Soliciting thoughts

A couple of thoughts worth sharing after looking at Marvel's and DC's July Solicitations over the last two days.

Marvel's can be reached HERE. And all I want to know is, how is it that Marvel just happens to be hitting #600s in four of their top titles at the same time, all coinciding with their big "70th Anniversary?"

I mean honestly, I cannot stand it when series need to un-number their titles in the first place to produce false #1 issues and "new-reader friendly" numbering in the first place — I can stand it even less when the company just happens to bring back the old numbering when the series is about the hit a milestone. And this time around, with "Thor" (last month), "Amazing Spider-man," "Captain America" and "Incredible Hulk" all hitting the magic #600 all at once, it feels especially cheap.

I don't have the time or desire to go through counting each and every book that might have fallen under these re-numbered titles' banners, but I highly doubt that all of them should be hitting this "milestone" all at once. I smell some bad math here, and it's name is Joe Quesada. And while I find this act to be reprehensible and detrimental to the comic industry in general, cheapening comic milestones overall, you have to be impressed with how Marvel knows how to make a buck.

DC's solicitations can be found HERE. Two thoughts — and no, none of them are shock at just how many "Blackest Night" issues there will be, since everyone knew DC is looking for this event to be their big comeback.

1) How badass is that "Green Lantern Corps. #38" cover with Kilowog? I want to blow that image up and wallpaper my room with it. I'm no fan of Patrick Gleason's art, but — DAMN!

2) Keith Giffen is coming on to write "Booster Gold #22." Now, when Geoff Johns said he was leaving "Booster," I got very worried for the fate of one of my top-ten favorite DC heroes of all time and probably top-five of my childhood. Then, Dan Jurgens, the creator of the character, was announced as the series' next writer, and the peasants rejoiced.

But this... Jurgens may have created Booster, but Keith Giffen is the man who made him a legend. Giffen took Jurgens' initial framework of a quintessentially-1980s hero and built upon it into the most lovable screwup in comic book history (or #1 and 1A with Ted Kord, but I tend to think of Booster as the much bigger screwup). To have Giffen back writing Michael Carter is a moment of pure nostalgic joy.

With all the many "Blackest Night," post-"Battle for the Cowl" and "World Without a Superman" books coming out in July, I am anticipating Giffen on "Booster" as much as any of them.

P.S. ... is ANYONE interested in ANY of the "Final Crisis" minis?