Cover: Anyway, this cover terrifies me and has terrified me since I first saw the solicits. Terrified with good reason, too.
Pg. 1: Everybody loves a kick to the face! Except the kickee. Unless, y'know, they're into that. Ummmm. Next page!
Pg. 2: Watch and be amazed as the "Babs was retired from being Batgirl before the Joker shot her" is handwaved away!
Pg. 3: Watch and be amazed as Batman pays Babs a genuine, no-catch compliment! Not to her face, though. Of course. But to her dad, which is almost as good!
Pg. 4: Om nom nom chalkboard. Who's Steve?
Pg. 5: Goddammit, Booster, why won't you talk about your dad so I know what's up with that? ...Oh, right, 'cuz you're Booster. That'd do it.
I'd like to point out that Booster just made it incredibly clear that he wants his dad to get ripped apart messily by dinosaurs and eaten. Tell me I'm not the only one who reads that and is seriously perturbed.
And then Rip shows of his collection of torture implements. "None of the good guys in this book are actually good people" is practically the running theme of this page.
Pg. 6: "I can't fail. B|" makes me D:
Pg. 7: Man, those freaks are creepy. And Booster's costume is not as durable as it ought to be. What happened to that hardcore circuitry he had going on in 52 whenever his costume got ripped? (Like his shoulder in Week 15 or when he showed up at the end of Week 50.)
Pg. 8: I am not particularly fond of how Dan Jurgens draws Jaime Reyes. Sad. And I think Jaime's voice is a little off here, but I may just be somewhat super-sensitive to Jaime's voice. Hard to tell.
P.S. Who are you, mysterious other Beetle?
Pg. 9: The Joker looks pretty weird in the 2nd and 3rd panels here, but pretty good in the last one. How odd. That's the thing about Dan Jurgens. Sometimes he's really on and sometimes he's really off, and it can happen in the same panel and that's just weird.
Oh, and the Joker's creepy and Booster's having a helluva time of it, but that goes without saying.
Pg. 10: Getting eliminated from the timestream is particularly nasty.
Pg. 11: Question:
Does it get much more morbid than this?
Also, Ultra-Humanite, Per Degaton, and Despero. Of the 3, Booster has only encountered Despero before, right about the tail end of the Giffen/DeMatteis run on Justice League. Booster was leading the Conglomerate at the time.
Pg. 12: Kehehehe, the conversation in this first panel.
(And if he says that he should've gone and asked Batman for help here, why doesn't he ever do that later?)
Pg. 13: B'awwwwww, Booster begging for more time and crying. D:
Pg. 14: B'awwwwww, Booster being too late. D:
Pg. 15: B'awwwwwww. D:
Pg. 16: D: "Stop laughing at me" D:
Pg. 17: D:
Pg. 18: And of course he needs to try again. D:
Pg. 19: And again and again and again. D: D: D:
Pg. 20: Rip is a lying liarface and a colossal bastard. I mean, I get what he was trying to do, but that's really not the kind of thing you can try to pull with Booster and expect to work because Booster does not give up easily and he's very much more driven by emotion than reason and, all in all, this was just a really bad plan on Rip's part.
And he still insists that he can do it. Oh, Booster. (And, honestly, he's kinda got a point here. I mean, the Joker is unpowered. By all rights, Booster should be able to win in a fight against him.)
Pg. 21: And Booster finally snaps.
Man, I sure hope you read dialogue closely, because that 2nd panel is practically a work of art.
I mean, just read this. Really read it. With all the emphases emphasized and that stop in the middle there. Like somebody is actually saying it, like in a TV show or something.
Isn't it just spot on? <3 <3 <3 to Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz there. <3 <3 <3
(Also, Booster, sweetie, I love you, but, while you're quite right about Rip making you watch that, the "over and over" part was all you, baby.)
I am actually kind of surprised that Booster did not straight-out attempt to murder Rip here, and instead chose to walk away. Ted would be proud. Although I'm sure that if the Beetles hadn't shown up at the end and Rip attempted to apologize again, things would get rather bloody.
I would like to point out that the Beetle Brigade "KRAKKKLLL"s when they time-travel, as opposed to Booster's and Supernova's popping. So we need some snapping in here, basically.
Pg. 22: Who are you, Mystery Beetle? Whooooooooooooo?
