Somehow, Booster Gold doesn't appear anywhere in Millennium #2, but Millennium #3 makes up for that by dedicating several pages to our hero.

Of those, my favorite is this one, page 11, written by Steve Englehart and drawn by Joe Staton:

Somehow, Steve Englehart's characterizations of the JLI here feel much more "correct" than Len Wein's JLA we saw last week in Blue Beetle #20. Both writers had worked on Justice League comics before, in the early (Wein) and late (Englehart) 70s. It's probably worth noting that according to Englehart's own website, steveenglehart.com, he was brought on to the book in 1977 to "give the characters personalities." That tradition clearly continued into Giffen/DeMatteis's International era, where personalities were often more important than plots.

And while I'm talking Englehart, I should probably also add that although he didn't introduce the "Manhunter" characters — that credit technically belongs to Joe Simon and Jack Kirby — Englehart did introduce the concept of the Manhunters as Oan robot constructs in Justice League of America #140. So there's a direct line from Englehart's 1970s JLA to Millennium a decade later.

That concludes your comics history lesson for this week, kids. Your assignment: read more comics!

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As I've been compiling this list of my favorite pages, I have avoided including books that contain less than a full page of Booster Gold. But today I'm going to make my first (and probably not last) exception to that rule for Blue Beetle #20, where Booster is visible in only three panels on page 6:

The JLI presented here feels a little... wrong. (J'onn J'onzz has his feet on the desk? Booster says "Wowzer"?) A lot of that is writer Len Wein's over-written script, but some blame has to be shared by penciller Ross Andru's Bronze Age-throwback vibe. (I admit that Andru did many things right in his long, celebrated career, but 1980s Blue Beetle belonged to Paris Cullins.)

At this point you may be asking why I am including this page of minimal, off-model Booster in my list of favorites? Because it is Booster's first appearance in a Blue Beetle comic, and that's a good enough reason for me.

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The third Booster Gold comic released on September 15, 1987 was Justice League International #9, which contained events explicitly taking place immediately after Millennium #1 (also released on September 15).

As it happens, for several reasons, not the least of which was limited funding, I didn't buy every Justice League International comic the week it was released. But it happens that I did buy this one because it tied into Millennium #1. (So I'm living proof that major crossover events sell books, I guess.)

I mention that because at the time, page 3 was my favorite page simply for the reason that I always thought it was cool that Blue Beetle was able to put out a cry for help with his breath on a window.

But my tastes have changed. These days, I have a different favorite page... for two specific reasons. One of those reasons will be immediately self-evident to all Booster boosters who lay eyes on it:

See? Booster Gold is just the coolest. (Golly, I love those panels 3-6 of reaction shots zooming in closer and closer to the eyes before the big reveal that it was Booster Gold who saved the day.... just in time for Blue Beetle to bring our arrogant hero back down to Earth! What a wonderful sequence.)

The second — and considerably nerdier — reason I love this page is how wrong it is.

What you see above is the page as it appeared in more modern reprints on higher quality paper. You can see that the re-colorist (presumably using the original color master?) maintained the coloring mistakes that the late, great Gene D'Angelo unintentionally made in the original newsprint publication, such as Booster's flesh-colored star and Martian Manhunter wearing Booster's pants.

When the same issue was republished just a few years ago in Justice League International: Born Again, the page coloring was corrected, but washing out the existing color from scans of the original resulted in thinner blacks. The overall effect is a page that actually looks worse despite the "correction." (Leave D'Angelo's work alone!)

And both of those reprints have eliminated one of my favorite details: the page number! In the original publication, this is clearly marked "14" in the lower left corner. Why did it go away when other pages have maintained their in-art numbering?

(Side note: As a chronicler, I love page numbers! Please, please, please, bring back page numbers, DC!)

All of these little idiosyncrasies plus a badass Booster Gold moment add up to make page 14 (numbered or not) my favorite page of the issue.

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Last week's "favorite page" subject was Action Comics #594, which ended on a cliffhanger. But today's featured comic isn't the continuation of that story. No, we'll get to Booster Gold #23 later.

Released a week before BG #23 was was the unrelated, standalone Justice League International #8, perhaps best known as the first appearance of what would become the JLI's signature catchphrase: "bwah-ha-ha!"

Even more significantly, it's also the dawn of what will become the DC Universe's greatest comedy double act. Do you know who I'm talking about?

Although Booster Gold and Blue Beetle had both been members of the JLI for a couple of months, this issue is where the bromance really begins. As you can see, their relationship was built on a foundation of mutual respect.

Bwah-ha-ha, indeed.

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As Brandon has accurately pointed out in comments on other entries in this series, Booster Gold #22 is indeed a downer. Bad things happen to Our Hero, and worse things happen to his family. But that drama actually makes for a pretty good comic book.

One of those bad things is a large gray monster more powerful than the assembled might of the entire Justice League International.

In hindsight, especially under the direction of Dan Jurgens, this feels more than a little like a Doomsday scenario, don't you think?

Page 10 above is certainly a lot of fun, but it's hardly the only great page. Page 13 is also a blast — or perhaps I should say a "ba thooomm"? — and pages 18, 19, and 22, though less fun, are masterfully delivered full-page compositions. If you chose any of those as your favorite page of the issue, I certainly wouldn't argue.

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