Review: Booster Gold #4

What I bought this week:
Booster Gold #4
Wonder Woman #14
All-Star Superman #9

Wonder Woman was hmmm. I'm not sold, but I'll probably finish this arc out, at least, and then we'll see where we stand.

ASS was great stuff, but that's par for the course there.

Which brings us to Booster. Get comfy, guys, we'll be here for a while.

I am amused by Booster's towel and coffee. So nice that the drunk thing didn't get dropped between issues. I hate it when things get dropped between issues.

"That whiskey saved Superman." Best excuse for drunkenness ever Y/Y?

As an aside, I hate possessive plurals. How on Earth do you even say "Flashes'"? It's so awkward.

Also, eye color arrrrrrrrrgh.

I kind of get the feeling I'm missing a reference of some sort with the title of this chapter. Hmmm.

Time Spheres are pretty dangerous.

Is Wally restraining Booster from attempting to more or less rip "Rex"'s face off here? I'm not entirely sure.

The question is, is it OK to push Lex into an oncoming train now? Because man, oh man, would I love to see some repercussions from New Year's in 52. Because just thinking about the look on Boosternova's face in that one scene sends shivers up my spine.

Being the greatest by virtue of being the only is not really a good thing, "Rex".

Getting deleted from time hurts, apparently. Although I'd suppose it would.

Supernova is a dick.

Supernova's robot is also a dick. But Skeets is adorable.

Danny got dressed between issues. );

Oh, Rose, I love you to pieces. And am somewhat mystified that you're going to end up with a goober like Danny.

"And we had a moment, I swear." Can we legitimately call this a Jocasta complex? Does such a thing even exist?

"I'll can only tell you" *Winces*

Question: Since when does Booster keep spare costumes? Since when is it even possibly for Booster to have spare costumes?

Oh, Danny, Danny, Danny, that was not very wise of you. Also, your hair is way shorter than Booster's anyway. I dig the cocked eyebrow, though.

Is that The Giant Mummy That Was Not Dead?!

...Is that Jaime?!

History is crazily specific about this lightning storm, apparently.

"And I shall brag to all my robot friends." seems to be our required ridiculous moment of the issue. (Compare to Rip's "Friends don't let friends drive drunk!" last issue and Sinestro's mustache twirl in issue 2.)

As an aside, I love the word "fisticuffs." I also kinda love how Rip's attack doesn't really look like he's applying any of those martial arts or fighting techniques he was just bragging about.

Booster's dad (If this interview is to be believed, his name is Jonar, for the record.) looks incredibly creepy and not at all like how I'd expected him to look. Mostly because I was under the impression that Booster got the vast majority of his looks from his father's side. (Mostly because he doesn't resemble his mother very much.) The huge scar down the side of his face and blank eye certainly don't help matters any. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeek. D:

What also doesn't help is that there's this weird red mark on my copy that goes right over Jonar's face.



Stuff. Of. Nightmares!

Bonnie was, if my memory serves, Rip's girlfriend back in the day. Rex is a bastard.

I am relieved to see that relation to Booster is still a requirement for the Supernova suit. It was mentioned in Week 52 when Daniel showed up, and then wasn't mentioned at all in the first 3 issues and I was almost worried about it. I guess mentioning it again would've made it too obvious?

"Or be the hero my son couldn't." Jonar Carter. Asshole.

One wonders what the last time Booster refers to was.

"Without guidance, you'll always be a failure. You'll always be a disappointment." Jonar Carter. Asshole.

"Tell me something I don't know." Booster Gold. Woobie.

Skeets is the littlest Big Damn Hero ever.

Jonar bringing up Shel and blaming Booster for it. Asshole.

And Booster actually tearing up at that. Woobie.

I really cannot wait to find out the full story here, y'know. I don't have patience, darnnit!

The fact that the Supernova mask keeps disappearing and then reappearing in Booster's hand bothers me.

I like Booster categorizing his dad as a bad guy. Finally! Booster shows evidence of actually having a spine when it comes to his relatives!

Look at Booster's posing on this page and try and tell me it's not unsettlingly Luthoresque.

