Remember back in September when Newsarama.com broke the news that Blue Beetle and Booster Gold would be coming to Justice League 3000? Let me refresh your memory:

Keith Giffen: It's Beetle and Booster. This is them. Basically, a cryogenic chamber is found on Takron-Galtos while they're excavating, and inside are Beetle and Booster. It's Ted and Michael. It's really, really them.

That's been solicited as happening in next month's issue (#12). But those of you who are Booster Gold completists — one panel cameo appearances count too! — pay attention to this DC Comics solicitation for today's Justice League 3000 #11:

The Five have been defeated — but the Justice League has no time to catch their breath with the forces of Etrigan, the Demon massing for attack and the threat of the new Injustice League rising. Plus: a stunning discovery on Takron-Galtos!

I have a feeling I know what that stunning discovery is going to be. I'm going to find out for sure at my Local Comic Shop this afternoon.

UPDATE: Blue and Gold appearance confirmed. If you want issue #12 to make any sense, run to your LCS and pick up your copy of #11 today! (Ok, so maybe they just make a one panel cameo that has little if anything to do with the rest of the issue. But still. Buy it and make Skeets happy.)

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Do you think that comic book companies and their employees have gotten too tight-lipped and secretive about the business and their plans? Then you need to read Steve Sunu's refreshing interview with Keith Giffen.

CBR News: I want to discuss the slowly increasing connection between "Justice League 3000" and "Justice League International." Was it the plan from the very beginning to bring in these elements from your original "Justice League" run?

Keith Giffen: No, not at all. The original idea was just to get a "Justice League 3000" book out there. Our initial fight was to get our characters through with their personalities the way they are -- Superman's a douchebag, the Flash was our Kenny -- that was the initial fight. Once we got through that, as the stories progressed, I just kept thinking, "What would no one expect? What would be the weirdest thing I could do in this book? ... Beetle and Booster in a refrigerator."

We're bringing Beetle and Booster back, and yes, I'll say it again: It's really them, it's not a trick. In a year from now, I'm not going to be going, "Ha ha! I gotcha!" No, this is the same characters from "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League" book that ends with "They all lived bwa-ha-happily ever after." This is a direct sequel to that.

Elsewhere in the interview, Giffen is critical of editorial positions, past and present, at the companies that employ him. That he's been a star for decades is probably how he can get away with speaking in a direct way that younger talent might be chastised for.

You can find the rest of the article at ComicBookResources.com. NSFW Warning: there's some blue language in there, if you're offended by such things. Thanks to Morgenstern for the link.

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Ok. We know for sure that Booster Gold and Blue Beetle will be reunited in the year 3000 in the pages of Justice League 3000 #12. But what does that mean, exactly?

Russ Burlingame discussed what to expect with Marlene of I Like Comics, Too! on Sunday:

Russ: One of my readers pointed out that he didn't understand why a future based on Giffen & DeMatteis's stories would be any different from the future of the pre-New 52 DC Universe. I figured it couldn't hurt to look at that a little bit.

I mean, there are some obvious differences, right? Dan Jurgens actually wrote a line into Booster Gold Vol. 2 to accommodate the whole "married a rich old heiress" thing (even if the line was that he was joking) but that's about it. There are plenty of other things that happen in the Keith and Marc stories that don't seem to have any bearing on the rest of the DC Universe, and/or conflict with existing stories.

Marlene: There are definitely some differences in how the characters are written, especially Booster. Though Jurgens created him as an unconventional, mildly air-headed superhero-for-hire, it was the original Justice League International run that really shaped the character as most fans know and love him. It's also where his relationship with Blue Beetle was fleshed out.

Compared to Jurgens' original design through Booster's self-titled series and his eventual modern adaptation with the New 52 reboot, Giffen & DeMatteis's version was far sillier and more immature. While he and Beetle certainly had their clever moments, they primarily served as the comic relief of the team.

You can read the rest of their discussion at ComicBook.com.

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Remember last month when Bleeding Cool told us that Booster Gold and Blue Beetle would be turning up in Justice League 3000 #12? Well, Vaneta Rogers and Newsarama.com finally confirmed it at 10AM this morning.

Newsarama: Keith, we've been hearing that issue #12 has some new characters that people should be happy to see. And now that issue #12 is about to be solicited, are you ready to reveal who's coming to Justice League 3000?

Keith Giffen: Yes! Booster Gold and Blue Beetle are coming to Justice League 3000, as of issue #12.

I'm not going to keep this a secret anymore. I mean, if Beetle and Booster are coming back, we should scream it from the rooftops, right? Maybe more people will buy it who are Beetle and Booster fans, and not be surprised and miss the issue. So I'm not really big on hiding stuff anymore.

O frabjous day! I'm already reserving a place in line to buy Justice League 3000 #12 when it hits stands in December.

I know that many fans weaned on the Johns/Katz volume of Booster Gold don't care for Giffen/DeMatteis' take, and that's okay. However, even the news that Justice League 3000 takes place in an alternate universe free from the shenanigans of the New 52 fills me with unbridled glee.

This revelation means that despite all of DC's posturing in recent years over the inviolability of the New 52, the multiverse — or hypertime or elseworlds or whatever you want to call it — is alive and well and somewhere the "real" Justice League International continues its never-ending battle for truth, justice, and a little bit of respect! Somewhere, Wally West is still the Fastest Man Alive and Captain Atom isn't Dr. Manhattan.

It also means that somewhere, Michelle, Rani, and Rip Hunter are running from rampaging dinosaurs, and that the Black Beetle and Rex Hunter could return to take their revenge on Booster Gold's wife. What's not to love?

For complete details, I recommend that you read the rest of the article at Newsarama.com.

EDIT: This post original ran on Friday, September 12 at 4PM EDT.

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Earlier this week, DC released solicitations for books shipping in May. One of those books is a mini-series in which a hero will travel backwards through time in order to prevent an impending apocalypse. That series is Armageddon 2001 The Kingdom Infinite Crisis Futures End. Naturally, this time-traveling hero will be Booster Gold Batman. Because you can never have enough Batman.

With that premise, with Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens writing, and with Jurgens occasionally drawing, it seems impossible that Booster Gold won't at least appear somewhere in this series. Where that somewhere will be is anyone's guess. (The "entire DC Universe" is in issue #2. Booster wouldn't miss that, would he?)

We'll keep our eyes open for signs of our hero this May.

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