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?

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: covers favorite covers j.m. dematteis justice league keith giffen kevin maguire

Aaron Young interviewed Dan Jurgens at Ace Comic Con 2017, and that interview has now appeared at ComicsVerse.com. Jurgens is unusually frank about his relationship with his most famous creation.

ComicsVerse: So, moving on, you've created a lot of iconic characters in comics. My favorite is Booster Gold, and you're written Booster Gold quite a few times, and I just wondered if you feel any sort of ownership over that character.

Whether you, you know, kind of have a sort of protective over that character. You know, have you ever had it where you're, like, read an issue written by anybody else and you're like, "Oh no, that's not what Booster Gold would do!" you know, or whatever, or, you know? Just talk about that, I'm just curious.

Dan Jurgens: Yeah, that happens but for the most part, you know, I've done most of the stories that were out there. And when Keith Giffen and Marc DeMatteis, for example, were using him in JUSTICE LEAGUE, Keith always said, "We're borrowing the character."

And I always looked at that as sort of like an Earth JUSTICE LEAGUE thing anyway which was just fine and I, you know, genuinely liked the dimension that Keith brought to the character, but for the most part, it's something I do enjoy doing. I don't know if ownership is quite the right word as much as kind of I suppose it's true that I'm sort of protective of the character 'cause I can kind of know where it can go and what it can do.

While Booster Gold belongs to DC Comics to use (or ignore) at their will, Jurgens can proudly take credit that no writer has had more of a hand in guiding and developing Booster Gold. He's written nearly a fifth of all the stories in which Booster Gold appears. Only Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis come close. (They combine to about an eighth.) There are few comic book characters in history that can boast such creative consistency over so many decades.

You can find the whole interview at ComicsVerse.com.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: aaron young comicsverse.com dan jurgens interviews j.m. dematteis keith giffen writers

While I like most Booster Gold comics, I love some more than others. Among my favorites is Justice League Quarterly #1, the first appearance of the Conglomerate, released on this date in 1990.

Written by J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen; Art by Chris Sprouse, Bruce Patterson, Gene D'Angelo; Cover by Adam Hughes

The issue's story, "Corporate Maneuvers (and leveraged buyouts)," was a logical counterpoint to the Justice League International era. Unwilling to sit back and let the nations of the world monopolize influence on the activities of formerly independent super heroes, the major international corporations of the DC Universe developed their own team: the Conglomerate. It was only natural that the original Corporate Crusader himself would lead them into battle.

The Conglomerate went on to much early success which created tension with Booster's friends in the JLI, especially Blue Beetle. I probably don't need to tell you that the two teams have to overcome their jealousy of one another to save the day, but it's very satisfying when the inevitable finally happens.

You probably won't see this issue on any "must read" list for new Booster Gold fans. I admit that it's mainly a Justice League International story. However, Booster Gold does have a starring role, and the story does directly address the dichotomy of Michael Jon Carter's "shallow" public persona versus his more noble self-identification. For that reason alone, I think it's worth a look for people interested in the evolution of my favorite character.

Besides, who doesn't love that leather jacket?

In honor of the issue's anniversary, here's Adam Hughes' original pencil work for the cover — an homage to Kevin Maguire much duplicated "crowded elevator" cover for Justice League #1 — as published in Back Issue #2 (February 2004). As you can see, an uninvited guest crashed this party! Click the image to embiggen.

Here's to the good old days!

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: adam hughes back issue chris sprouse conglomerate costumes j.m. dematteis joker justice justice league international keith giffen

The closest thing to Booster Gold news coming out of New York Comic Con this past weekend was included in this report of the "Sunday Conversation" panel with Dan DiDio and Keith Giffen (among others) as reported by Joe Glass for BleedingCool.com:

A fan says he'd love to see Seven Soldiers of Victory book, another says Booster Gold, another with Secret Six. Someone says Ambush Bug (Giffen: "No.")

So Booster was a no-show at NYCC, but he's not so underrepresented at all conventions.

This is George Pooley (with his "best mate") at the MCM Manchester Comic Con in the UK back in July:

See? Blue and Gold were in the house!

Thanks to George for sharing. Keep up the good cosplaying, men.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: bleedingcool.com blue beetle conventions costumes dan didio george pooley joe glass keith giffen manchester mcm nycc

Once upon a time, Booster Gold appeared quite regularly in the annual crossover events uniting the DCU. For example, it was just 25 years ago today that Booster Gold appeared in a supporting role in Action Comics Annual #4.

Words by Dan Vado, Art by Chris Wozniak and a team of inkers

Back then, Booster and other members of the Justice League International were on the scene to try and free Superman from the clutches of Eclipso. These days that job would go exclusively to Batman, because... well, Batman.

It might be interesting to note that Blue Beetle wasn't with the rest of the Justice League for this mission (he had gone missing in the JLA Annual the previous month). That is consistent with the approach to the character taken by the current Blue Beetle series.

According to writer Kieth Giffen in an interview with Vaneta Rogers for Newsarama.com, the modern "rebirth" incarnation of Ted Kord was never a member of any Justice League. But Giffen also says that the events of Justice League 3000 are in Blue Beetle's future. JL3k was openly stated to take place in the same continuity as the original Justice League International stories. So . . . I have no idea what all that means for the current status of Blue and Gold.

Congratulations, DC. I'm not even trying to make sense of your continuity anymore.

Comments (7) | Add a Comment | Tags: action comics batman blue beetle eclipso justice league international keith giffen newsarama.com superman vaneta rogers