The old adage says never judge a book by its cover, but that's exactly what comic books expect you to do. If you like what you see on the cover, take a look inside!

Some covers do their jobs better than others. Some are truly outstanding in their own right. Among those is Kevin Maguire's composition for Justice League #4 (1987)

Pencils by Kevin Maguire, Inks by Al Gordon

Maguire's mastery of body language and facial expressions was as important to the success of the "International" era of the Justice League as Keith Giffen's action-packed plots and J.M. DeMatteis' comedic dialogue. This cover doesn't need extra text to grab the reader's attention!

Look at Booster up there: the surprised underdog caught by a larger, unknown villain strong enough to defeat Green Lanterns, Earth's Mightiest Mortal, and (gulp!) Batman. It's a real David-and-Goliath scenario that will play out on the pages inside. Who wouldn't want to read that?

In addition to the promise of action, Maguire also echos the comedic tone of the writing inside with the "cheek"-y placement of that title logo. (Comics Code Authority approved!) Perhaps Booster is shocked that the solid-blue villain who defeated Martian Manhunter isn't wearing any pants. Watchmen was released concurrently with this title, so could that be Doctor Manhattan "moon"-lighting in the DC Universe? My curiosity is piqued! I guess I'll have to pick it up and look inside.

It happens that Justice League #4 doesn't just have one of my favorite covers. It is also my personal favorite Booster Gold story. It introduced Booster Gold to a whole new audience and did so in a way that demonstrated Booster's humanity and the value his powers could bring to the team. All that is summed-up on the cover. Brilliant!

What are some of your favorite covers?

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The solicitation for Heroes in Crisis #9 is out. It looks like Booster Gold will finally be on one of the Ryan Sook variant covers. Sook has created a cover for each issue of the series, each showcasing a key "traumatic" moment of a hero's (or villain's) career.

As a reminder, here are the 8 Sook covers that have been revealed so far. (His cover for issue 7 remains a secret.)

Is the suggestion that it was Harley who took all these photos for the Sanctuary files? Maybe we'll find out in Heroes in Crisis #9. Here's the full solicitation text with an appropriate spoiler warning:

HEROES IN CRISIS #9
written by TOM KING
art and cover by CLAY MANN
variant cover by RYAN SOOK
The most-talked-about miniseries of the year reaches its stunning finale! The mystery behind the murders at Sanctuary is solved, but the mind behind it is one the heroes never expected. With their deepest secrets exposed, the Trinity has to consider how to carry on. Should the tragedy cause them to redouble their efforts to help their hurting comrades, or will they need to close up shop? The answers will be found in the ashes of this final showdown, and the fates of Booster Gold, Harley Quinn and the rest hang in the balance. Click here to reveal potential spoilers
ON SALE May 22 · $3.99 US

You can find the complete list of April DC Comics solicitations on Newsarama.com.

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DCComics.com released some alternate covers for upcoming issues of Heroes in Crisis via , including this J.G. Jones alternate featuring Booster Gold and Harley Quinn.

It looks like that will be a 1-in-50 "chase" variant, meaning that comic shops will get one for every fifty of the regular covers they order. (For obvious reasons, these are also called "incentive" variants, as they incentivize shops to order more comics than they otherwise would.) Comic shops price these rarer variants according to the purchase threshold, so expect to pay a pretty penny to acquire this cover, probably three or more times the $4 cover price.

There will also be 1-in-100 and 1-in-200 variants, the second of which is by Francesco Mattina and depicts a very bloody Harley wearing Booster's broken visor. Good luck finding that one for less than $50.

In addition to those rare variants, DC also released the Ryan Sook standard alternate covers for the first three Heroes in Crisis issues. Each depicts an "incident report" based on more traumatic moments in the lives of DC heroes. These are purportedly from the files of Sanctuary, "a facility designed to allow superheroes to process the trauma of those not-so-heroic moments." These traumatic moments include the death of Superman, Batman's broken back, Aquaman's lost arm, and Jason Todd's death. Oddly, they also include Wonder Woman's assassination of Maxwell Lord.

That seems to imply that Lord has died at Wonder Woman's hand. Where does this fit in continuity?

When last we saw him in the pages of Justice League vs Suicide Squad (2016), Lord was still alive and continuing his villainous ways. Since the original Justice League International never existed and Ted Kord is still alive in the DCnU, the events kicking off Infinite Crisis that led directly to Lord's death and eventual rebirth must have played out somewhat differently than originally seen in Wonder Woman #219 (2005) and Brightest Day (2010). Does this cover reference that old continuity destroyed by Flashpoint? Or are we being given a glimpse of a as yet unrevealed relationship between Lord and Wonder Woman in the DCnU? (Could Lord be behind the deaths at Sanctuary?)

Maybe we'll find out more when Heroes in Crisis finally sees print.

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This past weekend, I discovered that Booster Gold appeared on the cover of the June 2007 issue of Previews.

In case you're unaware, Previews is Diamond Comics Distributors in-house catalog of upcoming comic releases. Diamond distributes the magazine to comic specialty shops so that shop owners can place orders. Many shops make the catalog available to their customers, but it's really an industry tool.

Should this be in the Boosterrific database as a cover appearance? It's really just an ad for Booster Gold Volume 2 #1, and I cover that on the Advertisements page. I must have been aware of this when it was released, and I'm sure I didn't consider it a "cover appearance" then. I'm not sure my opinion has changed.

What do you think? Advertisement or cover appearance?

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A few days ago, Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens made a pretty strong statement on Twitter.

The inspiration for Jurgens' comment was Booster booster Keith Callbeck's post of Ross Pearsall's Super-Team Family mash-up cover of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle running from the Hulk. Pearsall's inspiration was the opening splash page of Booster Gold, Volume 2, #34, drawn by Chris Batista in 2010. Specifically, it is this panel by Batista that Jurgens takes issue with:

It's easy to understand Jurgens' dissatisfaction with Batista's choice of poses and expressions. That panel has gained some traction on the Internet in recent years. You may have seen it copied by Blue and Gold cosplayers. Howard Porter's 2015 cover for Justice League 3000 #12 saw a similar scene of the panicked pair.

That wasn't always their reaction to trouble. In their Justice League International heyday, Beetle and Booster were chased by mobs of angry citizens, vampires, middle-eastern dictators, runaway islands, demons, and countless super villains. Yet Kevin Maguire, the artist most associated with the Blue and Gold pairing, never showed Blue and Gold turning tail in fear.

So what's the right way to depict Blue Beetle and Booster Gold running for their lives? Here's Dan Jurgens' take on the scenario in Booster Gold, Volume 2, #7 (2008):

Ok, so maybe Beetle is still scared. But look at Booster. What a hero!

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: blogspot.com blue beetle chris batista covers dan jurgens fan art howard porter keith callbeck kevin maguire ross pearsall super-team family twitter.com