Booster booster Logan writes in to say

I spy with my little eye one Booster Gold in today's Dark Nights: Death Metal #3! My intuition nudged me to reserve a copy at my LCBS last week—I'm glad it looks to have paid off. :)

Trust that instinct, Logan! Booster is one of many, many characters in Dark Nights: Death Metal #3. In fact, his appearance in this story is that Greg Capullo-drawn panel Scott Snyder teased on Twitter back in June. So that's one mystery solved.

Go ahead and buy this issue to make Skeets happy, but don't expect to understand what's happening. I sure don't.

The issue references dozens of other comics published over the past two decades, challenging the recall of even hard-core continuity fans like me. There are four Batmen (Batmans?) in the first four story pages alone. Have I met them all before? (Wasn't Silver Surfer Batman one of those Legends of the Dark Knight action figures?)

Not even issue editor Marie Javins (who also happens to be one of the few to survive Monday's "bloodbath" of layoffs at Warner/DC) expects readers to be able to decipher who's doing what to whom here.

If I'm making up my own stories, Marie, I certainly don't need to be giving DC $5 for this.

According to the checklist in the back of the issue, there are — count 'em — twenty (!) *more* comics to go in this seven-issue mini-series. I guess I should praise DC's brevity for keeping it down to 24. It took 26 issues to list everyone in 1985's Who's Who, and there were only two Batmens back then. On the other hand, if this event is anything like what we've seen recently, the "end" of the story will only bleed into the next event series with twice as many issues and derivative characters again. Twenty three is a very small number compared to infinity and beyond!

Sorry, but I think I'll pass. My head-banging days are long behind me. I think I'll stick to the Wonder Comics imprint from now on.

Keep up the good work, Logan. If Booster appears in any more Death Metal issues, I'm counting on you to let me know!

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When we last left Cort's Booster Gold sketchbook, Cort had promised new pieces soon. He wasn't kidding!

The four newest hotnesses:

Kalman Andrasofsky

Mike Manley

Staz Johnson

Scott Koblish

Cort, I'm starting to think that you're spending more money creating Booster Gold art than DC is these days. Keep up the good work!

As always, you can see all these and more at imgur.com.

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In the wake of DC Cybernetic Summer, the past week has become all about Blue and Gold, so now would seem to be the appropriate time for me to make my argument in defense of their canonical, platonic relationship. In a nutshell, I say not everything has to be about sex.

In published canon, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle have been inseparable since the very first year of Justice League International stories. Their intimate platonic love, better known as "friendship," has been the basis for a lot of stories in the decades since in no small part because everyone enjoys spending time with people who so very much enjoy spending time with one other. We like Blue and Gold because they like Blue and Gold, and that's great.

Romantic love is also great. Who doesn't enjoy a good love story where two people find that they each complement the other and form a lasting paired set? Everyone wants to live happily ever after.

But not every great relationship has to be a romantic one. The difference between platonic and romantic love is physical. It's natural for a human to seek out romantic love; we're biologically programmed to want to reproduce. However, a sexual relationship isn't a prerequisite for lifelong happiness, and an intimate emotional connection needn't be merely a stepping stone to a consummated marriage. Perhaps I've read too many chivalric fantasies, but I happen to think that sort of chaste, close relationship is just as worthy of celebration as the romantic kind.

So let Booster Gold date Harley Quinn. (Or not.) But the real love of his life is and always should be Blue Beetle. No romantic feelings or sloppy kisses are necessary to cement that bond.

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DC has been doing their part in COVID-19 pandemic messaging by including "social distancing" PSAs in their comics and shipping posters to comic shops. It's an admirable incentive to get important information to superhero fans, but I think their choice of spokespersons could use some improvement.

One poster features Superman and Wonder Woman playing tug o' war. As much as I admire their wisdom, they aren't the pair I would pick to pose for an anti-virus PSA. He's invulnerable and she's immortal. Their unique talents are better used preventing authoritarian armies from trampling peaceful protesters than preaching to the public about the dangers of airborne pestilence particles.

Another poster tries again with Batman and Robin. Two of the things that Batman is most famous for are 1) not being much of a hugger, and 2) never wearing a mask over his mouth. He might the world's greatest detective, but a reclusive man who dresses like a mouth-breathing flying rat is probably not the guy we need leading the charge of a public education campaign.

While I applaud all those heroes' good intentions, I think if you want to sell people on the importance of maintaining a six-foot halo to impair the spread of communicable disease, the spokespersons you need should be both vulnerable and relatable. And a healthy sense of humor would certainly help their delivery.

Hmm. Do we know any heroes who fit that bill? You bet we do!

Art by Kevin Maguire via Antonio Perianes at comicartfans.com, template by DC Comics

Fixed it for you, DC.

Do what Booster and Beetle say. They've only got your best interest at heart.

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Curious what enduring friendship looks like? Look no further than DC Cybernetic Summer #1, "Boys of Summer by Heath Corson, Scott Koblish, et al.

Blue and Gold Now:

+1 Year:

+10 Years:

+20 Years:

+30 Years:

+40 Years:

Unapologetically silly and sincere, this is my favorite kind of super hero comic story. The way comics are packaged and sold these days, it could only appear in one of DC's seasonal anthology books, so a hearty thanks to DC Cybernetic Summer for making the space for it.

If you don't have your own yet, inquire at your Local Comic Shop. This comic is 100% Boosterrific.

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