Some people take Labor Day off, but not me, not when I've got to tell you about Booster Gold coming to your Local Comic Shop this week!

As you can see in the issue preview at AIPTComics.com, Booster gets a cameo appearance on the very first page of Blue Beetle #1!

I'm pretty sure that's a "Bwah-Ha-Ha" being cut off by the narrative box in that panel.

And if one panel isn't enough homage to Kevin Maguire's famous Justice League #1 cover, remember that there's also a 1:25 Justice League #1-inspired variant cover to this week's Fire and Ice: Welcome to Smallville drawn by... Kevin Maguire:

(For the record, neither Booster Gold nor Fire nor Ice appear on the original cover to Justice League #1, which wouldn't be re-titled Justice League International until issue #7. Booster joined the team in issue #4, and Fire and Ice joined in Justice League International #14. All three are on the updated roster cover of Justice League International #24, which was the very first book to homage the cover to issue #1. It is no coincidence that Issues #1 and #24 also bookend artist Maguire's run on the series.)

Buy one or both of those issues and make Skeets happy!

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AIPTcomics.com has all of DC's solicitations for September, and oh, boy, they look great.

I've had my eye out for Blue Beetle #1 ever since DC.com revealed back in April that Ted Kord (and the Bug!) would be on the Adrian Gutierrez cover.

I've also been anticipating Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1 for months, and although I don't like incentive variants, I just might be convinced to pony up for this 1:25 Kevin Maguire variant cover.

I hadn't been planning on buying any of the four monthly books written by Tom King, but Julian Totino Tedesco makes riding a kanga look like so much fun on the variant cover for Wonder Woman #1, I just might change my mind. (It wouldn't be the first time I'd've bought a comic just because of a Tedesco cover.)

Ooh! And how about the Chris Samnee variant for Shazam #3? Or the two part Mikel Janin acetate cover for Superman #6? And don't even get me started on the Old Man Red Bee (and Old Man Blackhawk!) appearing on the 1:25 Rahazzah variant for Peacemaker Tries Hard! #5.

Now, if you've read down this far, you might have noticed that I haven't mentioned Booster Gold yet. Well, that's because the solicitation doesn't either. I was trying to soften the blow with all those great covers.

Did it work?

If it helps, DC also announced that the first six issues of The Human Target will be collected (for the second time) in October. Booster will be in that. Come to think if it, it's also got some great covers.

Booster may be hard to find these days, but at least it isn't hurting my eyes to keep looking.

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Writes Coin:

I couldn't see it on the site, but Booster has a cameo in issue 6 of the '88 Forever People mini on the two page spread on pages 12 and 13. Hope I haven't just missed it on the site somewhere.

No, you didn't miss it. I did.

The second volume to feature Jack Kirby's Forever People was written by J.M. DeMatteis, who was also at the time co-scripting the Justice League International. So it makes sense that there would be a little crossover.

Justice League International #11 saw the team fight The Construct. That fight, drawn by Kevin Maguire, looked like this:

That same fight was briefly referenced in a single gutter-spanning panel in the sixth and final issue of Forever People Volume 2, here drawn by Paris Cullen:

Thanks to Coin for bringing it to my attention.

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At last we come to Justice League International #7, which happens to be the *first* issue of Justice League International because back in the day publishers didn't restart series every other week; they just retitled existing series and kept the previous numbering. Was it confusing? Sure. But that's comic books for you.

Taking the Justice League international was a pretty big deal at the time (heck, if you ask me, it's still a big deal), but Booster Gold didn't have much of a role in the events. Aside from (kind of) saving Batman's life in space on international television, Booster spends most of the issue as just another pretty face in a crowd.

Which explains why he's not on my favorite page of the issue. Superman is.

The Man of Steel enters the United Nations Security Council politely. By walking in the door. So many writers/artists would get that detail wrong.

Speaking of artists, Kevin Maguire's art for the oversized issue has always looked a little rushed, but it's especially sketchy in higher-definition reprints. I recommend reading this on the original blurry newsprint if you have the option. Newer isn't always better.

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This series is intended to address all of Booster Gold's comics in the order of their publication, yet so far, I've only covered issues of Booster Gold Volume 1. I've skipped spotlighting issues of New Teen Titans, The Outsiders, and the earliest issues of Justice League because Booster doesn't appear on a full page's worth of panels.

Now, at last, we come to Booster's first significant appearance outside of his own title. It also happens to be my single favorite Booster Gold comic story of all time and the number one entry in my list of the Twelve Best Booster Gold Stories Ever. If you read the title to this post, you already know I'm talking about Justice League #4.

I can (and have) looked at this book all day. But if I could look at only one page of panels from Justice League #4, it would be the only page one with a smiling Batman.

I like how Batman's smile dawns after the line break, but I especially love that Booster's head turn in the final panel builds tension while leading to the single panel on the second page of this two-page spread, where artist Kevin Maguire gives us this:

Yeah, Justice League #4 is a Boosterrific comic, even if I do say so myself.

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