It didn't take long after Booster Gold joined the Justice League before he and Blue Beetle were inseparable. (Some might say insufferable!) The pair quickly became the Abbott and Costello of superheroics, their pranks and self-interested business ventures providing a comedic release from the stress of facing down would-be world conquerors six days a week.

None of their hijinks is bigger, more famous, or more disastrous than the time they established a casino on the tropical island of KooeyKooeyKooey, as seen in the story "Club JLI" published in Justice League America #34 (1989), an issue that easily ranks among the twelve best Booster Gold comics.

Writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis had been sowing the seeds for what would become "Club JLI" for months. After the JLI fought aliens in the South Pacific (Justice League International #23), the island nation of KooeyKooeyKooey decided to allow the JLI to host an embassy on its territory (Justice League International Annual #3). Their own tropical paradise on the far side of the world was the perfect opportunity for Booster and Beetle to establish the one business venture guaranteed to make money: a casino. The house always wins, right?

What out heroes didn't plan for was that their venture would attract the attention of another would-be world conqueror — the DCU is practically infested with them — the aptly named Major Disaster. Disaster also wanted to get rich, and he had an ace-in-the-hole, his card-counting companion, Big Sir. Together, the pair set out to break the bank.

Unfortunately for everyone, the bank had been established with money embezzled from the JLI's United Nations-funded bank accounts. Our heroes had assumed that they would be making so much money so fast, they would be able to replace the money before it was noticed missing. Oops.

As if things couldn't get any worse, Aquaman arrives to inform the newly-bankrupt heroes that their island paradise KooeyKooeyKooey isn't a normal island. It's alive. And it's not very interested in having a resort on its back.

By the end of the issue, Beetle and Booster find themselves far worse off than they were before, which is par for the course for our two favorite hard-luck heroes. Better luck next time, guys.

As you can see in the panels above, this Giffen/DeMatteis masterpiece is a perfect mix of comedy and action. Almost every panel has either a punchline or plot consequence. Most of the humor comes from the personalities of the characters involved, and the events will provide material enough to propel plots for months' worth of issues. (The fallout of the Club JLI misadventure will lead directly to Booster's quitting the League for a leadership position in the Conglomerate.)

And while I'm heaping praise on the writers, I'd be remiss to omit the contributions made by Adam Hughes, who was drawing only his fourth DC Comic! Even considering the limitations of four-color printing on newsprint, Hughes' character are so full of life that they nearly spring from the page. It must have been a hard job to follow the original JLI artist, master of expressions Kevin Maguire, but Hughes proves a formidable talent in his own right. (How many copies did DC sell based on Hughes' brilliant cover alone?)

Sometimes everything works, elevating what might otherwise be a light adventure story into a truly great comics. Justice League America #34 is one such case, and that's why it is rightly included among The Best Booster Gold Stories Ever.

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For nearly two decades, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold were best friends. First meeting when Booster joined Max Lord's Justice League International, the pair formed a bond strong enough to overcome the gravest challenges. Their shared pranks and misadventures, exemplified by infamous Club JLI on KooeyKooeyKooey, became the stuff of legend. Those were good times.

The good times ended thirteen years ago today with the release of Countdown to Infinite Crisis.

It's a testament to the relationship between the two heroes (and a perfect example of the value of continuity) that their unexpected and violent parting continues to inform Booster Gold's story all these years later.

See you in the funny pages, Ted.

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Do you remember What comics you were reading 25 years ago? If you were a Justice League International fan, you were treated to the first on-panel appearance of the tiny Pacific island KooeyKooeyKooey 25 years ago today.

Justice League International #33

One month later, KooeyKooeyKooey would be the home of the ill-fated Club JLI, a Justice League-themed resort and casino. Club JLI was built by funds embezzled from the United Nations and was robbed by future Leaguer Major Disaster, but neither of those problems were what ultimately doomed it. But you probably know all about that already.

(If you don't, find yourself copies of Justice League International #33, #34, and #35, or the 2011 reprint in Justice League International Volume 6).

(And if you miss the madcap adventures of Blue and Gold, be sure to pick up the duo's return in Justice League 3000 #12 on December 3.)

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Following TGB's weekend comments over his feelings about Giffen & DeMatteis' take on Booster Gold (as detailed here), I decided to look through the old "Justice Log" letter columns for examples of people who felt the same way about G/D's original run. It didn't take too long to find this in the letter pages for JLA #38:

TGB, maybe it will make you feel any better to know that some people have shared your opinion for 20 years.

[The response was written, presumably, by Andy Helfer, editor of Justice League America at the time. JLA #34 was the infamous KooeyKooeyKooey incident. Coincidentally or not, JLA #38 was the first issue following Booster's original resignation from the League.]

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tiggerpete posted on Sep. 2, 2010 at 6:03 PM
and here's the kicker, this is pre-internet, shocking when you realize that this is nearly identical to various forum posts that you can come across on both sides of a given issue
Fanboys=consistently upset about something since the beginning of letter columns
I believe the saying goes "you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time"

 Boosterrific [Official Comment] posted on Sep. 3, 2010 at 4:13 AM
The more things change....

Harry posted on Sep. 3, 2010 at 9:36 AM
G&D are divisive writers. To create humor, they are often left to disparaging one or more characters (or at least portraying them in a less than flattering light). Many fans are protective of their favorites and many others are resistant to their comics being "silly". When I was collecting this comics, I must admit that I cringed several times at B&G's antics. It made the characters targets for mockery by my friends (and by proxy, me as well for being a fan). But it also created fans that adored the characters and who would defend them (and G&D). Polarization of the fanbase may not be the way to universal acceptance and top ten sales... but it could be the way to consistently selling 20k issues over 5-10 years. I would hate to see BG regress to immaturity. But I would hate to seem him stagnate as a character. I intend to do my best to enjoy the ride.

TGB posted on Sep. 3, 2010 at 11:34 PM
And it isn't just that - it's become so darned formulaic. Look through each G&D issue and about 1/2 to 2/3s of the way through it, they have Booster monologue about how it isn't right for him to be there, how he's changed so much over time, how they weren't REALLY idiots but were content to let people think so... It's like it's their way of justifying it all. The problem is that here you have polarization of a relatively small fanbase. BG was selling around 20k before the change... does dividing the fanbase keep it at 20k?

 Boosterrific [Official Comment] posted on Sep. 3, 2010 at 11:45 PM
Just for you, TGB (this was going to be a future post, but you can have it now -- happy Labor Day!), from JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #24:

See? They were using the fun-loving dudes excuse even back in 1989. [Again, this is presumably editor Andy Helfer responding.]

Eyz posted on Sep. 7, 2010 at 6:30 AM
Oh..the letter... XD
I'd say (well, that's an old letter, but I'd say this anyway) get Beetle & Gold out of the book so I'll only have to buy their adventures instead of the whole JL! :P
And give them a cartoon show, and a movie, and--

Justin Garrett Blum posted on Sep. 16, 2010 at 3:54 PM
I know there are a lot of people who still feel this way about those old issues of JLI--they carry a grudge to this day about the Bwa-ha-ha league. I've never really been a fan of the Justice League in general, so I think G&D's stuff is classic, since I actually cared about the characters for a change, more so than I really cared about the adventures (which isn't to say that G&D didn't do some interesting arcs).

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