Justice League International

On this day in 1985, DC Comics introduced us to a new type of hero. A bold, new, narcissistic and self-aggrandizing type of hero, named Booster Gold. For over three decades, Booster Gold has gone from self-important a-hole to comic relief to the greatest hero you’ve never heard of, and one of the biggest fan-favorite characters in the DC Universe.

This week, Comixology is celebrating the return of Jaime Reyes and Ted Kord in Blue Beetle: Rebirth with a big Blue Beetle sale. If you dig a little deeper into what's on offer, you'll find that there's a ton of the '80s International era of Justice League on sale for a dollar an issue. And that means that for two bucks, you can get one of the single greatest Justice League stories of all time: the massive, world-shaking fight with Despero in Justice League America #38 and 39, from Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis, and Adam Hughes.

Born on this day in 1959 in Ortonville, Minnesota, Dan Jurgens is one of the most influential comic creators of the past three decades. As both a writer and a penciller, Jurgens has contributed a tremendous amount to the comics industry and was a shining light of creativity and fun in a decade that is often regarded as dour and serious.

Q: What is the lasting impact of Justice League International? Does it have one? -- @dagsly A: Does Justice League International have a lasting impact?! Well let me ask you a question, Dags: Does Batman have pointy ears? Does Clark Kent wear glasses? Does Aquaman have pruney fingers and breath that smells like krill? Just so we're all on the same page here, the answer to all of these questions is "yes," especially in the case of JLI having a lasting impact. It's not just that it was a good book, but that it formed a foundation and a blueprint for the way pretty much every team book would work thirty years later. I mean, I don't want to exaggerate any more than I usually do or anything, but after Lee and Kirby's Fantastic Four and Claremont, Byrne and Cockrum's X-Men, Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire's Justice League is arguably the most important team book in comics history.

The Tangent universe is a recurring feature in the third week of titles for DC's spring 2015 Convergence event, cropping up by name in the solcitations for the Flash, Justice League of America, and New Teen Titans two-part minis -- and "tangent" seems like an apt term to describe DC's impenetrable two-month event that offers all the confusion and frustration of a reboot with none of the narrative consequence. Besides the Tangent universe, the other unifying theme of the third wave of books is that dig into DC's pre-Crisis On Infinite Earths past, with writer Marv Wolfman returning to the New Teen Titans, Len Wein taking another swing at his own creation, Swamp Thing, Diana Prince back in her modish 1968 white jumpsuit, and the return of the mid-80s Detroit Justice League.

DC Comics' New 52 continues to evolve, with the line celebrating its first anniversary with a month full of flashback "zero issues," as well as four new series launching - including one written by the creator of Jem and the Holograms. Admit it; you really didn't see that one coming...

The first major wave of new #1 DC Comics finally hit stores this week, following last week's solo debut of Justice League. The biggest question for most fans facing racks and racks of new books is simple: Which ones should I try? The ComicsAlliance staff has gathered together to help answer that with a roundtable review of every relaunched DC book this week: Action Comics, Animal Man, Batgirl, Bat

DC Direct released in 2009 two series of action figures based on Justice League International, the beloved 1980s sitcom-style iteration of DC Comics' Justice League by writers Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis and penciller Kevin Maguire. Th...