At long last, Blue and Gold #2 is finally available at your Local Comic Shop.

If you're the sort that needs a preview, you'll find one on AIPTComics.com.

And if you're the sort that thinks Blue Beetle's "all-new, bombastic, bodacious" Buggy is cool...

...let me remind you that it is no Boostermobile.

Booster Gold #5

Buy this issue and make Skeets happy.

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The life of any comic book hero would be a lonely one if not for the many characters who have made up their supporting cast. Just as Superman has Lois Lane and Batman has Alfred, Booster Gold has also shared his adventures with quite a few people over the years. Today we look at one of those, his mother.

Today is Labor Day in America, a holiday to celebrate those who helped ensure that we don't have to work on holidays. Do you know who still has to work holidays? Mothers.

Mothers never get days off. It's a tough job, made all the tougher when you're poor, single, and have twin mouths to feed. That's true today, and will still be true for the mother of Michael Jon "Booster" Carter and his sister Michelle in AD 2462 Gotham City.

Secret Origins #35

The birth name of Mrs. Carter remains a mystery to the public record. Her last name was borrowed from a man who turned his back on his own family, and her first name, "Ellen," has been used only in Booster Gold's biographical entry in Who's Who in the DC Universe #2. Importantly, her children always call her "Ma." But what's really important is that she loved and supported her children, even the conceited one who played college football.

Justice League Quarterly #10

When Ma got sick, can anyone blame Booster for turning to a life of crime to ensure that she got the treatment she needed? Isn't that what any good son would do?

And when Ma found out her son had cheated to pay for her treatment, can anyone blame her for being disappointed in him? Wouldn't every good mother hope that she had raised her children better than that?

Sometimes, when we're angry, we say things we don't really mean and can't take back. Booster Carter wouldn't even get the opportunity to try. To distance himself from his mistakes, he made the fateful decision to steal a time machine and runaway into the past. By the time he found a way back, it was too late.

Booster Gold #13

There could be no reconciliation. Tragically, Ma Carter would never learn of her son's heroic self-redemption.

Or wouldn't she? Nothing is as straightforward as it seems in the life of a time traveler.

While Booster would live his life believing that he had missed his opportunity to set things right, fate had other plans. Years later (from Booster's perspective), an attempt to keep Superman from doing unintentional harm to history resulted in an accidental trip back to the Gotham City of 2642. Thus Booster Gold was given a rare a second chance to clear the air.

Action Comics #995

If you get a chance this holiday, maybe you should call your mother.

Are you interested in meeting other "People in his Neighborhood"? Follow these links to get to know Daniel Carter, Michelle Carter, Trixie Collins, Nurse Devlin, Dirk Davis, Rani, Skeets, Jack Soo, Mackenzie Garrison, Rip Hunter, Monica Lake, Doctor Shocker, and Blackguard.

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Booster Gold is often criticized for his relentless pursuit of the spotlight. But if that's all you know about Booster, you don't really understand him.

While, yes, he does want to be loved, he also really cares about helping people as we can see in the aftermath of Monarch's destruction of Metropolis' S.T.A.R. Labs headquarters building as detailed in these panels from Armageddon 2001 #2...

words by Denny O'Neil; art by Dan Jurgens, Art Thibert, Steve Mitchell, John Costanza, Adrienne Roy

...and this page from Action Comics #670...

words by Roger Stern; art by Bob McLeod, Denis Rodier, Bill Oakley, Glenn Whitmore

...both of which were released 30 years ago today!

Helping those who need help, that's the work of the real heroes. Keep up the good work, Buster!

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This time next week, we should have a copy of Blue and Gold #2 in our hands. (Fingers crossed!) In the meantime, let's take a look back at the earliest adventure of Blue and Gold.

Any wiki site can tell you that the very first time Blue Beetle and Booster Gold both appeared in the same panel (much less in the pages of the same book) was 1987's Justice League #3.

But despite working together as a team for the first time in the following issue, the pair wouldn't really become a pair for a few months more, not until they paid a visit to Paris in Justice League International #8, by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, et al.

(Don't let the "International" in the name fool you. This was a continuation of the same series. "International" was added to the title starting in issue 7, and would remain there until issue 26, when the book returned to it's "America" roots for the duration of its 113 issue run.)

If you're keeping track, this was Booster's second visit to Paris that year. He had already been with Black Canary in the pages of Justice League Annual #1 (as we saw here). Booster didn't have a lot of luck romancing Canary, and his bad luck with women would continue into the International era.

Thus the template was set for Blue and Gold's enduring (and endearing) 34-year-and-counting comedic bromance. Perfect from the beginning!

If you want to impress your friends, take note of the "Bwah-ha-ha" Beetle unleashes in Black Canary's presence (page 14 of the original story). That's the first appearance of what would become the pair's signature laugh!

And that's how comic book legends are made: one panel at a time.

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Congratulations to Blue and Gold artist Ryan Sook for finally giving me reason to sign up for an Instagram account with this very inventive announcement over the weekend on instagram.com/rsookart:

rsookart: So, yeah, this is my own personal gag about supply chain issues. But really, next issue will be there Sept. , 7! Support your LCS, retailers, publishers, and the titles you love during the snafus because even superheroes have set backs from time to time. And Booster and Beetle will be back in action ASAP!! #blueandgold #dccomics #dcuniverse #boostergold #bluebeetle #superheroes #newcomicbookday

Well, that makes it almost worth the delay, Ryan. Thank you. (Additional thanks to Rob Snow for calling this unusual Boosterrific comic strip to our attention.)

Click any of the above images to visit Sook's Instagram to see the comic in its native, one-panel-at-a-time format.

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