Earlier this week, we learned via aiptcomics.com that DC will be revisiting the Flashpoint universe in a seven-issue event called Flashpoint Beyond starting in April.

It remains to be seen what role (if any) Booster Gold will be playing in this event, but we do know that he will be on the 1:50 variant cover to Flashpoint Beyond #0 drawn by Todd Nauck:

click image to see original on Twitter.com

Now, a "1:50 variant" means that for every 50 copies a comic shop orders of the regular cover, they *should* get 1 of these. (I say "should" because distribution shortages and allocations have been known to happen.) I suggest that any Booster boosters who wants this in their collection go ahead and preorder 51 copies of Flashpoint Beyond #0 from their their LCS.

But that's not the only variant cover we'll be seeing Booster on in April!

As you may have heard, Entertainment Weekly broke the news that the Justice League will be killed off in April's Justice League #75. (Don't worry too much: comics being what they are, I'm sure they'll get better.)

In a tribute to the 30th anniversary of the "death" of Superman (see what I mean?), one of the many variant covers of Justice League #75 will be drawn by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund and feature many former leaguers, including Booster Gold and two Blue Beetles!

click image to see original on Twitter.com

This cover should be easier to get than a 1:50, but we'll have to find out more as we get closer to April.

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Latest awesome thing spotted over the weekend on Twitter.com:

This reimagining of the original Booster Gold #1 cover is by Mariano Navarro & Hernan Cabrera. I'm not going to say that I think it's better than the original, but I will say that I *would* buy that comic book.

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Two pieces of news today that are probably each worthy of their own post. But since they both came from the ghost of Newsarama at GamesRadar.com, I'm combining them into this one post.

Thing 1: "Booster Gold: Inside the social media superhero who was 35 years ahead of his time" by Vaneta Rogers is a retrospective of what Booster Gold has meant to the writers who have crafted his adventures.

Rogers' oral history includes interviews with Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen, J.M. Dematteis, and Jeff Katz, all ow whom clearly have a great deal of respect for the character they helped craft.

In fact, Giffen said that, when he and co-writer J.M. DeMatteis were told by editor Andy Helfer they had to use Booster Gold in their new Justice League run in 1987, it was this 'things-never-go-right' element that defined Booster.

"I'll be honest: I had no idea what to do with the character when we first had him," Giffen said. "Booster really didn't gel in my mind until he had the first 'bwa-ha-ha' moment and Beetle was laughing at him. I knew then that this character is going to know life's frustrations and is going to get knocked down a lot, but is always going to get back up again."

That's just a taste of the insight the piece provides into what has made Booster Gold so durable for the past three-plus decades. Good work, Vaneta.

Thing 2: "New DC Human Target is a 12-issue 'whodunit'" by Micheal Doran is essentially a sales piece to encourage fans to buy the upcoming Human Target series featuring the Justice League International.

The report lays out the basic premise of the series and quotes writer Tom King telling us how this is going to be just like every other prestige mini-series he's written for DC in the past half decade. But the important part for Booster boosters is the news about the variant covers.

The [Trevor] Hairsine and [Danny] Miki #1 and #2 variants connect to form the cover of a 'Whodunit' board game. The back cover features a pin-up calendar, "leaning into the mid-century feel of the comic," says DC.

When placed side by side, those variant covers will look like this:

Mid-century? No. Boosterrific? Very.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: covers danny miki gamesradar.com human target keith giffen michael doran newsarama tom king trevor hairsine vaneta rogers

We were told to expect Blue and Gold #3 this week, and DCcomics.com still says it's coming. But — and this is a big "but" — DC's distributor, LunarDistribution.com, says otherwise. And Comixology.com has removed the issue from their site entirely.

So what I'm saying is don't expect to find Blue and Gold at your Local Comic Shop this week. Maybe next week? Maybe?

However, there is some good news for Booster boosters. Both Booster and Beetle are on the David Marquez cover of this week's Justice League #68!

(If this looks familiar, it's because we took a first look at the grinning mugs of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle in the original line art back in June.)

At least the boys have a good excuse for being late. It's not every week they get to hang out with the A-listers.

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If you read Boosterrific.com (which I know you do because you are reading this), you know that Blue and Gold #1 was released last week, 33 years after being first announced. And it's pretty good. You have been rewarded for your patience, Booster boosters!

Of course you probably already bought the standard cover by Ryan Sook. And maybe you picked up the cardstock variant by Dave Johnson. But if you go back to your Local Comic Shop this week, perhaps you'll consider buying *another* copy, the one I'm calling the Kevin Maguire variant:

"That's a picture of the Dave Johnson cover!" you say. And you're right. But what else do you see on there?

That phone case cover isn't Dave Johnson's work. It's Kevin Maguire's. Maguire drew that image in 2014 for a DC Comics print (as confirmed by the artist himself via Twitter.com).

How often do we get comic books where two different artists have drawn Booster Gold on the same cover? Just this once. I think that's pretty Boosterrific.

But if you think that's the last we'll see of Kevin Maguire in Blue and Gold, think again. Here's DC's solicitation for October's issue 4 (from CBR.com):

BLUE & GOLD #4
Writer: DAN JURGENS
Artists: RYAN SOOK, DAN JURGENS and KEVIN MAGUIRE
Cover: RYAN SOOK
$3.99 US ON SALE October 19

Bros over heroes no more!
Booster Gold and Blue Beetle find running a superhero business together more difficult than it looks when these inseparable friends end up on the verge of a breakup! What could be the cause of such a schism? Enter Blackguard, looking to destroy this dysfunctional duo for good!

Three artists? Clearly this series has some surprises in store. Something to look forward to this October.

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