #7 and DC Universe Online Legends #24 highlight.

Counting alternate realities, Booster Gold has now "died" at least four times, but as expected he keeps getting better. That makes you wonder: what would it really take to kill off Metropolis' greatest hero?

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The final issues of Booster Gold Vol. 2 hit the stands again today, collected in the Flashpoint: the World of Flashpoint Featuring Superman. That title may seem unnecessarily long, but then so did Flashpoint.

Other than Booster Gold issues #44 through #47, the collection includes The Canterbury Cricket one-shot and the complete Project Superman and World of Flashpoint mini-series. With a retail price of $17.99, that's eleven comics for the price of six! With pricing like this, why would anyone bother buying individual issues anymore?

If you have any interest in the expanded Flashpoint universe, you can't fault the value here. This volume contains the last appearance of Skeets to date if nothing else. Buy this collection and let DC know that you want more Skeets.

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If you haven't yet read Justice League International #7, stay far, far away from this month's "International Exchange" column at ComicBook.com. Once you've read the issue, rush over for Russ Burlingame's grilling of Dan Jurgens about the events of the paradigm-shifting issue.

IX: Going on the assumption that I made last issue—that [Rocket Red's] armor would have been infected by that interface... does that now put Skeets at risk?

DJ: Perhaps. Or it's possible that Skeets might make a startling discovery of his own. Or none at all. Or might just go to an ATM to withdraw cash. Hard to tell at this point.

Believe it or not, for this issue with plenty of focus on Booster Gold, Burlingame and Jurgens don't even mention our hero. However, a hinted implication that we'll be seeing more Skeets in the future is a happy substitute. An unasked, unanswered question is whether we'll actually be seeing Skeets, who has yet to appear on panel since Flashpoint, over half-a-year ago. Where have you been hiding, Skeets?

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In the year 2001, mankind's freedoms were sacrificed for the sake of security by a tyrannical government that seized power after a well-planned attack on American soil. Thankfully, this kind of scenario could only happen in comic books.

On this day in 1991, DC Comics launched their summer crossover series Armageddon 2001. The book was created by an all-star cast: written by Archie Goodwin and illustrated by Dan Jurgens and Dick Giordano. However, it is far more famous for the illogical resolution to its story, which DC changed at the last minute due to the conclusion being leaked to the public. In the non-stop media-hype of the 21st century, that action seems rather quaint in hindsight.

The setup for the story revolved around the mystery of which DC hero betrayed the rest to become a world-dominating tyrant. A time-traveler from the future makes it his mission to investigate the heroes of the 20th-century in an attempt to forestall his own horrible fate. Naturally everyone was a suspect, including Booster Gold.

Honestly, Booster plays only a small part in this story and probably then only because Jurgens was the artist. Perhaps it was too far-fetched an idea that foolish Michael Jon Carter would one day wield the power to control the world. More likely, it may have been impossible for readers to believe that an egomaniac like Booster Gold would rule hiding behind a mask.

Despite Booster's tangential involvement, the story is actually quite entertaining. Betrayal and the temptation of power are themes regularly investigated in super hero comics. This story simply takes those themes to a logical extreme and with the addition of time travel, provides a frame story that allows the creative teams of the era to incorporate the crossover event into their series in organic and entertaining ways.

If you can get past the tragically unsatisfying ending, this 2001, like the year itself, is worth a second look.

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Would this make Batman Oscar the Grouch?

Much of the work of Candadian artist Marco D'Alfonso is comprised of clever pop culture smash-ups. From Blue Beetle and Booster Gold as Bert and Ernie (seen above) to Ghost Rider on Shotaro Kaneda's motorcycle (from Akirm), his work is fun and clever. You can find more of his work under the pseudonym m7781 on Deviant Art.

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