Review: Booster Gold #0

Well, this took forver.

The also-rans of the weeks:

Atomic Robo #5: I actually remembered the sucker this week! \o/ Amusing, but felt mostly like set-up for next issue. It happens.

Green Lantern Corps #21: I thought Boodikka has returned to Bellatrix before.... I seem to recall seeing scans of her visiting her mother on Mother's Day. That aside, I am interested in where this story's going. I am somewhat disappointed that it seems to expect one to be following the other Green Lantern book, considering that I'm only picking up GLC.

Wonder Woman #17: I do believe that I will continue to buy this book. I wouldn't say I'm ZOMGSUPEREXCITED about it, but it doesn't repulse me like Teen Titans did, so it stays.

Brave & the Bold #10: Y'know what's odd about this book? I honestly can't remember what's going on in it between issues. I'll open the book and be like, "Oh, right, last issue ended on that cliffhanger, didn't it?" and then "Oh, right, there's that Mephisto thing going on," and then "Oh, right, that team-up happened." I can't recall this happening with any of the other books I read, it's just Brave and the Bold where I keep going, "Oh, right, stuff is actually happening in this book." It's really a good book while I'm actually reading it, so I keep buying it, but it just doesn't stick once it's out of my hands.

Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War Vol. 1 HC: I concur with the rest of the blogosphere that this event is rawkin'.

And now, the main course, Booster Gold #0:

Cover: Does not have as much Zero Hour trade dress as I would've though. Also, the image itself is slightly off-center and that bothers me.

Pg. 1: Interesting how Future Beetle doesn't quite seem to be pointing at Ted specifically. Although I'm pretty sure there's no "supposed to be dead" in Booster's life (recently).

Also, noticeable and considerable height difference yeesssssss.

Pg. 2: "Of course, I just broke the same rules I'm supposed to be enforcing," amuses me greatly, considering that Booster got his superhero career started by stealing from a museum he was employed as a security guard in.

While Max was very directly involved in Booster's League membership (and there is a certain argument to be made for making the League seem ineffective with that...), Ted was a member of the Giffen League from the very start, while I think it took almost a year for Max to really become an accepted part of the team.

Pg. 3: "Leaving my future to be eaten away by the spawn of Mr. Mind." Ooooooo, a hint of another panel of the preview page at the end of the first issue!

Dan and Ted's successive "What?"s amuse me. So much I made a LiveJournal icon out of it:


Scarab Speak Translation: "Ted, take the wheel." Which, of course, makes no sense in context.

Pg. 4: Oh hai Zero Hour!

Daaaaaaan, Jaime doesn't quite qualify as a grown man yet!

Pg. 5: Oh, wait 'til Ted hears that Booster was drunk when he rear-ended Barry, too.

Scarab Speak Translation: "Ted, take the wheel." And it actually makes sense here! And seems to be Future Beetle's Scarab speaking, which is interesting.

Pg. 6: Booster confirms that he's over 30. And, of course, he was 19 when he started, so he's been at the superhero thing for over a decade. Of course, considering how long it's probably been since CoIE for the rest of canon, a few of those years were probably spent in the future between the end of the OMAC Project mini and when Booster reappeared in Infinite Crisis. I really would like to know what happened in those years....

Scarab Speak Translation: "My Scar ab's goin g nuts." I really like how they formatted the line breaks there to show the wigging out.

Pg. 7: Hal Jordan was a good guy again by the time I started reading comics. Is hurting Parallax as big a deal as I think it is?

Booster and Hank Hall have met before. In Booster's first series, actually. Issue #17. They did not get along. Things do not seem to have improved. (Which is really no wonder, considering how Booster left Hawk at the end of that story....)

"I lost some special to me. But Parallax says he'll bring him back." Substitute "Future Beetle" for "Parallax." Smirk knowingly. And worry.

Pg. 8: Scarab Speak Translation: "Or me." Hee.

I love how "already destroyed 64th century" = "annihilate the 25th soon enough." That's not nearly 4,000 years or anything. Quick, Shane somebody who's actually read Zero Hour! How long was it between Impulse's disappearance and Booster's? And between Booster's disappearance and when the present was in very immediate danger? Because if that was like bang-bang-bang, then I'll reverse my "haha, what?" reaction to that. But otherwise....

Pg. 9: I rather like how the 25th century is still "home" for Booster, despite everything.

Pg. 10: So, it seems that Jonar lost his eye to pay for a debt. Not terribly exciting, but certainly gruesome.

"Do you really think you're strong enough to deal with that kind of guilt?" Jonar Carter. Still an asshole!

Booster tracked Jonar down, did he? Iiiiiiinteresting. Mostly, of course, because if Booster tracked Jonar down, then Jonar didn't track Booster down to demand monies of him, which is fractionally less bastardliness than I would've expected.

Honestly, though, this page can pretty much be accurately summarized by just "Jonar Carter is an asshole and Booster's not a particularly bright kid. (Though he is a particularly pretty one.)"

Pg. 11: I love how Michelle is totally more important than anything Booster's done as Booster Gold.

Michelle's supposed to be blond like Booster! Curse you, Hi-Fi! At least the red hair isn't totally out of left field, considering that Mrs. Carter was a redhead, but still. I get the feeling that somebody or multiple somebodies have gotten the two Goldstars mixed up, since Trixie (who actually was a redhead) is sadly overlooked here. But I guess she's kind of obscure.... Not that Michelle isn't, of course, but Michelle's easier to bring back than Trixie would be, of course. Which is really sad when you consider that Michelle's the dead one of the two.

Also it means I have to update my Proud Carter Tradition icon again:


Oh, while I'm at it, hey, lookit, Booster's football uniform is red again. Exciting.

Pg. 12: Ah, Michelle, I am so happy that you are so capable of seeing through Jonar's bull. Not that Booster would ever listen to such a thing, of course. But it's nice that one of you is capable of reason. Also makes me feel much less worried about Jonar's "you and your sister always thought too much of me" from issue 4. Funny how one simple page can assuage my Jonar-rezzing-Shel desires fears.

Tangential thought: Why is the locker room so empty save Carters?

Bawwwwww, Booster's crippling need for love and attention.

"A few months after I went back in time, Michelle followed me" is such a drastic understatement. I mean, of course they couldn't summarize that whole arc down to anything even closely resembling reasonable, but still. It would be hilarious to see 'em try. (I think the shortest I can summarize it is something like, "Booster's power source for his suit ran out, and also he got the tar beaten out of him and ended up terminally ill, so he went back to the 25th century, and the cops caught him, because stealing a time machine is a crazy heinous crime [the punishment is execution without trial, even! Booster compares it to setting off a nuclear bomb in a church.], but then Shel breaks him off death row and returns to the present with him, 'cuz like hell she can stay in the future after that."[And, yes, that link is completely gratuitous, but I love that panel, so bah!]) I would've at least liked it if they mentioned that Booster made a return trip to the future and Michelle ended up coming back with him, instead of making it sound like Michelle made the trip independently.

