Just last week, my chronological collection of favorite pages touched on Justice League International #11. That book was published on November 10, 1987. The following week, Booster appears (mutely) in exactly two panels of the frame story on page 2 of Blue Beetle #22. Two weeks after that, he is in just one panel of a previous issue recap in Action Comics #598. A week later, Booster is depicted in five panels across the 22 pages of Justice League International #12 — three of those in flashbacks!

Which finally brings us to Justice League International #13... which has Booster in exactly 6 panels. Why am I giving you a favorite page from this book and not those others? Although he is rarely seen or heard, Booster's role here is larger than a simple drop-in, drop-out cameo. He's present with his Justice League teammates as the action rises steadily towards the adventure's climax that will play out in Suicide Squad #13, and Booster has a more sizeable part in that melee. So even though Booster's role in Justice League International #13 is limited, it's not insignificant.

But it's not significant enough to make my favorite page.

That's page 8, and it really illustrates what I like best about Keith Giffen's very stylized art (ably aided by Al Gordon's confident inks and Gene D'Angelo's strong color) comprised almost entirely of close-ups and heavy shadows. Maybe Watchmen made me a sucker for the rigid 9-panel layout, but I especially love how Giffen uses it to create three horizontal triptychs — Rule of Three raised to the third power! — to ratchet up both the comedy and the drama. Very well done.

Tune in next time to finally see a Booster Gold panel in Suicide Squad #13!

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: favorite pages justice league international keith giffen

I had no idea what to post today. Booster isn't in any new comics, isn't expected to be in any upcoming comics, isn't in the news. He'd be furious.

But not all is lost. There's still plenty of great Booster Gold content out there if you know where to look. For example, these delights are on DeviantArt.com:

Toks Solarin

Heads Up Studios

Hernan Cabrera

Booster may be missing in action, but he still has some pretty great (and talented) fans out there!

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: deviantart.com fan art heads up studios hernan cabrera toks solarin

New Booster booster Zach — Hi, Zach! Thanks for reading! — emailed me over the weekend to ask

I'm wondering for a tv series what were you hoping to see? Like what plot line and villains - and who should the other characters be?

My answer, Zach, is that my expectations are very low. I'm not really hoping for anything other than a characterization that I can recognize as Booster Gold.

You might not think that's a high bar, but seeing live-action characters who accurately reflect the personalities of their printed counterparts is rarer than you might think. For example, the Oliver Queen of CW's Arrow didn't have much overlap with the Green Arrow of Justice League of America comics. Don't even get me started on what James Gunn did to Peacemaker and Vigilante who are similar to their original comic book counterparts in name only.

I recognize that television (and movie) audiences are much larger than comic book audiences, and those non-comic readers don't much care about what happened in the comics. So adaptations for different media are completely understandable. I just don't want that to happen to my hero.

Likewise, while I'd like to see Trixie Collins or Michelle Carter, I only want them in there if they are comics accurate. And I really don't care who plays them. I prefer actors I don't recognize, but I'm not particularly good with faces anyway, so unless they cast, say, Tom Cruise, to play Booster, I'm probably okay with whomever.

When it comes to villains or plots, I'd kind of like to see something entirely new, partly because I like to be surprised, but maybe mostly so that I won't be irritated when they get something "wrong." If they decided to retell the first 12 issues of Booster Gold Volume 1, that'll be fine with me, so long as it means that they throw some money to the story's original writer and Booster's creator, Dan Jurgens. Since there would be no Booster Gold without Jurgens, that only seems fair.

I hope that answers your questions, Zach.

Comments (7) | Add a Comment | Tags: television zach

Given that I'm calling this series "My Favorite Pages," I feel beholden to only present my favorite page from an issue. And sometimes my favorite page of an issue with Booster Gold in it doesn't have Booster Gold on it.

Such is the case for Justice League International #11.

This is the first Justice League issue to include Booster since he betrayed the team during Millennium, so it's no great surprise that he plays a minor role here. Even if Booster didn't provide much material support for the Manhunter's cause and did ultimately help the heroes triumph, you can't exactly blame the rest of the league for no longer trusting the guy.

In fact, it will be a few months yet before Booster plays any significant role in another Justice League adventure. In the meantime, we always have Blue Beetle.

Yes, Manhunter. I enjoyed it very much.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: blue beetle favorite pages justice league international

Last week's blog post featuring a page from Justice League Task Force encouraged Booster booster Ian to reach out with a pretty Boosterrific accompanying pic:

[B]rother made it for me for my birthday last September, so it's almost a year old now, I know it's missing an arm but he ran out of clay! Though it wouldn't be the first time booster was missing an arm!

Wow! All my brother has given me in the past decade is grief.

Thanks, Ian. Any family member who gives the gift of Booster Gold is definitely a keeper.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: fan art ian sculpture