Finally, the "SPOILER ALERT" goes without saying!
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The Cover
Pretty typical Booster stuff here. Can't really complain about it... serves as sort of a re-introduction for the character, which I suppose makes sense given the "new beginning" aspect of this book. I've never been a fan of speech bubbles on a comic book cover, even when I was little, so that's a turn-off. The thing that concerned me on first glance, though was the tag: "Giffen and DeMatteis reunite to bring the bwa-ha-ha back to Booster Gold."
I thought that, while the issue 1-31 stories were more serious in tone than the old JLI stuff, there was still a lot of levity. I know that the Bwa-Ha-Ha is the KG/JMD brand of stuff as far as this goes, but it still made me worry that it'd be too far. Enough of that for now. Let's move on.
General Thoughts:
With Booster's time traveling, it's always a treat to open up and see where they'll throw you in. I enjoyed this beginning simply because you're immediately thrust into a crisis situation. I thought the "Come with me..." line was hysterical...flipping over onto a big splash page of red beams "WAKA-TOOM"-ing down onto the planet. This is big stuff that he's in the middle of, though the girl talking about how she has to pee was an interesting contrast.
The credits on the second page of the splash had me again a little worried... apologizing to Dan Jurgens for soiling his creation yet again. Ok, since they brought it up... I already said that was a concern of mine and thankfully, it was unfounded. There's a LOT of dialog in this story, and some is a little ridiculous, but it is truly balanced out with the Booster that I've come to enjoy reading about in the Volume 2 run.
I like the art, but sometimes characters facial expressions don't seem to match what's going on. I'm guessing that this is going to get more in sync as we go here.
It took WAY too long for Skeets to come in. I like the little droid, especially his interactions with Booster. Always have. As a guy from the future, as a guy whose peers regard him with some disdain, the little guy is really his only friend. Speaking of which, I wonder what Rip was doing to him? Just some diagnostics? Something new? We'll see, I guess. Could be nothing at all.
What I Liked
- The balance of humor and seriousness was good.
- Something about Booster's "son-of-a-bitch" when he saw Max Lord alive and well was great. Just really seemed to sum it all up. What else can you say?
- His immediate turn-around from self-doubt to outward confidence when Rani asked if she was going to die too.
- The story was well-paced, a nice transitional issue.
- I wonder how Ekron feels about that eye? He sure was sore about it in 52.
- I liked how Booster was a very in-control foil to the confused and bewildered 31st-centry-ers.
- When Skeets did come in... well, it was exactly why I like Skeets. I can just picture him schmoozing with the hybrid.
- These guys still know how to write good Booster, even with how many changes he's undergone. I like that they maintained the seriousness, the doubt, the bravado, the charm, but...
What Was "Ehhh"
- Booster's self-doubt after the Emerald Empress killed all those people was good, yet it felt a little forced. A page ago, Booster was zooming around and reliving his football days. Now he's on the opposite end of the spectrum. Don't get me wrong, I like the human side of Booster, but he's a little bipolar in this book.
- Since when did Booster have the technical know-how to repair his time-travel circuitry? Maybe I missed that somewhere.
- I was ready to see the Emerald Empress pull out some Clear Eyes eyedrops on her splash page. Reminded me of Ben Stein.
- The Eye jokes made sense in EE's dialog, given the slightly nutsy nature of the villain and her attachment to the Eye of Ekron, but I felt a little "been there, done that" due to Brother Eye's forms of conversation..
- SO much dialog!
Overall
I REALLY liked this. This will not be a bad direction for our boy from the future. I'm especially excited to see how this will bump up against Generation Lost. While the I definitely found some negatives in the +/- section, I really see the positives as outweighing any negatives by a long shot. This is going to be a fun ride.
Stay tuned for more - there'll be a new JL:GL before you know it, and I still haven't posted the first one! This is going to be fun.
I was amazed at how long it took for me to read this issue. That's not a bad thing but it took longer than my normal reads. I have to disagree with Booster being bipolar, the tone may of seemed that way but for the character it was very logical for him to stop feeling so good. I don't know, I sort of liked how shocking that moment was.
ReplyDeleteBoosters' done a few fast hotwiring and put the suit together with Skeets' directions. I think he has a better idea of how to make repairs by now but not how to actually make the suit, etc. There were some goofy jokes but overall I liked this issue.
You may have a point... I feel that I zipped through this issue, and maybe that made it appear sudden to me. The different pace that you took it in could have made the moment a little less sudden. I think that it was genuine, but to me the pacing was what made it seem forced on the part of the authors. Maybe I'll go back and take a little more time.
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