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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On January 9, 1969, during a ceremony in which he received the Miami Touchdown Club's F.A.M.E. (Football Awards Miami Edition) Award for the Most Outstanding Professional Football Player of 1968, quarterback Joe Namath of the New York Jets was confronted by an aggressive Baltimore Colts fan. In response to the taunting, Namath guaranteed a Jets victory in the upcoming Super Bowl III.

It became the guarantee heard around the world.

Smart money at the time was that the Colts, representing the established National Football League (whose teams had won the previous two Super Bowls decisively), would handily beat the Jets of the upstart American Football League. No less than famous oddsmaker Jimmy the Greek had predicted the Colts would win by more than two touchdowns.

Therefore, Namath's guarantee, widely reported by the Miami Herald, was generally ignored or ridiculed.

As you may have heard, when the game was played on January 12, the Jets not only covered the 17-point spread, they won outright, proving that the AFL was legitimate football and paving the way for the Super Bowl to become America's biggest sports spectacle. As Namath left the field that day, "The Guarantee" became legend...

...the sort of legend that time-traveling, 20th-century hero-worshiping, former-football-players (with problematic gambling histories) probably find irresistible.

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Childhood is a time of learning about the world around you and preparing you for the future. But what if your childhood won't happen for another few centuries and your future is in the past? That's the case for time-traveling hero Booster Gold, whose 25th-century upbringing may not have prepared him for 21st-century life.

SPORTS: The most popular sport in the mid 2400s will be familiar to 21st-century inhabitants. Aside from some minor technological innovations like sensors on the goal line to detect touchdowns, the sport will look and play in ways pretty much exactly as it had 400 years earlier. Someone watching a game in 1982 would have little trouble following the action in 2442.

Even the economics of the sport will be little changed. Just as in the 21st century, 25th-century college athletes will be considered "amateurs" who earn their institutions and commercial partners — and bookmakers — considerable revenue while making no income themselves.

Booster Gold #18

Though at the time, star quarterback Michael "Booster" Carter wouldn't have cared about such things, mastering the game of football would be a great indoctrination in 21st-century culture.

DIET: Soy dogs might have seemed far-fetched to citizens of 1987, but meat substitutes are all the rage in the 2020s as they will be in the Gotham City of the 25th century. We can only imagine what will make the population of the future turn their back on meat. Is it a commercial necessity following the Great Disaster? Is it an ethical consideration for animal welfare? Or do soy dogs just plain taste better than 20th-century hot dogs?

Whatever the case, by the 25th century, science will have advanced enough that people can have a different relationship with food than 21st-century diners. In Booster Gold's native time, gourmands will be able to eat whatever they like without fear of unhealthy weight gain.

Justice League Quarterly #6

That system sure beats rice cakes.

ROBOTS: In the 21st century, artificial intelligence really isn't very intelligent. Speech recognition software can decipher what television channel you want to watch and scanning algorithms can unlock your phone, but Siri isn't thinking or feeling in the traditional sense. That will have changed drastically by the year 2462.

Booster Gold will be raised in a world in which self-sufficient robots can be counted on to reliably perform many complicated jobs, including valet and security guard. There's plenty of evidence between the panels of Booster's adventures to suggest the only thing keeping robots from becoming further integrated into society is resistance from biological lifeforms.

Booster Gold #16

Thinking robots may not exist in the 21st century, but bigotry is eternal.

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Tom Brady won his 7th Super Bowl yesterday in impressive fashion. At the age of 43, he not only becomes the oldest quarterback to win the big game (passing his own record), but also the quarterback who has won the most of them.

Winning Super Bowls is just one metric by which his greatness will be judged. He also holds records for career games won, Pro Bowl selections, seasons as passing leader, total touchdowns thrown (regular, post-season, and Super Bowls), and game-winning drives. In the history of the NFL, he's the only player to throw 5 touchdowns in a single quarter. (The NFL record for touchdown passes in an entire game stands at 7, achieved only 8 times in 100 years!)

I mention all of this not necessarily to praise Brady, who is inarguably the greatest of all NFL quarterbacks, but as a comparison to where the bar is set for future players aspiring to equal or surpass his greatness. Especially one college football player who will take snaps under center for Gotham University in the year 2462. According to Booster Gold #6, the scouts say he could be the best ever.

Skeets is a robot. He *can't* lie.

In light of what we've seen Tom Brady do in the 21st century, it's all the more impressive to hear how Michael Jon "Booster" Carter will be praised in the 25th, by which time we can imagine that few, if any, of Brady's records will still be standing. (Four hundred years is a lo-o-ong time. Even Brady will have retired by then.)

Secret Origins #35

Aim high, Booster.

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To reward their fans, the National Football League selected loyal fans from every team and sent them to the Pro Bowl in January. Guess who the lucky fan representing the Minnesota Vikings was?

Amy Jurgens, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and the creator of Booster Gold

It's Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens! While the article about the experience on Vikings.com does include an image of Booster Gold (from he cover of Booster Gold Vol. 2, #21), the writer doesn't seem aware of exactly how significant a role Jurgens has played in the history of DC Comics. Quote:

Jurgens is now currently working on two titles — one Batman and one Superman, whom he says he's had a longstanding affiliation with.

When talking about the career of the man who killed Superman then saved him from oblivion after the New 52 reboot, created Cyborg Superman, and co-created Doomsday, "longstanding affiliation" feels like a bit of an understatement. (And don't even get me started on how important his work on Booster Gold has been!)

Congratulations, Dan and Amy. Go Vikings!

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