Several people were kind enough to notify me that Booster Gold appears in DC's latest teaser image for Futures End. That is Booster Gold, isn't it?

DC's teasers are designed to keep us excited and talking about their comics. They tend to be more metaphorical allusions than actual promises of published content. Therefore, we probably shouldn't spend too much time discussing what we think of the new costume (Booster's 3rd in the New 52) or what Booster could be doing with Tim Drake as a sidekick. Neither should we debate whether that is Smallville's Booster Gold or whether Booster will have anything to do with Futures End's emphasis on Earth-2 or the DC Multiverse.

However, if you enjoy entertaining such intellectual exercises, be my guest. You'll find the conversation has already started in the Boosterrific Forum (with a link to the original teaser image).

UPDATE 2014-04-16: As you can see from the link to BleedingCool.com that Shawn left in the comments below, it is starting to look like Booster will have a spin-off title related to Futures End. Will it be more relevant to the Futures End story than his Flashpoint adventure? Who cares so long as Booster gets his own title again!

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Once upon a time, producing a weekly title was thought to be nearly impossible. Action Comics Weekly was considered a failure in 1988, not because of low sales, but because of the difficulty of production demands. Nearly two decades and one information super-highway later, DC would return to the concept with 52 with far more success. Some credit the talent assembled to work on the book, but we all know the real reason: Booster Gold.

Recognizing the cash cow of 52, DC has followed with Countdown, Trinity, DC Universe: Legends, and Brightest Day. After a break for the implementation of the "New 52" — which maybe needs to consider dropping the "new" considering its advancing age — and it's taken a few years for DC to return to this concept. But DC is back with a bang! In addition to Batman: Eternal — out today — DC is launching Futures End and a third weekly title to be named later.

If that sounds like a lot of work, that's because it is. And it's also probably bad news for Booster Gold fans. Back in February, Dan DiDio implied to Vaneta Rogers of Newsarama.com that these weekly books will count as 4 books each in DC's total line-up. DC may have abandoned its limit of 52 series, but that still means that these 3 weekly series will count as 12 titles. Therefore, so long as Batman is eternal, there will be less room for other characters of the DC pantheon to take their place in the limelight.

Certainly the spoilers for Futures End #0 released at BleedingCool.com yesterday seem to confirm that Booster won't be a star in that title. If Booster Gold is ever going to return to action in the New DC Universe, it's looking more and more like he's going to have to accept playing a supporting role to Batman.

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Yesterday BleedingCool.com set our hearts atwitter by suggesting that Booster Gold might be part of DC's latest Universe relaunch. (I guess the last one didn't take?)

The relaunched rumor became the news of the day week month on the Boosterrific Forum, where many hands were wrung in anguish that the latest Booster reboot may lead to a "grimmer and grittier" interpretation of the character.

This is where I, as the chronicler of all things Booster Gold, remind you that we've been here before. In fact, it was 19 years ago today that DC published Extreme Justice #0, the first issue in what was intended to be a grimmer and grittier, pro-active Justice League.

Extreme Justice is infamous as the apex — or nadir, depending on your point of view — of DC's 1990s artistic excesses. I'm not going to defend the book. I think it speaks for itself:

One of the better panels from Extreme Justice #0 (1994) by Marc Campos and Ken Branch.

Uh, yeah. Maybe some things are best left in the past.

(Thanks to Gio3432 and CaptainHeq for spreading the news in the Forum.)

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Last week BleedingCool.com both teased and debunked a rumored list of upcoming DC Comics announcements for New York Comic Con.

Of particular note to Booster Gold fans was the implication that Booster Gold would be announced (again), to be written and drawn by Dan Jurgens (again).

We now know that the list was completely fabricated, but it's still nice to think that some Booster Gold announcement could come out of NYCC, which starts today. Keep hope alive!

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Booster Gold meets Zatanna: how many pages until Zatanna turns Booster into a frog?

Last week's poll question: Which Justice Leaguer should Booster Gold team up with for the first time? (48 votes)

Today's poll is inspired by DC's recent decision to prevent Batwoman from marrying and the outcry that triggered from fans. (The book's creative staff quit in protest. Would we even know about DC editorial's decision if the creative staff hadn't quit? Should fans now expect this sort of behind-the-scenes dysfunction when they consider reading DC Comics? What should Booster Gold fans be prepared to accept if we ever actually see the much-promised Booster Gold volume 3?)

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