Childhood is a time of learning about the world around you and preparing you for the future. But what if your childhood won't happen for another few centuries and your future is in the past? That's the case for time-traveling hero Booster Gold, whose 25th-century upbringing may not have prepared him for 21st-century life.

HEALTHCARE: In the 2460s, Michael "Booster" Carter's mother will be diagnosed with a fatal degenerative disease that can only be treated in a specialized zero gravity facility on the moon. Certainly, such an operation is beyond the reach of 21st-century science, but it will present Booster with a problem all too familiar to present-day Americans: where to get the money to pay for it?

Secret Origins #35

It's more than a little disappointing that life-saving healthcare will remain beyond the reach of too many even 400 years from now. Booster's solution will change his life not for the better, however, the lesson he will learn and a sympathetic understanding of the problems facing citizens in all eras will be an asset for the hero he will eventually become.

TRANSPORTATION: For about as long as there have been automobiles, prognisticators have been predicting that they will one-day fly. And they're right. By the 25th century, even school busses will take to the air.

Booster Gold #15

When Booster Gold debuted in Metropolis, he had super strength and an invulnerable force field. Yet ordinary 16-year-olds had a power he didn't: the ability to drive an eathbound car. No wonder his first 20th-century vehicle was a chauffeured limousine!

HOLIDAYS: If, like Charlie Brown, you think that Christmas has gone too commercial in the 21st century, you probably don't want to see how they celebrate the holiday in the year 2462.

Booster Gold #15

Each December, Booster Gold must feel right at home no matter what century he's in.

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DC chose not to release any comic featuring Booster Gold appearances this week. I like to think that's because they'd rather you spend some time re-reading classic Booster Gold adventures.

May I suggest Justice League Annual #1, released 34 years ago today?

This 48-page issue, essentially a zombie story titled "Germ Warfare," is Booster's first adventure as an accepted member of the Justice League. (And you don't have to take my word for it. The editor's note on page 4 explicitly places the story immediately after Booster's JL audition in Justice League #4 (which also happens to be the single best Booster Gold story ever).

The action unfolds in the traditional Justice League style. To combat a global menace, the team splits in to pairs. Interestingly, Booster Gold's first Justice League partner isn't Blue Beetle but another legacy character with origins in the Golden Age of comics: Black Canary.

With rapport like that, it's no surprise that the "Black and Gold" team didn't outlast Canary's oft-maligned 1980s aerobics instructor-inspired costume.

As might be expected of such a new member, Booster plays a relatively minor role in the issue's resolution. And though it may come as a surprise to modern audiences, neither does Batman. The honors go to the Martian Manhunter, a true hero who will go on to teach many an up-and-comer a thing or two about the relationship between great power and great responsibility.

As I said, if you're looking for something to read today, you could do much worse than the first Justice League Annual.

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Over the weekend @preyofbirdsdc tweeted what may be David Marquez's cover for September's Justice League #68. Whether that is true or not — we'll probably find out for sure when DC releases September solicitations in 2 weeks — the important part is who's pictured in it.

You see them there? No, not Fire and Ice there in the middle. (Hi, Fire! Hi, Ice!) Over to the side, just over smirking Batman's shoulder: it's Blue and Gold!

Such clowns!

If it turns out this *is* the cover for Justice League #68, I guess that means I'll be buying at least one Justice League comic this September.

(Special thanks to @dailybluegold for highlighting our heroes in this art.)

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As pointed out to me by Rob Snow, New York Comic Con and Metaverse Comics has released a 45-minute long video interview with Blue and Gold creators Dan Jurgens and Ryan Sook to promote the upcoming series.

The creators talk about what kind of story it will be, whether or not new fans will have any idea what's going on, and which of them feels more like Booster and which feels more like Beetle. (Spoiler Alert! It's exactly the ones you expect.) They even screenshare some artwork and script plans. I'd say it's worth a listen for die-hard Booster boosters.

If the above embed doesn't work for you, you can find the video at Facebook.com or FindTheMetaverse.com.

Thanks, Rob, Jurgens, and Ryan (and interviewer Mike Negin)! Blue and Gold is set for a late July release.

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Today at your Local Comic Shop:

This hardcover reprint of Generations: Shattered and Generations: Forged is being called DC Comics: Generations because DC can't bear the thought of putting out a comic without a colon in the title.

According to solicitations, this book contains only those two comics plus the related prequel story from Detective Comics #1027. If you'd bought those three books when they came out like I did, you'd have paid $29.97 (or more, if also like me, you bought multiple covers of each issue... 2020 was a very lonely year). DC Comics: Generations has a cover price of $29.99. Two cents is small price for the convenience of having the whole story in one book.

And while you're at your Local Comic Shop, you'll also find Booster Gold in the Tales from the Dark Multiverse II collection, which reprints the alternate reality horror story from Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Wonder Woman: War of the Gods #1. If that's not enough colons for you, you're going to have to find a different publisher.

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