When I started this website to track all adventures of the superhero Booster Gold, I didn't think I was going to have to spend so much time typing about vampires. I mean, I thought Blue and Gold had defeated the DCU's last vampire in 1989 (in the "immortal" Justice League International #25).

But who can predict the future? (Especially in the DCU. Its reboots have reboots.)

Anyway, DC Vs. Vampires: All-Out War #2 is at your Local Comic Shop now. Booster Gold is definitely in it, as you can see in the preview at AIPT.com.

Booster's also on the cover. One of them, anyway. As noted back in May, Booster is prominently featured on the 1:25 James Stokoe retailer incentive variant cover. You might have to find that one on eBay.

But wait! There's more!

Booster booster Logan Peterson dropped me a line to say, "it looks like Booster appears in this week's Aquaman and the Flash: Voidsong #3." On page 30, to be specific.

That is not an appearance I would have spotted without assistance, Logan. Thank you!

Buy a Booster Gold comic and make Skeets happy.

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Whether you're chasing the Ethan Young 1:50 incentive variant cover or you're satisfied with one of the more affordable, Booster-less covers for this week's Dark Crisis #3, you'll want to know that our hero does get a small taste of the action inside:

It might surprise you that this is actually Booster's first meeting with all three of these villains. Raptor is relatively new to the DCU, but Crazy Quilt and Key have each been pestering DC's heroes for over half a century.

Personally, I admire their stick-to-it-iveness, if only because it means they've finally gotten their chance to have their butts kicked by Blue and Gold!

Buy any cover of this issue and make Skeets happy.

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First things first: the "BLUE BEETLE & BOOSTER GOLD 2-PACK" teased by McFarlane Toys last weekend on Twitter is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com, EntertainmentEarth.com, BigBadToyStore.com, and McfarlaneToysStore.com.

Personally, I've authorized my Local Comic Shop to get me the figures whenever they can, so consider supporting your Local Toy Shop as an alternative (or in addition) to those websites.

Judging by the emails I've been getting, there was a lot of pent-up demand for more Blue and Gold action figures, which is good. Pre-order demand is necessary to see these figures to market. The last time DC solicited a Booster Gold/Blue Beetle figures in 2017, they canceled them citing lack of retailer interest. Let's not let that happen again.

For those of you who need to know a little more information about this toy before you buy it, McFarlane.com has the deets (and plenty of pictures):

Product Features:

• Incredibly detailed 7" scale figure based off the DC Multiverse
• Designed with Ultra Articulation with up to 22 moving parts for full range of posing and play
• Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are featured in their looks from the comic Blue Beetle & Booster Gold: Blue and Gold
• Blue Beetle and Booster Gold include a grapple launcher, a blast, a cellphone, a drone, and mechanical themed base
• Included collectible art cards with figure artwork on the front, and character biography on the back
• Collect all McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Figures

Uh, I'm not sure that I'd call "Collect all McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Figures" a "feature," but I suppose that's not really aimed at me. I gather from their other marketing, that whoever is writing McFarlane's ad copy doesn't actually read DC comic books, at least Booster Gold and Blue Beetle comics. That doesn't really bother me, as they are a toy company not a comics publisher, and they are pretty good at what they do.

You do you, McFarlane Toys; I'll just get my wallet out.

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Several people have just brought this to my attention, and I don't see much reason to wait until Monday:

twitter.com/mcfarlanetoys/status/1550934047966302210

I'll be keeping my eye out for that pre-order opportunity.

UPDATE 2022-07-27: Pre-order links are now available on McFarlane.com. I'll post more about this on Friday.

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If you've seen any movie filmed in New York City during the 1970s and 80s, you know that town was an absolute cesspool overflowing with garbage and urban blight. Thankfully, one visionary man bucked the system, seized power, and began cleaning up the city in the mid 1990s.

Yes, Booster. That man was the dictator Monarch. And readers of Extreme Justice #7, released on this date in 1995, would have recognized him as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Therefore, the question at the heart of this story isn't whether or not the familiar Monarch had become a sheep, but just which wolf he was.

First, a bit of backstory. Debuting in Armageddon 2001 #1 (1991), Monarch was a corrupted hero who had grown so frustrated at how bad the world was being run, he was determined to take it over himself. The time-traveling would-be world dictator (co-created by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Archie Goodwin with shades of Doctor Doom and Kang the Conqueror) had already had run-ins with almost every super hero on Earth.

What makes Monarch particularly unique in the DC Universe isn't the character's origins or motivations, but his very complicated relationship with Captain Atom. See, as originally planned, Monarch *was* Captain Atom. DC's writers and artists seeded clues to Monarch's true identity for months, but when news of the planned reveal leaked to the general public, editors made a last-minute change to his secret identity.

However, no one liked the change (perhaps because of all the strong clues already in print to the contrary), and thus would begin years of stories revising Monarch's identity and intentions. Stories like this one.

Those who remember Extreme Justice often remember the "extreme" art, which makes it easy to say that the strength of the series was writer Dan Vado's character-driven melodramas and morality plays. What is the cost of being a hero? What defines a villain? Who are we all, really? This issue doesn't answer those questions, but life is about the journey, not the destination.

Just remember to never, ever trust a tyrant like Monarch.

Especially not if your name is Booster Gold.

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