As mentioned last week, you'll find Booster Gold in today's Batman: Last Knight on Earth #2, at least in a very small cameo. If you want more Booster, you can also pick up the hardcover Injustice 2 Volume 6 for $24.99.

Included in this final collection are Injustice 2 #31 through #33. Be forewarned, things do not go well for our hero in Tom Taylor's video-game inspired universe. However, our hero makes his final adventure as satisfyingly poignant as it is entertaining. Plus, he gets a cool jacket as a parting gift.

And while we're on the subject of new releases, Rob Snow reports that DC is planning a collection of Conglomerate stories reprinted from Justice League Quarterly. Per the preorder link he found at Amazon.com:

For the first time since its original publication, Keith Giffen's Justice League Quarterly brings a quirky and unique take on the Justice League!

Introducing the Conglomerate, a new super-team assembled by Booster Gold! Booster's new pals and gals are Maxi-Man, Praxis, Gypsy, Echo, Vapor and Reverb, but pretty soon Booster's got to wonder if their industry backers want them to be heroes...or corporate puppets.

Collects stories from Justice League Quarterly #1-4.

The book hasn't yet been announced by DC, but that doesn't mean it's not coming. Rob spotted the upcoming Booster Gold collection on Amazon about a month before DC announced that, too. You've preordered yours already, right?

Thanks to Rob for finding those links for us. (Seriously, man, I swear I looked.)

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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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On this day in 1988, Booster Gold made the cover of Time magazine.

Starman #1 (June 1988) by Stern, Lyle, Smith, Ferriter

It might be hard for modern audiences to believe, but for most of the 20th century, the cover of Time magazine was among the most prestigious pieces of real estate for notable newsmakers. In other words, if you made the cover of Time magazine, you had arrived.

Even if you had already appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Animal Man #1 (May 1988) by Morrison, Truog, Hazelwood, Wood

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Not so long ago, someone asked me if I could make a list of the best Booster Gold stories that weren't in Booster Gold or Justice League series. That was on my mind as I was compiling the Boosterrific list of "featured" stories I mentioned in Monday's post. The answer is: it's a short list.

3. Action Comics #933-998 (2018)
2. Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1 (2005)
1. 52 #1-52 (2006)

Almost every other great Booster Gold story takes place in his self-titled series or alongside his Justice League super friends. Which, let me emphasize, is not a bad thing.

My favorite Booster Gold comic is his first featured JLI appearance, Justice League #4. I always get a kick out of his misadventures on KooeyKooeyKooey with Blue Beetle in Justice League America #34 and as the field general of the Conglomerate in Justice League Quarterly #1. And what Booster booster doesn't love the work creator Dan Jurgens has done filling Michael Jon Carter's life with supporting characters like as Broderick, as seen in Booster Gold Volume 1, #18?

If you're looking for the best Booster Gold adventures outside the usual places, read the books I listed above. They're good, I promise. But please remember to enjoy Booster Gold wherever you find him. He rarely disappoints.

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It is a cliche in superhero comic books that characters die and then get better. The trope was well established by the time Superman's funeral ignited the general public's imagination, but ever since 1992, you simply aren't a real super hero until you've returned from "the other side" at least once.

Booster Gold joined that not-so-elusive club on this day in 1994 between the panels of Justice League Task Force #13.

At the time, the Justice League had been fractured into three groups with incompatible philosophies about what constituted "justice." Wonder Woman's "international" faction was most in line with the historic methods of the team as the strong arm of traditional, established political authorities. Martian Manhunter's task force was also aligned with the United Nations, though it preferred less direct means of diffusing problems. Captain Atom, on the other hand, championed more unconventional and forceful means of "extreme" justice, fighting fire with fire, so to speak.

These internal differences were exacerbated by the threat of the alien Overmaster, who had returned to Earth (after a previous encounter with the Justice League a decade earlier) in order to eradicate humanity. He had the power to do it, too. The dysfunctional Justice Leagues America, International, and Task Force have to put aside their differences to stop him. The crossover event, titled "Judgement Day," reads better than many of DC's official "Crisis"s.

Usually, comic book deaths are used as a cheap trick to ramp up the stakes, tug at the heartstrings, or inflate the threat posed by the bad guy. Booster was lucky. He died in a good story that respected established characterization. Specifically, his death was a side-effect of his overconfidence that history couldn't ever be changed, a misunderstanding with tragic consequences.

Of course, that wouldn't mean much unless Booster recovered to learn from his mistake. Spoiler alert: he did.

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