BG#33

Obviously this issue came out a week ago; I'm still considering how to balance the pace of the blog with two BG-centric titles coming out the same day each month.

This is the second issue in the new authorship of Booster Gold. It was solid, if not necessarily memorable, from start to finish. Many things that I felt took away from the previous issue were lessened in this one, and that's quite good. I liked that Booster went back to the old JLI (as we knew he would through interviews) but did not yet encounter Ted Kord. I'm thankful for that, as that encounter may deserve an issue by itself.

I find it pretty neat that we will get to see a little of the old school Blue and Gold even as a new Blue and Gold partnership seems to be developing in Justice League: Generation Lost. I think some of the parallels (and the differences) in the relationships will make things interesting.

That may be another post for another time. For now, though, Booster Gold #33.

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Continuity:

I'm adding this section in to the reviews only because with three featured roles a month, Booster is getting a little crowded. I want to make sure that I keep this all together.

This issue could only fit in during the middle of JL:GL#2... that one ended on a cliffhanger, and #3 picked up right there. My guess is that these events take place during the side stories in JL:GL#2 where the various characters are asking their fellow superheroes about Maxwell Lord.

The Cover:

I like it. The cover is a reflection, in my mind, that Booster kind of got the hell beaten out of him in two out of three issues last month, which is further made funny/ironic given its similarity to the cover of #32... at the beginning of last month, Booster was fine, smiling, self-assured. In the time since then, he witnessed the destruction of Daxam, got his suit busted up, saved a litte girl, found out that Max Lord is still alive, got the crap beaten out of him by Max Lord, and by the end of JL:GL#2, was ready to square off against some OMAC drones. Yeah, Booster looking boat-raced is about right.

The Story:

This issue is bookended by some Rani moments. They're a little funny, especially because her messing around with Rip's board must drive him mad - longtime readers know how much jargon he keeps there. Largely, this was just purely for an intro and conclusion and had little to do with the story - though we must ask now if it is possible that Rani is of the Carter bloodline, given that she said that Rip looks like her grandpa.

At first, I thought of the Big Bad that Booster is battling as pretty ridiculous. Upon reflection, it occurs to me that as random as Brigadoom's appearance in the middle of the city seems, that's simply the conceit of the classic super hero story. Sometimes, a baddie just appears. The purpose of this fight, of course, was to set up his encounter with Cyborg and get his mind going about the JLI.

When you think about it, Booster's plan isn't a bad one. If he can find the proper piece of evidence of Max's existence, he may gain a little more support - perhaps at least Batman, who has sympathy for Booster's mission and situation.

So Booster's foray back into the old JLI managed to be pretty interesting... His interaction most especially. The exchange with J'onn was funny - leave it to him to see through the deception just in passing - especially when he grabbed Booster by the collar. We know that our writing team is planning on going back to those days with some degree of regularity, so I wonder if this will set up future strife between the two...?

The bit with Black Canary was funny, but it really felt pointless. Did we need two panels of Booster listening at the door for her to leave? In any case, the most significant thing, in my mind, was Booster's encounter with Max. After everything that happened, Booster was right on - it WAS the old Max there, right before him.

In any case, Booster goes to look for DNA for Max Lord briefly before realizing that it won't be any good in the future. Then he had a fantastic idea - the JLI recruitment tape. Booster takes it and zips back and immediately begins cursing up a storm - the tape was gone. Rip's reasoning for this is sound - solidified time means that since the artifact was important to Power Girl joining up, he can't take it.

I understand that and it fits with the canon so far. That's fine. So what about:

1) Copying the tape
2) Going to a time when said tape was no longer important.

I mean... duh? Obviously it's one of those things that will be ignored because otherwise, there won't be a point to the rest of the story. Sort of like if the gunner had bothered to destroy the escape pod with R2 and C-3PO on it at the beginning of Star Wars... no more movie after that.

I like the artwork in these so far. I was a big fan of the artwork before the new team as well, but this good; perhaps in a slightly different way, but good nonetheless.

