If you've been keeping track of my list of the twelve best Booster Gold comics, you know that we've reached number 9. More importantly, we've reached a turning point in the history of Booster Gold.

By 2007, Booster Gold was widely recognized as a laughingstock, has-been as a former member of the long-derided Justice League International. Booster Gold Volume 2, Number 1 begins the story of how Booster started his second act as The Greatest Hero The World Has Never Known!

As it happens all too often, the real trouble starts when Booster finally gets what he has sought since his earliest appearances in Booster Gold Volume 1: the acceptance of his peers.

As you can see, this issue is a great jumping on point for new Booster Gold fans. Never read a comic with Booster Gold before? No problem. Writers Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz make the issue accessible to casual Justice League fans and longtime Booster Gold fans alike.

It's not an exaggeration to say that without the changes to Booster's status quo that were begun in this story, significantly fewer readers would even care which comics should be considered The Best Booster Gold Stories Ever!

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Even before the New 52 came along and rewrote DC history, the days of Extreme Justice were already being largely ignored. And why not? Unlike the so-called Justice League Detroit, which in its quest to be topical had introduced some new characters that struck a chord with their audience that continue to resonate into the present (as evidenced in the recent Dial H for Hero #4), the Extreme Justice squad mostly spent their time looking very mid-90s Xtreme and understandably aged about as poorly as everything else in the oversaturated Chromium Age.

That lack of fan engagement made it xtra unusual that Booster Gold and the Extreme Justice team would make a cameo flashback appearance fighting Brainwave in Green Lantern #152, released on this day in 2002.

Brainwave hadn't been seen much since his Infinity, Inc. series was canceled in the late 80s, so the audience may have needed a recap of his history, even if that history included a "Justice League" team that most would rather forget.

To put the six year gap between Extreme Justice #18 and Green Lantern #152 into a contemporary perspective, consider that six years ago, Booster Gold was appearing as an amnesiac guest star in All-Star Western #19. That feels like centuries ago!

My, how time flies.

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I woke up to this email from Booster booster Logan:

The Booster drought! She is finally over!!!
Booster officially appears in a flashback with the JLI in Green Lanterns #9, hitting shelves today!
I was so excited when I saw this that I spilled my cereal!

Pencils by Robson Rocha, Ink by Jay Leisten, Color by Blond

I couldn't have said it better myself, Logan.

So maybe it's only a one panel flashback, but it's still nice to know that DC hasn't forgotten our hero exists.

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On first glance, I was certain that someone had just gotten the color separations wrong on this officially licensed, sponsor-laden jersey for the Connacht Rugby team. Green might be the color of money, but sponsorship patches belong only on the uniform of Booster Gold!

However, I can't be too disappointed. Connacht is an Irish team, and green is their primary color. If Green Lantern wants to sell out for cash, Connacht seems like a fine place to do it.

If you like what you see, the jersey is for sale at LifeStyleSports.com.

(Other teams have a couple of Batman jerseys. You can see them at ComicBook.com.)

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The back pages of 2008's Booster Gold: 52 Pick-Up hardback treated readers to Dan Jurgens' early sketches for Booster Gold's costume.

As odd as some of these are, none of these designs stray too far from the Booster Gold costume we've come to know and love. And there must be something right about Booster's costume because it has stood the test of time.

I asked Booster's creator Dan Jurgens how much credit he thought Booster's costume deserved in keeping the character at the forefront of the DC Universe for 30 years.

A lot. I really do believe it's a great look -- very tailored to the character, much in the same way Green Lantern's always seemed perfect for him.

That's our Booster Gold. Anything worth doing is worth doing in style.

As always, thanks to Dan Jurgens.

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