Writes Joe C.:

Booster gold sighting!!!! Check out the 2024–25 upper deck DC annual trading cards. Card number 86 is booster gold (and Skeets).

Joe's right. The Upper Deck 2024-25 DC Annual trading card set debuted last month, and Booster (and Skeets!) is card 86 in the Base Set. As you can see, the card reuses the Daniel Sampere art from page 22 panel 1 of "Alpha" from DC All In Special #1.

And here's the back (apparently written by someone who is not particularly familiar with Booster Gold or the events of DC All In Special #1):

If you want to get yourself a copy of card 86, you're in luck! It's pretty easy to come by. Pictured above is the most common Base Set edition. There are a total of 100 cards in the Base Set, and each pack of 5 cards contains 3 Base Set cards, which means there's an almost 6% chance of drawing a Booster Gold Base Set card from any single pack. Assuming a truly random distribution, you've got a 50-50 chance of pulling a Booster Gold Base Set card from as few as 22 packs. You're all but guaranteed one in 152 packs.

There are 16 packs in a $95 Hobby Box. You've got a better-than-a-coin-flip's chance of finding a Booster Gold Base Set card in 2 Hobby Boxes, but you'll need 10 to be sure. Or you can do what I did and go buy it on eBay for less than $5. Whatever makes you happy.

It's worth noting at this point that Upper Deck thinks they can get you to buy more than 10 Hobby Boxes. Many, many more.

Each of the 100 Base Set cards, Booster Gold included, has variants. The most common of those variants is the Blue Parallel, which adds a blue foil background. But you can't find those in Hobby Boxes. Blue Parallels only come in Blaster Boxes, which contain one Blue Parallel card and 6 packs for $25. You'll need 459 of those (cost: $11,475) to be sure of getting a Booster Gold Blue Parallel card.

The Blue Parallel is the most common variant, but it's hardly the only one. There is also a Variant Cover Parallel which features different Daniel Sampere artwork from DC All In Special (page 4 panel 1) on the front. Variant Cover Parallels are distributed at 1 per 3 boxes, so you should expect to get one of those out of every 1,394 boxes you open.

Then there's the Silver Sparkle Parallel found in every 4 Hobby Boxes (one in 1,840) or every 5 Blasters (one in 2,301). These look a lot like the Blue Parallel but with silver foil in the background.

By now you're probably thinking that you should just buy Blasters. You only need 4 of those to have a 51% chance of a Booster Gold card and a small chance of pulling either a Blue Parallel, Variant Cover Parallel, or Silver Sparkle Parallel. But those are just the tip of the iceberg of variants. All the rest are inserted exclusively into Hobby Boxes and are much, much rarer. With only 3 rare inserts in each Hobby Box, good luck finding any of the following in the wild:

• Green Parallel (print run of 499 cards)
• Gold Linearity Parallel (print run of 88)
• Hologram Parallel (print run of 25)
• Crystal Clear Parallel (print run of 25)
• Cyan Printing Plate (one of a kind)
• Magenta Printing Plate (one of a kind)
• Yellow Printing Plate (one of a kind)
• Black Printing Plate (one of a kind)
• Cyan Hologram Printing Plate (one of a kind)
• Magenta Hologram Printing Plate (one of a kind)
• Yellow Hologram Printing Plate (one of a kind)
• Black Hologram Printing Plate (one of a kind)
• Pure Diamond Parallel (one of a kind)

But wait, there's more! If you're a real completist, you'll want to know that Booster Gold also appears on card N1S-4, which is the cover to DC All In Special #1. The most common N1S-4 card is the #1 Spot version, about as uncommon as a Silver Sparkle Parallel from the Base Set. The #1 Spot Sparkle Parallel is limited to 199, and the #1 Spot Retro Wave Parallel is limited to 25.

Gee whiz. Next time I complain about how many covers DC is printing, remind me about Upper Deck's business model.

Thanks for the lead, Joe. Happy hunting, Booster boosters.

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Two years ago, for no obvious reason, DC made available to a limited number of attendees of the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con International a foil copy of Booster Gold #1. (Ohhh. So shiny.)

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of that issue, so surely DC is planning something bigger for year's convention, right? I mean, that's why they erased our hero from continuity last year, right? So that he could have a big Homecoming party in 2025 for twice the celebration, right? Right?