As an aside, I really love how Booster tends to refer to Skeets in human terms. He says "awake" here, instead of something like "online" that would be more applicable. Even back in Countdown to Infinite Crisis, you've got "kidnapped" and "murdered" instead of "stolen" and "destroyed."

Gawd, Booster's in such a bad mood here. Am I a horrible person for loving it? At least he's focusing it towards a goal.

But man, Rip, you picked the absolute worst person for a time cop.

I kinda totally love Babs/Ted. So I am pleased by this ending.

But horrified by the thought of Booster vs. Joker. No possible way for that to end well.

Linkspam!

How the Bitch Stole Comics-- Feel that holiday spirit! :D

Shopped into awesome Death of the New Gods-- By the same guy who brought us the 'shopped Civil War awesomeness!

Not comics, but this knit Weighted Companion Cube is just totally awesomesauce, isn't it? I've already bought the yarn to knit one myself. That will promptly be given away as a Christmas gift. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if I had the yarn for 2.

Dear Self: This is a Comics Blog, Not a Knitting Blog.

Business the 1st: I apologize for the lack of post yesterday. I was busy trying to get my Blue Beetle yarn in my hands. It was insane. But at least I have the yarn now! I'm thinking I'm gonna knit these suckers. The design might describe the lace pattern as leaf-like, but I look at that and see scarab wings. Hopefully it will not look horrible in black and blue.

Business the 2nd: Went to LCS today, ended up getting both trades of GLC and no Wonder Woman. GLC was good. I'm totally digging how the cast is all huge 'n' everything. I kinda want to learn everything there is to know about all the members. This could not end badly at all.

Seriously, though, like, there's this chick in the 2nd trade, and her name isn't even mentioned, but one of her hands is a ring construct, and I think that's totally cool. Who is that? What happened? Was it as utterly badass as I am imagining?

Something I noticed, however, is that some plot threads seem to get dropped and then picked up again a couple of issues later, which I'm sure I would kinda find utterly maddening if I was reading it monthly. But maybe I wouldn't. I don't know. I do intend to start picking up GLC once the Sinestro War is over, and then picking up the Sinestro war in trade, so we'll see if this stitch-slipping trend continues.

...Actually, I really like that, the comparison of writing to knitting. That is totally a great metaphor. There are all sorts of different needles and yarn out there, just like there's all sorts of different media, and certain needles and yarn are better for certain types of projects than others are, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you can't knit that certain type of project with a different sort of needles and yarn or write that certain type of story with a different medium. It just takes more effort and consideration to make it work just the right way. Sometimes you have to pass over a stitch/story thread for a row so you can do something better with it in the next, and sometimes you got to knit a couple of stitches together to shape the fabric just right, and sometimes you have to add stitches, and sometimes to have to bind them off and end them. And sometimes you have to sew some different knit pieces together, or write a crossover. And if you don't do all that in the right way at the right time, the whole thing ends up looking stupid. And if you don't do any of it at all, then what you end up with is a garter stitch rectangle, be it a dishcloth or a scarf or what-have-you, and while there's not really anything necessarily wrong with those, they are incredibly boring to knit (although useful as a learning tool when one is first starting), and, well, if one starts a hobby to be entertained, be it knitting or reading comics or watching a certain TV show or whatever, one does not want to indulge in that hobby if it's boring. Because if it's boring, then it's not a hobby anymore: it's a chore. And nobody likes chores. (Because if they like them, then it's a hobby!)

...I've had knitting on the mind a lot lately. I'm sorry.

Business the 3rd: Y'know what I realized while I was at work today?





And it only took about 18 years!

...

I'm sorry. I really can't be held responsible for the things my brain throws at me. (Seriously, just ask Shobha. She knows exactly what I'm talking about. And I'd say I'm very sorry for that, but I'm really not. :P Sharing is therapeutic!)

Well, This is Strange

This is the first Wednesday since I moved out to California (back in mid-August, mind you) that I didn't visit Comics Factory, my LCS. I worked all day today (from 10 to 7) and went in the opposite direction for lunch, since I craved sushi, and, well, there wasn't anything on the list of things available today that I found interesting. (Except for the 2nd trade of Green Lantern Corps, but that's going to have to wait until I get the 1st trade of Green Lantern Corps, now isn't it?)

