Although I tried on Monday, I can't say enough good things about this week's new hardcover reprint Booster Gold: The Big Fall.

In addition to all the great art, the book contains a 25-page "The Making of Booster Gold" appendix of historical detail, including among other things the aforementioned original art for Booster Gold #6, some promotional material from DC, pictures of Jurgens' original model for Skeets, and key to today's post, Jurgens' original pitch for the series, which reads in part:

Metropolis University, 2162. Twentieth Century Super Heroes 101 is in session and Professor Fairmont drones on and on. Michael Stewart, former amateur athlete surpreme and star quarterback of the football team is bored. To him, super heroes are a boring lot. A bunch of do gooders who just didn't know how to take advantage of a good situation.

Did you catch that? In Jurgen's original pitch, Booster Gold's "real" name was to be Micheal Stewart!

If you think that bit of ephemeral comic book trivia is as cool as I do, you'll love Booster Gold: The Big Fall, now available at your Local Comic Shop — and coming to bookstores next month, just in time for Christmas shopping season.

Comments (4) | Add a Comment | Tags: big fall dan jurgens reprints secret origins

Looking for something to give thanks for this year? Look no further than your Local Comic Shop, where you'll find this beauty come Wednesday!

photo tweeted by @thedanjurgens

Booster Gold: The Big Fall is the first full color reprint of the first year of Booster Gold comics originally published in late 1985. It only took 34 years!

The 320-page hardcover book retails for $39.99, but for that price you get 12 issues in full color (presumably using the same art currently available online at DCUniverse.com) printed on quality paper.

To give you a better idea what you might expect, here's the splash page from Booster Gold #1 scanned from my original copy:

And here's the same page reproduced online at Comixology.com:

As you can see, the difference is striking. (Kudos to DC for not "correcting" Tom Ziuko's coloring of Booster's original star.) And that's not all you can expect from this reprint.

According to advance solicitations from Diamond Comics (the exclusive comics distributor for DC Comics), The Big Fall will also contain "design material, unpublished story pages and more." That's vague, but it may refer to art that Dan Jurgens teased on Twitter back in April showing Booster Gold paying a visit to the Fortress of Solitude originally intended for Booster Gold #6. Seeing unused art pages from the earliest adventures of our hero should be quite the enticement for Booster boosters everywhere.

Buy a copy and make Skeets (and yourself) very happy.

Comments (3) | Add a Comment | Tags: big fall comixology.com dan jurgens dcuniverse.com new releases reprints tom ziuko twitter.com

It seems reprints come faster and faster.

Take, for example, today's DCeased hardcover. It reprints all six issues of the mini-series plus — and this is the relevant part for Booster Gold fans — the DCeased: A Good Day to Die one-shot. The final issue of that series was released to comic shops only three weeks ago.

And considering that those 7 issues cost $4.99 apiece, it is actually less expensive to buy the $30 hardcover collection than the individual floppies. Trade-waiting has never been so easy.

Considering that this series is about the end of the DC Universe as we know it, Skeets isn't going to be happy whether you buy it or not.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: dceased new releases reprints

It's a good thing that February is the shortest month of the year, because it doesn't look like we'll be seeing any new Booster Gold comics in February 2020 if DC's solicitations are correct.

The only place I see Booster is in a reprint collection, and it doesn't even ship until March!

HARLEY QUINN VOL. 4: THE FINAL TRIAL
"Year of the Villain" arrives in Harley Quinn, even if Harley is doing her best to avoid it! Lex Luthor has an "offer" for Harley, and he won't take no for an answer—so get ready for Harley-er Quinn! And Harley asks the inevitable question—who is DC's "Villain of the Year"? It's an award-show like no other, as DC's best of the worst celebrate themselves in the Hall of Doom, with the winners picked by the fans! Collects Harley Quinn #64, 65, 66, 67, 6869 and Harley Quinn: Villain of the Year #1, including alternate pages.
ON SALE March 25, 2020

Maybe Booster boosters will have better luck next month.

You can find the full list of February solicitations on Newsarama.com.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: newsarama.com reprints solicitations

I've been so wrapped up in video games lately that I've been remiss in updating you on upcoming Booster Gold appearances. So grab a pen and paper (or however you keep track of what you'll be buying from your Local Comic Shop in the weeks ahead) and make note of these fine DC Comics publications:

SUPERMAN #17
written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
art by KEVIN MAGUIRE and SEAN PARSONS
Superman's new Fortress of Solitude sits in the most remote corner of the Bermuda Triangle. Constructed using Kryptonian technology far beyond anything our world knows, filled with intergalactic, pan-dimensional secrets from all over the Multiverse...how could it possibly be missing?
ON SALE November 13, 2019

I know that one doesn't sound like Booster Gold will be in it, but Brian Michael Bendis has already shared a page of Kevin Maguire's art from the issue that very clearly shows Booster Gold in at least a cameo appearance.

TALES FROM THE DARK MULTIVERSE: INFINITE CRISIS #1
written by JAMES TYNION IV
art by AARON LOPRESTI and MATT RYAN
DC's mega-event "Infinite Crisis" saw the destruction of the Trinity, the rise of Alexander Luthor and Superboy-Prime, and the rebirth of the Multiverse...but it all started with Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle, who saw it all coming and died with secrets that could've saved the world. But...things happened differently in the Dark Multiverse! Not only does Blue Beetle survive— he thrives! And after killing Maxwell Lord himself, Ted sets off a chain of events that irreversibly alters the lives of the Justice League and his best friend, Booster Gold. In trying to prevent a crisis, Blue Beetle becomes the Crisis...and the Dark Multiverse will never be the same.
ON SALE November 27, 2019

I think it's awfully nice of DC to let James Tynion rewrite Booster Gold Volume 2 #6. (Golly. That issue came out 11 years ago. There is probably a whole generation of readers who haven't read it. Go read the classics, kids!)

SUPERMAN: HEROES #1
written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, MATT FRACTION, JODY HOUSER, and GREG RUCKA
art by KEVIN MAGUIRE, STEVE LIEBER, MIKE PERKINS and others
cover by BRYAN HITCH
Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, the staff of the Daily Planet, even the Justice League—their lives all changed when Superman revealed his secret identity to the world! This unique Superman experience explores what the identity of Clark Kent meant to those close to him—and what their relationship to Superman will be in the future. All the rules are about to change—and it all starts here.
ON SALE January 29, 2020

Again, that text doesn't sound like Booster plays much of a role, but he is included (barely) in the solicited cover art. That's not nothing.

In addition to those new appearances (and Harley Quinn #67 — more on that on Wednesday), don't forget that Booster will also be appearing in several previously announced reprint collections.

• Booster Gold: The Big Fall (collecting the first story of Booster Gold series one), November 27
• Justice League International: Born Again (collecting early issues of the JLI), January 15
• Justice League: Corporate Maneuvers (collecting Justice League Quarterly #1 through #4), February 2

That's a lot of Booster. Everything is coming up Gold!

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: conglomerate justice league international kevin maguire new releases reprints solicitations superman