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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The Fire and Water Podcast Network has recently added to their lineup! DC RPG: The Hero Points Podcast, by Siskoid of the famous Blog of Geekery, has already reached its fourth episode in which they covered the 1990 Justice League Sourcebook with Booster Gold on the cover.

That beautiful cover is by Kevin Maguire and Joe Rubinstein. But it's also worth looking at the back cover, with a pull quote attributed to our hero.

While the covers are nice, most who bought this sourcebook did so for the role-playing content inside. The book even includes stats for role playing as the Capitalist Crusader!

You can find scans of those pages or listen to the podcast at FireAndWaterPodcast.com. Keep up the good work, guys.

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Last week, Ariel dropped by the Boosterrific Facebook page to tell us that the website that used to be Comic Book Resources but is now a series of lists has included both volumes of Booster Gold on Gary Smith's "The 15 Best JLI Books Ever."

Despite the title, the list is actually 17 titles long. (Because lists.) But of those 17 titles, 9 feature a strong Booster Gold presence:

17. Extreme Justice

16. Justice League International, Volume 3

8. Justice League 3000/3001

7. Justice League: Generation Lost

6. Formerly Known as the Justice League

4. Booster Gold, Volume 1

3. Booster Gold, Volume 2

2. "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League" in JLA Classified

1. Justice League International, Volume 1

If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that it's almost impossible to have a Justice League International without Booster Gold. That's a pretty good legacy.

To read what Smith had to say about each title, visit CBR.com. Thanks to Ariel for sorting through the lists and bring this to our attention.

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