Additional Thoughts: I would like to complain that I was seriously gypped in the "secrets" department. The solicit promised that Rip was keeping some sort of nasty secret from Booster, while the next issue tease last issue promised that Rip was going to uncover a nasty secret of Booster's. But was there any nasty secrets in here at all? Nooooooooooooo. Boo, I say. Boo!
3 comments:
I really didn't have as much of a problem with this issue as some people did. With Babs not retiring, well New Earth is supposed to have some changes or it could have been slightly before she retired. I recall a story where she returned as Batgirl brieftly to watch Jason for Batman.
Booster is emotional so I don't really get freaked by his dad comment. When his dad was there he wasn't that angry. I'm also fine with Rip torturing "Rex." I see it as something he would do. I think in the Time Master series he did a Booster and went back to change time and went as far as kill a man. Though notice he doesn't reveal what he's going to do to Rex to Booster, maybe that's the "dark secret"?
Is that baby Jasons' hand? Either way I did not notice that.
I think Booster is determined to play by the rules for now which is why he doesn't get Batman. The impact on Booster was heartbreaking and the "stop laughing at me"? That was an ouch moment.
Although Rip did a crap thing to Booster I get why he did it and I still like the character. I thought he might have punched Rip but that's about it. Wonder if they will remember his injuries next issue along with the ones Ted had in CTIC. I think Ted had a crack rib and broken arm.
BTW did you read the hint Booster Gold has been dropping at the newsarama boards? People are guessing that it's Jeff now. He mentioned #12 and had some Rip crytic-like hints.
I kinda think that people who had a problem with this issue were just missing the point. It's not about Babs. Babs and TKJ have been sufficiently dealt with in the 10 years since it happened. If somebody picked this issue up with hopes of a Babs-dominated issue, they picked it up with entirely the wrong mindset. And if that keeps them from enjoying what is a very good comic, then that's their problem. (And if they were hoping for Booster to interact directly with Babs, I would like to point out that Babs has this pesky little thing called a "photographic memory" which would somewhat interfere with the "Booster has to keep this stuff secret from everybody" thing.)
I think he was a bit too freaked out to be properly angry when his dad was there.
I don't have any problems with Rip torturing people, either, because I've never thought of him as much of a good person to begin with. I kinda like the morally ambiguous thing going on in this book, myself. I mean, Booster has a hell of an impressive criminal record. There have probably been times where he's fought "bad guys" who have higher moral standards than he does. Basically, I like that the white hats have some dirt on them.
I'm not sure what else it would be. Wrong shape for a foot.
I'm just sayin' that he says that he should've gotten Batman's help and then when he keeps trying again and again, he never tries that. Although by then there might be some sort of feeling of "I have to fix this" or something. Or he's just been beaten so much he's not actually thinking straight any more. And yeah, that was very ouch. Oh, Booster.
I still like Rip, but that's not gonna keep me from calling him a dick for this. I hope they remember Booster's injuries. They've been pretty good about not dropping things between issues so far. I hope they remember Ted's injuries as well, although that looks far less likely. I dunno about the ribs (and that doesn't show all that much, anyway), but he did have a broken arm, and there was blood all over his face, too. Of course, Ted looks pretty all right (and unshackled, even) in the previews at the end of the first issue....
I don't visit the Newsarama boards. What's been going on?
I feel the same. It's like if something horrible happened to--I don't know--Rip in Justice League. I would not expect to see the aftermath or his POV dealt with there. I expect it in Booster Gold since he's a supporting character there. As far as I've known he's not well known to the JLA anymore than we've seen Booster/Babs--who as far as I know only talked once on the phone.
That's the thing I wonder if Barbara would remember Booster or if history would "push" him out since it could not be changed. Does Wally recall meeting him during his Kid Flash days?
Yeah I get that he was freaked but I don't see him serious getting that mad unless his dad say threatened Ted or whoever right in front of him. Heat of the moment and all that. Still the pain does run deep if he never told Ted about it.
You mean Rip is more grey? I tend to thinks so but still label him a good guy. Yeah but most of the heroes I like act like dicks every once in awhile. For awhile I was worried that he might be too perfect. Smart guy that always has a plan, claims to know several fighting styles, etc. Course some people say him choosing Booster was a mistake.
They most likely will forget but I wondered since Geoff wrote part of it if he'd remember Ted being hurt.
It was a little while ago where he posted "Booster Gold #12", well here's the link:
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=141115
The hints are in his second post.
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