The art of Justice League International #14 almost feels like it was a rush job, and perhaps it was. Regular series penciller and master of facial expressions Kevin Maguire took (or was given) a vacation, and Steve Leialoha's very loose style is a poor substitute for this issue that heavily features character moments. The layouts, as usual, are by Keith Giffen, so part of the problem here could be that Leialoha wasn't a great match for Giffen's distinctive style of closeups. (It gets a little better in the next issue, as we'll soon see.)

Which is not to say that JLI #14 isn't worth our time. For one thing, this is the issue that sees Green Flame and Ice Maiden officially join the team. (They'll not become Fire and Ice until issue #19.)

For another, there's football!

If there's anything better than superheroes and football, I don't know what it is.

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Some people take Labor Day off, but not me, not when I've got to tell you about Booster Gold coming to your Local Comic Shop this week!

As you can see in the issue preview at AIPTComics.com, Booster gets a cameo appearance on the very first page of Blue Beetle #1!

I'm pretty sure that's a "Bwah-Ha-Ha" being cut off by the narrative box in that panel.

And if one panel isn't enough homage to Kevin Maguire's famous Justice League #1 cover, remember that there's also a 1:25 Justice League #1-inspired variant cover to this week's Fire and Ice: Welcome to Smallville drawn by... Kevin Maguire:

(For the record, neither Booster Gold nor Fire nor Ice appear on the original cover to Justice League #1, which wouldn't be re-titled Justice League International until issue #7. Booster joined the team in issue #4, and Fire and Ice joined in Justice League International #14. All three are on the updated roster cover of Justice League International #24, which was the very first book to homage the cover to issue #1. It is no coincidence that Issues #1 and #24 also bookend artist Maguire's run on the series.)

Buy one or both of those issues and make Skeets happy!

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Given that I'm calling this series "My Favorite Pages," I feel beholden to only present my favorite page from an issue. And sometimes my favorite page of an issue with Booster Gold in it doesn't have Booster Gold on it.

Such is the case for Justice League International #11.

This is the first Justice League issue to include Booster since he betrayed the team during Millennium, so it's no great surprise that he plays a minor role here. Even if Booster didn't provide much material support for the Manhunter's cause and did ultimately help the heroes triumph, you can't exactly blame the rest of the league for no longer trusting the guy.

In fact, it will be a few months yet before Booster plays any significant role in another Justice League adventure. In the meantime, we always have Blue Beetle.

Yes, Manhunter. I enjoyed it very much.

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The Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle movie officially opens today. I keep seeing online that people are A) surprised that such a movie even exists, and B) predicting it to flop. Neither of those sentiments makes a bunch of sense to me because B) who doesn't obsessively pay attention to superhero movie news? and B) why would anyone cheer for any movie to flop?

Anyway, for those of us Booster boosters hoping for any sign of our favorite superhero in Blue Beetle, well, I haven't seen the movie yet myself, but I'll say that early reports are not encouraging.

And then there's this article at Inverse.com, an interview with director Ángel Manuel Soto:

"We always thought about this before James Gunn came in, but the fact that James Gunn loves Booster Gold and wants to do something with Booster Gold," Soto says. "We've always been setting up Ted Kord through the daughter, through the conversations and disappearance. Having that mid-credit scene is cool because we don't have to promise nor deny the possibilities of this collaboration."

"Neither promise nor deny" is never encouraging. I think this makes Soto a "Booster Tease."

So be forewarned: don't go see Blue Beetle expecting to see Ted Kord or Booster Gold. Go see it for all the Easter eggs (like the Bug!). Or go see it to send a message to Warner Bros that there's an audience for a sequel that (hopefully) pays off the very brief, very late mid end credits scene.

Or, maybe, go see it because you want to see it. That's such a crazy idea, it just might work.

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On YouTube, DC Kids has posted an 8-minute supercut of Teen Titans Go! they're calling the "Best of Blue Beetle & Booster Gold!" But is it the best? Judge for yourself.

https://youtu.be/ledRwxAqt34

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