Today Judd Winick is 50 years old, and he has spent many of those years creating comic books. (Technically, he's spent most of the past decade creating best-selling Hilo graphic novels for middle schoolers, but c'mon. We all know graphic novels are just longform comic books.)

Though Winnick has rarely worked on stories involving Booster Gold, there is one notable exception:

Justice League: Generation Lost is the story of former Justice League International members efforts to bring their former mentor, Maxwell Lord, to justice for his subsequent crimes against humanity.

The series began in 2010 and for the most part took into account nearly two decades worth of shared-universe heroic adventures. To Winick's credit, if you'd never read a single issue of Giffen and DeMatteis's Justice League International or Johns' Countdown to Infinite Crisis and Blackest Night, I'm sure you can still enjoy Justice League: Generation Lost. It's as much a traditional superheroic action/adventure story as it is a revenge story.

And for Booster Gold, it was very, very personal.

art by Keith Giffen, Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan, Hi-Fi, Sal Cipriano

In fact, Booster's key role in this story is a huge part of why I included the series in my 2020 list of the 12 Best Booster Gold stories ever.

Unfortunately, the story's impact was promptly devalued as the established DCU was discarded for the New 52. That means there are a decade's worth of new DC readers who are unlikely to be familiar with this great tale, which is a real shame.

As a birthday present to Mr. Winick, how about re-reading this great series. Better still, recommend it to someone you think would like it. It'll be like Winick gave *them* a present for *his* birthday.

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In 2011, before DC Comics decided that all of their comics had to take place in the darkest possible timeline, they ironically published two surprisingly optimistic series under the "Brightest Day" banner. One of those, Justice League: Generation Lost, should rightly be considered among the best Booster Gold adventures ever told, in no small part because it builds towards an inevitable (and incredibly satisfying) confrontation between Booster and Maxwell Lord, his former employer and the murderer of his best friend.

And that's why Justice League: Generation Lost #23 is number 11 on my list of the twelve best Booster Gold comics.

The dirty little secret about my list is that Justice League: Generation Lost #23 is *not* better than Justice League: Generation Lost #24. Number 24 just happens to be the final issue of the series, and I don't think anyone should begin reading a good story at the final page.

The entire series, all written by Judd Winick, reads like a water slide: once you enter the tube, you only pick up speed as you head to the big splash ending. (There are a few bumps along the way, such as Ice's entirely unnecessary origin retcon, but what's a water slide that doesn't give you a few bruises?)

So do yourself a favor and go read all twenty-four issues of Justice League: Generation Lost and enjoy the challenge of picking the one issue *you* think is most deserving of being included among the twelve best Booster Gold comics.

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Last week, Newsarama.com ran "BATWING Goes Global for JLI, Back to Africa for ZERO MONTH," an interview between Vaneta Rogers and Judd Winick. Included in that article was a quote about Winick's hopes for Batwing #12.

Nrama: Fans of your work on Justice League International are looking forward to you writing some of those characters again. How was it for you to return to them in the New 52?

Winick: Oh, it was a blast. I wish it was longer. I had 20 pages to do a lot. I wanted Booster to talk more, you know? So I could write him! I could have done 60 pages on these guys.

But it was really fun to get back to those guys for just a little bit. Just a little bit. I loved doing that entire run. It was fun for me when they announced that Batwing had joined the JLI. I'm sorry to see the book go. But it immediately opened the door for this. I said, "Oh! Can they come play over here? Please?"

I had this idea about this big old fight in Africa, and I thought they could come along. I knew it would be great. And I really enjoyed writing it.

That's what issue #12 is. It's one of those big superhero issues where it actually feels right. You know? You only get to do it now and again where it feels right and makes sense, and doesn't feel like an overload — a whole, big old superhero dogpile. That's what we have for issue #12. It's good fun.

While Winick may have intended Batwing #12 to be a "big old fight," the issue as published feels more like a bait and switch. Yes, Winick sets the scene for a battle royal by establishing bad-blood (and international intrigue!) between the combatants before maneuvering them into their respective corners. But just as the opening bell is rung, the broadcast edits the match for time and cuts straight to the finale. How disappointing!

