Earlier this week, DC released a new "Art Academy" video on YouTube. Each of these short films showcases the talents of one of their artists. The latest featured artist is Dan Jurgens, who drew (and inked!) Superman at Comic Con International back in July.

If you don't care to see Jurgens draw Superman — what kind of monster are you? — you can skip ahead to 7:44 to hear him talk about why he created Booster Gold.

Pay attention until the end. There's a trivia question at about 15:05 that I expect everyone reading this to be able to answer. (That's all it takes to get a Dan Jurgens' sketch? I've been working too hard!)

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I know that I said on Monday that I'd be busy this week and that "big news" would have to wait until next week.

I was wrong.

DC Comics released solicitations for December on Wednesday, and guess who's coming to Action Comics!

ACTION COMICS #993
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by BRETT BOOTH* and JOE PRADO
Cover by DAN JURGENS and TREVOR SCOTT
Variant cover by NEIL EDWARDS and JAY LEISTEN
"BOOSTER SHOT" part one! As Superman struggles to cope with Mr. Oz's true identity, the Man of Steel turns to the only "hero" he knows who can prove once and for all if Oz's story is true: Booster Gold! But a massive power doesn't want our heroes venturing through time, and will do anything it can to sabotage their journey!
On sale DECEMBER 13 • $2.99 US

ACTION COMICS #994
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by BRETT BOOTH* and JOE PRADO
Cover by DAN JURGENS and TREVOR SCOTT
Variant cover by NEIL EDWARDS and JAY LEISTEN
"BOOSTER SHOT" part two! It's the time-hopping team-up of Superman and Booster Gold—and on their quest to verify Mr. Oz's identity, a mysterious force attempts to sabotage the journey! This time (pun!) our heroes wind up in the crosshairs of a deadly new villain—the time wraith responsible for their tumultuous journey!
On sale DECEMBER 27 • $2.99 US

(* Note that while the solicitations indicate both issues will be drawn by Brett Booth, he has denied via Twitter that he will be the artist, calling the solicitations "a mistake". Therefore, actual artist for these issues remains unknown.)

It's been a good week for Booster Gold fans. We learned on Wednesday that the true identity of Mr. Oz isn't Booster but Kal-El's father, Jor-El . (*Whew!*) And now news that our hero will be returning from obscurity to team up with Superman in a story by Dan Jurgens? Whoo-hoo!

Thanks for this early Christmas present, DC. Extra thanks to all who called this news to my attention.

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

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Last week, ComicBook.com got a first look at a couple of variant covers to upcoming Action Comics that tease the outcome of the "The Oz Effect" storyline.

art by Neil Edwards and Jeromy Cox

Hmm. The back of that head looks kind of familiar.

Article author Russ Burlingame noted the similarities between Mr. Oz and one of his favorite heroes.

The reader cannot see Oz's face, although from behind he appears to have a headband and exposed hair -- a descriptor that could apply to Ozymandias, Jor-El (in most continuities, including the current version), or numerous other characters, including Booster Gold.

Say it ain't so, DC!

You can read the whole article, including Burlingame's guess at who the hooded man might turn out to be, at ComicBook.com.

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Pop culture website 13thdimension.com posted an "exclusive first look" at upcoming issues of Action Comics this weekend. Running throughout the title in September and October will be a five-part story by Dan Jurgens called "The Oz Effect," in which we will finally discover the true identity of Mr. Oz.

Reading the advance solicitations included in the article, all I could think was "please don't let Mr. Oz be Booster Gold."

The popular theory is that the mysterious Mr. Oz, introduced three years ago (!) in Superman #32, is Ozymandias from Watchmen. Personally, I think that seems a little too "on the nose" to make a very satisfying reveal after all this time. And even if the fans were right and it was supposed to be Ozymandias, I would expect DC to change Mr. Oz's secret identity mid-story to maintain the surprise. (Anyone out there still remember the last minute Captain Atom/Hawk swap in Armageddon 2001?)

Many of the things Mr. Oz has done and said over the past three years indicates a fixation on Superman. Therefore, I assume that Mr. Oz is someone aware of Superman's past in Smallville, Kansas. (I think Mr. Oz takes his name from the original manipulative "man behind the curtain," the Wizard of Oz, who also has ties to Kansas.) While those clues might point to familiar Superman foes like Conduit or Ruin, I begin to worry that it might be a time traveler with historical ties to the Man of Steel.

Which is fine, just so long as it's not Booster Gold.

I mean, if Mr. Oz is revealed to be a nearly omnipotent time traveler seeking to unify a fractured universe (post-"Crisis", "Flashpoint", "New 52", "Rebirth", "Watchmen," etc.), it would certainly explain why fan-favorite Booster Gold has been M.I.A. since Convergence. And we can't deny that Booster has beef with Superman that goes way back. And Dan Jurgens does like to recycle his favorite characters . . . .

As I said, I don't want this to be the case. I don't want Booster to be a "villain." (And I certainly don't want to have to add all 30+ appearances of Mr. Oz to the Boosterrific database after the fact.) But it could be worse. After three years of waiting to find out who Mr. Oz really is, it might turn out that he's the Black Beetle.

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Once upon a time, Booster Gold appeared quite regularly in the annual crossover events uniting the DCU. For example, it was just 25 years ago today that Booster Gold appeared in a supporting role in Action Comics Annual #4.

Words by Dan Vado, Art by Chris Wozniak and a team of inkers

Back then, Booster and other members of the Justice League International were on the scene to try and free Superman from the clutches of Eclipso. These days that job would go exclusively to Batman, because... well, Batman.

It might be interesting to note that Blue Beetle wasn't with the rest of the Justice League for this mission (he had gone missing in the JLA Annual the previous month). That is consistent with the approach to the character taken by the current Blue Beetle series.

According to writer Kieth Giffen in an interview with Vaneta Rogers for Newsarama.com, the modern "rebirth" incarnation of Ted Kord was never a member of any Justice League. But Giffen also says that the events of Justice League 3000 are in Blue Beetle's future. JL3k was openly stated to take place in the same continuity as the original Justice League International stories. So . . . I have no idea what all that means for the current status of Blue and Gold.

Congratulations, DC. I'm not even trying to make sense of your continuity anymore.

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