Pg. 13: I don't think Michelle ever actually called herself Goldstar. I'm not sure anybody ever called Michelle Goldstar in-canon. I mean, Goldstar was the name associated with the costume, of course, but it's not like Shel ever actually did any heroing. It's explicitly stated in canon that she stole (and funny how that part isn't mentioned....) the costume because she wanted to fly. Of course, I can excuse this because it's not like she ever told Booster that, and I can easily believe that Booster is not as good at sussing out Shel's motivations as she is at his.

Booster, 5 minutes does not really a big brother make, while I'm at it.

"It wasn't your fault she died." Actually, Ted, it kind of was. I realize that Booster has probably never explained what actually happened to you, but Shel was not actually murdered like you thought in C2IC; she died at the uncaring hands of electrocution via falling rubble. And what caused the structural damage that resulted in the falling rubble? Yeah, that'd be a guy by the name of Booster Gold. So Booster's part in the death of Michelle is roughly equal to Ted's part in the death of Dan. So unless you've gotten over your massive guilt complex, Ted, (and maybe you have, considering the general lack of Freaking Out that's been done so far, actually,) I'm not sure you should really be telling Booster not to feel guilty about it.

I adore that Ted places Michelle before himself here. Because it is Right and Good and feels like delicious, delicious Validation.

Explicit statement that Friends and Family > Career and Respect makes me happy.

And check out that grin in that last panel. Booster has a Plan. A Plan that involves saving his sister. Yesssssss.

Pg. 14: Look, it's the Space Museum! Check out Booster's Legion Flight Ring in the foreground there and the forcefield belt in the back.

Also, be sure to check out the expression on Dan's face. He's so totally gawking. Jaime probably is, too, but it's less obvious. And Future Beetle's just like B|.

Hi-Fi, I do not think that the guy tackling young Booster on that screen should be wearing the same color football uniform that he is.

While I'm at it, why is this game being broadcast to an empty museum?

I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with Dan Garrett calling Booster "Michael".

I'm curious as to how they managed to get this far without setting off any alarms already.

Pg. 15: Lookit, it's a Batarang and Adam Strange's helmet!

Man, that's a lotta robots. Which is new. I'm none too familiar with the Space Museum's original stories, but I don't think it's ever had robots other than Skeets in the context of Booster. And none of these other robots look like Skeets, which is even more weird.

"And I don't want to hear any more complaints from you about our protocol. Shoot to kill, Skeets, you're scrap." I still haven't figured out if the Leader 'Bot is telling Skeets not to kill people or if he's telling him to kill people. Very big difference, that.

I like the expressions in the 4th panel. A lot. They are quite perfect.

Pg. 16: "Which one?" Hee. (Although, c'mon, Ted, why are you even bothering to ask; what could you do against a horde of robots like that?)

It amuses me that the other robots turn into regular OMAC's, while Skeets just turns into an OMAC'd Skeets. That makes perfect sense!

OK, starting from regular Booster and working outwards, we've got the original costume (complete with cape!), the life support suit from Extreme Justice, the Conglomerate outfit (<3), and 3 versions that I don't think are actually from anything. Pretty sure I'd remember seeing a Booster with that many stars on his costume. So gaudy.

Besides the Jaime-esque costume, all of the alterna-Teds seem to be just made up.

Of course, if I'd been in charge of this, I probably would've included the Booster from this (admittedly fairly obscure and probably with good reason) comic and the literal Blue Beetle Ted who recently appeared in Countdown: Arena.

Pg. 17: "This is so awesome." QFT.

"We can't remember this? But that's not fair." Also QFT. Although I do agree with Dan regarding the necessity of it, and it does explain why Jaime is not showing any signs of having met Ted over in his own book.

"Just try to remember to go easy on me that first year of school, okay?" "Never." I <3 you, Dan. <3

Ted and Jaime bonding yay.

Pg. 18: "Your blind, unflinching determination is as inspiring as it is fortuitous, Michael." It's also probably kind of unhealthy and definitely makes him easy to manipulate.

Pg. 19: "In fact, everyone looks ridiculous with a mustache." As a fan of facial hair, I will fight you, Ted!

Rip's not that bad, is he, Booster? Just has a stick up his time-traveling butt, does he?



That just can't be healthy.

Oh noes, the chalkboard is clean! And, uhh, broken to bits. That too.

What is with all the using Michael in this issue? He goes by Booster. He calls himself Booster. Other people call him Booster. All to the point where if he is going by Michael or Mike, it's usually to protect somebody else's secret identity (since he lacks one of his own), and when somebody has to introduce him as Michael/Mike in that situation, they usually pause before they say it, because it's something they have to work to recall, even if it's Booster himself doing the introducing. Booster got the moniker of Booster Gold by automatically answering Booster when asked for his name by the President and not getting the chance to fully correct it in time. That's how thoroughly Booster goes by Booster instead of Michael. Could we please not throw it around like we would Clark Kent or Bruce Wayne or something? Kthnx.

Pp. 20-21: OHSHI-

Pg. 22: Yes, Booster, Zero Hour. That's why there are OMAC's all over the place. That makes perfect sense. B| Booster, sweetie, I love you, and I understand that you really don't want this to be exactly what Rip was warning you about, but seriously. Could you at least try for a scapegoat that makes sense?

So, this is going to end well, yes?

So, stuff rocks right now.

Booster Gold #0 is swiftly approaching. JSA #12 was pretty damn nifty, as was Teen Titans Year 1 #2. I read and enjoyed the first trade of Iron Fist, but really need to get around to reading up on Iron Fist's history to achieve the deeper appreciation for things that I like to have. Editor Jann Jones is a crocheter. And check out what's #1 on Bully's top 50 end of the year countdown!

The April Solicits

Are over here, of course.

Teen Titans #58: It always amuses me when somebody with a pretty skintight outfit gets held up by their shirt.

Booster Gold #8: Provides yet another example of the Incredibly Stretchy Costume, although at least Ted doesn't have chain mail being stretched there.

Also, I totally love it whenever Booster fights Superman. It's very meta.

I am curious to see who's on this all-new, all-different Freedom Fighters team.

Supernova teaming up with an evil Beetle? So very much want. Had not thought of that sort of thing myself, but, in retrospect, probably should've.

Also, it totally makes me want a team-up with Supernova and Ted's Uncle Jarvis. It would be traumatizing great.

Batman #676 and Superman #675: I find it interesting how these two issues are solicited right next to each other and both figure floaty cape action.

All-Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder #10: Isn't "better half" usually used in reference to one's wife/girlfriend?

Detective Comics #843: Zatanna's showing up again? How odd. Also, I am vaguely curious as to the origin of the new Ventriloquist.

Action Comics #864: Is it just me, or is that cover reminiscent of the end of IC #1, where Earth-2 Superman busts out of the crystal place?

Green Lantern Corps #23: I swear I've seen that cover somewhere before.... Am I just crazy, or what?

Countdown to Final Crisis Vol. 1 TP: Already? I could've sworn they waited longer than this to solicit the first 52 trade, but I could just be crazy.

Tiny Titans #3: Penguins tied to rockets with helmets with umbrellas on them yes.

Super Friends #2: The smiles on the cover disturb me. It's sooo.... I dunno. totally bizarre.

