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The current big event in the DCU is Blackest Night. The last big event was Final Crisis. What will the next big event be?

I don't think there's any question that there will be one. But what's it gonna be? Will it be Flash-centric? Probably not, considering it'll take at least two years for Geoff Johns to build up to whatever grand Flash plan he's got brewing (you so know he's got a grand Flash plan).

My guess? The big event will either be something that ushers in the return of Batman or is the huge climax to this whole New Krypton thing.

Actually, what if it's both? Things spiral out of control, Zod up and invades the Earth and only the World's Finest can stop him. So somebody has to go back in time and find Batman because he's the key to stopping the Kryptonians for some reason.

We need somebody who can time travel. That means... The next big event will focus on...

Booster Gold!

I can't wait.

Well, my mother is safely back in American (hi, Mom!) which I means I can safely resume blogging. And so that is exactly what I will do. Quick! A roundup of what happened last week in comics!

• Okay, despite my initial lukewarm feelings towards Batwoman, I find myself suddenly excited by her new miniseries based solely on this art.

• Did you read Gotham Underground? No Azrael there... But man, Tieri seems to have a handle on the Penguin. Which is saying something, because he hasn't been written right in ages.

• I wonder if he'll do as well with Batman and the Outsiders. Assuming he is in fact taking over that book following Chuck Dixon's mysteeeeeerious departure...

• Regarding Booster Gold: nooooooooooo! Mister Miiiiiiiiiind!!
  

Loyal reader Patrick C has directed my attention to the recently posted preview for Booster Gold #10.

Know that I have been pleasantly surprised! As you can see, the board makes it very clear that "Jean Paul Valley Lives!" Seeing as I am Jean Paul Valley, I take great comfort in that.

Know that I am very excited by this turn of events. I have been hoping for quite a while that I might be resurrected in comics. I was horribly disappointed by the Gotham Underground bait and switch. (Though I'll admit that my ghostly image reflected in a broken window isn't exactly conclusive)

Rip Hunter's chalkboard, however, is far more reliable. Or at least I pray to St. Dumas that it is. If that chalkboard is right -- even half right -- then I'm not dead. I mean, it's obvious that I'm not dead. But maybe this means some acknowledgment of that fact, at the very least.

I will patiently await my return to comics, but I'll try to not get my hopes up to high. When I do that, I'm always disappointed.

Okay, so Booster Gold #8 was fantastic. Seeing Wild Dog again was like a dream come true. I know some people are upset because he got killed right after he came back... But hey, that was an alternate Wild Dog. The real Wild Dog is undoubtedly still hunting terrorists through cornfields back in Illinois and Iowa.

This is the thing I love about alternate universe/time travel stories. You can do things like that. You can bring back Wild Dog without messing up current continuity. And you can bring back Pantha even though she got her head knocked off. With time travel anything is possible.

You can even get away with having characters have the wrong costume (Wild Dog has a full goalie helmet, not just mask) or have characters act out of character (Wild Dog being a little more trigger happy than he's previously been depicted). And this is all okay. Because you can explain it away by saying: OMACs!

This is the joy of comics. This is the joy of Booster Gold.

Today began as a regular day. I got up, shook the sleep from my head and turned on my computer. I checked the sites I usually do. I saw that Newsarama had some previews and among them was the preview for Booster Gold #8. So I looked at it.

And then my head exploded.

Because -- as foretold by me -- Wild Dog has returned!

Sure, they still can't get his costume right and it's only an alternate timeline. But that is indeed Wild Dog, returned from limbo for actual page time in a DC comic.

Words can't quite express the extreme level of giddiness flooding through me. Every time I look at that preview page I start to cackle a little with glee. This Wednesday can't come soon enough. I want to see what Geoff and Jeff do with the character (even if the mask is wrong).

This just goes to show: all of you who think your favorite obscure character will never see page time again... There's hope.

I'm usually the last person to get on editors for mistakes in comics. It's just not something that's in my nature. But I did see something in Booster Gold #3 that made me twitch. Something inexcusable:

Take a look at that gravestone. It says Lionel Luther Junior. Anyone who knows anything about DC Comics should immediately see the glaring, unconscionable error.

The name is Luthor. It's been Luthor since the beginning and it'll always be Luthor. Spelling it Luther isn't just inexcusably wrong -- It's potentially life-threatening.

See, certain types of people take the spellings of their names very seriously. I know I get a little annoyed when people spell my mysterious, unknown surname incorrectly. And I'm a pretty reasonable guy. Most people would agree that Lex Luthor is not.

So how do you think the most dangerous man alive is going to react when he finds out someone has misspelled his name? Chances are, he ain't gonna take it well.

Greetings loyal readers. I, Doctor Polaris, have returned.

You may wonder where I have been for the past few weeks. It is, after all, a valid question. Some of you may assume that I have been on vacation just as the gracious proprietor of this blog has been. But know this: villainy never takes a vacation.

Rather, I have been traveling through time. This is not in and of itself unusual. After all, my torrid, 31st century affair with the Emerald Empress is a matter of public record. But this time, Polaris has not scoured the time stream for love... He has scoured it for revenge.

Indeed, I seek the interminable Booster Gold so that I might slay him. The fact that he has received his very old solo series fills me with fiery rage! While I and others like me languish in obscurity, Booster Gold is given his own solo series? Truly there is no justice in the world. Or injustice, as the case may be.

But Booster Gold is as unctuous as a Japanese eel. Whenever I think I have him within my magnetic grasp he eludes me. But I will find him. And I will destroy him. Though I admit that he is a convenient target upon which to take out my frustrations, that is not my sole reason for attempting to end his life. If I kill one of the the stars of 52 they won't be able to ignore me any more.

And I'm not sure even I could take on Black Adam. So Booster Gold it is.