Comichron.com reports that the North American comic book industry had its most profitable year ever in 2021, and it's easy to understand why. There are a lot of great comic books being published right now.

Personally, I spent over $50 at my Local Comic Shop on DC Comics alone this week. My favorite right now is Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo's Nightwing which is so well written and illustrated that it's almost a crime *not* to buy it.

Restricting the conversation to books that are out this week, I should mention that despite my misgivings about drinking from the well of Crisis on Infinite Earths one too many times, I'm still looking forward to where Dark Crisis is headed. Sadly, Booster Gold doesn't appear in this week's Issue 2, but I'm sure he'll be back soon. We already know he's on the alternate cover for next month's issue 3 due in stores on August 2.

If you didn't already pick up the first and last issues of the Justice League Unlimited mini-series for Booster's small role in that, be aware that the entire series has now been collected into a single volume.

Also available this week is DC Vs. Vampires #7. Booster Gold's role in this story is limited to the bottom corner of the full-page splash panel on page 2 (visible in the issue preview AIPTcomics.com). Booster's cameo appearance aside, I've decided this title is very, very definitely not for me, so that's all I'm going to say about it here.

Skeets likes it when you buy books with Booster Gold in them, but you do you. There are too many good options out there these days to waste time, money, and emotional energy on the ones you don't like.

UPDATE 2022-07-06: Logan writes in to point out that Booster also gets a tiny cameo in this week's Flashpoint Beyond #3. Thanks, Logan!

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Source: "The Greatest Story Never Told," Justice League Unlimited (by way of every episode of The Adventures of Superman, because Booster Gold only steals from the best!)

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It sounds a stupid thing to type out loud, but I'm having a hard time mustering enthusiasm for posting about Booster Gold.

It's not Booster's fault. I'm having a hard time mustering enthusiasm for just about anything right now.

Independence Day happens to be my favorite holiday, so I'm just going to take an extended weekend off and hope that the spirit of John Adams will reinvigorate me. (He always had a knack for mustering enthusiasm, that John Adams.)

While I'm on leave, if you're in need of some Boosterrific entertainment this weekend, perhaps you'll enjoy the recent JLUCast podcast on the topic of the undisputed greatest Justice League Unlimited episode, "The Greatest Story Never Told," starring one Booster Gold. I must admit that I haven't mustered the enthusiasm to listen to it myself, but I trust Shag and company over at The Fire and Water Podcast Network to do good work.

Enjoy your weekend.

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I recently saw on reddit someone complain that the first volume of Booster Gold was "boring" but that second volume was their "favorite comic of all time." That made me think about how the second volume was different than the first, which one I liked better, and why.

It's true that the style of Booster's first solo series is very much of its era. It's comprised primarily of the straightforward adventures of a flawed dramatic character struggling to better his position in a serious world. There isn't a lot of humor, and as a new character to the DCU, Booster's world often feels smallish. In many ways, it feels like the first season of a new soap opera.

However, the second series is very much of its era as well, with better paper, better art, and a larger universe to interact with than were available decades earlier. The biggest difference between the two volumes is most noticeable in the stories focusing on its character's inner lives. (It's a dirty word some places, but around here we call the sort of character development Booster and his supporting cast had undergone between volumes "continuity.") It is also often much more humorous.

Honestly, of the two, I think I like the first volume the best. I admit it's imperfect, but I like Booster's rougher edges, naivete, and imperfect understanding of contemporary society. On the other hand, I sure do love the deeper dives into DC Universe history that volume 2 makes possible. And I really appreciate Booster's extended family and recurring villains. Hmm. It's a hard choice to pick only one.

But maybe, just maybe, I like Booster's most recent book best. It re-teams him with his comedy duo partner of the 1990s and has even more humor, both in art and story. If DC Comics should decide to launch another Booster Gold series for his upcoming 40th anniversary in 2025, they could do a lot worse than giving us more Blue and Gold.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not that picky. I'll take whatever Booster Gold I can get.

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Required summer reading since 1987:

Who's Who Update '87 #1

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