I'm Just Saying, I Wouldn't Be Surprised If I Ended Up Blogging Only Once a Month

Once a month being, of course, when the new issue of Booster Gold comes out. >.> I also bought the Flash, but I don't think I will continue to do so. It's an alright book, but it's failed to grab me in the 4 issues I gave it.

Did Wonder Woman come out this week? DC's site says yes, but it wasn't at my LCS, and I know how the DC site is frequently full of crap. But it never hurts to double-check.

Anyway, Booster Gold!

Cover: Is incredibly terrifying. Especially with the added speech bubble.

Pg. 1: I get the feeling that Future Beetle has no business reminding me of Uncle Sam. I mean, he's just waaaaay too convenient. He's got to be up to something.

Pg. 2: See, Rip agrees with me! Although I wouldn't say that Skeets needs Booster right now more than ever. Skeets has been neglected before plenty. Booster kept him in a box for years for crying out loud! (Skeets kept himself amused by playing with the Internet. Oh, Skeets.) And I'd say that Skeets needed Booster a lot more when, saaaay, he got eaten by a certain Venusian mindworm during 52?

Also, I love the body language of the Beetles in the 1st panel. Namely, that Dan and Future Beetle are both standing all ramrod straight and Jaime isn't. It's a nice detail.

Pg. 3: Future Beetle speaks incredibly... academically. Yes. He uses many big words when a few small ones will do.

Jaime's dialogue hints that the Beetle Brigade came to pick up Booster at his suggestion. I find this interesting.

So, Skeets, who is the other guy? I choose to believe he's referring to when the Joker beat Booster senseless using Skeets as a prop. Because that makes the other guy Booster and that's hilarious.

Skeets is woobieful.

"What are you going to do to stop me?" <3 <3 <3

Pg. 4: olol Beatles.

"I'm going to bring my friend back or I'm going to die trying." Oh, Booster.

Pg. 5: The wormholes shown are Jason Todd and Red Robin, which I hear tell is where Countdown is headed; Ralph Dibny, Batman, and Sherlock Holmes, which is, I believe, the 50th anniversary issue of Detective Comics (I vaguely recall seeing an ad for it in Booster's original series); and the Jack Knight Starman with a guy whose name I can't remember, but I saw him in JLA: The Nail and I think he's a Kirby character, but I'm not sure....

Thought: There's clearly no room for privacy in that time sphere, and Booster's changed costumes. I mean, Booster wouldn't have a problem with that, of course, but still. Awkward!

Also his wounds have disappeared and changing clothes doesn't work that way!

"These colors are giving me a serious headache." Hee. Oh, Jaime. <3

Ted is something of a study in contradictions. Part of the reason I like him.

Booster 'n' history lessons and the like will never fail to vaguely amuse me.

Pg. 6-7: Kehe, Action Heroes is a nickname for Charlton heroes, although I'm not entirely sure where the nickname itself originated, come to think of it.

I want to say that Ted fought the Madmen in his first appearance, but I'm not at all sure that's right. Pretty sure they were in the Ditko Charlton days, though. Which, uhhh, they'd pretty much have to be, I guess, with the hourglass-goggles and being before CoIE.

CoIE being the "In any Crisis." panel, of course. [Aside: I really should read CoIE one of these days....]

The backwards-S layout is even more awkward here than it was in the 1st issue with Booster's 5-second life story. And, of course, while Booster's went a little something like, "I'm a failure, I suck, Ted's great, I still suck, but I'm trying to get better. For Ted.", Ted's is more like, "Ted's great, Ted's great, Ted's great, Ted's dead." Oh, Booster. Therapy.

The switch from Charlton to DC not only goes from the hourglass goggles to the round goggles (which make more sense), but it also changes the head bit of the beetle design on his chest. And also improves it, imo.

The Scarab temp-rezzing Dan and trying to kill Ted with him is still in continuity, is it? I would muchly like to see that explored at some point, be it here or in Blue Beetle.

Does ripping off the layout of the cover to A New Beginning ever get old? Honest question. It's not a straight lift here, with Max replacing Dr. Light and Oberon, Batman moving over to occupy Black Canary's and J'onn's spot, and Booster in Batman's vacated spot. Also there was considerably less smiling on the original.

Ted, mind you, did not fare particularly well against Despero or Doomsday, but he tried, poor boy. (Also, lawls, Booster's long hair. And Bloodwynd, being J'onn in disguise, really shouldn't be so close to that fire there....)

So, if Canary and Ted are right behind Babs there, then who is she talking to?

It amuses me that Jurgens can't seem to decide which direction Ted's antennae go. Not that anybody can, of course.

Pg. 8: Man, I know on an intellectual level that Dan's an archaeologist and I believe he even had a doctorate (I seem to recall reading Ted referring to him as "Doc Garrett", though I can't say where I saw it), but when I think "Dan" I think "punching", not "quoting Emerson."

...I'm not sure Booster's actually done so much of the being sincere and thinking aloud thing with Ted. I mean, probably moreso than he's done with others, but honesty is not one of Booster's particular strengths. He's been described as talking a great deal, but saying very little, which I think is incredibly accurate. I mean, he tells Guy in issue 2 that he never told Ted about his dad, remember?

Scarab Speak Translation: "I only did it to impress a girl." I like to imagine it's said in a mocking tone.

Pg. 9: I've no comment on this page but <3

Pg. 10: The Conglomerate! Once upon a time, Booster was in the JLI. And then he got fed up with nobody giving him any respect, so he quit, and formed his own team. The Conglomerate. I <3 the Conglomerate. Booster as a competent leader yesplz. Also, reminds me that I have yet to review JLQ #1. Aheh. >.>

While Danny is indeed more of a strawberry blond in this issue and Booster's been pretty consistently sandy throughout the series, Danny's hair has previously shared its palette with Booster. The question is whether or not the difference will continue to exist....

Danny being two inches shorter than Booster makes him anywhere from 6 feet to 6 feet 3 inches, I think. Booster is tall. Two inches seems like a pretty precise measurement to be able to tell, though....

It amuses me that she didn't see fit to mention that Danny and Booster have completely different haircuts.

Hahahaha, Golden Age Booster, hahahahaha.

Putting on acts, eh? Oh, Rose, you Carter(-to-be).

The eye Rose is removing a contact from in the 2nd-to-last panel is not the one that is contact-less in the last panel. Goddammit, Hi-Fi.

I wonder if anybody besides me remembers that Danny is also a contact-wearer.

"Now what do we do?" The answer?

Pg. 11: HAWT HAWT MAKE-OUTS AND EVENTUAL BABY-MAKING. Getting interrupted by super-devious Rip!

Danny and Rose have switched positions on the couch. This bothers me.

