Word on the street is that next month Firehawk will be joining the cast of Justice League International. This situation could set up an intriguing love triangle as Booster Gold reignites his old flame with Firehawk despite the jealousy of a hot-headed Godiva. But DC's solicitations for today's The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #8 throw some cold water on that smoldering scenario:

Introducing the all-new Firehawk, France's own atomic defender, and Hurricane, Great Britain's officially sanctioned Nuclear Man! Meanwhile, out of the ashes of last issue's shocking climax, Ronnie Raymond and the Russian Firestorm, Pozhar, begin a long, mutual descent toward the dark underbelly of the Firestorm Protocols.

Oh, never mind. Good-bye American Lorraine Reilly, hello unknown French girl. Thanks, Flashpoint. I hated character development anyway.

Doesn't this seem a bit sudden? Every other member of the DCnU Justice League International had appeared in at least 2 other comics somewhere before joining the team's roster. Are the Firestorms of the DCnU such jerks that their supporting cast hates to stick around? Or could it be that Firestorm has no need for a woman in his own book after (*ahem*) "last issue's shocking climax" with Pozhar? Maybe Firehawk would just be in the way as Firestorm and Pozhar (*cough*) "begin a long, mutual descent toward the dark underbelly of the Firestorm Protocols"? (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)

The best way to find the answers to these and many other burning questions is to pick up The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #8.

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Advance solicitations indicate that this issue will introduce a "surprise new team member!" Since Batwing appears on the cover of the issue which also blatantly states that he will be joining (preview available on Maxim.com), it would only be a surprise if he's not the new member. The real surprise might be in who is leaving the team to make room for him; although since the team was officially disbanded last issue, it's more a question of who wouldn't rejoin than who would leave, isn't it?

Buy this issue and make Skeets happy. (Our little buddy has to show up sooner or later!)

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Fans of the 1990s rejoice! Dan Jurgens returns to writing Superman with issue #7 hitting stands today. For the entire decade, Jurgens either wrote or drew that series. It's good to have him back at the reigns, making the DCnU a little more familiar (even if Superman is still wearing that stupid armor).

Dan Jurgens' greatest creation, Booster Gold, also will appear in a book released today. Booster's cameo appearance in Justice League of America #47 is included the issues collected in Justice League of America: Dark Things. Despite its name, this collection also collects 2 issues of JSA and is chock full of characters that have yet to appear in the DCnU.

Skeets may still be unhappy not to appear in the DCnU, but there will be complain if you decide to support Dan Jurgens. (Making Dan Jurgens happy is the surest way to get Skeets back on panel.)

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The final issues of Booster Gold Vol. 2 hit the stands again today, collected in the Flashpoint: the World of Flashpoint Featuring Superman. That title may seem unnecessarily long, but then so did Flashpoint.

Other than Booster Gold issues #44 through #47, the collection includes The Canterbury Cricket one-shot and the complete Project Superman and World of Flashpoint mini-series. With a retail price of $17.99, that's eleven comics for the price of six! With pricing like this, why would anyone bother buying individual issues anymore?

If you have any interest in the expanded Flashpoint universe, you can't fault the value here. This volume contains the last appearance of Skeets to date if nothing else. Buy this collection and let DC know that you want more Skeets.

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After reading the preview for this issue in Monday's post, you've no doubt been waiting on pins and needles to find out how the world responds to a bombing at the United Nations building that destroyed the Justice League International in issue 6. Well, run, don't walk, to your Local Comic Shop to pick up Justice League International #7 and find out why and how "Booster Gold Stands Alone!"

Sharp-eyed Shawn Baston has also pointed out that Booster can be seen in The Art of George Perez, a 256-page coffee table book that Comic Book Resources says should ship tomorrow. However, the book but does not appear on the Diamond Comics shipping list for the week. (DC has changed their upcoming comics website to make it completely useless to see what is shipping when, so that's no help in solving this mystery.) Therefore, Booster may or may not be showing up in this book this week.

Buying either of these books will make Skeets happy.

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