This series is intended to address all of Booster Gold's comics in the order of their publication, yet so far, I've only covered issues of Booster Gold Volume 1. I've skipped spotlighting issues of New Teen Titans, The Outsiders, and the earliest issues of Justice League because Booster doesn't appear on a full page's worth of panels.

Now, at last, we come to Booster's first significant appearance outside of his own title. It also happens to be my single favorite Booster Gold comic story of all time and the number one entry in my list of the Twelve Best Booster Gold Stories Ever. If you read the title to this post, you already know I'm talking about Justice League #4.

I can (and have) looked at this book all day. But if I could look at only one page of panels from Justice League #4, it would be the only page one with a smiling Batman.

I like how Batman's smile dawns after the line break, but I especially love that Booster's head turn in the final panel builds tension while leading to the single panel on the second page of this two-page spread, where artist Kevin Maguire gives us this:

Yeah, Justice League #4 is a Boosterrific comic, even if I do say so myself.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: batman favorite pages justice league international kevin maguire

Here, for your nostalgic end-of-year reading enjoyment, are the 5 most-read Boosterrific.com blog posts of 2022:

5. Friday, September 4: My Favorite Pages: Booster Gold 8
In which we take a look at my favorite page of Booster Gold's maiden flight from Booster Gold Volume 1, #8, which not coincidentally was also the original homepage image map for Boosterrific.com when the site launched in 2007. (Fifteen years of Boosterrific.com? Could that be possible?)

4. Monday, August 29: I Did Not Steal This Gif
In which we admire an animated gif of Joe Carlo's Funko digital Blue and Gold epic Non-Fungible Token.

3. Wednesday, August 24: Teen Titans Speak!
In which we talk about hearing Booster Gold speak for the first time in the seventh season of Teen Titans GO!. To actually hear Booster Gold speak (or, more accurately, hear Fred Tatasciore speak as Booster Gold), you'll have to visit CartoonNetwork.com.

2. Wednesday, November 23: Coming Soon: Lazarus Planet Omega
In which we reveal Booster Gold on the David Marquez cover to the final issue of DC's first 2023 event series, Lazarus Planet: Omega #1, expected to arrive in your Local Comic Shop this February 21.

1. Wednesday, January 27: New Release: Human Target 4
In which we read other people talking about Booster Gold in Human Target #4, a book Booster doesn't actually appear in. Nearly a year later, we're still waiting for issue #10 of that 12-issue mini-series. Originally solicited for a December 27 release, the book and its Booster Gold-including alternate cover is now scheduled for January 10. Better late than never!

Here's to another Boosterrific year in 2023!

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: blog favorite pages human target lazarus planet lists recap

Booster Gold #18 is pure crime noir. The issue protagonist isn't Booster, but dogged policeman-out-of-time Broderick, who discovers almost too late that his concept of Justice may not be absolute. It's genuinely heartbreaking.

It helps that Jurgens the Artist masterfully supplements Jurgens the Writer with cinematic chiaroscuro shadows and and smooth panel transitions accompanying the world-weary narrative voiceover. It's almost a shame that the comic is printed in color! (Although Gene D'Angelo's midnight blue alleys, florescent green store interiors, and emergency-vehicle reds really are all perfectly executed.)

All of which makes it really hard to pick just one page to be my favorite.

I sure like the acrobatic routine on page 1. And if I didn't care to spoil the ending, I might say the best page is the last one. But better than those is this slow-burn close up establishing shot on page 6:

Most Booster boosters would say that Booster Gold #18 is the single best issue of Booster Gold volume 1. And I'm not going to argue with them. That's why I chose it as one of my Twelve Best Booster Gold Stories Ever.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: broderick favorite pages

One of the biggest cliches in American superhero stories is that the superheroes are often, by default, champions of the status quo. But what if the status is not quo? Should superheroes be using their powers to build a better world? That question is at the heart of Booster Gold #17.

The issue themes will be familiar to fans of Roger Moore's James Bond: A mad scientist plans to improve the world by killing a bunch of people, and the Americans and Russians stand on opposite sides advocating for their own interests while a lone hero struggles against all odds to save the day.

The Russian agent is the amoral mercenary Cheshire. The issue's interesting twist is that the American agent is also a villain; the superhero Hawk's good intentions have become warped by his political ideology. Caught in the middle is Metropolis' own Corporate Crusader, Booster Gold, who is just trying to mitigate the collateral damage.

When it all builds to a head, Booster is forced to play his opponents' hardline games against them with a bluff that only an unknown wildcard could hope to pull off, as seen in this very dramatic sequence of panels:

Can superheroes make the world a better place? Booster Gold is still fighting to find out.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: capitalism cheshire communism favorite pages hawk

Booster Gold #16 is peak 1980s. From the "Greed is Good"-era mock corporate advertising on the cover to Booster's Miami Vice white suit with untied high-top kicks and short-cropped hair, this thing oozes day-glow and Rubik's cubes.

And while I do love all that stuff — after all, I am a child of the 80s who grew up with Knight Rider and Transformers — the page I appreciate the most in this issue is the throwback to the Silver and Bronze Ages of comics when readers were treated to cutaway views of important places like the Batcave or the Fortress of Solitude.

Meet the Booster Gold International Mansion (with garage and helipad in back)!

Check out that American Flag in the Entertainment and Press Room! Rambo couldn't have done it better.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: booster gold international cutaway diagram favorite pages headquarters