In promotion of Blue and Gold #1, DC Comics has posted a primer on the history of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold on their blog at DCComics.com.

Most of what they have to say won't come as news to Boosterrific.com readers, but that's not necessarily true of what Dan Jurgens tells Liam McGuire in the interview now available at ScreenRant.com:

Screen Rant: Booster Gold and Blue Beetle have a very different relationship with the big players on DC's Justice League. Does that difference get explored in this book?

Dan Jurgens: Very much so. Booster is a rather insecure person. He craves acceptance from the other heroes. He's desperate to be regarded as an "A-Lister".

Ted would like that as well, but it's not an obsession for him. Booster, on the other hand, is desperate for it.

It's always great to have insight on how Booster's creator views his creation. "Insecure" may be an unusual word to apply to a DC superhero, but it accurately describes Booster's personality and what has motivated him into so many of his misadventures.

But hold on, here's another interesting bit:

Screen Rant: What can you tell us about working with Ryan Sook on this project?

Dan Jurgens: Ryan and I have worked together on FUTURES END, ACTION COMICS and BATMAN BEYOND. Every time I work with him, I am amazed by the quality of work and depth of thought that shows up on each and every page.

He's very much into the spirit of this project and exploring the nature of these two characters. It's a delight to see his work come in as we're working Marvel style, and it's really giving him the opportunity to add his magic touch.

If you aren't familiar with the "Marvel style," it's a "plot-first" process pioneered by Stan Lee and his artists in the 1960s where bare-bones plots where provided to pencillers so they have the most flexibility to work engaging layouts. In this method, scripting dialogue is done last.

(Stan Lee once wrote a book called How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way that focused entirely on what panels should look like in a Marvel comic, not how the artist and writer might work together. Ironically, the process is better explained by Denny O'Neil in The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics.)

Over the past four decades, Jurgens has pencilled most of his own Booster Gold scripts, so it's interesting to see how he writes Booster for other artists. Is this how he worked with Aaron Lopresti on Justice League International or Corin Howell for Bat-Mite?

I hope Jurgens doesn't tire of talking Booster Gold anytime soon. There's always more to learn.

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I wouldn't normally mention a new release until Wednesday, but we've been waiting since 1988 for this one so a day-and-date announcement feels warranted.

Now available at your Local Comic Shop (with — count 'em — 2 different covers):

The preview of Blue and Gold #1 is available at community.dcuniverseinfinite.com (and lots of other sites online). But I know you don't need a preview before making up your mind on this one.

Buy this issue and make Skeets happy!

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Dan Jurgens' latest interview about his forthcoming project, Blue and Gold — perhaps you've heard of it? — is online at DymanicForces.com.

Interviewer Byron Brewer was unable to coerce the famously tight-lipped Jurgens into revealing much that we didn't already know, but he did get these fun tidbits:

BB: Tell us a little bit about the overall storyline of this limited series.

Dan Jurgens: After going off on their own for a couple of years, Booster and the Beetle have reunited with the idea of forming a true partnership that gives them the chance to help people. Not as heroes for hire, but as heroes whose mission is supported by crowdfunding, as they seek to help those who don't have access to Superman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the heroic pantheon.

BB: Please tell me Skeets is in this one!

Dan Jurgens: Absolutely! And we may even have an all-new addition of—oh, wait. I can't mention that yet.

Obviously, Jurgens was playing coy. We've already seen the solicitation for Blue and Gold #3.

Dynamic Forces specializes in artist-signed limited edition comics. If you're thinking about getting your hands on a Jurgens-signed Blue and Gold #1, know that dynamicforces.com is already selling its "Elite Gold Signature" edition for $89.99. It'd be a deal at twice the price!

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I need a little help.

Last week, DC published this house advertisement in digital editions of several books, including Green Arrow 80th Anniversary and Teen Titans Academy 2021 Yearbook.

However, when I bought a physical copy of Teen Titans Academy 2021 Yearbook for my collection, I discovered that the ad is nowhere to be seen in its pages. (And that's despite the issue's dedication to duplicating a high school yearbook, complete with a section for "Boosters & Corporate Sponsors." You missed a great synergy opportunity there, DC!)

In years past, I used to have access to weekly floppies so I could execute this search myself. But there have been far too many casualties during The Pandemic, and my opportunity to flip through DC comics each week is one of them. Now I can only touch what I buy, and I can't buy everything.

Therefore, I need your help identifying whether the ad actually appears in *any* physical books published by DC last week. Or maybe books coming this week.

I can hear some of you saying, "What difference does it make what physical comics it appears in? Can't you just list the digital editions it's in?" Yes, I can and maybe should. However, I strongly doubt that any of us will have access to the same digital editions in, say, 30 years. Who knows what ads will be included in whatever format the future will use for digital "reprints." That's why I want to identify where this ad might be in physical media, so that Booster boosters in the future can have access if they want it.

I mean, we all expect Blue and Gold to still be around in 2050, right? Hopefully more famous and beloved than ever before!

Thanks for your help.

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Because I'm a curmudgeonly old man, I don't have an Instagram account and cannot see the beautiful Blue and Gold art that series artist Ryan Sook is sharing via his account at instagram.com/rsookart/.

Luckily for all of us, @dailybluegold has been reposting some of those images on Twitter. And they. Are. Beautiful.

If those don't get you excited about Blue and Gold, due in your Local Comic Shop on July 20, then I don't know what will.

Maybe it's time I finally got an Instagram account. Thanks to Rob for making sure I saw those.

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