Superman #66 was released on February 18, 1992. It's a big issue featuring the conclusion of the battle between Earth's heroes and Brainiac's Warworld. The whole story was called "Panic in the Sky!" and has been reprinted in a collection by the same name twice.

The "Panic in the Sky" event is notable for several reasons, the biggest being that it filled a bit of a gap in Justice League history. At the time, the league was on something of a hiatus following the "Breakdowns" storyline. It would be rebooted the following month with an infusion of more members from the classic roster in Justice League Spectacular #1 (also written by Dan Jurgens), but in the meantime, it was up to Superman to gather the heroes when Brainiac threatened the earth.

(It also happens to share a title with a classic 1953 episode of television's Adventures of Superman. The theme of that episode, in which a heavenly body is hurling towards Earth, and our planet's imminent destruction can only be stopped by Superman, is echoed here.)

Booster plays a small role in the ensemble cast. In this issue he has not a single line of dialogue. He doesn't even make it onto Dan Jurgens' paired covers for this and the previous issue.

But that's not to say that Booster plays no role. Teamwork and trust are at the heart of this event, and Booster Gold has always made an effective team player thanks to his impenetrable force field and desire to earn the respect of his peers. This event introduces him to Maxima, his future Extreme Justice teammate, and Infinity Man, a criminally underused member of Jack Kirby's Fourth World. Count on Booster Gold to use Earth's impending destruction to build his social network.

"Panic in the Sky!" isn't groundbreaking. In many ways, it is the very definition of a mainstream American super hero comic. That's not always a bad thing.

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Mike Cecchini interviewed Dan Jurgens at San Diego Comic-Con for Den of Geek. Of course, the topic of Booster Gold came up, including Jurgens' reaction to Tom King's "The Gift" story in Batman.

Den of Geek: You are also known as the creator of Booster Gold, and Booster has been absent from the DC Universe the last couple of years until that story that came towards the end of your run on Action Comics. What was it like revisiting Booster yet again, and are we ever going to see him again, or see you working on him again?

Dan Jurgens: Well, it's always fun to work on Booster Gold, and it's sort of like he comes up for a while, then he fades and comes back. Working on him in Action was a lot of fun. Watching Tom King use him in Batman was a lot of fun, and obviously Tom is using him in a new series that's coming up, called Heroes in Crisis. And, after that we'll see. Booster is, I think, this fun jovial character who is very complicated on one level, and at the same time very direct. In comics we have characters with secret identities, and all sorts of secrets they try and protect. Booster just wears it on his sleeve, and it's all out there for everybody to see, both the good and the bad, and he has plenty of faults. I think that's what makes it fun to work on Booster Gold, so yeah, hopefully out there we'll see something.

"And, after that we'll see." Booster will need something to do after Heroes in Crisis ends in March. And Green Lanterns is being cancelled in October, leaving Dan Jurgens working on only one book (Batman Beyond ). Wouldn't it be nice if we could get a creator/creation reunion in 2019?

You can read what else Jurgens had to say about his past work with Superman and his current plans for Green Lantern at denofgeek.com.

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We learned over the weekend that reclusive artist Steve Ditko died late last month. His considerable contributions to the super hero comic book genre cannot be overstated, and you can find most of them listed in the many obituaries those contributions earned him.

But so far as Booster Gold fans are concerned, Ditko's single greatest accomplishment was the creation of the second Blue Beetle for Charlton Comics.

Ditko's Beetle was the second hero by that name. Unlike his magical predecessor, Ted Kord used science and technology in his pursuit of law and order. He had only a few adventures for Chartlon Comics before moving to the DC Universe where he would eventually help found the Justice League International and meet his soon-to-be best friend, Booster Gold.

Although Ditko had nothing to do with the character after Beetle's move to DC Comics, his original idea continued to inspire. Said Booster Gold creator on Dan Jurgens on Twitter:

We certainly agree. Thank you, Steve.

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Attention, Booster boosters! Remember to wish Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens a happy birthday today. (He hides as @thedanjurgens on Twitter.)

In celebration, consider buying today's Batman Beyond #21 written by Dan Jurgens! Maybe also a copy of today's Man of Steel #5, which Jurgens had nothing to do with other than inspiring the cover with his own layouts from the now-classic 1993 Superman #75!

If we're all really, really nice to him, maybe he'll find a way to sneak Booster into Green Lanterns. (Hmm. Isn't it about time there was a gold lantern? Booster already has a ring.)

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I've noticed that Dan Jurgens has been publicly silent about Tom King's recent reinterpretation of Booster Gold. However, Booster's creator did recently speak up about Clay Mann's pencil art for the upcoming Heroes in Crisis mini-series.

That's an endorsement of sorts.

Despite the pretty art, I'm still not any more optimistic about Heroes in Crisis than I was last week. But I'm perfectly willing to admit that I'm a hard-to-please blowhard. Maybe it's time to hold a finger to the wind and test which way public opinion is blowing on this thing.

This week's poll question: What is your reaction to the news that Tom King will be writing Booster Gold as a murder suspect in the HEROES IN CRISIS mini-series? Please visit the Boosterrific Polls page to view results for this week's poll.

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