So much love for Rip here. Apparently the answer to "What are you going to do to stop me?" is "Recruit your ancestors!" This will probably not end well. But it had damn well better be ancestors. Can't imagine why else Rip would bring both costumes otherwise. And Rose should totally be Supernova IV. Because it would make for the fastest moving legacy ever. How many Starmen have there been so far? I need to know what number we have to beat. :P

Carter family's heroic legacy? Really? I always figured that Carters were, by nature, more likely to fall on the other side of the law. Considering that the Carters-by-birth we know are Booster, who's a wanted man several times over in his home time period, and if the cops ever catch him, he gets to get executed sans trial, very lovely (unless that's been retconned, but I certainly hope not.); Michelle, who busted a guy off of death row (note the aforementioned "executed sans trial") and stole the Goldstar costume, even though Booster probably would've given it to her if she asked, he being a giant push-over like that; Jonar, who is, of course, a supervillian, to say nothing of the back-stabbing that Booster mentioned or his gambling problems; and Danny, who, admittedly, doesn't seem to be all that bad of a guy (at least comparatively), but, well, somebody's who reaction to getting an extremely powerful supersuit is "play Madden without bathroom breaks" is probably not entirely there to begin with. So I'm not sure where Rip's getting this "heroic legacy" stuff from. I mean, Booster's a straight-up hero, but Danny and Shel have so far just gotten in on technicalities, and Jonar's straight-up evil.

Pg. 12: I'd try to figure out if 16 months is accurate to what we've been given before, but I've honestly just given up on making sense out of the timestamps in this book.

"I wasn't exactly in the best place" is some pretty drastic understatement. At the time of Countdown to Infinite Crisis, Booster was apparently flat broke and homeless.

The files are pretty directly cribbed from C2IC, it seems. Straight down to that "intransigent" error in Booster's file that drives me nutters. (And that Shel's middle initial is A. It's just so random.)

It's so odd to see this scene without Ted's narration boxes. Mostly because it amuses me that Ted refers to Michelle as Booster's "murdered sister", because that makes it pretty clear that Booster never actually told Ted the circumstances of her death. Michelle wasn't murdered at all. It was, at best, a tragic accident, and, at worst, totally Booster's 'n' Skeets's fault. But I wouldn't call it a murder.

Pg. 13: Y'know, I was worried that this would end up changing C2IC a bit, and I don't mean because of the time-travel. But, no, all the dialogue on this page is lifted straight from C2IC, straight down to the italics. I <3 it. I mean, there's some skipping of stuff, but it's understandable, given space limitations and such.

"We never liked Max. Not really." is a total lie, though. They might not have always gotten along perfectly with Max, but they certainly seemed to like him well enough.

"But we were never bad guys." Booster, sweetie, do I need to remind you of your impressive criminal record? I mean, OK, Booster's not a straight-up bad guy or anything, but he does fall kinda low on the moral ladder....

Pg. 14: And nobody knows the danger of ego like Booster Gold.

Sooooooooo much woobie. <3

Dan's smirk here? Best.

Pg. 15: Nice ass, Ted.[/shallow]

Man, I really hope that something gets done with hospitalized Booster.... Mostly because I greatly <3 hospitalized Booster.

I love that Ted is visibly shorter than Booster and Dan here. Yes.

"Brother Eye fried that bozo Booster" is close to a line from C2IC, but not identical. (Max calls Brother I "Brother One" in C2IC, there's a bit in the middle, and "that bozo Booster" gets "flash-fried" instead of regular fried.)

Pg. 16: Scarab Speak Translation: "They tried to kill Blue Beetle. Let's break their skulls." Which is interesting, since the Scarab and Ted never seemed to be on any sort of good terms. Probably just the principle of the matter, though.

Max has not technically said yet that he made the League ineffectual on purpose. Whoopsie!

I'd also like to point out that the JLI was plenty effective when they had people to fight, it just didn't happen very often. But the joke amuses me anyway.

And Ted and Booster are fighting people together and bantering and, darnnit, that just makes me happy.

Pg. 17: Man, Dan and Sasha really are totally flirting here.

Future Beetle has zappy powers. Good for him.

Jaime, your timing for questions is terrible.

Max's OMAC activation code is same as in C2IC, except that instead of "Blue Beetle recipient" it's "intruder recipients", which is nice.

The dude who turned into an OMAC in C2IC was blond, though.

Pg. 18: Dan to the rescue!

The OMAC successfully broke Ted's arm in C2IC, of course.

Pg. 19: Max is supposed to already have given his "you or Batman, but I was betting on you" spiel, but I guess he could be repeating himself here for effect.

I'm not sure that Max's powers can be used to shut somebody's brain down, but OK.

I am sad that "Join or die time, is that it?" got cut.

I find it odd how far Booster's bleeding progressed in these panels, while Max's nosebleed did not progress at all.

Pg. 20: If any of you ever doubted Booster's willingness to literally take a bullet for Ted, do me a favor and go smack yourself, because seriously.

And then Ted flips out and beats the crap out of Max. Mmm-mmm, catharsis.

Pg. 21: But Booster's OK! \o/ Which is kind of weird, because you'd think that having somebody shutting your brain down would cause some sort of permanent damage....

I find it odd that it took all 3 Beetles to shut down the OMAC, considering that Jaime had a pretty good advantage over them by his lonesome in IC.

Scarab Speak Translation: "There's more security detail on the way. A lot more."

OK, Future Beetle is way wrong here. Max's files don't get sent to Batman, Alex Luthor deletes them. (Max blames Ted and later Batman, but it's irrelevant.) Batman finds out about the OMAC Project when Sasha sends Ted's brain-meat-covered goggles to him, which is obviously not going to happen now. And Max isn't going to just forget what happened, of course. Future Beetle, you have screwed things up.

Pg. 22: Booster's so giddy. It's adorable.

I think that Future Beetle knows too much. :/ But his smile reads as sincere to me, and that's throwing me off. (Possibly because he's not actually smiling much, even.) It's weird.

I really want to see that explanation on-screen, man. The past X # of years of Booster's life since Ted died, as told by Booster himself? Yes, please. Ted would be totally freaked by Booster's extreme hero-worship of him, assuming Booster actually let that bit into the summary. But, as previously noted, Booster does lie by omission pretty much all the time.

Tune in next month for Booster Gold #0, in which I pick apart Booster's origin! It will be great!

Way Late Review: Booster Gold #5

Why, yes, I did bring my full run of Booster Gold clear across the country with me, what of it?

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!

So, uh, it's been a month.

Whoops. I did say I could make no promises about actually updating regularly. But now that Christmas is over and I have no deadlines to knit for, we should be good. We'll see how this keeps up. Hopefully, we'll be at least mostly caught up by the time the next issue of Booster Gold comes out, considering that I have yet to blog the last issue of it. (Short version: It totally rocked and breaks my heart in the best way.) But I'm at my parents' house right now, and don't have access to a comic shop out here, so times they are a-difficult.

So, this post is going to have little to no worthwhile content, but, so help me, I feel like pointing out something about Heroclix that bothers me.

Now, I don't play Heroclix, but I have looked at it a bit (mostly because Heroclix figures kept popping up in my regular eBay searches and I just had to know what the heck REV stood for). There are 3 versions of every Heroclix figure: Rookie, Experienced, and Veteran. (And that's what REV stands for: the auction has the complete set.) Unless they're Unique figures, like the Guardians or Jaime Reyes or something. But Unique is irrelevant here, I wanna talk about Rookie, Experienced, and Veteran.

Now, a lot of characters go a long time without changing their costume, or only change it really temporarily or in incredibly minor ways. The Big Three, Green Lanterns, Ted Kord, etc. But then you've got people who change their costumes... not frequently (at least, not since the 90's, lawl), but often enough that the costume they were wearing when they were a rookie is different from the one they were wearing when they were "experienced" is different from the one they were wearing when they're a veteran. (I guess that should be in quotation marks since I'm pretty sure you have to be retired to be a vet....)

