Friday the 13th. It's an unlucky day for some, largely owing to the superstition around the number 13. Some high-rise buildings don't have a 13th floor, some cities skip 13th Streets, and few athletes wear the number 13. In comics, there is one notable exception:

That's right. While playing quarterback for Gotham University, Michael "Booster" Carter wore the number 13.

There aren't a lot of quarterbacks in history who have worn 13, and fewer still who could be considered "America's Best." However, back in 1985 when Dan Jurgens was creating Booster Gold, there was one 13 already in the process of shattering most major football passing records. That young quarterback was Dan Marino. Could Marino, who was also dogged by rumors of inappropriate behavior in college (in his case it was recreational drugs, not cheating) have influenced Jurgens' choice of uniform number for "Booster" Carter?

I put the question to Jurgens himself. He said no.

Jurgens: Booster's #13 had nothing to do with Dan Marino. It was totally symbolic of the "unlucky number" aspect. It just felt appropriate.

So there you have it: Michael "Booster" Carter's 13 was Jurgens' way of foreshadowing of Booster's bad luck. (It's probably no coincidence that we first learn that Booster Gold wore number 13 on the 13th page of Booster Gold, Volume 1, #6.) Poor kid.

This has been the first installment in our year-long series:

Do you have any questions about Booster Gold's origins after 30 years? Speak up, and we'll investigate!

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I'm sure by now you've all noticed that DC announced it's post-Convergence line-up of titles on Friday. You may also have noticed that none of those titles appear to include Booster Gold. That's just an oversight, right?

It's hard to imagine that DC's first post-Crisis on Infinite Earths character isn't going to be around somewhere, especially with Dan Jurgens set to write two new series (Batman Beyond and Bat-Mite — which is a series I will definitely be investigating). Will some version of Booster still be in Justice League 3001? Fingers crossed.

If you want to see everything DC will be publishing after Convergence, Newsarama.com has the list.

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According to PreviewsWorld.com, the website of the exclusive distributor of DC Comics in America, these are the two covers we should expect on Convergence: Booster Gold when it is released in April.

The image on the left (Dan Jurgens/Danny Miki) is the standard cover and the image on the right is the 1:1 "Chip Kidd" variant using art by Jason Fabok from Justice League International Annual #1. (You can read more about Chip Kidd's utilization of "pre-existing" art for his covers at IGN.com.)

So if those are the covers to Booster Gold's first issue, what is this the cover to?

That's the cover that accompanied Entertainment Weekly's December announcement of DC's Convergence plans. We now know it's not the cover to Convergence #1. Is it a cover to another issue in that series? Is it a cover for Convergence: Booster Gold #2? Has it been replaced? Is it interior art?

I guess we'll find out when we get closer to April, but in the meantime I'm already missing Skeets.

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I support Booster Gold wherever he appears. I'm glad to see that most of you do, too.

Last week's poll question: Are you planning on buying Justice League 3000 #12? (49 votes)

Perhaps you noticed earlier this week when Entertainment Weekly broke the news that Booster Gold was getting his own Convergence crossover mini-series (penned by Dan Jurgens, as many expected). But did you see the cover?

That's right, it's Skeets! Finally, Booster's robot sidekick makes it to the New 52. Like everyone else. Skeets also gets a New 52 makeover.

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The fans have spoken! You want better tracking of alternate continuities, and I agree. Once I have modified the Boosterrific database to be able to track such things, I'll go back and reclassify each issue according to continuity and chronology within that continuity. I'll change the individual book listings to link within those continuities and also build new pages to output the new lists. That probably sounds like more work than it is, but I'd still better get cracking if I want to have that done in time for Convergence in April! (You know, having too much Booster Gold to track is a good problem to have.)

Last week's poll question: How should Boosterrific.com handle continuity of appearances? (53 votes)

If you aren't aware, DC has announced the first 10 of their 2-part mini-series replacing their regular titles in April/May. (See the list on ComicBookResources.com.)

The good news is that most of these stories take place in the DCU abandoned after Flashpoint. The bad news is that there has yet to be any mention of Booster Gold. Dan Jurgens, Booster's creator and the writer of Booster Gold: Futures End #1, has already been announced as the writer for Superman. Where does that leave our hero?

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