Somehow, Booster Gold doesn't appear anywhere in Millennium #2, but Millennium #3 makes up for that by dedicating several pages to our hero.

Of those, my favorite is this one, page 11, written by Steve Englehart and drawn by Joe Staton:

Somehow, Steve Englehart's characterizations of the JLI here feel much more "correct" than Len Wein's JLA we saw last week in Blue Beetle #20. Both writers had worked on Justice League comics before, in the early (Wein) and late (Englehart) 70s. It's probably worth noting that according to Englehart's own website, steveenglehart.com, he was brought on to the book in 1977 to "give the characters personalities." That tradition clearly continued into Giffen/DeMatteis's International era, where personalities were often more important than plots.

And while I'm talking Englehart, I should probably also add that although he didn't introduce the "Manhunter" characters — that credit technically belongs to Joe Simon and Jack Kirby — Englehart did introduce the concept of the Manhunters as Oan robot constructs in Justice League of America #140. So there's a direct line from Englehart's 1970s JLA to Millennium a decade later.

That concludes your comics history lesson for this week, kids. Your assignment: read more comics!

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: favorite pages joe staton justice league international millennium steve englehart

As I've been compiling this list of my favorite pages, I have avoided including books that contain less than a full page of Booster Gold. But today I'm going to make my first (and probably not last) exception to that rule for Blue Beetle #20, where Booster is visible in only three panels on page 6:

The JLI presented here feels a little... wrong. (J'onn J'onzz has his feet on the desk? Booster says "Wowzer"?) A lot of that is writer Len Wein's over-written script, but some blame has to be shared by penciller Ross Andru's Bronze Age-throwback vibe. (I admit that Andru did many things right in his long, celebrated career, but 1980s Blue Beetle belonged to Paris Cullins.)

At this point you may be asking why I am including this page of minimal, off-model Booster in my list of favorites? Because it is Booster's first appearance in a Blue Beetle comic, and that's a good enough reason for me.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: blue beetle favorite pages justice league international len wein ross andru

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.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: blue beetle favorite pages gene d'angelo justice league international millennium

Last week's featured book, Booster Gold #23, was just one of three comics with significant Booster Gold content released on September 15, 1987.

The second is Millennium #1, the first entry in a months-long event that would span the entire DC Universe. If you are familiar with Millennium, you are probably aware that it is... not especially beloved, largely because of the editorial mandate that each series being published had to tie-in, often in the most ham-fisted ways possible.

Especially in relation to Booster Gold.

But that's not the topic at hand. Even misguided comics can have fun pages. A highlight of events like these is always seeing all the heroes milling around as though they were regular partygoers at a costume party, like this crowd scene from page 14.

It's actually kind of difficult to make these overcrowded group shots work as anything other than a class photo, but here artist Joe Staton and letterer Bob Lappan manage to give the scene some life as the dialog trickles back and forth down the page. Each snippet of conversation gives the impression that we're eavesdropping on natural dialog just as the camera comes to focus on the talker (or thinker, as the case may be).

Most importantly, Booster boosters are guaranteed to enjoy a callback to the running joke of people calling our hero "Buster." It's a classic!

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: bob lappan buster gold favorite pages joe stanton millennium

Booster Gold #23 is the last adventure of Booster's first volume untainted by editorially-mandated connections to the mega-crossover Millennium event. In hindsight, that makes this comedic exchange between Superman and Booster Gold from page 19 even more poignant.

Pay particular attention to how the content of individual panels flows down and across the page as the scene gradually transitions from the victorious heroes on the top of the building who shrink down to a worm's eye view the giant head of villainous mastermind Lex Luthor at page bottom. The use of a Dutch angle perspective at the page bottom even leads the reader's eye back up the page to reinforce Luthor's contrast with smiling Superman! What a nice finishing touch.

Dan Jurgens' greatest artistic strength has always been laying out dynamic action scenes that enhance a story's narrative flow, and that's perfectly on display here.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: dan jurgens favorite pages lex luthor superman