DC Comics released solicitations for November 2017 earlier this week. If you don't already have it in digital or floppy form, you'll soon have a third chance to see Booster's final, one-panel cameo appearance in Smallville continuity courtesy of the aptly-titled Smallville Season Eleven Volume 9: Continuity. That looks like about our only chance to see our hero in November. My question is "Why?"

Let's look at the bigger picture. Based on available numbers assembled by ComcisBeat.com and ComicChron.com, DC Universe titles have seen hard copy periodical sales fall by more than 21% over the past decade (and more than 42% since Rebirth's initial bump). Trade collections prop those numbers up slightly (adding 2% in either case), but not nearly enough to cover the full difference. Do digital sales make up that shortfall, or it simply a case that fewer people care to read DCnU titles these days? I certainly don't, and the primary reason is the continued absence of one particular character. (Hint, hint.)

DC doesn't exactly look to be taking that bad news lying down. Looking at solicitations, you'll see several new DCnU comics coming in November featuring lesser-known heroes. Black Lightning shines again in Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands. The Demon is back in The Demon:Hell on Earth. Zatanna reappears in Mystik U. Even Batman's latest (and most lazily-named) protege, The Signal, is getting some love with Batman and the Signal.

While it is a good idea to inject new characters into the publishing line up, all of those are mini-series. You'd almost think DC was afraid of commitment. (Why wouldn't they be? Even death is impermanent in the DCU.) However, the company seems equally unwilling to drop the hammer on underperforming ongoing titles to make room for new ones.

In June (the most recent month for which numbers are available) the company had 3 ongoing titles that undersold the lowest selling issue of Booster Gold volume 2 (Booster Gold #43 in 2011). New Superman and Blue Beetle had June issues very near DC's pre-Flashpoint cancellation threshold. The worst performing of the three, Cyborg, is doing worse than its pre-Rebirth numbers, and it was trending below the old threshold then! Judging by November solicitations, all of these will continue into November with no cancellation, taking up valuable opportunities for titles with a chance to spark interest in new readers.

I don't mean to suggest that returning Booster Gold to action would reverse any of those negative sales trends for the company, but I do suggest it couldn't hurt. At worst, Booster Gold can outsell Cyborg! I can name at least one reader who would be picking up more DCnU books if Booster Gold was around.

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Another Comic Con has come and gone. So what, if anything, did we learn about Booster Gold this year? Not much.

Let us count the ways.

1. Booster Gold might be in the DC Films intro.

When DC Films debuted their new intro in front of Wonder Woman this June, there was some debate about which DC characters it contained.

At Comic-Con, DC gave attendees of the DC Films panel a better look. (You'll see that the placement of characters in the film intro above is not identical to the characters seen on the panel wall below, but the individual character models appear identical.)

I can't be sure whether Booster Gold was included in the original, but he was certainly present at Comic Con — in his pre-New 52 outfit, no less! (Thanks to jeremy r! hudson for bringing this to my attention.)

2. Booster Gold might be in SyFy's Krypton.

It was announced in 2016 that SyFy had picked up Krypton, a television show based on Superman's home planet (before it exploded, of course). The show, set to debut in 2018, took the spotlight on Saturday, where it got its own panel at Comic Con. During that panel, we learned that though it won't share continuity with shows on the CW or the big screen, it will feature some significant cameos from DC properties.

Said Geoff Johns at the panel (according to Laura Hurley of CinemaBlend.com):

Doomsday will be in the show... In the pilot, and I'm spoiling things. 'I'm from a planet called Earth. My name is Adam Strange.' We will bring in others. Booster Gold. I never say never. Hawkwoman is also there, and as the show progresses, we'll bring in more.

That's not a promise that we'll see Booster Gold, but it sounds likely, especially since the show is no longer set purely in the past but in the present as well. You can't have a show set in the DC Universe with time travel elements without at least some reference to Booster Gold, right? (*He says, glaring at Legends of Tomorrow.*)

3. Booster Gold fans owe Dan Didio.

Speaking of Geoff Johns, he had a panel all his own. Madeline Ricchiuto of Bleeding Cool reports that Johns claims industry insiders discouraged many of his planned DC Comics projects, including Booster Gold.

Despite the fact that he was constantly told "you may want to reconsider," some of his choices like writing a book about Booster Gold, but he said Didio's support always pushed him forward.

I've always been pretty vocal about my dissatisfaction with the direction of storytelling and universe building (usually more like universe decapitation, rape, or murder) in the Didio era. However, I have to admit that his reign at DC has given us some of the higher points in Booster Gold's career. He deserves some credit for that. So thanks, Dan.

Now give me my Booster Gold back!

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On Wednesday, Rich Johnston of BleedingCool.com reported that DC Comics is "open for pitches and proposals" for a new Booster Gold title that may be coming in 2016.

Make of this what you will. It has always been my impression that DC is "open for pitches and proposals" for most of their characters most of the time. But I do want a new Booster Gold comic. Here's hoping.

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Back in April, BleedingCool.com told the world that Booster Gold comic would be part of the Futures End tie-ins in September. Now Rich Johnston teases us with another forthcoming Booster Gold appearance:

Well, Bleeding Cool understands that [Justice League 3000] issue # 12 will feature two folks from an earlier incarnation of the Justice League. A much earlier incarnation. My favourite incarnation, from before the New 52 relaunch.

Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, from the bwah-ha-ha-ha era of the Justice League, uncovered after being trapped in a cryonic chamber for a thousand years...

Personally, I find it really hard to believe that DC would let Giffen use pre-New 52 characters in Justice League 3000, especially the Blue Beetle. But I think I'd like it if they did.

You can find the original post BleedingCool.com.

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The rumor unveiled last week by BleedingCool.com has been proven true by DCcomics.com's advance September solicitations for 41 "New 52: Five Years Later" books, including:

BOOSTER GOLD: FUTURES END #1
On sale September 24 • 32 pg • FC • RATED T
3-D Motion Edition: $3.99 US
2-D Standard Edition: $2.99 US
Trapped out of time on a world that defies reason, Booster Gold struggles to escape the fate that has held him and so many forgotten heroes captive!

ComicBookResources.com has confirmed that this is not an ongoing but a one-shot, probably concerning details of Booster Gold's life five years into the DCnU's future. If we buy a bunch of them, maybe DC management will change their mind and make it an ongoing featuring the adventures of Booster Gold in the DCnU's present!

Retailer solicitations are usually posted two months in advance. Note that this is an advance solicitation for September. This advance notice is intended to

1. give retailers a chance to place orders, and
2. build hype.

A side effect of the early notices is that it doesn't give any indication of the creative team involved. This is probably because the creative teams aren't yet determined for some of the solicited titles. I'm sure we'll learn more before September.

The advanced solicitation is no doubt a response to last years' "Villains Month" ordering fiasco where printing and distribution problems coupled with an unexpected and inexplicable demand for some "Villain's Month" covers — Joker's Daughter? Really? — left a lot of fans disappointed last year. Let's hope that there are plenty of covers to go around so that everyone who wants to see Booster Gold in glorious 3D gets the opportunity.

If you want to celebrate this development, the party has already started in the Boosterrific Forum. (Thanks to MetalWoman for confirming the one-shot.)

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