Remember back before DC announced they were rebooting their entire shared universe and Booster Gold's only connection to Canada was that his Smallville appearance was filmed there? Those were the days.

Or perhaps you'll be spending the 3-day Labor Day weekend longing for the old days of Booster Gold, Volume 1, wherein Booster was little more than a smooth criminal with a time machine? Cracked.com has posted Brendan McGinley's article including Booster Gold as one of "7 Comic Characters Who Outlasted The Trends That Made Them." It's funny because it's true. (Thanks to Gregory Swarthout for pointing out that link.)

Good times, man. Good times.

UPDATE 09/02/11: It looks like Cracked has changed the release date of the "7 Comic Characters" article from September 1 to September 5, making you wait until Tuesday to read it. If you're impatient, maybe the Google cache link suggested by Morgenstern in the comments below will get you through the weekend.

Comments (5) | Add a Comment | Tags: brendan mcginley cracked.com gregory swarthout music smallville youtube.com

At ComicBook.com, Russ Burlingame has a new interview with J.M. DeMatteis over DC Retroactive: Justice League America - The '90s. Burlingame doesn't disappoint, asking several Booster-centric questions of the former Booster Gold scribe.

ComicBook.com: You seemed—and this is listeners talking, and me too—a little put off by the way things went on Booster Gold. You were a good soldier about it, didn't say anything, but that's the general vibe that came through in that last interview a bit. After finding out what was going on, in terms of the relaunch, did it make you feel any better about the conditions of being bounced suddenly and surprisingly from Booster Gold? The idea that it was happening to everybody?

J.M. DeMatteis: Honestly, I thought we were yanked from the book very suddenly and—for me at least—unexpectedly. That said, it was really no big deal in the scheme of things. The real loss was that I no longer had a monthly sandbox to play in with Keith Giffen.

Among the questions that Burlingame doesn't ask is why the new Retroactive book has such a long title. If this DC reboot accomplishes anything, maybe it will get us some shorter titles. DC Retroactive: Justice League America - The 1990s is a mouth full.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: comicbook.com gold exchange j.m. dematteis justice league russ burlingame

Today marks the end of the DCU, as represented by Flashpoint #5, and the dawn of the DCnU, to be seen in Justice League, Volume 2, #1. It seems very unlikely that Booster Gold will appear in either book, though both affect his stories. By this time, I'm sure anyone reading this has an opinion about the Great DC Reboot of 2010, so buy them or not: Skeets is indifferent.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: flashpoint justice league new releases reboot

DC released this teaser image of Booster Gold yesterday at The Source.

Putting together yesterday's image of the Phillip-ized Booster Gold had me convinced that Booster's new costume was worse than I had previously realized. Fortunately, seeing Booster in a more conventional DC style is something of a soothing balm for my panic. Somewhat.

More curiously, in the full image, Booster is clearly standing near Plastic Man, Hawk, and Frankenstein's Monster. Is the Justice League International the DCnU's equivalent of television's Justice League Unlimited team where every DC hero is a member? I hate to be an optimist, but this could be good.

Comments (3) | Add a Comment | Tags: costumes dcu.blog.dccomics.com justice league international justice league unlimited reboot

According to Rich Johnson of Bleeding Cool, it was announced at the August 26th Fan Expo Canada "Flashpoint Friday" panel that Booster Gold will be the Canadian member of the upcoming Justice League International.

Let that sink in. A Canadian. Because the first things that come to mind when you think Canada is "selfishness" and "self-promotion."

Does this change anything significant about Booster's character? No, not really. It's just a little weird to think that Booster Gold, the Capitalist Crusader, will be Canadian in the DCnU, eh.

It's hard to believe that this wasn't just panelists Brian Azzarello, Eddie Berganza, Andy Kubert, Francis Manapul, and James Robinson playing up to the local crowd. We'll find out the truth soon enough: Justice League International #1 is less than 2 weeks away.

UPDATE 08/29/11: Jobu popped into the Boosterrific Forum to note the following.

One of the panelists (I was far back) replied "actually, I think you guys will be thrilled to know that in the DCnU one of heroes will now be Canadian". They batted around "can we tell them?" for a bit and then said it was Booster Gold. The crowd cheered and clapped, but I just assumed it was joke and nothing more.

The next day at the New 52 panel, I was rocking my Booster Gold fan club T-shirt when a question came up about the JLI and Dan DiDio once again said Booster would be Canadian. He said it with a totally straight face and wasn't playing for applause so maybe there's some truth to this rumour?

So they're serious then? Of all the characters to make Canadian... Booster Gold, a hero disgraced playing college football, named by Ronald Reagan, who wears a star on his chest? Thanks for the update, Jobu.

Comments (6) | Add a Comment | Tags: bleedingcool.com canada citizenship fan expo justice league international rich johnston