According to DC's press release last Friday, their slate of events at this year's SDCC will predictably be mostly focused on the Absolute Universe and Superman (who apparently is in some sort of movie, have you heard?). Booster's creator, Dan Jurgens, will be on the Super-centric "DC Comics: Metropolis and Beyond" panel. Jurgens has a long history of helping Booster Gold steal a little of Superman's spotlight. Here's hoping he does it again.

While the press release doesn't mention Booster by name, DC hasn't entirely forgotten about the Corporate Crusader. Also per the press release:

At the DC Booth, Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC Shop will offer a range of exclusive must-have items for DC Super Hero fans and Super-Villain enthusiasts while supplies last. This includes a special “Legends Forever” hoodie designed to honor the DC Trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. There will also be a t-shirt, pin, and hat with the new Batman comic book logo (debuting on Batman #1 in September), a 24k Gold-plated over 925 sterling silver S-Shield gold necklace, Krypto the Super-Dog hoodie, and assorted pet goods based on Superman, a Supergirl t-shirt, and more.

I hear you thinking "Hmm. That doesn't say anything about Booster Gold." Well, you're correct. But it does say "and more," and that must mean this:

That looks like a Booster Gold (and Skeets!) "Omega" pin based on Daniel Sampere's art from page 21 of DC All In Special #1. It appeared in an image accompanying the press release that showcased many of the items listed in the above paragraph. I'm sure that failing to mention the pictured Booster Gold merchandise in the text was simply a clerical error. Surely, no one would ever exclude Booster Gold on purpose.

Is that what it looks like? How exclusive will it be? How many arms and/or legs will it cost us? Here's hoping more details will become available when we get closer to Comic-Con International next week.

UPDATE 7/25: Steve dropped by the comments below to tell us DC gave these away to panel attendees. Sounds like a pretty limited edition! Congratulations, Steve!

UPDATE 7/26: If you're reading the comments, you'll note that Hawkman Carter Hall tells us the pins are being sold to attendees for $15 at the official DC Booth. So maybe not *quite* so limited. Thanks, Carter!

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When you visit your Local Comic Shop this week, you'll see a lot of Booster Gold!

Not only is Booster inside Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #6 (as visible in the preview at AIPTComics.com), he's also on the cover:

As is increasingly the case at DC, there are several covers to this issue. Officially, that one is being called the "Cvr A Daniel Sampere & Alejandro Sanchez" Cover. You may have seen it recently in the DC house ad promoting this month's Dark Crisis tie-in issues.

Speaking of multiple covers, Booster is also appearing on several covers of Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1:

Officially the "Cvr A Dan Jurgens & Brett Breeding Gatefold Cover"

Officially the "Cvr C Ivan Reis & Danny Miki Funeral for a Friend Variant"

You may have seen the wraparound cover in recent DC Nation columns promoting this month's "90's Rewind" tie-in issues. It's so nice, it's also being reused on the Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1 "Cvr F Memorial Dan Jurgens & Brett Breeding Bleeding Bag Premium Polybag Variant"!

How many of these comics are you going to buy to make Skeets happy?

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: aiptcomics.com alejandro sanchez brett breeding covers dan jurgens daniel sampere danny miki dark crisis death ivan reis new releases previews superman

DC released the second printings of Dark Crisis #1 through #3 this week with the series' new title, Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths.

I'm certain that Booster Gold is in that book's story. What I can't yet say for certain is whether he is on that cover.

He is on the back of that Daniel Sampere wraparound cover of the less "Infinite" first printing, and he'll be on the back of the third printing this October with the original Crisis on Infinite Earths-inspired title logo pictured here:

But the question remains, does the second printing use both sides of the Sampere wraparound cover? The solicitation text isn't clear, and sadly, try as I might, I can't flip over any of the digital images I can find online to see the back.

So if anyone discovers a copy at their Local Comic Shop and can definitively answer the most important question of our times, please let me know so that I can update Boosterrific.com accordingly. Thank you!

UPDATE: Joe Carlo, owner or Monday's awesome gif, has confirmed this is also a Boosterrific wraparound cover. Thanks, Joe!

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Available tomorrow at your Local Comic Shop:

Yes, that is Booster Gold on the wraparound Daniel Sampere/Alejandro Sanchez cover.

I should also mention that Booster is definitely on the inside, too. Pretty significantly, in fact.

That should be all you need to know before deciding to pick up Dark Crisis #1, but if you want (slightly) more, AIPT.com has a preview of the first five pages (with Booster appearing on two of them!).

Buy this book and make Skeets happy.

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