Booster Gold was easily defeated when he and Superman fought it out in Booster Gold, volume 1, #7, but only because of the interference of Skeets. (Sadly, it won't prove to be the last time that Skeets betrays Booster. That little turncoat!) With Skeets nowhere to be seen, things went far better for Booster in the rematch in Action Comics #594.

Maybe it was the unexpected death of Goldstar or trouble fitting in with the Justice League. Why else was Booster Gold suddenly acting cruelly to the citizens of Metropolis? As Superman had tried to teach Booster when last they met, not all that glisters is gold. In this case, quite literally.

Even Superman proved no match for this new, vicious Booster Gold. Once Booster Gold had finally beaten the Man of Steel, there was only one hero would could rescue him. That one hero, naturally, was Booster Gold.

It turns out in Booster Gold, volume 1, #23, that Lex Luthor had arranged for a Booster Gold impostor to defeat Superman with Kryptonite. Thanks to the timely intervention of the one true Corporate Crusader, Superman lived to fight another day. That put Superman in Booster's debt, a shared adventure that the Man of Tomorrow would probably prefer to forget.

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With Man of Steel set to open this Friday, there's no better way to countdown the days than by looking back at his shared adventures with DC's greatest hero, Booster Gold!

Even Micheal Jon Carter would admit that without Superman, there would be no Booster Gold. The legacy of Superman was the primary inspiration that drove Micheal Jon Carter to rob the Space Museum of the equipment he would use as a 20th-century superhero. But it wouldn't be until Booster Gold, volume 1, #6 that the pair would finally meet face-to-face.

Against their will, Booster Gold and Superman (and Skeets!) were transported to an alien world in Booster Gold, volume 1, #7. While incarcerated, Superman taught Booster one of the most valuable lessons in super heroics, that sometimes some things are not what they seem to be. Booster has always been a little too trusting for his own good, and who better to impart that essential bit of wisdom than someone who can see through walls? Of course, Booster wouldn't just take Superman's word for it, so Superman had to beat the lesson into Booster's thick skull. That's tough love.

(Superman's appearance in this story isn't just significant to Booster Gold's development. This also happens to be Superman's first in-continuity appearance following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths as well as the first time that Superman was drawn and written by Dan Jurgens! Groundbreaking stuff!)

The shared adventure didn't exactly turn the two men into fast friends. Both found something lacking in the other — Superman thought Booster was careless and vain, Booster thought Superman was old-fashioned and cold — but a connection had been made between the two greatest heroes in the DC Universe that would establish a foundation for adventures to come.

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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.

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On this day in 1995, Booster Gold and Skeets were reunited in Extreme Justice #4.

I'd love to tell you it was a touching reunion between two old friends, but I'd be lying. Skeets appears in exactly three panels. The Blue Beetle's new Bug gets more attention. Heck, Mister Miracle's sidekick Oberon gets a bigger part, and Mister Miracle isn't even in this issue.

As you know, Extreme Justice has something of a reputation as the bad seed among the Justice League International-era titles. Honestly, this book won't do much to disabuse anyone of that opinion.

The story is little more than standard, soap-opera style melodramatics. Extreme Justice plots are typically like Hollywood action movies: big, loud, and dumb. Ironically, writer Dan Vado's strength isn't the action but the character development through interpersonal relationships. You might think that would make this reunion issue a success. You'd be wrong.

This is not Vado's best work. The action crowds out significant character development. Captain Atom is callous, Maxima is insane, and Firestorm, a former member of the "Satellite Era" Justice League, is a spoiled child. Amazing Man is shoehorned into a role best filled by Captain Atom, as though Vado was struggling to find a niche for his own character to fill.

If Vado's character development is typically the strongest part of Extreme Justice, the art is always its biggest weakness. This issue is no different, as guest artist Mozart Cuoto and inker Ken Branch combine to create panels with wildly inconsistent characters and hard-to-follow action. Unsatisfying is probably not a strong enough word.

So, as I said. Extreme Justice #4 features the reunion between Skeets and Booster Gold after several months apart. While we are still hoping to see Booster Gold and Skeets reunited in the New 52, we have to hope that it will be better than this.

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Last week, we reviewed Booster Gold's sole appearance as the villain Bloodbath in a bit of pseudo-history. This week, let's take a look at some real history, Booster Gold's appearance in the first issue of Bloodbath.

If you're unaware, the summer 1993 DC annuals featured the Bloodlines storyline of an other-dimensional alien race who came to Earth to harvest humans spinal fluid. (Don't bother asking why a race of aliens would develop the need for human spinal fluid for their reproduction process. Comic books don't have time for your silly science.)

DC used the event to create new characters from the survivors of these alien attacks. These new super heroes -- all very '90s, if you know what I mean -- were called the "New Blood" and received the majority of the focus in these stories. That left precious little room for established characters like Booster Gold.

At the time, Booster was still adjusting to his new, post-Doomsday armor, and was arguably more hindrance than help to the Justice League. As a result, Booster confronts and is defeated by three separate aliens in this issue alone. Even if the story doesn't give our hero much of a break, it's still great to see Booster's commitment to heroics.

Yes, the premise is a bit ridiculous and smacks of market-driven storytelling, and yes, Booster Gold comes off looking washed-up. However, there will always be something satisfying about DC heroes banding together to save Earth from yet another alien invasion. If nothing else, the series deserves credit for inspiring the DC Bloodlines website, and that's got to count for something.

(P.S. The Boosterrific Forum is back online. Hopefully we'll get some good Booster Gold news to talk about from New York ComicCon this weekend!)

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