Up front, let me say that I bought two copies of the first issue of Human Target, one by Greg Smallwood — showing Booster Gold's fist! — and one by Hairsine, Miki and Beredo — showing Booster Gold's leg! (I like to think of them as parts of a "Build-A-Figure" cover.) Having read the issue, I do not regret that decision.

However, that should not mean that I'm ready to endorse the story based on the first issue alone. I am on record as no fan of Tom King's storytelling, especially in reference to the way he handles Booster Gold. It is very clear that King and I have very different interpretations of the character (and most of the other inhabitants of the DC Universe).

Earlier this week, King was interviewed by Jenna Anderson for comicbook.com, and he explained why he chose the Justice League International for his story:

"What Giffen and DeMatteis put into these characters, they all feel very fleshed out," King added. "They all feel very real. When you picture them in your head, you just see that Kevin Maguire face looking up at you. They're very easy and very fun to write. The thing I most love to do in comics is to take silly ideas seriously and find the depths in them, and that concept was all over this — the idea that these little silly flaws that are implanted in these characters actually show real heart and real depth. Like I wrote this thing for Booster, why Booster's good. And the idea is, Human Target expressed my opinion on Booster as 'Booster is a joke. He makes mistakes all the time, but he doesn't hide them. He shows himself. He is himself. Booster is Booster. Yeah, he's a joke, but everyone is. At least Booster's funny.' That kind of stuff is incredibly fun to do. These characters have such potential — each one of them could launch their own series."

Ahem. Almost all of them have launched a series. Or two. Or more.

I have to admit, I can kind of see where King is coming from calling Booster "a joke." Yes, he has some terrible ideas, and yes, he takes advantage of his friends, and he even occasionally misjudges his own abilities. But those traits could just as easily describe Batman.

Maybe it's my incredible dissatisfaction with the way King depicted Booster Gold during his run on Batman or my anger at the horrible handling of the promotion and resolution of Heroes in Crisis that make me suspicious that Booster will be treated badly by Human Target. But at least I can rest assured that this will be the last time King will use Booster in a story, right?

King continued. "Booster Gold [is] my favorite character to write in all of fiction — who is always trying to do good, and always slipping on the banana peel."

Grr. You can't always get what you want. Sometimes, you can't even get what you need.

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Those of you who had pre-ordered a Kindle version of Russ Burlingame's "Gold Exchange" columns from Amazon.com may have gotten some unpleasant news earlier this week when the listing was withdrawn and pre-order payments were refunded.

I reached out to Burlingame, and he explained that he was still working on completing the book but unexpected delays had been caused by family health issues.

I tried to push the release date to November 17, but Amazon never processed that and I received word that preorders had been cancelled when I missed my prepub date on Sunday. Unless something else happens I should still have it ready for readers between now and 11/17, but unfortunately because I missed my initial deadline they will not reinstate the preorders, and it won't be available to buy until I have uploaded the files.

While that is a setback, it is good to know the book is still in the works. I've worked with Amazon a bit myself (plug, plug), and I know how it can be.

We can be patient, Russ. If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything.

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At the beginning of the month, Rob Snow noticed this listing at amazon.com/gp/product/B09D8S3T78/:

As you can see, it is a pre-order for the Kindle-only edition of Russ' compilation of his Gold Exchange interviews with the creators of Booster Gold Volume 2 a decade ago. It's about time Russ collected them for modern readers; the always-entertaining columns originally ran on several different websites, few of which still exist. (The Boosterrific Blog's "Gold Exchange" posts are littered with dead links.)

I've been waiting to advertise that link to other Booster boosters until Russ was ready to announce physical editions of the book. And he finally has. Per an email Russ sent earlier this week to Indiegogo supporters of his Josie and the Pussycats oral history The Best Movie Ever: A Totally Jerkin' Book:

In October, The Gold Exchange will be available to buy as an ebook or a paperback on Amazon. In January, Dispatches From Chicago -- just like The Gold Exchange, but with Savage Dragon interviews -- will be available in the same way. Both of those can currently be bought in very limited quantities in "special edition" hardcovers over at josiebook.com.

Rob pre-ordered his Kindle edition weeks ago, and I've now pre-ordered a special edition copy for myself. I hope you'll join us in supporting Burlingame's decades-long efforts to chronicle the creation of Booster Gold's comic book adventures.

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Watching the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, I'm seeing commercials with Olympic athletes who, according to disclaimers at the bottom of the screen, don't even use the products they're endorsing.

Why do I feel I've seen this all before?

Booster Gold #2 (1986)

In my "Secret Origin of Booster Gold" interview with Dan Jurgens, Booster's creator describes his inspiration this way:

Much of Booster was inspired by the '84 Olympics when I saw an athlete described as having an endorsement contract without ever having won a medal. Many of the BG ideas were already in place but that sort of galvanized it.

The years might roll by, but Booster Gold and the forces of commercial opportunism and social insecurity that drive him and his misadventures are as relevant as ever.

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In promotion of Blue and Gold #1, DC Comics has posted a primer on the history of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold on their blog at DCComics.com.

Most of what they have to say won't come as news to Boosterrific.com readers, but that's not necessarily true of what Dan Jurgens tells Liam McGuire in the interview now available at ScreenRant.com:

Screen Rant: Booster Gold and Blue Beetle have a very different relationship with the big players on DC's Justice League. Does that difference get explored in this book?

Dan Jurgens: Very much so. Booster is a rather insecure person. He craves acceptance from the other heroes. He's desperate to be regarded as an "A-Lister".

Ted would like that as well, but it's not an obsession for him. Booster, on the other hand, is desperate for it.

It's always great to have insight on how Booster's creator views his creation. "Insecure" may be an unusual word to apply to a DC superhero, but it accurately describes Booster's personality and what has motivated him into so many of his misadventures.

But hold on, here's another interesting bit:

Screen Rant: What can you tell us about working with Ryan Sook on this project?

Dan Jurgens: Ryan and I have worked together on FUTURES END, ACTION COMICS and BATMAN BEYOND. Every time I work with him, I am amazed by the quality of work and depth of thought that shows up on each and every page.

He's very much into the spirit of this project and exploring the nature of these two characters. It's a delight to see his work come in as we're working Marvel style, and it's really giving him the opportunity to add his magic touch.

If you aren't familiar with the "Marvel style," it's a "plot-first" process pioneered by Stan Lee and his artists in the 1960s where bare-bones plots where provided to pencillers so they have the most flexibility to work engaging layouts. In this method, scripting dialogue is done last.

(Stan Lee once wrote a book called How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way that focused entirely on what panels should look like in a Marvel comic, not how the artist and writer might work together. Ironically, the process is better explained by Denny O'Neil in The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics.)

Over the past four decades, Jurgens has pencilled most of his own Booster Gold scripts, so it's interesting to see how he writes Booster for other artists. Is this how he worked with Aaron Lopresti on Justice League International or Corin Howell for Bat-Mite?

I hope Jurgens doesn't tire of talking Booster Gold anytime soon. There's always more to learn.

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