I suppose it was a statistical inevitability, really. I'm only picking up a handful of books, after all, and there's only so many things I want in trade. But it still feels weird.

Of course, this also raises the question of what I'll buy when I go to the shop tomorrow or whenever. Besides Booster Gold, that is. That hardly counts any more.

I kinda want to see if there are any trades of Rucka's Wonder Woman there, to prep for Gail's coming to the book next week. Bluefall over on scans_daily has been pimping it like whoa with scans, and I do so very much love the Rucka-penned OMAC Project, which has a Panels in Which Booster Appears:Panels Which Make HAC Go "Oh, Booster ♥" ratio rivaled only by the current series. (Although I may be cheating a bit by including Countdown to Infinite Crisis in with the OMAC Project, since I have it in trade, making them a cohesive unit to me. I have, on occasion, just sat and stared at the hospital scene in C2IC, no lie. The concentration of pure woobie in those three pages is absolutely epic. And I am all about the woobie.)

On the other hand, I do, as previously mentioned, need the first trade of GLC....

Nothing's stopping me from investing in both, of course, and, knowing me, that's probably what I'll end up doing. But pondering the situation gives me something to yak about!

I'm Going to Wear My Phone Out

Because, y'know, I keep on phoning it in. Sort of. I'm not sure I can really call doodling phoning it in if I'm producing all-new material. I mean, these suckers do tend to take some time. But I am doing it so I don't have to put any real effort into thinking up things to talk about. At least, right now I am. The knitting obsession is temporarily overcoming the comics obsession. I'll get back on the ball later, I'm sure.

Anyways, Shane requested that I doodle up Bea to go with the Tora I'd already doodled. Of course, he never specified which costume, and, well, I felt like indulging myself.



And taking a jab at the Superbuddies minis. Forgive the tangent, but I mean, seriously, Bea says that she's not actually naked in the pictures on her faux-pr0n site (Hunh. Firefox's spell check says faux isn't a word, but lets pr0n slide. I'm not sure what to feel about that.), but then she always ends up naked after she stops using her powers? She really wouldn't think to wear fire-resistant clothing when she's going somewhere where she knows she would be expected to use her powers at some point? Hell, if I were her, I'd be wearing fire-resistant clothes all the time. It only makes sense. That's a lot of what's wrong with the Superbuddies minis, really. They're only worth it for the jokes (on account of pretty much being nothing but jokes), most of which either fall apart when you bother to think about it at all (and I'm me, so I always think about it) or, honestly, really aren't all that funny to begin with. But, y'know, I really don't think I'd have half the problem with them if so many people would stop treating it like it's gospel or something. People, these minis are not the definitive characterization of the characters involved! Hell, half the time, it's not even good characterization of the characters involved. Don't get me started on Gladys. It won't be pretty.

But, ummm, right! Bea! In various costumes! although I know that I left at least one costume out. But I haven't really read anything with that costume in it, so eeeehhhhhh. (...Yes, this does mean that I haven't read the Death of Superman. Ssssshhhhhhh.)

Special Bonus Flashback Doodle!:


Would you believe that's from over a year ago? (Also, OTP 4ever 4realz, but that bit goes without saying.)

Me, As of Five Minutes Ago

"...I forgot to eat blog today." (Although, come to think of it, I haven't eaten in a good 10 hours or so. I should probably fix that at some point.)

So, ummm, here's something I found (and promptly bought) over the weekend. Blue Beetle yarn. Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle yarn. It so very pleases me to see my two largest interests intersect in such a way. I am going to knit an incredibly nerdy pair of socks and grin every time I wear them. It will be glorious.

OK, Wrong Kind of Comic, But....

I don't know if any of you follow Order of the Stick, but I just came to the realization that I've been reading the dialogue for Roy's Archon in the Billy West Skeets voice. To the point where I've been inserting the word "sir" where there actually isn't any.

And, yes, that includes the "So I don't strangle smartass newbies" here. It makes it even better.