First things first: the "BLUE BEETLE & BOOSTER GOLD 2-PACK" teased by McFarlane Toys last weekend on Twitter is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com, EntertainmentEarth.com, BigBadToyStore.com, and McfarlaneToysStore.com.

Personally, I've authorized my Local Comic Shop to get me the figures whenever they can, so consider supporting your Local Toy Shop as an alternative (or in addition) to those websites.

Judging by the emails I've been getting, there was a lot of pent-up demand for more Blue and Gold action figures, which is good. Pre-order demand is necessary to see these figures to market. The last time DC solicited a Booster Gold/Blue Beetle figures in 2017, they canceled them citing lack of retailer interest. Let's not let that happen again.

For those of you who need to know a little more information about this toy before you buy it, McFarlane.com has the deets (and plenty of pictures):

Product Features:

• Incredibly detailed 7" scale figure based off the DC Multiverse
• Designed with Ultra Articulation with up to 22 moving parts for full range of posing and play
• Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are featured in their looks from the comic Blue Beetle & Booster Gold: Blue and Gold
• Blue Beetle and Booster Gold include a grapple launcher, a blast, a cellphone, a drone, and mechanical themed base
• Included collectible art cards with figure artwork on the front, and character biography on the back
• Collect all McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Figures

Uh, I'm not sure that I'd call "Collect all McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Figures" a "feature," but I suppose that's not really aimed at me. I gather from their other marketing, that whoever is writing McFarlane's ad copy doesn't actually read DC comic books, at least Booster Gold and Blue Beetle comics. That doesn't really bother me, as they are a toy company not a comics publisher, and they are pretty good at what they do.

You do you, McFarlane Toys; I'll just get my wallet out.

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I am not deluded enough that I would call Extreme Justice a great comic series. But comics don't have to be great to be enjoyable, and I certainly enjoy Extreme Justice.

Which is why I was so pleased to see a recent article in support of the much maligned series last week on ComicBeat.com.

Article author Deidre Freitas points out many of the things wrong with the series (though I think she undersells just how bad the art is), but she specifically (and correctly) singles out Booster Gold as one of the better parts.

One thing about this series is that it seems to be discarded as a byproduct of the '90s, and its certainly of its time, from its Extreme label to the outfits, hairstyles and even mannerisms of the characters. But beneath the lingo and fashion choices, there are some genuinely good storylines in this book.

Booster Gold, who had nearly died at the end of Justice League America, is kept alive by a suit that Blue Beetle made him. He lost an arm, and his vitals are only stable because of the alien technology surrounding his body. For all intents and purposes, Booster is disabled for much of this run. Several times in the series he questions his own usefulness, wondering if all of this is worth it. Booster even goes after his former manager, spiraling into a dark depression and anger because the man embezzled all of his money.

Yeesh. Without a doubt, the "Extreme" era of the 1990s is the longest, darkest period of Booster's long career, though that was probably true for most of the DCU. Is that darkness why Extreme Justice is so derided? Who wants to see heroes at their worst?

Extreme Justice #6

On second thought, don't answer that.

Just know that it gets better, Booster.

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At the San Diego Comic-Con 2022 DC Dark Crisis panel last Thursday, Dark Crisis writer Joshua Williamson announced that the mini-series is being retitled starting with issue #4. That new title is Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Quoteth gamesradar.com:

"We've kept the real name a secret from the start because we didn't want to give away what was happening in the middle of the story, with the return of the Infinite Earths," says writer Joshua Williamson.

Despite my expectations, I'm enjoying Dark Crisis, but I have to feel that I've been reading comic books too long when my first thought is "this renaming reveal is exactly what DC did halfway through Countdown to Final Crisis" and my second thought is "doesn't Williamson realize that he brought back the infinite earths last year in Infinite Frontier?"

Apparently, we get an infinite number of infinite earths now. Continuity? Pfft.

But let's not get distracted by details. The important new news is that Booster Gold (and Skeets!) will be on the cover to Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #5, available October 4!

The blew up Titans Tower on the cover of issue #2 (mere months after it was blown up and rebuilt in the pages of Teen Titans Academy), and it looks like the Hall of Justice get similar treatment for issue #5. What's next? Wayne Tower? The Flash Museum? It must be hard to get building insurance if you own a signature piece of property on any earth in the DCU. (It makes more and more sense to have your headquarters in an out-of-the-way place like a cave in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island.)

According to BleedingCool.com, the issue is going to have at least 5 covers, including 1:25 by Ariel Colon, 1:50 by Mikel Janin, and 1:100 foil by Daniel Sampere and Alejandro Sanchez (which I suspect will be identical to the default Cover A but shiny!).

From what I've seen so far, it looks like Booster (and Skeets!) will only be on the Ivan Reis and Danny Miki standard variant (Cover B) pictured above. Be sure to tell your Local Comic Shop that's the one you want so they can order it for you!

A somewhat harder to collect Booster Gold cover will be the 1:25 variant of Human Target #8, due on October 25:

That one can't be direct ordered, so the only way to guarantee you get one is to pay your LCS to also order you 25 copies of the regular cover. Cover price $4.99 times 26 copies equals $129.74 before tax. That's an expensive comic! Maybe your LCS will cut you a deal for buying in volume?

You can see all of DC's October solicitations at CBR.com.

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Several people have just brought this to my attention, and I don't see much reason to wait until Monday:

twitter.com/mcfarlanetoys/status/1550934047966302210

I'll be keeping my eye out for that pre-order opportunity.

UPDATE 2022-07-27: Pre-order links are now available on McFarlane.com. I'll post more about this on Friday.

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Years ago, in my original review for Booster Gold volume 1, number 3, I wrote "While the ride may not be as smooth as previous issues, it is worth the cost of admission just for the sight of Booster Gold on a date in a purple tuxedo over his regular costume."

I stand by that statement.

This page is so good for so many reasons. Who hasn't been on a terrible date? Booster Gold gets to be both a selfish cad and a clever hero. Monica Lake is a gold digger. The whole thing is the sort of train wreck you don't want to look away from.

And that tuxedo and bow tie still hasn't come back into fashion.

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