I am, of course, specifically referring to Booster Gold. Because his recent Heroclix figure features the 52 costume. For all 3 versions. And Booster in his 52 costume being ranked as a Rookie (with a Justice League affiliation that, I may add, the Veteran rank lacks. How perfect.) makes my brain feel a bit twisty.

I think in my perfect world, Rookie Booster would be in the collared classic costume, of course. Experienced would probably have to be one of the armors. Probably the Flesh Driver armor, if only because it is the least eye-stabby. Possibly you could stretch a bit and make it the off-center star costume. I liked that costume. Veteran would be the 52 costume or the current one. (Dan Jurgens draws it without the stripes on the arm connecting the glove to the shoulder, and, honestly, I rather prefer it that way.)

[Completely unrelated tangent: I used to really not at all like the blue gloves, y'know. Like, really hated 'em. But they've grown on me. Probably because Dan Jurgens actually draws Booster's Legion Flight Ring, and the blue makes it pop as opposed to the gold, where it blended right in. I can only hope that this means artists that draw Booster in the future remember to put the ring in now that it's more obvious that it's there. They probably won't and I'll probably whine about it, but I can hope, right?]

I mean, I understand why the keep one mold for all 3, that's just common sense, but it still gives me a minor case of the brain-twist. Nothing important, but, hey, it's something to blog about!

I Already Did My Productive Thing for the Day

I finished knitting a Weighted Companion Cube. I do not have the oomph necessary left after that to go through Teen Titans. So instead I shall post what I spent my weekend doing.



(Can you recognize the first pair now, Shane?)

and



(This is 13th of a set, for the record.)

Booster Gold and Blue Beetle Related Solicits

Solicits make for easy blogging! :D Especially when I drag it out over two days. I'm getting good at this!

Going down the list in order, we first hit Jaime in Teen Titans. So much for his membership being a temp thing, I guess. :/ Not that this is really a bad thing, granted, but contrary to my expectations. Also, this cover is kind of boring. And the text of the solicit doesn't capture my attention. I'll buy it, but that's 'cuz I'm a sucker for Jaime, not because I'm excited for it. Ah, the life of a comics fan.

None of this is a problem for the next issue on our list, Booster Gold #0! A Zero Hour tie-in issue. A Zero Hour tie-in issue. Just the kind of beautiful madness I love about this book.

The full solicit:
An issue over ten years in the making! An official ZERO HOUR crossover kicks off the second time-traveling story arc of "the greatest hero the world will never know" with "Blue and Gold," Part 1! Witness the secret origin of Booster Gold as he journeys through the time line, lost, in an attempt to return home...with a good friend in tow. But there's an evil out there waiting for him; one of the greatest villains of the DC Universe: Hal Jordan, a.k.a. Parallax!
On sale February 13 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

So, the 2nd arc is titled "Blue and Gold". I... hmmmm. Honestly, I've been mulling over this solicit in my head since I first saw it yesterday and I still don't know what to think of it all. Obviously, something's gone wrong, considering that Booster's lost in time, the question is "What?" (And also, probably, "So, what does this mean for Ted?") The two most likely things I've thought up is either that something bad has happened to Rip, or something bad has happened to Skeets. (If memory serves, Rip specifies that he needs Booster and Skeets together to be able to yoink them out of the time stream if he needs to.) Then again, we do have Skeets on the cover, so.... Hmmmmm. I don't know. I honestly just don't know. This is distinctly unusual.

But, hey, origins! Always fun! Maybe they'll explain what's up with Jonar. And I'm always all for the 25th century. It's an interesting place. I wonder why they say "a good friend in tow" instead of specifically mentioning Ted.... And, hey, Hal Jordan Parallax! Funtimes!

And, boy, howdy, that cover.



Man, even I can't name all the Beetles pictured. That's definitely something. I know the one with Cyclops-esque goggles is a Dan, although I'm fairly certain that his goggles ought to be red. I want to say the one with the Scarab design on his forehead is a Dan, too. We've got Ditko Ted with the hourglass-shaped goggles to the left of the Scarab, and modern Ted to the right of it, followed by Jaime. The one after Jaime is niggling at the back of my brain, but I can't place it. Then there's KC Ted, and I don't recognize that last one at all.

Honestly, I'm quite perturbed by how much this solicit just absolutely stumps me. I mean, I'm not saying I should be able to predict what will happen in the book just going by the solicit (goodness knows I've honestly been pretty consistently wrong about it all [and what it's actually been has always been better than my ideas, anywho]), but I usually have ideas, or something that makes me go "*Points!* *Flails wildly!*", but here, I just.... It's like I read the individual words and they make sense, but the blurb as a whole just fails to parse correctly. I keep looking at this and getting the sinking feeling that I'm just missing something that'll pull it all together into greatness.

I hate feeling like I'm missing something. :/

Aaaaaaaannyyyyywaaaaaaayyyyy....

What's next? Ah, Blue Beetle #24.



Lost in space! The Reach brings its Scarab home — and Jaime Reyes is about to die far from his, while knowing that his family and allies will be next. His salvation lies deep within the Blue Beetle legacy; it’ll take a hero’s efforts to find it. Don’t miss the shocking ending to this issue!
On sale February 27• 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Oh, so here's where my monthly dose of "OH MY SHIT" went!

Because OH MY SHIT. I'm not the only one who looks at that and sees a bucketful of Countdown to Infinite Crisis parallels, am I? Terrifying, terrifying C2IC parallels.

...

Delicious.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant.

I could go over this solicit phrase by phrase, but really, I'm sure all I'd say would end up being "Scary! (That is to say, awesome!)" or "Hellz yeah!", so I'll spare you the effort and move on.

Booster's inclusion in the Man of Steel TPB amuses me, although Skeets is absolutely, positively, entirely, completely the wrong colors on that cover, WTF? Skeets 1.0 was gold with a red visor. Skeets 2.0 and Skeets 2.1 are both gold with blue. Why is Skeets silver?

Showcase Presents Booster Gold! \o/ I do hope we get super-shiny all new art for the cover. I mean, it's not like I won't be buying it anyway, if only for the convenience of having it all in one easily accessible volume for reference purposes, but I would like to get new art out of the deal. Especially since I'm not entirely fond of the cover to #25, which is the image attached to this solicit. Something about the bend of Booster's spine makes me feel nyyyyyyyyyeeeeehhh-y. (I think it might just be the "oh, hai, boobies and butt crammed into one shot!" pose, but it's from the front and on a guy, and that makes it even more mystifying than usual.) Also his hair is totally parted on the wrong side of his head there and that's totally important.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS VOL. 1 TP
[...]
Reoffered to coincide with SHOWCASE PRESENTS: BOOSTER GOLD VOl. 1...

...Query: Sense. How does this make any?! I mean, what?! Why not just come clean and go "Reoffered! Because we felt like it! :D" That would at least be justifiable!

OK, so that's all the Booster Gold and Blue Beetle that I saw. Tune in tomorrow for the entire rest of the solicits! Same HAC time (that is to say, whenever I get around to it), same HAC channel URL!

