When last we left our hero, he had just debuted his replacement for the power suit Doomsday destroyed (in Superman #74), and in Justice League America #81 we learn that his 20th-century power armor is not yet up to the task, especially when its servos burn out under enemy fire leaving him feeling as powerful as a sardine in a can.

The issue's finished art is generally too loose for my taste (it never feels like the penciller, inker, and colorist are working as a team), but this page panel layout by penciller Kevin West really works for me. The action starts with the foregrounded Wonder Woman, but led by the departure of Guy Gardner, the central action in each panel slowly moves away from the reader and, importantly, away from Booster Gold, emphasizing his current irrelevance. Well done.

And while I'm praising creatives, I should definitely mention the writing. I'm on record as a fan of Dan Vado's Justice League run as I often enjoy his strong and sympathetic characterizations. Although I find this issue to be imperfectly paced, I'm very impressed that its central dilemmas between heroes all trying to "Do the Right Thing" in a tense political situation feels even more topical now than when it was published three decades ago, making it very re-readable. Kudos.

(Last week, when I walked into my Local Comic Shop to buy some bags and boards, the Guy Behind the Counter said "I always get worried when you come in on days I know we didn't pull anything for you." I need even more bags and boards this week, but maybe I should wait until next week when Action Comics #1098 comes out to go back. Life is stressful enough without disgruntled Booster Gold fans ruining your day.)

If anyone does spot Booster somewhere, please let me know.

Meanwhile, in New York City, a crowd of New York's finest gathered on the building's eighty-sixth floor observation deck for a radio address by the former New York Governor Alfred E. Smith and his successor, current Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. In conclusion to his speech, Roosevelt requested the building's owners reserve an office for him "so that when I leave Albany I will have some place to go."

The future would have other plans for F.D.R., who, having been paralyzed from the waist down by polio in 1921, only stood on the 86th floor that day with the assistance of leg braces.

Or maybe he had a little extra help from someone who knew just how important he would be to history....

"Is Booster Gold still in development? I'm hearing rumors that Booster Gold and Paradise lost have been canceled??"

Gunn's answer:

"BG is in development. PL is in extreme development."

Ok, cool. Congratulations to "PL," I guess.

I'm not going to pretend that I understand what that means, but it does, technically, count as a progress update on the television project that Gunn first announced in January 2023.

Honestly, I'd forgotten Empire was ever released by DC.

Now, I'm not particularly surprised that I missed that ad. I was no longer working in a comic shop by July 2003 so I wasn't reading every comic that hit the stands. I wouldn't think to start Boosterrific.com until 2006, and I didn't even begin indexing house advertisements until 2010.

I tell you this not to make excuses but as an admission that I'm fallible. (Just ask J, who has been on a tear lately editing many grammatical errors on this site, some of which have existed for decades.) As complete as I have tried to make Boosterrific.com, there may be — and likely are — many other Booster Gold appearances out that I have overlooked.

So if you happen to spot Booster somewhere unexpected, please don't be shy about bringing it to my attention. I'd rather be told about the same appearance over and over again than miss one.

Thanks in advance, Booster boosters.