In Justice League International #16, a crack team goes undercover on a mission of international espionage.

Maybe "crack team" is a bit of an overstatement, especially when Booster Gold and Blue Beetle are involved.

Page 6 is chock full of references to classic movies in television. Peter Lupus was a bodybuilder and actor in the original Mission: Impossible television series. And Beetle has assumed the identity of George Bailey, famous worldwide as the protagonist character from the classic film It's a Wonderful Life.

Interestingly, Beetle looks less like Wonderful Life actor Jimmy Stewart and more like silent film comedy star Harold Lloyd. I don't think this is an accident.

This often-silly issue explicitly namechecks the comedy duo of Bud Abbot and Lou Costello, and unless I am very wrong, that's Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel (in a fez) watching Booster fumble the luggage in the fifth panel of page 6. Those two were experts in mishandling packages, as hilariously recorded in 1932's The Music Box.

Having Beetle dress as the clock-dangling star of 1923's Safety Last! is a nice nod to the silent era of Hal Roach Studios comedies as much as it is to Clark Kent's famous glasses disguise... which Superman's creators Jerry Siegel and Joel Shuster modeled on Harold Lloyd. That's a full circle disguise!

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"Hit or Miss" in Justice League International Annual #2 is half slice-of-life dramedy, half crime farce. It's a little silly, even by Justice League International standards, but I'd rather read Joker stories like this than something where he cuts off his own face or tricks Superman into killing Lois Lane or.... well, almost any modern Joker story.

I'm certainly biased, but I think the highlight of the story is the subplot about Booster Gold and Blue Beetle hustling for new careers.

I admit this page isn't the flashiest, but that "And then, of course, there's all that money," punchline gets me every time.

Honestly, "Repo Man" is a pretty inspired choice for two former capitalist titans fallen on hard times. If they can't have their own fast cars and private jets, they're happy to take them from others. Very heroic, boys.

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A few weeks ago, while discussing my favorite page of Justice League International #14, I said that Steve Leialoha's loose style was a bad match for Keith Giffen's layouts. I've been looking at a lot of Giffen's layout art since his recent passing, and I've changed my mind. I now think the problem with Leialoha's art in JLI #14 and #15 is that Leialoha's finishes are probably too loyal to Giffen's layout style.

In any event, the art in Justice League International #15, while still not up to the standard set by regular series artist Kevin Maguire, is at least more consistent from panel to panel and page to page than the previous issue managed.

Thanks to J.M. DeMatteis's dialogue, there are several pages competing to be my favorite of the issue, including Booster Gold flying into action in page 10, Booster Gold saving the day on page 15, and Batman's punchline on page 22. But since this will always be the first meeting between Blue and Gold and Fire and Ice, page 6 steals the show:

I can't say the four of them really get along any better these days, but they'll always be family.

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Ok, I admit, I still haven't seen Blue Beetle. I will, eventually, I promise. Maybe soon, in fact. It's scheduled for release on DVD next week, and to promote that release, director Ángel Manuel Soto recently spoke to Andy Behbakht for screenrant.com.

ScreenRant: Speaking about the future, we have the post-credits scene with Ted Kord. In your head, do you know what that reunion is going to look like between Ted and Jenny? That is a father-daughter relationship I want to learn more about.

Soto: Well, definitely! Our initial joke with that was, Jaime and Jenny would be talking later, and he showed up and they [Jaime and Ted] are like, 'Who are you? That's your dad?!' between them. But I think by doing it this way opens up more of a curiosity to where is he and why is he sending this message today? Why did he leave? What did he go out to do and I think it opens a lot of doors.

For me, I always liked the idea of him and Booster Gold doing adventures and then this message being sent as a warning of something that eventually Booster Gold is the one that's able to bring Jaime into the mix, or tap Kord's expertise through Booster's time travelling powers. So for me, one of those things I definitely [want to see] are Booster Gold and Ted Kord, I want them to be a part of Jaime's future. There's a lot more that exist in all the different iterations but the Blue and Gold series is phenomenal. Their relationship is really, really awesome and a lot of Jaime's relationships with both of them are iconic, so I hope it goes that way.

ScreenRant: How funny that we have a Booster Gold TV show coming with James Gunn's DC Universe! Without spoiling it, have you and James talked about Jaime's future? Do you know your next project with DC Studios, and have you discussed what you want to do with Jaime next?

Soto: Yeah, we have had conversations about it and that's where he mentioned to me about the Booster Gold TV show that is coming up. Now, where does it fit, how is it gonna play out? We haven't talked about that. But we both have talked about our interest in continuing Jaime's story, and finding a way for that story to be a part of this new universe.

It sounds like it's still far too early to talk about what exactly Gunn's Booster Gold television show is going to be. But if it's Ted Kord and Booster Gold's misadventures through time, that sure would qualify as "must see" TV.

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If you've ever read Captain Atom #16, you can probably guess my favorite page, but here, I'll save you the trouble of guessing:

Booster Gold busting through trees like a super man! Blue Beetle swooping out of the sky to rescue a buxom damsel from drowning like some kind of dark knight! And in place of a Wonder Woman, we get a Mister Miracle! It's like a Justice League International roll-call.

Can't you just imagine this animated and set to the Superfriends theme with Ted Knight calling out their names? I sure can.

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