I'm Not Sure If Jonar is More or Less Disturbing Than Jonah Hex.

I have kind of a weird thing for tracing family trees.



I think this might make me the third person ever to draw Booster's mom. And that's terrible.

2nd person to draw his dad, probably, too, but considering that his dad's only been around since, y'know, Wednesday as opposed to 20 years ago, that's a good deal more understandable.

Imagedump!

Gimme a week and this'll be on in my LJ icons list where it belongs. Because it's a bit too spoilery as of yet. But I've been waiting to add Supernova III to this icon since the first issue. It's so nice to finally be able to.



This is simply the best piece of Photoshoppery ever. I defy anyone to convince me otherwise.



I finally managed to get a picture of my Blue Beetle yarn. Chexcellent.

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.

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, I Spent Altogether Too Much Time on This....

So, I didn't really feel like talking about anything today-technically-yesterday, so I decided to phone in a doodle, again, but, being me, I took forever actually drawing the silly little things. Aheh. But, hey, at least now I have wee drawings of the Conglomerate line-up.



(For reference's sake, that's Booster Gold, Gypsy, Praxis, Echo, Vapor, Maxi Man, and Reverb.)

You can tell where the part of my brain that's actually good at this gave up right around Vapor. But I'm actually rather pleased with the first 4. Eh.

To Continue Some of My Previous Train of Thought, But in a Completely Different Direction...

WARNING: Looking at anything on the TV Tropes Wiki runs the high risk of something like this happening, but somehow worse. Here's hoping you roll a natural 20 on your Will Save.

It amused me greatly to find J2 mentioned in the examples of this trope. And they are, of course completely right. In fact, somewhere around the middle of the run, there was a letter that basically went something like "Wait, how does this even work?" and the reply was basically, "We have no idea! :D Anybody got some good suggestions?"

Y'know when the last time I got such amusement from a letters page was?

This.



Unfortunately, only about two suggestions regarding J2's power source made it to future letter pages, and neither of them were anywhere near as gloriously cracky as Booster Gold: Descendant of Braniac. Which is a crying shame. But I do suppose that's setting the bar a bit high.

But it's stuff like that that makes me miss letter pages. I mean, sure, we have message boards all over the place now 'n' all, but message boards don't get preserved for posterity in the pages of the comic themselves. I get to cherish forever the many, many theories people had about Booster's origin (remember, his origin was never told until the sixth issue of his series, giving the readers ample time to come up with workable ideas that were completely wrong. I <3 all of the misleading clues that Jurgens dropped. That that, Identity Crisis!), despite the fact that I wasn't even born until years after the series ended, but the many, many theories that people had about Supernova will be lost to the ravages of the Internet in time.

Which Supernova am I referring to there? Wouldn't you like to know? (OK, yeah, both. Hush.)

To bring this entry full circle, Booster appears as an example in a number of tropes, including one named after his JLU episode.

And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to waste the entire rest of my day trawling TV Tropes.

I Find the Greatest Stuff Through eBay.

First, really quickly, what I bought this week:
Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil HC (Read it, great stuff, considering trying to trick my little brother into the world of comics through this as a birthday/Christmas gift, may not want to give it up, may not be willing to shell out cash for a second copy, will see what happens)
52: The Companion TPB (Halfway done, read 5 out of 10 stories included, managed to not skip directly ahead to the Booster origin story, somewhat proud of myself for that.)
2nd copy of Booster Gold #3
Considered buying Brave & the Bold, but decided that I was spending enough already, thanks.

But, anyway, eBay. I think eBay is grand. I actually work in a store which has the entire purpose of selling things on eBay. (Seriously, it's what I do.) So, I will, on occasion, whenever the fancy strikes me (which is somewhat frequently), I will search for whatever, uhhh, strikes my fancy. Booster Gold is, unsurprisingly, a staple in my searching. And sometimes I find some really great, weird stuff.

Find of the day?



Dan Garret(t) has the weirdest hobby ever. I do not even want to think about how this is even working, because I know that it does not.

Find of the day yesterday?



The best part is that it's drawn by a professional. A somewhat obscure professional, sure, but someone who has been paid real monies by a big publisher to draw comics.

One can only wonder what tomorrow will bring.

How 'bout those solicits, huh?

Oh, look at that, the DC Solicits for January are up. Let's take a gander.

Hmmm, Countdown--Oh, wow, we're almost down to a quarter of the series left? Wow. Maybe noteworthy things will begin to happen?--Teen Titans, Teen Titans, Teen Titans, Countdown, Countdown...

*Scroll scroll scroll*

Oh, look, somebody looks to be dying in Black Canary/Green Arrow (it is traditional to do these things in alphabetical order, is it not? So why is Ollie/Connor headlining here? Tsk, tsk, DC.), how charming.

*Scroll scroll*

Ah, here's Booster GoooooooOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH

BOOSTER GOLD #6
Written by Geoff Johns & Jeff Katz
Art and cover by Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund
"52 Pick-Up" concludes as Booster Gold journeys back in time to save the best friend he ever had – the Blue Beetle! But can Booster stop Maxwell Lord before someone else dies in Ted Kord's place? And will Ted Kord let that happen?
On sale January 9 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

MY



SHIT.

Well.

Wow.

I wasn't expecting this, not now. I figured it was an anniversary issue sort of thing. I mean, yes, Booster did imply that he was going to be rescuing Ted as soon as he beat the snot out of whoever was screwing with time, but....

Man, this just isn't the sort of thing you end your first arc with. Johns and Katz, I admire your cajones.

I also worry for Booster's mental health after this, especially after you make him deal with Joker and The Killing Joke the issue before. Oh, I trust you, Geo/Jeffs, make no mistake about that. This series has been consistently good beyond my hopes, and I have faith that it will continue to be so. And I do honestly love to see Booster in trouble, because it is so fun to watch him, but, y'know, you can only put him through so much stress before he breaks and he can't be put back together very easily.

Issue 6 is a bit early to be doing that, don't you think?

I mean, I daren't even hope that Ted comes back. I mean, maybe I'm just assuming the worst here and that covers and solicits lie and Ted will somehow make it through this hunky-dory and nothing will happen that could cause Booster to have a mental breakdown. But I can't really see that happening.

Of course, Ted's not the only part of the solicit. Just the biggest, immediately apparent part. We've also got this: "before someone else dies in Ted Kord's place? And will Ted Kord let that happen?"

Technically, there are all sorts of possibilities here. The one that immediately popped into my mind, and, in fact, has been in my mind since I saw that last panel of Booster Gold #1, is, well, it takes some explaining.

Booster's time traveling here, of course. So we actually have two Booster Golds existing at the same time. Not a big deal; it's happened before. Supernova 'n' all that. The thing is, the past Booster would be, at this moment in time, unconscious in a hospital bed. Not a very good position to be in, strategically. Especially when Max has things like the OMACs on his side.

So, basically, I'm putting my money on something happening to the Booster who's in the hospital and Ted deciding to take that bullet to save Booster and stop time from falling apart from sheer power of paradox. We'll see if I'm right.

Beefcake Week, Eh?