What I Liked:

- Could Rani be a Carter? This would be an interesting twist; I'm struggling with whether or not it would be a predictable one, but I think it would be a good direction to go. I know that JMD played the question lightly in an interview, but I don't necessarily believe him!
- It's nice to know that Booster, like the rest of us, needs his coffee.
- Booster slapping down Cyborg was great. First, I'm not big on Cyborg (no real reason why, I guess the Titans just annoy me sometimes). Second, for all of his shenanigans back in those days, the JLI really did mean something to Booster.
- Brigadoom? Seriously? What a terrible name. I love it.
- Still lots of word bubbles, but the things that were said felt more relevant and it was not nearly as crowded as last issue.
- Once again, Keith and J.M. alleviate my fears of the "Bwa-ha-ha" taking too much precedent (until we start seeing more of Ted Kord).

What was "ehhhhh..."

- The issue felt a LITTLE rushed.
- There were a couple of situations that really didn't feel necessary (Black Canary)... not everything needs to be story, but I'd like it if the filler felt a little less forced.
- Would it have been THAT much trouble to go back again and copy the VHS tape? Or to go back after the tape's significance had ended and grab it then?
- I fear that Rani's remark about Rip looking like her "Boppy" is going to end up a red herring just to make her parts seem significant until there's no more use for her. JMD said it was just a joke in an interview, but I'm not sure there wasn't a *wink wink* there.

To sum it up...

I don't want to be a cheerleader, but I did like this. I'm pretty optimistic, after all, and since this is a Booster-themed blog, I'm in a position of WANTING to like it! It was a solid issue, not a particularly memorable one, but it met expectations in most cases and exceeded them in some instances. Despite all of the changes, 33 issues in to this series, Booster is still in good hands.

Hopefully, we can still say that in another 33 issues!

New Booster and JL:GL

Oh how I love the second Wednesday of the month! Two new issues featuring Booster Gold. I won't give too much away here - and I'll probably get to the first of the reviews later this week - but I wanted to put down some preliminary thoughts.

!!!POSSIBLE SPOILERS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

I've actually had the chance to read them both already, and I'm not disappointed by either. We find out two key pieces of information in JL:GL, the issue does a lot with Blue Beetle (though the cover is kinda a giveaway there), and pits our newfound JLI against an old ally...

BG#33 was fine. I was thankful that the crowded speech balloons were lessened this issue and the humor was toned down just a teeny bit. Seeing a snapshot of Booster from back then really underlined just how much he's changed (and for the better).

So, the reformed JLI looks like this so far:

Booster Gold
Captain Atom
Fire
Ice
Blue Beetle

Could Rocket Red join back in? I think it'd make sense - why else pit the team against the brigade?

New Comic Book Day!

Grabbed the new JL:GL today; review up soon.

I didn't feel like springing $7.99 for the One-In-Ten cover, which in a lot of ways I prefer to the other cover. That said, the common one appears to be improved from the last despite a few character inaccuracies yet again. I'm getting ahead of myself, though.

I'm finding this to be a lot of fun so far, and if I can get my hands on Time Masters #1 once it comes out (I WILL get my hands on it), I'll probably go through that miniseries as well.

Having reflected, I'm pretty happy with the direction that Booster is going, and the first issue of this new series really exceeded expectations. Here's hoping it holds up!

Also, a question for anyone reading this: I was re-reading the "Day of Death" story arc in Booster Gold and realized that the Black Beetle storyline is just hanging there. Will Dan hit on it in Time Masters? Will Bwa-ha and Ha-ha resolve it in their books? He was around for too much of the run to go away. Perhaps I'd know more if it was July and we had Time Masters!

Booster Gold #32: The New Direction.

Ok, so I'll try to set a standard for my review format in this one. We'll see how it evolves. This issue is what I was waiting for, and I'm doing this before JL:GL because, story-wise, it comes first.

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.