The third Booster Gold comic released on September 15, 1987 was Justice League International #9, which contained events explicitly taking place immediately after Millennium #1 (also released on September 15).

As it happens, for several reasons, not the least of which was limited funding, I didn't buy every Justice League International comic the week it was released. But it happens that I did buy this one because it tied into Millennium #1. (So I'm living proof that major crossover events sell books, I guess.)

I mention that because at the time, page 3 was my favorite page simply for the reason that I always thought it was cool that Blue Beetle was able to put out a cry for help with his breath on a window.

But my tastes have changed. These days, I have a different favorite page... for two specific reasons. One of those reasons will be immediately self-evident to all Booster boosters who lay eyes on it:

See? Booster Gold is just the coolest. (Golly, I love those panels 3-6 of reaction shots zooming in closer and closer to the eyes before the big reveal that it was Booster Gold who saved the day.... just in time for Blue Beetle to bring our arrogant hero back down to Earth! What a wonderful sequence.)

The second — and considerably nerdier — reason I love this page is how wrong it is.

What you see above is the page as it appeared in more modern reprints on higher quality paper. You can see that the re-colorist (presumably using the original color master?) maintained the coloring mistakes that the late, great Gene D'Angelo unintentionally made in the original newsprint publication, such as Booster's flesh-colored star and Martian Manhunter wearing Booster's pants.

When the same issue was republished just a few years ago in Justice League International: Born Again, the page coloring was corrected, but washing out the existing color from scans of the original resulted in thinner blacks. The overall effect is a page that actually looks worse despite the "correction." (Leave D'Angelo's work alone!)

And both of those reprints have eliminated one of my favorite details: the page number! In the original publication, this is clearly marked "14" in the lower left corner. Why did it go away when other pages have maintained their in-art numbering?

(Side note: As a chronicler, I love page numbers! Please, please, please, bring back page numbers, DC!)

All of these little idiosyncrasies plus a badass Booster Gold moment add up to make page 14 (numbered or not) my favorite page of the issue.

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Last week's "favorite page" subject was Action Comics #594, which ended on a cliffhanger. But today's featured comic isn't the continuation of that story. No, we'll get to Booster Gold #23 later.

Released a week before BG #23 was was the unrelated, standalone Justice League International #8, perhaps best known as the first appearance of what would become the JLI's signature catchphrase: "bwah-ha-ha!"

Even more significantly, it's also the dawn of what will become the DC Universe's greatest comedy double act. Do you know who I'm talking about?

Although Booster Gold and Blue Beetle had both been members of the JLI for a couple of months, this issue is where the bromance really begins. As you can see, their relationship was built on a foundation of mutual respect.

Bwah-ha-ha, indeed.

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Three things today:

Thing 1: Although I don't normally watch movie trailers — they lie! — I made an exception for the upcoming Blue Beetle, which for legal reasons isn't titled Blue Spider-Man. I was thinking to myself, "This isn't for me," when the trailer gave me this:

The Bug! That is definitely for me. I still doubt we'll be seeing Booster Gold onscreen in that movie, but the trailer now makes me think we'll definitely be some Booster Gold Easter Eggs. We'll find out more in August.

Thing 2: This is only tangentially related to Booster Gold, but Mark Russell, writer of Booster Gold / The Flintstones Special team-up, has launched a Kickstarter to sell his own book of cartoons, Bunkbed Mishaps. One of the reward tiers includes a signed copy of The Flintstones: The Deluxe Edition collection with reprints the aforementioned team-up.

Full disclosure: I'm a big fan of all of Russell's writing (everything from God Is Disappointed in You to My Bad), so of course I'll be buying Bunkbed Mishaps. If you're interested in learning more about his latest project (or getting your hands on a signed Booster Gold comic), you'll find info at Kickstarter.com.

Thing 3: While we're on the subject of things I will be buying on Kickstarter, I might as well go ahead and throw my public support behind Karl Kesel's latest Impossible Jones comic book. Maybe you know Kesel as the creator of the Connor Kent incarnation of Superboy, but Booster boosters should always remember that he inked the fantastic story "When Titans Date" in Justice League Quarterly #10 (where Booster Gold and his fellow leaguers spy on Ted Kord's dinner date).

In addition to being a lot of fun to read, Kesel's Impossible Jones character raises similar ethical questions about what it means to steal your way to being a "hero" as a certain Michael "Booster" Carter. You can read more about her latest adventure, Impossible Jones and American A.N.G.E.L., on Kickstarter.com.

Okay, that's enough shilling for today. You may now resume your regularly scheduled ad-free Internet browsing.

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I woke up yesterday to find this very important email from Marty:

Booster sighted in Superman's story in DC's Legion of Bloom anthology! He and Beetle seem to have summoned imp versions of themselves, making Superman's day just a little bit more annoying.

Sure enough, here's the panel:

Ooh, that's a good panel. Good enough to get me to buy a full book!

(Full disclosure: I was already going to buy the book because it has a Captain Carrot story in it. Although, come to think of it, I buy all the DC anthology books because I'm a sucker for short stories. So from that point of view, getting a bonus Booster Gold panel is icing on the cake. If anthology books were slot machines, I won!)

Obviously, Marty interprets "chibi" Blue and Gold to be 5th-dimensional imps. And it's certainly true that Mr. Mxyzptlk makes several appearances in Dave Weilgosz's (delightful) 10-page story Superman story.

However, I interpret these two as the Blue and Gold from Earth-42. The Li'l Justice League played a significant role in Grant Morrison's 2015 Multiplicity event, and they returned to action as recently as 2020's DC' Very Merry Multiverse. We've not seen the Booster Gold and Blue Beetle from that world before, but Booster is certainly capable of traveling through the Multiverse, so... why not now?

Whatever the case, thanks to Marty for being sure all Booster boosters can all enjoy the latest Blue and Gold (and Blue and Gold) hijinks!

Buy this issue and make Skeets happy! (Is there a chibi Skeets? There has to be, right?)

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I got not one but two emails this week telling me that I missed a Booster Gold appearance in the backup story in last week's Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #6.

And here's the panel to prove it:

If you're wondering what the context is for that panel, I can't help you. I've read the comic cover to cover and still have no idea what's going on. But I have to admit that's one pretty amusing panel.

Thanks to Jace and Marty for bringing it to my attention.

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