This name drop is the closest that Booster Gold comes to making an appearance in this week's The Flash 2021 Annual:

words by Jeremy Adams, art by Fernando Pasarin, Brandon Peterson, Hi Fi, Michael Atiyeh, Steve Wands

For what it's worth, it's cool that Booster and Rip Hunter are still Time Masters in the DCU. Though how Green Arrow knows Booster is a time cop isn't clear. Do secret identities mean *nothing* in modern comic books? And if everyone knows that Booster Gold is a time cop, why hasn't anyone called him in to help while Wally West has been bouncing through time for the past few months? Maybe it's best if I don't climb down this rabbit hole....

Still, I have to admit that I had expected more in an issue revisiting the events detailed in Heroes in Crisis. Especially since a key element of that story was Wally framing Booster Gold for murder.

The DC Universe has been rebooted (twice!) since Heroes in Crisis. It would be so easy to say that the murders at Sanctuary didn't happen. I won't spoil any of the details of the issue, but The Flash 2021 Annual doesn't want to ignore all of that past, just the parts that are inconvenient. Inconvenient to Wally West, I mean.

Gunfire and Lagoon Boy might be alive again somewhere in the Multiverse. (Thanks, Infinite Frontier!) And Professor Zoom has taken credit as the true puppet master behind Wally West's criminal acts. (Thanks, Flash Forward!) Apparently now we need another excuse for why none of whatever happened was really Wally's fault in the first place. (Thanks, The Flash 2020 Annual!) Funny how one bad story can generate a cottage industry of retcons. (Thanks, Tom King!)

Anyway, Booster has forgiven Wally, and The Flash 2021 Annual wants us all to follow suit. So I'll try to forgive it its flaws. Any book that finally gets rid of Wally's over-detailed New 52 costume can't be all bad.

Is this the last appearance of the Gold Beetle? Only time will tell.

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On Friday, comic book writer Tom King (@TomKingTK) tweeted this image accompanied by the text "Announcement incoming.":

Those arms belong to, from top to bottom, Martian Manhunter, Rocket Red*, Blue Beetle, and Fire. Naturally, this made a lot of people excited at the teased prospect of new comic adventures of the Justice League International.

Of course, that's not what Tom was teasing.

He was baiting the hook with the JLI for a different property he revealed later that same day:

Who can be mad about a bait-and-switch that leads to art this great? (Those new arms belong to Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Batman, Ice, and G'nort.)

If you didn't know, Christopher "Human Target" Chance has been in the DC Universe since 1972 but is far more famous outside comic books. In addition to recent guest appearances on Arrow, Chance has had his own television series twice (!). Being a TV star probably explains why he and Booster Gold have never crossed paths.

Frankly, the espionage antics of Human Target are a perfect fit for King's storytelling strengths, and any project that keeps King far away from Booster Gold is a project I can support. In fact, I promise to buy a copy of the first issue... but only if they keep that amazing Smallwood cover.

* That Rocket Red arm design belongs to the armor of Maks Chazov, who was never a member of any line-up of any Justice League, international or otherwise. Chazov worked for the pre-New 52 United Nations-sponsored incarnation of Checkmate. But it wouldn't be the JLI without a representative Rocket Red, and all the Reds who appeared on a JLI roster are dead. I guess you can't bring every dead hero back to life.

UPDATE 2021-07-12: Shawn dropped by the comments to point out that Greg Smallwood has posted process and reference pics of the cover's development on Twitter.com. He includes an interior pic of the JLI, and it is glorious.

Yep. Definitely buying that.

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Dan Jurgens' latest interview about his forthcoming project, Blue and Gold — perhaps you've heard of it? — is online at DymanicForces.com.

Interviewer Byron Brewer was unable to coerce the famously tight-lipped Jurgens into revealing much that we didn't already know, but he did get these fun tidbits:

BB: Tell us a little bit about the overall storyline of this limited series.

Dan Jurgens: After going off on their own for a couple of years, Booster and the Beetle have reunited with the idea of forming a true partnership that gives them the chance to help people. Not as heroes for hire, but as heroes whose mission is supported by crowdfunding, as they seek to help those who don't have access to Superman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the heroic pantheon.

BB: Please tell me Skeets is in this one!

Dan Jurgens: Absolutely! And we may even have an all-new addition of—oh, wait. I can't mention that yet.

Obviously, Jurgens was playing coy. We've already seen the solicitation for Blue and Gold #3.

Dynamic Forces specializes in artist-signed limited edition comics. If you're thinking about getting your hands on a Jurgens-signed Blue and Gold #1, know that dynamicforces.com is already selling its "Elite Gold Signature" edition for $89.99. It'd be a deal at twice the price!

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The Justice League Unlimited returns to your Local Comic Shop today for their first new adventure since 2008 in Justice League Infinity #1.

The issue is co-written by Justice League International scribe J.M. DeMatteis, so you just know there are going to be some old-fashioned Blue and Gold antics.

I say let him eat cake!

Justice League Infinity is only a seven-issue mini-series, but if that's not enough Justice League Unlimited for you, DC has also released a new reprint collection of old JLU comics, Justice League Unlimited: Girl Power. Despite its focus on female heroes, Booster makes small appears in two of the stories in that reprint. Some Booster Gold is always better than no Booster Gold.

Buy either of these books and make Skeets happy!

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I need a little help.

Last week, DC published this house advertisement in digital editions of several books, including Green Arrow 80th Anniversary and Teen Titans Academy 2021 Yearbook.

However, when I bought a physical copy of Teen Titans Academy 2021 Yearbook for my collection, I discovered that the ad is nowhere to be seen in its pages. (And that's despite the issue's dedication to duplicating a high school yearbook, complete with a section for "Boosters & Corporate Sponsors." You missed a great synergy opportunity there, DC!)

In years past, I used to have access to weekly floppies so I could execute this search myself. But there have been far too many casualties during The Pandemic, and my opportunity to flip through DC comics each week is one of them. Now I can only touch what I buy, and I can't buy everything.

Therefore, I need your help identifying whether the ad actually appears in *any* physical books published by DC last week. Or maybe books coming this week.

I can hear some of you saying, "What difference does it make what physical comics it appears in? Can't you just list the digital editions it's in?" Yes, I can and maybe should. However, I strongly doubt that any of us will have access to the same digital editions in, say, 30 years. Who knows what ads will be included in whatever format the future will use for digital "reprints." That's why I want to identify where this ad might be in physical media, so that Booster boosters in the future can have access if they want it.

I mean, we all expect Blue and Gold to still be around in 2050, right? Hopefully more famous and beloved than ever before!

Thanks for your help.

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