I think I can deal with a Beefcake Week. Especially considering the copious amounts of ammo that yesterday's Booster Gold #3 provided.



(So, they've only interacted for one page, and I already love them together. When's the wedding?)



And, of course, Booster Gold is the Prettiest Man Alive, and I defy anyone to try and prove otherwise.

On-Time Review: Booster Gold #3

Another fine issue from the pens of Johns and Katz. No surprise here, and plenty of roffles.

We open with Danny in his boxers. I approve. And Booster's trying to punch him out for getting the Supernova suit stolen. Of course. Nothing seems to frustrate Booster quite as much as Danny does. Though I'm not sure I can really entirely blame him for his frustration.

I already love Rose, too. Also, she is totally checking Danny out in that last panel here. Not that I blame her.

"A fight between Booster Gold and the 100" is a reference to Booster's original series, by the by. Though, granted, Booster was fighting the 1,000. It's close enough.

Another random cameo by Team 13! Love it! :D

Go figure that if the Kents don't get wee Kal, then the Luthors do. How very meta. And that Lex and "Lionel, Jr." would be bestest pals.... right up until Lex finds out that Lionel's Superman. It vaguely amuses me in the worst way that it takes Lex less than a year to kill him. Hardcore. Booster is, naturally, horrified by this, considering how very much he idolizes Supes. I really love how he's all business after that.

In case you had managed to fail to catch on, Jonah Hex is hardcore.

Can we have Booster in various states of changing his clothes in every issue? Please?

I had to look up who Ennid Morricone and Frankie Laine were on Wikipedia. Does that make me a bad person?

Considering Booster's family/personal history of gambling problems, how very quickly he accepts Jonah's bet is both very in character and slightly worrisome.

Y'know, if you can't see the messed-up half of his face, Jonah's pretty handsome. I like this scene. It's kind of gratuitous, but it totally fits. And the woobie's strong with the discussion of friends, of course.

Random page of inexplicably Caucasian Jaime Reyes!

I love these two pages here to pieces. Booster's very drunk here, and it's somehow very endearing. And what's really endearing is the story of his cape. It is 100% true that Booster used to have a cape in his original series. The cape was mostly for PR purposes, and Booster was usually in the habit of taking it off for any actual fighting. So this story, while new, does fit, and, well, it hurts in the best way. Like I said earlier, Booster idolizes Superman. It's such a pity that Superman doesn't care much for him.

Booster has fought both Mammoth and Blackguard on-panel, for the record. Mammoth in the very first week of 52, and Blackguard in the very first issue (along with the next 3) of his original series. Although Blackguard reformed before Booster's cape disappeared, so I doubt he's the one in the story.

And I love that Booster forgot to eat. Because he would. And then he drank all that whiskey on an empty stomach. Amazing!

And Supernova calls Booster Michael, which, as I noted in my review of issue #1, calling Booster by his given name is not something you just do.

And then Booster's suit appears out of nowhere. I am mystified.

Supernova has very good mastery over the suit's capabilities. And he's definitely a very clever strategist. (Because it's so hard to beat a drunk guy up, right? :P) And buffalo. Wow.

And this last scene is definitely a winner. Rip declaring that "Friends don't let friends drive drunk!" is one of the most amazing/ridiculous things ever. Kind of like Sinestro's mustache twirl last issue. And then Booster just has to go and tempt fate. And his guilty face when Rip calls him on it afterwards is just so adorable. A great note to end on. :D

Except for one little thing. Barry's and Wally's eyes are both colored brown here, when they ought to be blue and green, respectively. I could kind of understand accidentally coloring them both blue, since I see people screw up and make Wally's eyes blue all the time, but brown? Seriously? Way to drop the ball, Hi-Fi!

Overall a most excellent issue, not that this is surprising, of course.

Catch-up Review: Booster Gold #2

It's time for another exciting installment of Shut Up, Shut Up, My Opinions Totally Matter! Here we've got Booster Gold #2, featuring Booster vs. Sinestro. Exciting!

We start off where we left off, with Booster and Rip discussing the ultimatum that Booster gave Rip at the end of last issue. I absolutely love this conversation. The "No one's supposed to die--" "We all die, Booster." "Not like that." It's very telling of Booster's psyche. He does not care for how history has gone recently, so, by gum, he's going to change it and if Rip doesn't like it, he can find somebody else to play chump. Rip really did not pick the right guy to be his time cop.

Also, the look on Booster's face in that "Not like that." panel is scary in the best way. Booster's usually a compromiser to the sort of extreme that most other heroes wouldn't, but when Booster does stand his ground, then he does not move in it.

By "always," Booster of course means "never." The boy has practically defined the phrase "by the seat of his pants."

What interests me most about the alternate history shown here is that Rip says that Guy would die "decades before he should," because it suggests that Guy's going to be sticking around for a long, long time. Which is good. I like Guy.

Random page of Dan Garrett! There's a lot here that contradicts previous canon, but considering that said previous canon was a few time line rewrites ago, I think I can forgive it.

Fun fact: I live in Pasadena, so I am filled with glee by this.

I like Booster being mystified by Guy's behavior. Booster never met Guy until well after he was brain-damaged, so it makes perfect sense for him to be utterly confused by this non-aggressive and completely reasonable Guy.

I like how, after the initial tackle to get Sinestro's attention, Booster spends the entire rest of the fight dodging Sinestro's attack and trying to reason with him, because, well, he did ask for a little chat. It's nice that that was almost literal instead of just a euphemism for a fight.

Considering that Booster's first series ended with him teaming up with the Manhunters during the Millennium event and then backstabbing them later, any reference to the Manhunters in relation to Booster is inherently hilarious to me.

I've also independently thought up the relationship between Booster's costume and the yellow weakness, so that's also inherently hilarious to me, too.

The appearance of the Doctor Thirteen crew is great. The Other Time Sphere intrigues me. There has to be some sort of reason for the shape of those windows(?). Other than making The Other Time Sphere look like it's some sort of twisted love child between Unicron and Galactus.

Am I the only one reminded of Return of the Joker by the "He loves to hear himself... talk"? And as near as I can figure, Booster and Sinestro were doing roughly equal amounts of being chatty during the fight, but at least Sinestro was fighting, too. Also, it amuses me that Sinestro has apparently not bothered to wipe that blood from his brow.

I love this scene here with Booster lying through his teeth to Sinestro to pieces. It's part of that constantly compromising thing I mentioned earlier. This glorious display of ego-stroking a bad guy (even if he isn't entirely a bad guy yet) is the sort of thing that Booster has and would do unhesitatingly, but isn't really something a lot of other folks in the DCU would. They might go in that direction a little bit if they couldn't help it, but I don't think I could see many other heroes going as far as to claim to be a member of the Sinestro Corps. And Booster doesn't just lay it on, he lays it on thick. And Sinestro eats it up like it was the most delicious cake he's ever had. And it's so very nice to see Booster put all that charisma he has to work.

Sinestro twirling his mustache would probably look ridiculous in any other book.

