Grimmy asked in last week's comments why I didn't include the option of "never" in the poll. The answer is because I was trying to be somewhat upbeat. But given that most of you think it might take up to 6 months (that's half a year!) before we see Booster Gold again, it seems that most of you weren't feeling much more positive than Grimmy was. Give us back our Booster Gold, DC!

Last week's poll question: When do you think we will see Booster Gold reappear in a DC comic book? (46 votes)

If there's one thing we've learned since the DCnU reboot, it's that we really don't know what our favorite characters' histories are anymore. Even though we don't necessarily know what did happen, we can be sure that there are some things we know didn't happen. Which of these "missing adventures" bothers us the most?

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Today marks the 1 week anniversary of Booster Gold having no ongoing title for the first time since 2006. As we all know, Justice League International was cancelled for failing to meet "greater expectations." Yes, for a variety of reasons the stories failed to spark widespread excitement with comic book readers. However, that doesn't mean that the book shouldn't be considered a success.

Calvin Reid noted earlier this week at Publishers Weekly that many of the collected trades of New 52 series have sold well enough to make the New York Times Graphic Bestseller list in recent months. Among the 11 New 52 titles to break into the Top Ten since May is Justice League International Volume 1: The Signal Masters. It charted at #5 for the week of June 5, 2012. While that was the only week that the book made the bestseller list, it's a pretty good showing for a book about to be cancelled.

The rest of the article crows DC's recent reboot success, but was published too early to include DC's newest addition to the New York Times list: Showcase Presents: Rip Hunter, Time Master, Volume 1 (#9 for the week of August 12, 2012). It's not likely that we've heard the last of the New 52, but so long as DC and its fans haven't entirely forgotten the past, there's hope yet for Booster Gold recovering a series.

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Twenty years after he debuted in 1985's Booster Gold, Volume 1, #1, Booster Gold had faded from sight into the background of the DC Universe. Considered a laughingstock by other heroes and readers alike, his career and popularity was at its lowest point. That all changed thanks to Infinite Crisis.

Following the death of Blue Beetle (and the disassembly of Skeets) in Countdown to Infinite Crisis, Booster Gold became DC's avatar of pathos as he searched for the man responsible for the murder of his best friend (and sidekick). From death came rebirth as this ultimately led to Booster reclaiming his time travel ability as well as his position among the more prominent DC heroes.

Today, DC releases to comic shops The Infinite Crisis Omnibus. This 1,152-page hardcover collects all of the key books in the Infinite Crisis event and its four mini-series lead-ins. That's a lot of Booster Gold! The edition will retail for $150.00, which is about what it would cost you to pick up all these issues individually at your local comic shop.

As mega-crossover events go, Infinite Crisis is about as good as it gets. Too bad that Flashpoint, an example of how bad mega-crossover events can be, removed the story of Infinite Crisis from continuity. It's equally too bad that DC doesn't realize that by reminding us how entertaining their character development and continuity used to be, we won't ever be satisfied with the confusing and misguided post-Flashpoint DCnU.

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Earlier this month, George Pérez was among the featured guests at the annual Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois. His question and answer session was recorded and hosted by Superman Homepage. Rich Johnson at Bleeding Cool transcribed some of the video, including the following quote:

Unfortunately when you are writing major characters, you sometimes have to make a lot of compromises and I was made certain promises, and unfortunately not through any fault of Dan DiDio, he was no longer the last word, lot of people making decisions, going against each other, contradicting, again in mid story. The people who love my Superman arc, I thank you. What you read, I don't know.

I've always been pretty outspoken against Dan DiDio and how I've interpreted DC's output under his direction as Publisher. While it is his job to be the public face of the company's decisions, for good or ill, to hear an industry veteran like Pérez explicitly say that DiDio isn't really the boss at DC should really teach me to temper my venomous tirades against the poor fellow.

It's been obvious for some time that DC's corporate parent, Warner Brothers, has been becoming increasingly intrusive in editorial interference of DC's storytelling. The obvious, continued editorial failures behind the rollout of the DCnU are the smoking gun pointing to a dysfunctional, fractured leadership.

As much as I have blamed DC Comics Co-Publishers DiDio and Jim Lee for the recent poor treatment of Booster Gold, I should give DiDio the benefit of the doubt with his plans for Justice League International. After all, if Booster Gold doesn't reappear in a new title soon, there will be plenty of blame to go around.

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There's nothing funny about the DCnU. Maybe that's part of our problem with it.

Last week's poll question: If the New 52 JLI were to be reborn, which model would you prefer it follow? (49 votes)

Earlier this month, thwp.net interviewed Dan Jurgens about his career and his interests. That led to the following exchange:

Q: If the Booster Gold character wasn't a superhero, what line of work do you think he'd be best suited for?

A: He'd probably go back to being an athlete, most likely trying to catch on with a NFL team. Or... he'd be on some kind of reality show!

With the cancellation of Justice League International, it now looks like Booster could indeed be looking for a new job. That leads us to this week's poll question.

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