Remember the good old days when Booster Gold was leading his own team of international heroes? No, not the Nu52 Justice League International. I'm talking a team of real heroes. I'm talking about the Conglomerate.

Back in 1991, the original Justice League International was falling apart over Max Lord's apparent death (his first second of many; the man has more lives than Resurrection Man). Meanwhile the corporately-owned Conglomerate was a stable, productive organization, thanks in no small part to Booster Gold's sterling leadership.

With the JLI disbanded, Blue Beetle felt sure he could turn to his best bud and roommate Booster Gold for a hand up. Too bad for Beetle, the Conglomerate's corporate sponsors had some pretty high standards for admission.

Guess who got to break the bad news?

Poor Booster. Sometimes it's no fun to be the boss.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: blue beetle conglomerate history justice league international

Fire and Ice had cornered Lady Shiva beside the loading docks. With the rest of the Justice League International elsewhere hunting Deathstroke the Terminator, it was up to Bea and Tora to apprehend the most dangerous martial artist in the DC Universe. Two against one, and Shiva doesn't even have any metagene powers. It should be easy, right? Wrong.

Unbeknownst to our heroines, Lady Shiva was not alone. As Fire and Ice were discovering the truth behind Lady Shiva's hard-earned reputation, they were also being stalked by David Cain, another world-class assassin. Cain had Fire and Ice square in the sights of his sniper rifle. His finger tightened on the trigger, preparing to loose the bullet that would permanently snuff out Fire's green flame.

A streak of blue and gold unexpectedly sliced through the sky, a nigh-impenetrable force field intercepting the bullet's path! Blue Beetle and Booster Gold had arrived to save the day!

One well-aimed duo attack BB Gun and Booster Shot blast later, Lady Shiva was down for the count! Having felled Deathstroke single-handedly, Batman soon arrived out of the shadows to KO Cain. Assassins apprehended, the JLI could consider their latest adventure a rousing success!

The above adventure has never been published in a DC Comic. Nor was it an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold or even a piece of Internet fan-fiction. No, that's a summary of a 300-point game of WizKids' Heroclix that I played this past weekend.

Justice League #001 Batman, 75 points
Brave and the Bold #052 Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, 82 points
Brave and the Bold #050 Fire and Ice, 131 points
Armor Piercing on Fire and Ice, 10 points

VERSUS

Batman: Streets of Gotham #038 David Cain, 76 points
Batman: Streets of Gotham #040 Deathstroke, 147 points
Batman: Streets of Gotham #039 Lady Shiva, 67 points
Armor Piercing on David Cain, 10 points

The New 52 may have erased the classic JLI from existence, but so long as we don't forget our heroes, they'll always be having new adventures with us.

Comments (3) | Add a Comment | Tags: heroclix justice league international

After posting about Extreme Justice on Friday, I went back and read all 19 issues of the series this weekend. Since the series is commonly derided as one of the worst (if not the worst) Justice League ongoing series of all time, it made me wonder how it compares to the latest failed Justice League series, Dan Jurgens' nu-Justice League International.

Art: Let's get this one out of the way. There is no comparison between the traditionally naturalistic drawings of JLI's Lopresti/Ryan team and the fitfully stylized work of Marc Campos and Tom Morgan in EJ. The Extreme Justice art gets worse every time I look at it. Advantage: JLI.

Line-Up: EJ: Amazing Man, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Carol Ferris, Firestorm, Maxima, Plastique. JLI: Booster Gold, Batman, Fire, Ice, Guy Gardner... need I go on? Advantage: JLI.

Action: In 12 Dan Jurgens JLI issues, the team is formed and fights domestic terrorists, rogue Firestorms, and aliens. In 19 Dan Vados and Robert Washington III EJ issues, the team is formed, fights domestic terrorists, rogue Firestorms, and aliens. EJ also found time to battle Monarch, Star Sapphire, the Wonder Twins, and the Legion of Doom. Advantage: EJ.

Characterization: In EJ, Booster Gold regains his business fortune and gains the benefits of Millennium, Maxima finds interracial love with Amazing Man, and Captain Atom discovers that he is not who he thinks he is. Firestorm gets cancer, cures cancer, becomes a super-model and an alcoholic. Only Blue Beetle goes unexplored. In JLI, the only element that hints at growth for any character is a teased budding romance between Booster Gold and Godiva that is never resolved. Oh yeah, and a Rocket Red dies. Advantage: EJ.

Sales: Both series were under-performing sellers ultimately cancelled not because of their sales figures but to make way for other Justice League series. Advantage: even.

Legacy: Although the Wonder Twins eventually found their way into Young Justice, most of the events of EJ may as well have happened outside of DCU continuity. It's too soon to tell what JLI's legacy is, but given that so little happened over the course of 12 issues, it's hard to imagine that people will look back on these events as precursors of stories to come. Advantage: even.

Skeets (tiebreaker category!): In EJ, we get to see Skeets and in JLI we don't. Advantage: EJ.

As I count it, Extreme Justice comes out slightly ahead. Whether that means Extreme Justice is better than its reputation or whether the New 52 Justice League International was downright bad, you can be the judge.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: extreme justice justice league international reboot reviews

Remember Justice League International Volume 3? It seems like forever since it was cancelled and then resurrected in that wretched annual just so that Dan Didio could dance on its ashes. DC has finally gotten around to collecting the last of it into a trade.

Justice League International Volume 2: Breakdown is to be released today. (How long has it been since I've run a "New Releases" item?) The trade collects Justice League International Vol. 3, #7-12, The Fury of Firestorm, The Nuclear Men #9, and Justice League International Annual #1.

Although the volume will sell for a very reasonable $16.99, I don't think you'll find many who will recommend this volume. I suspect that reading Dan Jurgens' glacially-paced story crawl to its inevitable heat-death conclusion only to find that story largely ignored and contradicted in the included Annual will probably be even more dissatisfying than reading the episodic issues with a forced, monthly cooling-off period between each issue.

What I'm trying to say, ladies and gentlemen, is that I have read Extreme Justice. Extreme Justice was a friend of mine. And the stories in this trade are no Extreme Justice.

Read at your own risk.

Comments (3) | Add a Comment | Tags: justice league international new releases

Now that we're past Christmas, popular media will devote the rest of the year to retrospective lists for 2012. Booster Gold fan and comic-book blogger Erin of Exploring the Time Lab has gotten a head start with her own superlatives list. She saves her biggest gripe for last:

Worst Book of the Year: Justice League International Annual. I could have made this the worst character derailment but this comic was worse than that. The writers ignored most of the actual comic series itself which felt like a big screw you to the readers. I try not to see things like that but think about it. As someone that invested time and money on the relaunch series since #1, that enjoyed the characters then told none of that mattered. Having all of that sweep under the rug to do their own take and totally destroy the team. Not only did it feel like an insult to the fans but I can't help feeling bad for Jurgens who had his work ignored. At least Countdown to Infinite Crisis had the Ted and Booster friendship to make it special. Now Booster's back to no one liking him, being a loser that lies for no reason. Skeets is just an anti-virus, and Rip is erased with Booster. Thanks again Johns, we can't tell something's a big event without needlessly killing or derailing a character.

I couldn't agree more, Erin. Here's hoping Booster Gold and company make out better in 2013.

To read the rest of Erin's list for 2012, including her "Biggest Surprise Read" and "Biggest Disappointment," visit exploringthetimelab.blogspot.com.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: 2012 annual erin starlight exploringthetimelab.blogspot.com justice league international lists