Not so long ago, someone asked me if I could make a list of the best Booster Gold stories that weren't in Booster Gold or Justice League series. That was on my mind as I was compiling the Boosterrific list of "featured" stories I mentioned in Monday's post. The answer is: it's a short list.

3. Action Comics #933-998 (2018)
2. Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1 (2005)
1. 52 #1-52 (2006)

Almost every other great Booster Gold story takes place in his self-titled series or alongside his Justice League super friends. Which, let me emphasize, is not a bad thing.

My favorite Booster Gold comic is his first featured JLI appearance, Justice League #4. I always get a kick out of his misadventures on KooeyKooeyKooey with Blue Beetle in Justice League America #34 and as the field general of the Conglomerate in Justice League Quarterly #1. And what Booster booster doesn't love the work creator Dan Jurgens has done filling Michael Jon Carter's life with supporting characters like as Broderick, as seen in Booster Gold Volume 1, #18?

If you're looking for the best Booster Gold adventures outside the usual places, read the books I listed above. They're good, I promise. But please remember to enjoy Booster Gold wherever you find him. He rarely disappoints.

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Via Twitter.com, Dan Jurgens finally has confirmed the identity of the mysterious woman we saw on the originally solicited cover to the 2012 New 52 relaunch of the Justice League International #1.

To refresh your memory, here is the originally solicited cover, with the woman in Black, on the left and the published cover, with Godiva, on the right:

Art by Aaron Lopresti

Alexandra Gianopoulos was introduced in Booster Gold #45 when Booster quite literally fell into her bed in the "Flashpoint" timeline. Her power was the ability to "borrow" the power of anyone she touched, similar to Rogue of the X-Men. Despite also appearing on the published cover of Justice League International #5, Gianopoulos has never actually made the transition from the Flashpoint timeline to mainstream DCnU continuity.

Thanks to @Cyberjaeger for asking the question that finally resolved this longstanding mystery.

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"Blue and Gold." It's a simple phrase that means silly good times and brotherhood.

Blue Beetle and Booster Gold have been best friends since their earliest days together in the Justice League International, and fans soon took to the shorthand way to reference their unique brand of bromantic hijinks as "Blue and Gold" in letter columns and on issue covers. But when did the phrase first appear within the DC Universe itself?

That's the question that Brian Cronin, long the best part of the website now known as CBR.com, recently answered in his "When We First Met" series.

The answer: Justice League America #53, as spoken by Blue Beetle himself.

words by J. M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen
art by Chris Wozniak, Bruce D. Patterson, Gene D'Angelo, and Willie Schubert

Actually, the article says it first appears in Justice League America #52, but I just looked into my own long boxes, and I'm certain it was #53. To be fair, the image accompanying the text is for #53, and #53 was indeed the first issue of the "Breakdowns" story as indicated. So we're going to chalk it up to an accidental typo.

Forgiveness is very "Blue and Gold."

UPDATE: Cronin has corrected his typo. Making up for your past mistakes is also very "Blue and Gold."

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Earlier this week, the original art for the splash page of Justice League International #9 (1987) went up for sale. It's free to look, but if you want to own this beauty by Kevin Maguire and Al Gordon, you'll need $4,500!

If you've got the cash, you'll find a "Buy It Now" button on ComicArtFans.com.

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If you were buying DC Comics in the mid-90s, you might remember the company's trend of having a single story conceit linking all their summer annuals. In 1996, the theme was "Legends of the Dead Earth," a series of Elseworlds-style imaginary stories considering how DC's heroes might live on in the far future.

Most of these stories featured legacy heroes, but Justice League America Annual #10 took a different tack. While its story, "The Alliance" by Christopher Priest, did take place in the far future, its central hero and villains were all active Justice League members of the time. Max Lord, Captain Atom, and, yes, Booster Gold all play central roles, as illustrated in original art from the issue that is now being sold on eBay.com for a very reasonable price.

Pencils by Sergio Cariello, Inks by Nick J. Napolitano

Given that the big bad is Maxwell Lord and the Justice League of the future were "volunteers" with altered DNA, this annual might have been more than a little influential in stories that would come along years later in Countdown to Infinite Crisis and Justice League 3000.

It is also the first time Booster wore a costume with an asymmetrically placed star!

For either of those reasons, it might not be a bad issue to own some original art from.

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