DC is being generous to Booster Gold fans in 2018. The company released February solicitation earlier this week, and it looks like the "Booster Shot" story teaming Superman and Booster Gold in Action Comics will be running for at least three more months. Via Newsarama.com):

ACTION COMICS #997
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by WILL CONRAD
Cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
"BOOSTER SHOT" part five! Superman and Booster Gold are stranded in time on a world ruled by not one but two Generals Zod! As Lor-Zod asserts himself as rightful heir to the military dictatorship of their adopted homeworld, Old Man Zod turns his attention to the interlopers from the past. Our heroes' only hope of survival is to repair their craft and get home—but to do that, they'll need to travel into the belly of beast!
On sale FEBRUARY 14 • $2.99 US

ACTION COMICS #998
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
Cover by WILL CONRAD
Variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
"BOOSTER SHOT" part six! Escape from Planet Zod! Superman and Booster Gold must escape to travel back to the present, where the life of the captured Sam Lane hangs in the balance! On sale FEBRUARY 28 • $2.99 US

(Point of grammar: "Zod" is his name, not his title. Therefore, if there are multiple Zods, they should be pluralized as such. Unless maybe they follow different rules of grammar on Krypton. Dictators do whatever they want to.)

I admit, six issues of "Booster Shot" is much more than I thought we would get, especially in the run up to the big Action Comics #1000. Russ Burlingame recently interviewed Dan Jurgens for ComicBook.com, and he got the story why Booster is getting such a spotlight:

"[Geoff Johns and I] had plotted out the end of the Oz storyline and wanted to do a couple of things after that," at the start of the Rebirth era, Jurgens told ComicBook.com. "One of which was 'The Oz Effect.' It's pretty heavy stuff. We wanted to lighten it up a bit and at the same time have it be a logical progression from Oz to this. So, bringing Booster into it was going to accomplish both goals and so far it's working out quite well."

"Booster Shot" sure sounds like a story everyone should be reading. And it's starting early.

Today's issue of Action Comics #992, though not technically part of the "Booster Shot" storyline, concludes with a tease of the Booster Gold story to come. So take note, Booster boosters. If you want in on the ground floor of "Booster Shot," hustle to your Local Comic Shop before indulging in tomorrow's turkey feast!

(Thanks to SuperPat for that tip.)

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, everybody.

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Last Monday, I guessed that Francis Manapul was teasing his cover for the upcoming Action Comics issues featuring Booster Gold. This weekend, he proved me right.

Said Manapul on Instagram: "I'm taking over the variant cover art duties for #ActionComics and I couldn't be more excited! Here's the first cover of my run, #Superman along with time travelling #BoosterGold"

Presumably, that's the alternate cover for Action Comics #993, due December 13. DC has already released an image by Dan Jurgens presumed to be the standard cover. Neil Edwards and Jay Leistin were originally announced as the variant cover artists; I assume at this point that was an error.

(A quick note for new collectors about DC's "variant" covers. Traditionally, "variant" covers have been used as retailer incentives: "for every 2 of cover A, you can purchase 1 cover B," etc. This led to cover B being more expensive than cover A because retailers passed along the cost of acquisition. However, these days DC offers each issue in two covers to be ordered independently by retailers. Since the two covers exist in equal numbers, it's entirely arbitrary which is the "variant" as in practice they are both "regular" covers. So buy the one you like, or both, as neither inherently has more value or is rarer than the other.)

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We learned at New York Comic Con that DC had big plans for the landmark one thousandth issue of Action Comics due in spring 2018.

To celebrate the event, DC will release a hardback collection of past stories plus "all 1000 ACTION covers collected in a new poster." That poster will include Booster Gold, who was featured prominently on John Byrne's cover for Action Comics #594.

So we knew Booster Gold would appear in the celebratory hardcover, but what about appearing in Action Comics #1000 itself? We now know the answer is yes. Kind of.

Bleeding Cool reported yesterday that the hardcover will be titled Action Comics #1000: 80 Years of Superman, meaning that the $6 "oversized edition" comic and the $30 companion hardcover book will both be Action Comics #1000!

That might be confusing for fans, but it's good news for those of us looking for Booster to crash Superman's party. We can now definitively say that our hero will be in Action Comics #1000! Just be sure you pick up the right one when they hit your Local Comic Shop early next year.

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It was 25 years ago today that Doomsday killed Booster Gold.

What's that you say? You think Booster Gold survived 'The Death of Superman'? Take another look:

panels from Superman #74, released October 20, 1992. Story and art by Dan Jurgens

I mean, Doomsday, a creature powerful enough to kill Superman, punched a defenseless Booster Gold in the face then crashed his head into a tree then slammed his neck in a car door. If Micheal Carter was human, he died three times that day.

How did Booster Gold survive this beating? Credit the advanced healing technology of S.T.A.R. Labs, if you like. Personally, I have another theory. Booster boosters may recall that in Booster Gold Volume 1, #25, Harbinger told Martian Manhunter that Booster Gold was a descendant of the Guardians' evolved "chosen" in Millennium. This presumably gives Booster an unusual genetic makeup, a fact later confirmed when it saves Booster from Monarch in Extreme Justice #14. That's right, I'm saying that Booster has an accelerated healing factor! Snickt!

Or maybe Doomsday was only playing around.

However it was that Booster survived, "Death of Superman" was a pretty good story. It's hard to believe that it was written a quarter of a century ago.

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When DC released its December solicitations last month, we learned that Booster would be appearing in Action Comics #993 and 994.

DC released January solicitations earlier this week, and Booster Gold is getting even more Action!

ACTION COMICS #995
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
Cover by DAN JURGENS and TREVOR SCOTT
Variant cover by NEIL EDWARDS and JAY LEISTEN
"BOOSTER SHOT" part three! Time is broken, and Superman and Booster Gold are in over their heads trying to repair it! Meanwhile, Lois Lane confronts her estranged father—and Sam Lane now stands face to face with his grandson Jon for the first time. As Clark struggles to reconcile the truth of his own father, can Lois Lane do the same?
On sale JANUARY 10 • $2.99 US

ACTION COMICS #996
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by WILL CONRAD
Cover by DAN JURGENS and TREVOR SCOTT
Variant cover by NEIL EDWARDS and JAY LEISTEN
"BOOSTER SHOT" part four! Superman and Booster Gold are out of time, and they've found themselves marooned on a strange planet sometime in the future. So why does this planet's infrastructure look...Kryptonian? The answer shakes the Man of Steel to the core as the ruler of this planet reveals himself . . . the son of Zod reigns supreme!
On sale JANUARY 24 • $2.99 US

You may remember that Brett Booth was solicited as the artist for the previous issues, and he denied it on Twitter. Well, Booth confirmed that these January solicitations are correct. (Still no official word from DC on who will be drawing #993 & #994, though.)

In addition to all those, take a look at the solicited cover to Nightwing: The New Order #6:

If you look closely, you'll see a familiar blue star under Nightwing Jr's right arm. Booster isn't in the first two issues in this six-issue out-of-continuity limited series, but might we see him in January's conclusion? The future is looking increasingly golden!

You can read all the original solicitation details on Newsarama.com.

UPDATE: I hear via Shan on Twitter that Booth says "Booster Shot" is going at least 6 issues. So expect more Booster Gold news in February!

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