Yet another thing I love (in case you hadn't caught on yet, I love this book with the burning fire of a thousand suns) is that Booster isn't just like, "Oh, I've chased off Sinestro, time to go jump back into the time stream, lah de dah." He's noticed that something's up with Guy and, by gum, he's going to find out what it is, because Guy is a friend of his (despite the fact that I'm inclined to say that they've fought more often than not), and, even though everybody and their mother (including Booster himself) may think Booster is, at his core, a selfish jerk, the fact of the matter is, Booster cares very, very deeply about his friends.

Enough to accidentally hit on them. Whoopsie! (As an aside, I'd like to note that Booster looks very, very good in civvies and could we please have more of this?)

And then we actually get Booster talking about his family. Even mentioning Michelle out loud to someone, which is something I've seen him do maybe twice since his first series ended. And you'll notice that he says, "I never even told Ted this....", which should further emphasize to you how very much Booster does not talk about his family. So, yeah, this is Important-with-a-capital-I stuff here. This is also the first time I've ever seen it implied that Booster had any sort of contact with his old man after said old man walked out on his family when Booster and Michelle were 4. And it's interesting that Booster sought acceptance from him (It's called "being your own man," Booster. Have you heard of it?), considering that Booster's dad was not what anybody would call much of a great guy, cf. the earlier leaving a single mother with 4-year-old twins thing. You don't need me to tell you that the woobie's strong here, of course. I'm just ruminating on what it all means.

I can only wonder what Booster did with that ticket. Doesn't seem to have stayed and watched the game himself. And I wouldn't put scalping it past him, of course.

Supernova has given poor Rip an amazingly thorough beating here. I'm not sure I've seen that much strategic clothes ripping since the last time I watched DragonBallZ. Interesting how everything on his left arm seems to have been left intact though. I wonder if that was done on purpose.

Camouflage capabilities for the Supernova suit seems to be a new one. That's not something we've seen used in 52, and Booster didn't mention it when he listed its capabilities in the first issue.

And next we get Jonah Hex, so that's definitely pretty exciting!

Catch-up Review: Booster Gold #1

So, Booster Gold #3 comes out on Wednesday. Today is Monday. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if I want to review #3 on time and still have covered the previous two issues, I'd have to do one a day. So....

A list of what pushes my buttons, and an explanation of all the references for those of you who do not have Booster's history more or less memorized backwards and forwards. (If you want a synopsis, you've got the entire rest of the blogosphere for that.)

So, we start off with an extended poker metaphor. Considering Booster's personal and family history with gambling, this is flail-worthy. And, of course, he's fighting the Royal Flush Gang, which, as Black Canary will point out in a few pages, is how he got into the Justice League in the first place.

And then we've got a nice double-page spread in which Booster handily summarizes his backstory. The panel layout's a little odd here, forming a kind of convoluted backwards "S" (somewhat appropriate!) The reference to his parents as a collective unit is an interesting one, given how his father walked out on them when Booster and Michelle were 4. Booster's football number being 13 has been rather thoroughly consistent throughout his history, I am pretty sure. Though the colors were originally red and white rather than monochrome. I am willing to forgive this. Monochrome feels more Gotham. I also love all the parenthetical asides here. There's something extremely Booster in that. I also love that the nearly 20 years between Shel's death and Ted's are pretty much entirely skipped over. I mean, it makes sense to do that, of course, but, well, that's almost 20 years right there.

The "I deserve to be cheered for again. (I do.)" gets me every time. Have confidence, Booster!

Batman hits on the strangest mix between dickishness and niceness here. Amazing.

Booster's first heroic adventure was to stop a Presidential assassination plot, so the first paper in the second panel on this page is hilarious. And, of course, the reference to the beginning of Civil War on the second paper. Also worth pointing out is that the teeny tiny type on the papers is all actually real words. Not words that would actually appear in a newspaper, but if you get really up close and personal with your copy, you should be able to make them out. They're worth a good chuckle.

I get a kick out of Booster referring to his usage of historical records as cheating, because I always kind of felt that it was.

It makes oodles of sense that Booster would be mad at Rip for 52. Rip put Booster through all sorts of Hell there and Booster got almost nothing in return for it. I also love it to pieces that Booster lists Skeets's body before his own reputation. It's such a small detail, but it's a telling one.

Strange that Danny and Booster are living in Pittsburgh now, considering that Danny was living in Covington, Ohio in 52 Week 19.

I love Danny. I just do. I also love the contrast of how Booster lost football through his own stupid mistakes, but Danny lost football because of an unfortunate, uncontrollable accident, along with the contrast between the way they are now. *Waves hand vaguely* Did that make sense to anybody but me?

And then Rip is an ass. An ass with a beard. Good call, that. Makes him look distinct from our other two blonds. (The ones who are actually related.)

Also, it is a True Fact that Booster considers his friends to be more important than the Multiverse. Oh, Rip, you magnificent bastard, you, you knew just the think to say to Booster to get him to go with it, didn't you?

I have many, many theories as to who Supernova is. Most of them are the same answer as the last time that question was asked.

The "if I lose an arm again...." is a reference to Booster's ill-fated fight against the minions of the Overmaster. Not only did Booster lose his arm in this fight, however, he was also medically dead for the remainder of the crossover, which eventually led to the infamous Extreme Justice life support suit. It takes balls to reference that, let me tell you.

I like Rose. She's pretty, as a relative of Booster ought to be. :P

Rip is skilled in the art of the back-handed compliment. And, of course, Rip is right when he says that Booster's entirely too comfortable in this environment. Booster's really not the type to give much consideration to the consequences of doing something like kidnapping a baby who would eventually grow up to be a time-traveling supervillain and then dumping them with a happy family.

The scene with the Justice League here just breaks my heart to pieces, because Booster so very much wants that spot on the League, and, well, dammit, he has earned it. The hard way. And he has to let go of it voluntarily (and literally, in the case of that certificate), in order to really be able to be the best hero he can be, and the whole thing's very symbolic and hurty, hurty, hurty. I love it.

And then there's the thing with Batman. Now, a very important thing about Booster here. Calling him Michael is not something you just do. There are tons and tons of reasons behind this, that'll I spare you of (for now), but what it boils down to is that there is a very, very small list of people who can call Booster by his given name and get away with it (I can think of 7 people whom I'd accept a "Michael" from. About half of them are dead. Make of that what you will.), and Batman is most definitely not on that list of people. So, seeing ol' Batsy use "Michael" and then Booster retorting with a "See ya, Bruce." is just great, because can't you just hear the spite in that "Bruce"? It's so very nice to see that the Michael thing is something that Johns and Katz get, because it's important.

Also, can you not just hear the gears turning in Batman's head after that "living down to expectations"?

Internet humor is always worth a chuckle. True Fact.

I love the scene with the kid. Even if the kid couldn't have been older than 5 or so when Booster was in the League. I'll forgive that. And, of course, watching Booster give up the glory is downright charming.

There are two things that I absolutely love about this last little scene. And they are "A couple times" and "we're going to start by saving." Because it's so nice that the writers realize that Booster has lost people other than Ted, although Ted is a very important loss to him. So this promise that Ted won't be the only one that Booster is fighting to save makes me very, very happy. What can I say? Booster has a twin sister who has been dead for about 20 years of whom I am rather fond.

The preview page is just enticing beyond words, of course. As Geoff Johns so artfully put it, "Die, Max, die!"