Are you too young to remember 1994? If so, DC has the book for you this week! DC Finest: Events: Zero Hour: Crisis in Time, Part Two collects the second half of that summer's giant crossover event that reset the timeline of the DC Universe. Most importantly for Booster boosters, that includes Zero Hour #2, #1, and #0. (Yes, the five-issue series counted backwards, a gimmick DC would reuse a decade later for Countdown / Countdown to Final Crisis.)

Also, Booster Gold was in an ad for All In Saga in the print edition (but not the digital release) of this past weekend's DC All In 2025 FCBD Special Edition. I did not pick up a copy for myself (oops), so I'm hoping it will show up again in this week's books. (Otherwise, if any Booster booster can get me a scan of that page, please get in touch.)

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Today at your Local Comic Shop, you can pick up a reprint collection of Booster Gold's last appearance in the mainstream DC Universe in the All In Saga trade paperback.

And while you're there, in case you missed it, you may want to know that Booster also appeared in a couple of panels in the Black Label Superman: Last Days of Lex Luthor #3 that came out last week. (Thanks to clonegeek for that spot.)

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It's been a wild week for Booster Gold fans with Booster making an appearance in one book and Skeets in another.

I'll save my thoughts on Summer of Superman Special #1 for a later post, in part because I want to put some space between now and then because what I have to say about it would definitely count as "spoilers." (Hint: I'm even more frustrated than I was before.)

Skeets' appearance in Challengers of the Unknown Volume 5, #5, on the other hand, well, it can't count as a spoiler because there's nothing to spoil. See for yourself: here it is, panel 1 of page 20 (of 22 in the issue):

That's it. That's Skeets' only appearance in the issue. It's Skeets' only appearance in the whole mini-series.

Story wise, original Challenger Rocky Davis has just been attacked (killed?) by longtime Challengers foe Ultivac just as the new Justice League Unlimited Watchtower explodes. And then... Skeets?

It has to mean something, right? The artists (Sean Izaakse, Amancay Nahuelpan) didn't just decide to place a random, obscure sidekick there that the writer (Christopher Cantwell) didn't ask for and the editors (Chris Rosa, Paul Kaminski) didn't catch. But the story gives no clue what this means other than to suggest that time travel might be involved. Or is it a metaphysical representation of life after death? Or maybe, since we're talking about the past, is it all a dream state? It's all punishingly vague.

Can we grasp at straws? It doesn't make any sense for Rocky to be thinking about Skeets because so far as we know, the pair have never even met. (Skeets was deactivated at the only time Rocky Davis and Booster Gold joined forces on panel in 1992's Eclipso: The Darkness Within #2). Skeets is 25th century (or better) technology with no connection to Ultivac (who was the robot villain of the second published Challengers of the Unknown adventure in Showcase #7 in 1957!). Skeets does not have telepathy and cannot independently time travel without the aid of Rip Hunter's technology. So far as readers are aware, Skeets has been lost somewhere in the Multiverse with (or without) Booster Gold since last year's DC All In Special. (And, although I said I wasn't going to talk about Summer of Superman Special, if the events there are what they appear to be, how could Skeets exist in the 20th century at all?) So what in creation is Booster Gold's robot sidekick doing here?

Maybe it's not Skeets? Maybe it's one of Skeet's outdated exterior casings, such as used to be kept in the previous Justice League watchtower's trophy room (in JLA Secreat Files #2 and Justice League of America Volume 2, #7). In the New 52 era, Skeets was one of a kind, but that was not so before or since; maybe what appears to be Skeets here is just another 25th-century BX9 Security Robot? For all I know, this could be the return of Mr. Mind doing the same Skeets cosplay he wore in the pages of 52.

Or Proty. Yeah, sure, why not. It could be Proty. That would make as much sense as it being Skeets.

According to multiple new sources and despite being solicited as a 6-issue mini-series, Challengers of the Unknown has been canceled after 5 issues, so we're not likely to learn anytime soon why Skeets was here. If anyone does ever turn up a clue, let us know.

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"You might want to change the counter."

So reads the email sent to me by Booster booster Bob. Bob's a longtime friend of the Boosterrific Blog, and he even gave us a shout out at the end of his recent YouTube video post about the schizophrenic nature of Geoff John's Rip Hunter. (Bob summarizes the problem with that characterization as "Good people don't kidnap children." Hear, hear, Bob!)

But the point of Bob's email yesterday had nothing to do with Rip Hunter. It was about Booster Gold's return to comic books.

Specifically, Bob was the first to tell me that Booster Gold will be making an appearance in today's one-shot anthology Summer of Superman Special #1.

I suppose I should have seen this coming. According to Matt Morrison's review of the issue at SuperHeroHype.com: "Finally, Joshua Williamson uses the last chapter to explore the cause of Validus becoming displaced in time. This final story ties into the larger story of DC All-In and the fate of the Legion following Dark Crisis." That does indeed sound Booster-adjacent.

Before you get your hopes up too high about the inevitable Booster Gold renaissance, know that Booster's role in this issue is actually pretty limited. (It's essentially little more than a reminder that DC hasn't forgotten about what they did to our time-travelling hero.) But the bright side is that, yeah, it definitely counts as an in-continuity appearance, and yeah, it does reset the missing-in-action counter (after reaching 196 days). These days we'll take what we can get!

So buy this book and make Skeets (who is *not* in this issue) happy. (UPDATE: As SLW points out in the comments, Skeets *does* put in a cameo appearance in this week's Challengers of the Unknown #5.)

Thanks for keeping an eye out for us, Bob!

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Available today at your Local Comic Shop: Blair Butler Booster Gold The Complete 2007 Series Book Two!

Poor Blair! They cut off her head. Her incredulous expression is the best part of the cover of Booster Gold #23.

This softcover collection reprints Booster Gold Volume 2 issues #15 through #31 plus The Brave and the Bold #23.

As a Booster Gold fan, you probably already have those issues, right? But wouldn't it be nice to have them all collected into one easy-to-read volume that would look nice on your bookshelf? Yeah, real nice.

And you already bought Book One when it came out last year, right? This one sure would look nice sitting next to that one. Real nice.

Buy this trade paperback and make Skeets happy.

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