Justice League International Annual

Cover Description: The Justice League International fights OMAC.

Brief Synopsis: The Justice League International disbands.

Issue Summary: The Justice League International, apparently working under the sanction of the United Nations again, becomes involved in a hostage situation in Central Africa. Green Lantern, OMAC, Batwing, and Godiva save the hostages but fail to capture the terrorist warlord alive.

The team returns to team leader Booster Gold the new Hall of Justice in Washington, D.C., and meet new team members Blue Beetle and the Olympian. Green Lantern accuses Booster of lying to the team about having the Justice League's sanction. Lantern then quits the team.

Godiva and Olympian reveal that they have a shared romantic past. Blue Beetle expresses reservations about joining the team. August General in Iron openly doubts that Booster Gold really knows anything about the future.

Soon, August General interrupts OMAC interfering with the Justice League Watchtower security system and is decapitated by OMAC, who is once again controlled by Brother Eye. OMAC then incapacitates Olympian and teleports Blue Beetle to the Reach. Godiva sacrifices herself to buy Booster time to infect Brother Eye with Skeets. Brother Eye then deactivates OMAC in self defense.

Booster is approached by a future version of himself that he has to stop something from happening to save the future. However, future-Booster dissolves before completing his task. Moments later, Booster Gold also appearing to be erased from reality. Reveal Potential Spoilers

Booster Gold's role in this story:
Featured (Booster Gold plays a prominent role)

Costume Worn: MARK XIII power-suit

This story has been reprinted in:
Justice League International Volume 2: Breakdown (2013)

Page 1, panel 1
Floating above an armed cadre of kidnappers in Central Africa, Green Lantern Guy Gardner accuses team leader Booster Gold of lying that the team has the support of the Justice League. It is clear that something has happened since the events of Justice League International #12 to cause this discord between these two characters, but it is not revealed what that was.

Page 4, panel 1
Batwing is working with Booster Gold's JLI for the second time since quitting the team in Justice League International #12.

Page 7, panel 2
Booster Gold claims to have spoken to the Secretary General of the United Nations and implies that the current Justice League International is sanctioned by the United Nations. The U.N. sanction was withdrawn in Justice League International #7 and was not re-established before the series ended. Has the United Nations renewed support for the team (as implied by the team's activities in Central Africa), or is Booster lying again?

Page 7, panel 3
FASHION ALERT: Artist Jason Fabok demonstrates everything that's bad about Booster's overly-detailed DCnU power suit design in this issue. The blue line around Booster's color comes and goes, thins and thickens from panel to panel. Booster's signature star changes shape, size and location on his chest throughout the issue. Sometimes Booster wears skin-tight gauntlets, and sometimes he wears what look like metallic shin guards on his forearms. And the notch on Booster's forehead becomes a variable sized notch on his flat goggles as well. Given that Fabok's figures are all so stiffly posed, this rushed and inconsistent art is glaringly, distractingly noticeable.

Page 8, panel 1
Olympian and Blue Beetle join the team with the United Nations blessing. When last Booster Gold and Blue Beetle met in Blue Beetle #11, it was implied that they were to have a showdown at the Statue of Liberty. Did that confrontation take place off-panel? Why does Blue Beetle think he's joining the regular Justice League now?

Page 8, panel 2
With the addition of two new team members, Guy Gardner immediately quits the team. Gardner explains that he "didn't sign up to be some kind of political pawn," but it is never clear why the addition of Olympian and Blue Beetle should be the last straw for Gardner.

Page 13, panel 2
Booster explains to August General in Iron that he knows "the broadstrokes" of history, and that this moment is "the new beginning of the Justice League!" This sounds ominously similar to what Booster Gold said in Justice League America #89 (1994) before he was fatally wounded by Devastator.

Page 17, panel 1
SPOILER WARNING!: Brother Eye, once again in control of OMAC, presents Booster Gold with what appears to be August General in Iron's decapitated head. In fact, it is just his helmet. However, August General is bonded with his armor, and the action of removing his helmet is akin to ripping the skin off a human face. Reveal

Page 20, panel 1
SPOILER WARNING!: Olympian is disabled by one punch from OMAC. It seems Olympian only joined the team in this issue to provide a motivation for Godiva to join the Global Guardians and demonstrate what a powerful foe OMAC is. Reveal

Page 21, panel 4
OMAC explains that the Justice League is "preoccupied with their own internal battle." This is a reference to events in recent issues of Justice League.

Page 24, panel 4
POWER DOWN: Booster Gold doesn't appear to be using his force field against the rampaging OMAC. But without his force field, Booster would never survive having his exposed nose and jaw "krrksh"ed through a concrete wall. Is Booster's force field now invisible?

Page 26, panel 4
SPOILER WARNING!: Blue Beetle is teleported by OMAC across the universe. (At least, that's what the dialogue implies. As with August General's decapitation, Jason Fabok's art doesn't clearly convey what is happening.) It seems Blue Beetle only joined the team in this issue in order that the character be placed where he needs to be for editorially-mandated plot points in his own series. Reveal

Page 29, panel 1
Booster Gold and Godiva share a second kiss. Booster acts surprised. Have they not kissed since Justice League International #12? Does Booster know that they kissed before? Do issue writers Dan DiDio and Geoff Johns?

Page 29, panel 3
POWER UP: OMAC demands Booster Gold's 25th century technology. If OMAC, who is already powerful enough to defeat the JLI single-handedly and open Boom Tubes across the universe wants Booster's technology, it must be something special.

Page 32, panel 1
SPOILER WARNING!: Booster defeats Brother Eye by using the Skeets Protocols, "the ultimate 25th century defense against viruses." Is Booster saying that the DCnU version of Skeets is a computer program embedded in his suit? Is DCnU Skeets nothing more than a deus ex machina aspect of Booster's incredibly ugly DCnU power suit? Reveal

Page 34, panel 1
A PAIR OF DOCS?: Booster Gold arrives from sometime in the future to deliver a vague warning to himself about the actions of Superman and Wonder Woman. Future Booster wears some sort of metallic rig over his uniform with the Advanced Research Group Uniting Superhumans (ARGUS) logo on it. ARGUS is the organization headed by Steve Trevor that acts as United States liaison to the Justice League.

Page 35, panel 3
Like his future self, Booster Gold fades from existence as Superman and Wonder Woman kiss. It is at this time not remotely clear how Booster Gold survived the "chronal disturbance" that was Flashpoint only to be erased from history by events in ongoing Justice League issues. The last time Booster Gold was erased from history was in Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! #1 in 1993.

Page 38, panel 1
Though this story ends with the note, "To be continued in Justice League in 2013!", it has already been announced that Blue Beetle's adventures on Reachworld will continue in his own series.