Long ago in a galaxy far, far removed from COVID-19, DC Comics released a comic book called Year of the Villain Hell Arisen #3.

What DC failed to mention when retailers were making their orders two months in advance was that this new book would introduce the first on-panel appearance of the Joker's new henchman, someone called Punchline. And because far too many people think a smiling homicidal maniac is cool, Year of the Villain Hell Arisen #3 sold out in most stores before it even hit shelves.

It just so happens that book also contains an appearance by Booster Gold, which means that many Booster Gold completists now have a hole in their collection. (Not me, though. I know a guy and pulled a few strings. I may not have rights to a first-born son anymore, but sometimes that's the price you have to pay.)

Anyway. If you missed that book, DC gave you a second chance when they reprinted it in March. However, that run (of over 11,000 books) also sold out. So here comes printing number three.

I sure do like that gray on this third edition. It reminds me of the time that Quentin Tarantino had scenes in Kill Bill: Volume 1 processed in black and white to abstract some violence. Martin Scorsese used a similar trick when he desaturated the climax of Taxi Driver. (True story: with no new comics to read, I've watched 56 movies in the past three months.)

The only way to make that cover better might be to put Booster Gold on it. That just might convince me to give away rights to my second-born as well.

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Tired of being trapped in the house with your family? Would a trip to a tropical island resort hit the spot right about now? How about revisiting Club JLI!

Part of the fun of Booster Gold is that he's not the straightest of arrows. Sometimes he gets up to shenanigans that would make other heroes blush, none bigger than the time he and his BFF Blue Beetle established the casino resort on KooeyKooeyKooey in Justice League America #34.

Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite covers for two very important reasons: the boobs beside the pool.

Obviously, the boobs I'm talking about are Blue Beetle (with his scarab-pattern swim trunks!) and Booster Gold. But there is so much else to enjoy in this busy comedic scene, like level-headed team leaders Batman and Martian Manhunter holding back a raving Maxwell Lord on the left, and on the right, criminals Major Disaster and Big Sir sneaking over the hedge with their ill-gotten gains.

All that and, of course, Fire displaying the best of her Brazilian charms in a stunning two-piece bikini and swim skirt. Her expression tells us very clearly what she thinks about the two knuckleheads responsible for the hijinks erupting around her. Good ol' Bea.

This issue was released in 1989, and it's hard to believe that artist Adam Hughes had only been working professionally for two years at the time. Hughes has since become world-famous for his pinup covers of beautiful heroines, including but hardly limited to Wonder Woman and Catwoman. As you can see from the variety of poses and expressions on this cover alone, Hughes deserves recognition and high praise for far more than just cheesecake.

I have to admit this cover belongs to one of my favorite issues, as those of you familiar with my recent list of 12 Best Booster Gold Stories Ever already know. I'll explain why next week.

Stay tuned, Booster boosters!

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Last week, Booster booster Ariel complained about Booster's short haircut worn at the end of his run in the 1980s. He doesn't care for it. To each their own.

Personally, I happen to find it fetching, in no small part because that's the style Booster wore on one of my favorite covers: Booster Gold #18 (1987)!

Maybe I'm just old school, but I love it when the image on the cover of a comic foretells what'll be happening inside its pages. Booster Gold lying defeated in the gutter? An unknown gunman with our hero in his sights? How will our hero ever get out of this? Open the book and find out!

Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway really know how to put together a cover, don't they? In Western culture, our eyes are trained to wander to the bottom right of a page. Jurgens is clearly aware of this visual scanning tendency and redirects our eyes back up through the body of the trenchcoated killer, down the barrel of the gun straight to Booster's heart. Powerful stuff!

(Who did that color? Was it issue colorist Gene D'Angelo? The warm red and gold really pop against that receding, cool green background. It's simple but effective use of complementary color theory.)

In addition to the beautiful artwork, I have to admit in the spirit of full disclosure that part of my admiration is likely due to the story within. It's one of my favorites. In fact, I recently declared it one of the 12 Best Booster Gold Stories Ever. I'll explain why on Monday.

See you next week!

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I'm reminding you to visit to your Local Comic Shop today, because I know you're going to want to get your hands on Harley Quinn #71 with Booster Gold (and Skeets!) on the cover.

What do you think about that old-school Booster Gold logo? I like it, 'natch.

BleedingCool.com has the preview. Your LCS has the issue.

And while you're there, consider grabbing a copy of Flash #750. Logan Peterson has gotten an early look and says Booster makes an appearance there, too. Thanks, Logan.

Buy these issues and make Skeets happy!

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I may have put Justice League #4 at the top of my list of the twelve best Booster Gold comics, but the second book on my list is considerably more important to the development of the character we all know and love.

The first six issues of Booster's original self-titled series dropped a lot of hints that its protagonist wasn't your father's hero. He was uncommonly brash, obsessed with fame and money, and completely clueless about the world around him. But who was he, really? Readers didn't even know his real name or the source of his powers.

That would change in Booster Gold #6 (1986), as knows anyone who's ever seen the cover (one of my favorites)!

Fittingly for an issue revealing the origin of a time traveler, the story's title, "To Cross the Rubicon," is a reference to Julius Caesar's marching his army across the Rubicon River north of Rome, an act that precipitated a previously unimaginable change to the world. Colloquially, the phrase has come to mean committing an act from which there can be no return. As you'll see, both of those meaning apply to this story and the characters within.

In addition to the title, "Creator-Writer-Artist" Dan Jurgens does something else clever on the first page, introducing a new character, the child Jason Redfern, who has witnessed the arrival of a genuine UFO in Metropolis' Centennial Park. Redfern was an outsider to the life of celebrity superhero Booster Gold, and thus the perfect vehicle to deliver readers to the unrevealed inner workings of the mysterious new hero.

Unlike other heroes of his era, the Corporate Crusader&trad; lives in a world of contracts, business managers, and press secretaries. Occasionally, that machinery can be leveraged to more than just profits or loses. In its way, this is another super power, demonstrated when Booster uses it to bring Jason's discovery to the attention of Metropolis' original hero:

This is the first appearance of DC's oldest hero, the Man of Steel, in the DC Universe established in the wake of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Conversely, Booster Gold is the first new character created in that universe. Therefore, this is the first meeting between the "old" DC and the "new" A Rubicon has been crossed, and Booster Gold is as keenly aware of the significance of the meeting as longtime DC readers would have been.

To appease Superman, Booster's sidekick Skeets finally reveals their origin story in a series of flashbacks. This is another groundbreaking moment, as Skeets makes no attempt to sand the rough edges of Michael Jon "Booster" Carter's criminal past or selfish motivations as a disgraced former athlete looking for a second chance.

As we now know, Booster is a thief, having stolen a time machine to make a one-way trip to the past. Another Rubicon crossed! (Ironically, you'd think that a time machine would be the perfect vessel for un-crossing Rubicons, but that's not how time travel worked in the early days of the post-Crisis DC Universe.)

Superman reacts as most readers must have, with revulsion that someone who didn't share his own strict moral code would dare to call himself a hero. He has a point. Booster had more in common with the traditional DC Universe villain than any Justice League member. But this was the 1980s, a time for new heroes with feet of clay.

Who is right? The old timer or the up and comer? Unfortunately for the heroes, their philosophical argument ends abruptly with the arrival of another threat, and the issue ends on a cliffhanger.

I guess you'll find out next issue, Skeets!

Readers of the next issue will also discover that Jason's tiny alien crossed a Rubicon of his own. That title just keeps going, which is just one small part of why I consider this to be among The Best Booster Gold Stories Ever.

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