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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Your periodic reminder that the world is not fair:

Justice League 3000 was cancelled in 2015, just as DC was entering the Rebirth era and restoring much of the history that the New 52 had abruptly jettisoned. As the name suggests, Justice League 3000 took place in the distant future of the DCU, and perhaps the company was more interested in looking backward at the time.

Or maybe the obstacle was then-publisher Dan DiDio, who rather famously treated the entire Justice League International era roster with something approaching open disdain. It's hard to imagine DiDio okaying DeMatteis's return to the characters for more than a few issues at at time.

(In fairness, it should be mentioned that DeMatteis is hardly the only artist to be denied access to Booster in the past decade. You may remember that DC also shot down Booster book proposals by Tony Lee and Ngozi Ukazu.)

Will things be different in 2021? If the hints that Blue and Gold will be back at work in the DCU after Infinite Frontier have any veracity, I sure hope so.

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I spent a lot of time in 2020 showcasing the best Booster Gold comics. But Booster Gold appears in plenty of other comics that while maybe not great are still pretty darn good.

Take, for one example, Justice League Unlimited #17, released 15 years ago today. The issue's story, "Let Freedom Ring" by Adam Beechen, Carlo Barberi, Lary Stucker, Heroic Age, and Phil Balsom, is based in the continuity of the excellent animated series of the same name and is, at its core, little more than a cliché excuse to have some good old-fashioned hero-on-hero super fisticuffs. As stale as the concept may be, there's plenty of fun in the execution.

But don't take my word for it; see for yourself. Here I've condensed the issue to remove most of the panels Booster Gold doesn't appear in (which is how I read most comic books).

As you can see, Booster doesn't play a very big part, but that doesn't mean the issue isn't a joy to read.

I assure you, the panels that Booster aren't in are just as good. (There's an especially entertaining bit between Superman and the Human Bomb.) If you get a chance to read the full issue, I recommend you do so. You won't be sorry.

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Like my favorite super hero, I'm planning to start the year watching my alma mater play football. In the meantime, I present for your nostalgic enjoyment the 5 most-read Boosterrific.com blog posts of 2020, presented in ascending order of hits:

5. Monday, April 6: This Day in History: Without Great Power
In which we revisited Booster Gold's participation in Justice League Europe #50, his first taste of superheroic action after losing his powersuit to Doomsday. Say what you will about his motivations, but Booster Gold's got guts.

4. Friday, March 13: That Time Booster Gold Defeated a Disease
In which we took at look at the events of Booster Gold Volume 1 #17 in light of the pandemic that was sweeping the globe. Conclusion: an impenetrable force field is better than a vaccine.

3. Monday, October 26: The Strong and Silent Type
In which I improved Superman & Batman Magazine #8 by cutting out most panels that don't include Booster Gold. Sorry, I couldn't do anything about that bulky 1990s power suit.

2. Monday, November 9: Two of a Kind: Shattered and Forged
In which we clear up the confusion surrounding DC's announcements of Generations: Shattered and Generations: Future State comic books. Hint: they're the same book. Or, at least we think they are. We'll be more certain when we finally have the book in our hands next week.

1. Friday, December 18: The Best of Booster Gold: Action Comics 995
In which we conclude our year-long series of the 12 best Booster Gold comics. (Maybe those clickbait comic book listicle sites are onto something.)

Let's make 2021 another Boosterrific year!

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This holiday, I give you not the Christmas you asked for but the Christmas you deserve.

Justice League Task Force #37 (1996)

Merry Christmas, everyone. Drink up.

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