The issue is all pre-fight and post-fight, with nothing in between. If I only wanted to know who won the fight, I could skip watching the bout and read the headlines in tomorrow's newspaper. Even that would be a waste of time here, since there's never any doubt that the forces of good will ultimately triumph over the forces of evil in mainstream comic books. If we're not paying to see the fight, what are we buying with our $3.00 admission ticket?

To be fair to Winick, he is just part of the team of creative personnel and editors responsible for the finished product. Perhaps penciller Marcus To forgot to include the panels with the real action. Throughout the issue, it's unclear how one panel is supposed to lead to the next; maybe To doesn't understand that sequential art is similar to film making in how it's supposed to tell a story. Or maybe issue editor Harvey Richards decided that showing the widespread combat this issue was theoretically centered around would be too graphic for the desired teen audience. This wouldn't be the first issue of the New 52 that DC Editorial had damaged its published product with enigmatic decision-making.

Whatever the reason, this issue ultimately feels like 5-10 pages were left on the cutting room floor. Winick did deliver big in the 26-issue Justice League: Generation Lost, where he had plenty of space to develop his story into a semi-satisfying finale (that thanks to DC's post-Flashpoint market strategy will never have its necessary follow-up). This begs the question of whether it is even possible to deliver an epic plot in the modern 20-page comic book that promotes digitally-aided pin-up art over old-fashioned plot narrative. If Batwing #12 is any indication, the answer is "no."

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"Predicts" may be a bit strong. But in last week's interview with Josie Campbell for Comic Book Resources, former Justice League: Generation Lost and current Batwing writer Judd Winick does hint that the JLI has a future after their cancellation.

CBR: While the JLI are in [Batwing] with issue #12, has the cancellation of "Justice League International" affected the story you're telling at all? Or is what you're doing unaffected as it is specific to your book?

Winnick:The script was written before the announcement. Even though the book is being canceled, I don't think the JLI is being disbanded so much as we're not publishing a book about it. I can't tell you how it's being wrapped up, y'all will just have to read the JLI title. In Batwing, we will leap in as a team, and Batwing as a member.

As mentioned, the Booster Gold-led JLI appearance in Batwing #12 is scheduled for an August 1 release. That's the same day that the final issue of Justice League International hits the stands, but don't expect the events of Batwing to provide significant illumination on the resolution to Dan Jurgens plans for the JLI. From the same interview:

CBR: Turning to your other series, while Batwing appeared in Gotham for "Night of the Owls," the next issues will see him operating on an international level and teaming up with Nightwing and the JLI. Did you talk a lot to Kyle Higgins and Dan Jurgens about their characters?

Winick: No. In this case we're doing it through editorial. This isn't a crossover so much as it is just using the characters. I know Kyle a little bit, mostly through Scott Snyder, so through editorial we asked if it was cool. But it goes to a larger issue tact we're taking at DC. We're trying to be better in paying attention to continuity, but at the same time not being so slavish to it we're not producing story.

Standalone adventures without slavish devotion to continuity? I think I can support that concept (partially because I don't really want Judd Winick anywhere near my favorite characters' continuity).

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From CBR's coverage of the DC Icons panel at WonderCon 2011:

Judd Winick discussed his current work on "Justice League: Generation Lost" as well as his upcoming run on "Batman and Robin." "I got more crap when it was first revealed that I was on 'Generation Lost." But I have been pleased with the reaction since the book has come out." The last issue will be released in the same week as the final issue of "Brightest Day." Winick touted the finale as containing "the most awesome fight in comic book history."

Whether you loved or hated Winick before Generation Lost, I think you'll have to admit that the story of the book has been a pretty fun ride. But that's going to have to be a pretty awesome conclusion to live up to Winick's hype. DC Comics alone has had some pretty darn awesome fights: Superman vs. Doomsday, Jordan vs. Gardner, and Superboy-Prime vs. everybody else.

You can read Wilson Trang's entire wrap up of the DC Icons panel at WonderCon 2011 on Comic Book Resources. And you can read the first part of Winick's super-fight tomorrow in Justice League: Generation Lost #23.

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