Last week, Kevin Maguire unveiled the full wraparound cover for the upcoming hardcover Justice League International Omnibus cover on Twitter. It's a doozy!

You can click the pic above to go to Twitter for a bigger pic, but I've cropped the best bit for you here:

When it was originally solicited waaaay back in March as the Justice League by Giffen and DeMatteis Omnibus, it looked like this collection would reuse Maguire's famous "crowded elevator" cover from Justice League #1. I'm glad they changed it. While the cover to JL #1 was great, it wasn't golden!

The omnibus will collect most of the first four years of the Justice League International era, including many classic Blue and Gold hijinks. You'll find it in your Local Comic Shop on October 17.

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Believe it or not, once upon a time, Booster Gold was such a big star that he could sell comics he wasn't in just by appearing on the cover! Backwards!

Take, for example, Secret Origins #32, released 29 years ago today.

art by Eric Shanower

This issue presents the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths origin of the Justice League of America (which was differentiated from the original origin by the substitution of Black Canary for Wonder Woman).

The Justice League International was super hot at the time, so although the only links between the two teams were Canary and Martian Manhunter, the JLI was still given prime cover real estate to sell the story to new readers unfamiliar with DCU history.

There's no reason this strategy couldn't be used to sell old stories to a modern audience today. I speak only for myself, but I'd be much happier buying a comic showcasing Damian Wayne (Robin V) if he appeared only on the cover.

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Once upon a time, Booster Gold appeared quite regularly in the annual crossover events uniting the DCU. For example, it was just 25 years ago today that Booster Gold appeared in a supporting role in Action Comics Annual #4.

Words by Dan Vado, Art by Chris Wozniak and a team of inkers

Back then, Booster and other members of the Justice League International were on the scene to try and free Superman from the clutches of Eclipso. These days that job would go exclusively to Batman, because... well, Batman.

It might be interesting to note that Blue Beetle wasn't with the rest of the Justice League for this mission (he had gone missing in the JLA Annual the previous month). That is consistent with the approach to the character taken by the current Blue Beetle series.

According to writer Kieth Giffen in an interview with Vaneta Rogers for Newsarama.com, the modern "rebirth" incarnation of Ted Kord was never a member of any Justice League. But Giffen also says that the events of Justice League 3000 are in Blue Beetle's future. JL3k was openly stated to take place in the same continuity as the original Justice League International stories. So . . . I have no idea what all that means for the current status of Blue and Gold.

Congratulations, DC. I'm not even trying to make sense of your continuity anymore.

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On this day seven years ago, DC released Justice League: Generation Lost #1. It was a good story, proving that the "Bwah-Ha-Ha" era Justice League was more than just a bunch of clowns. They were a family who, even when the chips were down, always got the job done. (Eventually.)

The ending of this popular, year-long series promised us a new Justice League International only to see the events of "Flashpoint" erase this story from history one month later. (I still haven't forgiven Barry Allen.) The Justice League International of the New 52 technically fulfilled that promise, but that team had nothing to do with the one, true JLI.

Oh, well. We still have our back issues.

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If you think about it, we owe the longevity of our hero to the success of 1987's Justice League reboot which launched 30 years ago yesterday.

Although Dan Jurgens created a unique and endearing character in Michael "Booster" Carter, it was the character's inclusion in J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen's reboot of DC's flagship team (and specifically his relationship with Blue Beetle) that cemented Booster Gold's place in the DCU. Without the JLI, Booster Gold probably would have faded to the same sort of neverland as other lesser known DC characters like Geo-Force or Blue Devil.

In celebration of the anniversary, the Irredeemable Shag interviewed DeMatteis for a very special edition of the Justice League International: Bwah-Ha-Ha Podcast. The writer admitted that Booster Gold held a unique place in the series.

Shag: Favorite JLI members. Give me like two or three.

DeMatteis: Well, Beetle and Booster for sure. Because in so many ways, they're the heart and soul of the book. ... I love the banter, and I love that we continued to play with them.

We love it too!

You can find the whole podcast interview, which covers the JLI from their inception, through their name changes, and into the year 3000, at fireandwaterpodcast.com.

Something tells me we'll still be celebrating the JLI when it's 60th anniversary rolls around. In every medium, great entertainment endures.

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