Once upon a time, Booster Gold appeared quite regularly in the annual crossover events uniting the DCU. For example, it was just 25 years ago today that Booster Gold appeared in a supporting role in Action Comics Annual #4.

Words by Dan Vado, Art by Chris Wozniak and a team of inkers

Back then, Booster and other members of the Justice League International were on the scene to try and free Superman from the clutches of Eclipso. These days that job would go exclusively to Batman, because... well, Batman.

It might be interesting to note that Blue Beetle wasn't with the rest of the Justice League for this mission (he had gone missing in the JLA Annual the previous month). That is consistent with the approach to the character taken by the current Blue Beetle series.

According to writer Kieth Giffen in an interview with Vaneta Rogers for Newsarama.com, the modern "rebirth" incarnation of Ted Kord was never a member of any Justice League. But Giffen also says that the events of Justice League 3000 are in Blue Beetle's future. JL3k was openly stated to take place in the same continuity as the original Justice League International stories. So . . . I have no idea what all that means for the current status of Blue and Gold.

Congratulations, DC. I'm not even trying to make sense of your continuity anymore.

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For the Independence Day holiday this year, let's celebrate this classy redesign of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold by Julalesss on DeviantArt.com.

I think they both look like something we might see on the CW, and I'm okay with that. At least there we can be sure that Booster won't be wearing his New 52 redesign. (No, I'm never going to stop beating that dead horse.)

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I don't know how Ross Pearsall does it, but he continues to churn out some amazing covers at Super-Team Family Presents.... In the past week alone, he's given us pairings of Groot and Chewbacca, Sgt. Rock and Cobra Commander, and Captain Carrot and Donald Duck. Whew!

But what earns him his latest mention here on Boosterrific.com is the return of Skeets' all-robot super team, Robo Force:

Skeets versus Brainiac! Why hasn't that happened in DC Comics before now?

As a bonus, check out this cover featuring the Blue Beetle's new partner.

Thanks for all your hard work, Ross.

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I think by now you all know how I feel about comics blog ComicBookResource's soul-stripping rebranding to cbr.com (which is part of why it's taken me over a week to find the place to post this). However, in this modern world without any Booster Gold/Blue Beetle comics, I have to at least give them credit for reminding fans that a Blue and Gold pairing once existed and was awesome.

Visit cbr.com to read Matthew Stevens' deeply insightful "15 Superhero Buddy Movies We Want to See." I don't agree with his choice for number 1, but if there's any value to opinionated clickbait lists, it's that they generate some enjoyable, good-natured discussion between comics fans, right?

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Last July, DC Collectibles revealed a two-pack of DC Icons Blue Beetle and Booster Gold figures at San Diego Comic Con 2016 to be released later this year. Yet the figures were surprisingly absent from the DC Collectibles shown two weeks ago at Toy Fair in New York.

On Friday, Jeffrey Lyles of LylesMovieFiles.com reported that he investigated the absence and was told by DC Collectibles Vice President Kevin Kiniry that the figures have been canceled.

At The Fwoosh, a web forum dedicated to action figure enthusiasts, others are posting confirmation of the cancellation. "Big Bad Voodoo Lou" posted his correspondence with DCC, including his eloquent plea for the figures:

Dear Vice President Kiniry and everyone else at DC Collectibles,

"There have been a lot of rumors coming out about the future of DC Collectibles post-Toy Fair. The one that concerns me the most is the future of the Icons Blue Beetle and Booster Gold two-pack. Those two are my favorite comic book characters, and they have been ever since I was a kid in elementary school, growing up in the '80s. I am a completist when it comes to collecting Beetle and Booster comics, toys, and other merchandise -- which, as you can imagine, is far cheaper than being a Batman completist, but also an attainable goal. (Please don't get me wrong; I buy other DC Comics and Collectibles products too!)

"Anyway, even though I'm close to 40 years old, it broke my heart a little to read that the upcoming two-pack may have been canceled due to lack of retailer interest. Is this true? I know that Etrigan is canceled, but several other announced Icons figures will still be coming out. I also read that DC Collectibles wants to move in the direction of more multi-figure sets, including "Iconic Moments" from comics, with story-specific accessories and displays.

"Well, this two-pack sounds like it would meet all those criteria. Beetle and Booster will never be among DC's A-listers or even on the strong, increasingly-recognizable B-list, but they are beloved C-listers from one of DC's most fun comics of all time. Greg Berlanti has even discussed plans for a Booster Gold movie, so there is definitely support out there! I know anecdotal evidence from one collector probably means little to you, but EVERY collector I know, in real life and online, was excited about this set, and none more than I. I've been looking forward to it since it was announced last summer, and I really hope we all get a chance to buy it, sooner rather than later.

"Could you please confirm either way, just to put my mind at ease? Thank you. I appreciate the work you're all doing, especially on the Icons line. But Beetle and Booster are such mainstays in the DCU, they are truly Icons in every sense of the word, and the line will never be complete without them."

The response Lou received read:

"Blue and Gold have a soft spot in our hearts as well. But to your point their C+ status was not enough to get retailers to order in large enough quantities. So at this time we had to cancel their 2-pack. We hope that they will live again in the future but we currently don't have them scheduled.

"Thanks for touching base and we wish we had better news to share.

Kevin
KEVIN KINIRY | Vice President — DC Collectibles

As disappointing as this news is, it can't be much of a surprise that comic shops didn't jump at a chance to sell $60 action figures of characters who haven't appeared in comics in years.

Oh, well. At least we've still got Thomas & Friends (he says, scratching his head).

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