If you didn't read BleedingCool.com over the weekend, you may have missed the notification that the original art for the cover of Formerly Known as the Justice League #6 (2004), featuring Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, is up for auction today at Heritage Auctions (HA.com).

Now, if you're the sort with an attention to detail and a good memory, you might have noticed a few small differences between this unpublished art and the final printed cover which has Booster much more front and center. As much as I love the original piece, I do think that the published cover sells the gag better.

As you can see at the top of the art itself, the piece was drawn by Kevin Maguire, who is responsible for drawing more Booster Gold comics than any artist other than Dan Jurgens, and Joe Rubenstien, who is credited with inking more Booster Gold comics than any artist other than Norm Rapmund. Jurgens and Rapmund, of course, worked on most issues of Booster Gold Volume 2, in case you didn't know.

By the way, this is hardly the only time that Maguire's art would fail to make a final cover on a Booster Gold project. This was the originally solicited art for the cover of Booster Gold Volume 2 #37 (2010) that never made it to press:

I'm rarely one to complain about Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway art, but in that instance, I do think the solicited art is more eye catching than what's actually on the cover. (Though, to be fair, I place most of that blame on the colorist's choice of unsavory yellow tints. Oh, well. To each his own.)

In any event, more Booster Gold art is always better than less, wouldn't you agree? (Thanks to J for making sure I saw this.)

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In Booster Gold Volume 2, our hero became a time travelling policeman, someone whose job was to travel through time and ensure that history unfolds correctly. Given that the DC Universe has a propensity for frequent, reality-shifting Crises, the obvious question becomes "what is correct"? What history can be changed, and what can't?

Booster Gold #5 answers that question, which is why it is in my list of the twelve best Booster Gold comics.

To teach Booster Gold (and his audience) about the limits of interfering with history, the original Time Master, Rip Hunter, sends Booster back to one of the most known and respected stories in DC Comics history: The Killing Joke. Booster soon learns there is nothing funny about it.

What follows are about a dozen pages of Booster Gold (and Skeets!) having his shiny butt handed to him by the Joker and his goons. Over and over again, Booster tries to prevent the Joker from brutalizing Barbara Gordon. Over and over again he fails.

It's not always an easy read, but it is a worthwhile one — especially when you realize the gambit Hunter is playing and at what personal cost. It is also a valiant definition of true heroism courtesy of writer Geoff Johns. No matter how many times Booster Gold gets knocked down, he always gets back up again. What a guy!

It should be noted that a large part of what makes this light-on-dialogue book such a great read is the art, which Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund intentionally based on the original material drawn by Brian Bolland.

While legendary writer Alan Moore always gets most of the credit, Bolland's detailed and disturbing art is no small part of what has made The Killing Joke an enduring classic, and he deserves some recognition for making Booster Gold #5 one of The Best Booster Gold Stories Ever.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: batman best of brian bolland dan jurgens geoff johns joker norm rapmund rip hunter skeets the killing joke

The comics industry is slowly getting back to normal, as you can tell by the release of solicitations for upcoming releases. While it doesn't look like our hero will be appearing in any of DC's August 2020 comics, the publisher's latest solicitations do include a confirmation of something we first spotted last month:

BOOSTER GOLD: FUTURE LOST HC
written by DAN JURGENS and others
art by DAN JURGENS and others
new cover by DAN JURGENS and NORM RAPMUND
The original solo series for Booster Gold, self-serving hero from the future, concludes with this collection of Dan Jurgens's formative mid-'80s stories! Booster finds himself a wanted man, and then lands in the polychromatic sights of the Rainbow Raider! Later, Superman gets in the middle of a battle between Booster Gold and…Booster Gold? Collects Booster Gold #13-25, pages from Millennium #3-6 and #7, Action Comics #594, Secret Origins #35, and more.
ON SALE 09.01.20
$39.99 US
400 PAGES
ISBN: 978-1-77950-672-6

That's right, the companion volume to the superb Booster Gold: The Big Fall collection will be in your Local Comic Shop this September. What could that "and more" mean? I'm giddy with anticipation.

See Newsarama.com for the full list of DC's August coming attractions.

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Start your week with Booster Gold sketch art courtesy of Booster booster Steven Palchinski, who graciously offered to let us gaze into his sketchbook of Booster Gold and Friends.

Randy Rantz Kintz

Dustin Nguyen

Norm Rapmund

Peter Semeti

Ryan Stegman

Freddie E. Williams II

James Zintel

Thanks, Steven.

Comments (3) | Add a Comment | Tags: commissions dustin nguyen freddie williams goldstar james zintel norm rapmund peter simeti randy rantz kintz rip hunter ryan stegman steven palchinski

I'm not going to lie and tell you I understand what was happening between Booster Gold and Harley Quinn in last month's Harley Quinn #66. I have even less idea what's going on in today's Harley Quinn #67.

What I do know is that with art by Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, and Hi-Fi, it's going to look great.

Harley's right. Martian Manhunter's funeral was in second issue.

If you want to see more, Batman-News.com has the preview.

Thanks to Rob Snow for that news.

By the way, since you're already on your way to your LCS, consider looking on the back issue racks for the most recent issue of Action Comics. The variant "DCeased" cover to issue #1016 included a zombiefied Booster Gold. I missed that when the issue was released 2 weeks ago. Thankfully, Logan Peterson didn't. Good spot, Logan.

Buy these issues and make Skeets happy.

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