DC released solicitations for April 2016 publications this week, and you don't need me to tell you who was notably absent.

Take a look at the list of gaps between in-continuity appearances:

1. 336 days between Superman #124 and Chase #4 (Apr. 1997 to Mar. 1998)
2. 302 days between Martian Manhunter #24 and JLA: Our Worlds At War (Sept. 2000 to July 2001)
3. 244 days between All Star Western #21 and All Star Western #28 (June 2013 to Feb. 2014)
4. 238 days between Stormwatch #12 and All-Star Western #19 (Aug. 2012 to Apr. 2013)
5. 210 days between Haven: The Broken City #5 and Superman: Day of Doom #1 (Apr. 2002 to Nov. 2002)
6. 210 days between Superman: Day of Doom #1 and JLA: Welcome to the Working Week (Nov. 2002 to June 2003)
7. 189 days between Formerly Known as the Justice League #6 and Identity Crisis #1 (Dec. 2003 to June 2004)
8. 170 days between Bat-Mite #4 and now (November 2015 to present)

Unless Booster Gold makes a surprise cameo somewhere — and that seems unlikely based on solicitations — it looks like we're going to see the current position go higher. If Booster doesn't appear before May 1, that will mark 270 days between Booster Gold appearances. That's good enough for third place on the all-time list, displacing a gap set only two years ago!

By the way, when Booster Gold Volume 2 was cancelled going into Flashpoint, the series was averaging sales of about 15,000 per issue. That's about as well as Martian Manhunter and Secret Six are selling now. The New 52 Justice League International was canceled with sales of about 28,000 per issue, higher sales than more than half of DC's current offering. I don't see any reason Booster Gold wouldn't be a competitive seller in today's market.

So, DC, why no Booster Gold? Is it the same reason you're not publishing a Supergirl book despite having a monster hit on network television? Did you need that space in your line-up for Telos, a book so unwanted that it was canceled after two issues? Would it cut into the 11 Batman books you release on a monthly basis?

I'm sure DC has their reasons for hiding Booster Gold. Maybe they are even good reasons. But comic books are a business, and I've got money I want to spend. Until DC gives me a Booster Gold book, I guess I'll be spending that money on something published by someone else.

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DC has released the list of books coming in March 2016. Guess who's missing? For the sixth month in a row, there is no indication that we'll be seeing Booster Gold returning to the DCnU anytime soon.

See the full list of DC's solicitations at ComicBookResources.com.

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No title in recent memory has been as unpredictable as Justice League 3001. The title is the personal playground of Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, and there are a whole bunch of players in their sandbox, all moving in apparently random directions. Even the covers tend to be something other than what you might expect.

The cover on the left is the cover to issue 6 that was solicited two months ago. The cover on the right is the cover you'll see at your Local Comic Shop today. If you take a good look at it, you'll see Booster Gold's legs on the upper left behind the creators' names. That makes it pretty likely we'll be seeing Booster in this book.

If you'd like to try before you buy, find a preview of the issue alongside an interview with Keith Giffen at Comicosity.com.

UPDATE 2015-11-28: No, there is no Booster Gold inside, only on the cover. The Booster-drought continues unabated.

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DC's solicitations for February/March came out earlier this week and to no one's great surprise, there isn't a hint of any new Booster Gold titles. There are, however, several trades collecting previous Booster Gold appearances.

JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 VOL. 1: DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN TP Written by KEITH GIFFEN and J.M. DeMATTEIS
Art and cover by HOWARD PORTER
On sale MARCH 16 • 192 pg, FC, $16.99 US
Reprints Booster's appearance in Justice League 3000 #14 and Justice League 3001 #3.

WORLD'S FUNNEST TP
Written by EVAN DORKIN, ALAN GRANT, and others
Art by KEVIN O'NEILL, RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE, FRANK MILLER, DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI and others
Cover by BRIAN BOLLAND
On sale MARCH 30 • 296 pg, FC, $16.99 US
Among other Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlik stories, this reprints Booster's brief appearance in the World's Funnest one-shot.

SUPERMAN AND THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA VOL. 1 TP
Written by DAN JURGENS and others
Art by DAN JURGENS, RICK BURCHETT and others
Cover by DAN JURGENS and RICK BURCHETT
On sale MARCH 23 • 412 pg, FC, $17.99 US
This one is chock full o' Gold (and Blue!) as it reprints Dan Jurgens' 1990s run on Justice League America.

Better start saving your pennies, Booster boosters!

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Look what Morgenstern spotted in DC's September solicitations:

BAT-MITE #4
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art and cover by CORIN HOWELL
On sale SEPTEMBER 2 • $2.99 US

There's a new bad guy in town: Gridlock, the villain who's stuck in the past! And now, he's out to stop the future from coming! Booster Gold, the hero from the future, obviously can't allow that, but when he seeks Bat-Mite's help in finding this purloiner of progress, it doesn't take much of a prognosticator to predict that he's going to regret it.

Booster's first headlining role in the post-Convergence DCU comes courtesy of who else but Booster's proud papa, Dan Jurgens. And look: New Skeets!

You can see all the announced books (including the many, many Convergence collections, some of which contain reprints of Convergence Booster Gold) online at Newsarama.com.

UPDATE 2015-06-19: This is the second time in recent weeks I have accidentally let a post go early. I promise to try and be more careful from here on. So if you saw this post yesterday, please forgive this repost.

JLA Classified #6

To make amends, I offer this bonus link to a Dan Jurgens and Corin Howell interview at Comicosity.com about Bat-Mite. The interview is light on Booster Gold references, but not everything can be solid gold, right?

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