A Quick New Comic Day Post:

Just wanted to give a few notes in prep for my in-depth reviews in the coming days. I read these a little faster than usual - I try to savor them - so I'll have to take a little more time.

JL:GL was a transitional issue, and I thought a necessary one after the events of the previous. Positioning the pieces, a little character development, etc. Also, I LOVED the way that they bookended it with Booster's monologue and flashbacks.

Max Lord's explanation was a total cop-out. Clearly he's manipulating them (again), and I find it difficult to believe that they're doing anything other than exactly what he wants them to do.

Booster Gold 34 had me worried for the first several pages. Keith Giffen needs to stick to breakdowns if he must draw anything at all. I would have skipped it had the artwork looked like that the whole issue. Thank GOD that was not the case. I nearly stopped reading in disgust. I would rip the fact that Michelle doesn't look a thing like her prior appearances, but I would have to rip the fact too that NOBODY looked like ANYONE that they were supposed to, except perhaps for Skeets.

Rip Hunter looked like a caveman, Rani looked like a boy, and everything was too cartoonish. Booster looked like five or six different versions of himself.

Luckily, the majority of the issue was Chris Batista, and a solid effort from him.

I sincerely hope that we don't see this again. It's the kind of garbage that will hurt a book's numbers, and I don't want Booster Gold to go anywhere. If something negative happens to Booster Gold Volume 2 before Dan Jurgens can take it back, I will point to this specific instance of Keith Giffen artwork as the reason.

If anyone knows editor Mike Siglain's e-mail, make sure he knows how terrible the first and last 2-3 pages of this issue look. You better believe I will be talking about this in my review.


/rant.

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 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!

Justice League: Generation Lost #1

Here we go with the new bi-weekly series from DC. I'm excited for anything that features Booster Gold in a prominent role, and in my opinion, this one doesn't disappoint. So, let's dig in to the first issue!

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The Cover

Ok, I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of this cover. Don't get me wrong - in terms of artistry, I think it is fairly well done. So what's wrong with it? Well, first, Booster doesn't even LOOK like Booster. He looks somewhat deformed, or perhaps like something out of Dragon Ball Z. His hair is pointing up strangely and his face is shaped totally wrong. Fire and Ice look a little off as well. Actually, Fire's costume is completely incorrectly drawn. Her top does NOT have a plunging neckline like that - don't believe me? Go ahead and look at the rest of the book!

Ice's outfit is a little wrong, too. This is more nitpickey, but the white area that comes up her legs shouldn't end by her crotch, it should go up towards her halter top further. Also, aren't her lips usually blue?

However, Captain Atom looks pretty sweet, and Max Lord looks rather devious. Obviously the cover is centered around him (given that this is his return and all) and for the most part they did a good job getting that across. Still, a lot of him is obscured by Captain Atom. I think that if the characters were drawn a little more correctly, this would be a pretty solid cover. Luckily, the cover doesn't hold a candle to the rest of this book.

The Story In General...

I liked the story. The plot was great, and I especially enjoyed the quote on the end splash page: "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he doesn't exist." The ending REALLY left me wanting more. I'm getting ahead of myself, though... Let's step back.

The Booster material really worked; it was true to the character and enjoyable all around. As for the rest, it was clear to me that Fire, Ice, and Captain Atom were doing... something. The whats and the whys of their actions were, to me, totally unclear. Compared to Booster, their material felt a little rushed. Now I'll never complain about a big spotlight on our futuristic hero, but for the grand military scale of the others' operation, I have no idea what they were setting out to accomplish. In hindsight, it was clearly some sort of underground Max Lord hideout. I just think it was poorly explained.

So anyway, in the midst of this, Booster is thinking through the Max Lord situation. I loved his determination whilst considering the information despite Skeets' Debbie-Downer role. "...but BATMAN already..." "but didn't BATMAN..." He drew his own conclusion based upon his own knowledge of Max Lord. I will always root for a situation where Booster acts in a way that his fellow supers wouldn't expect him to. This all set up my favorite scene - the JLI Embassy.

Max blindsides Booster, Booster manages to call the JLI (pretty slick of them to still carry those - nostalgia or a little bit of caring for one another?), and they arrive just in time for Max's psychic explosion.

Now from a realism standpoint, I have no idea how Max lost all that blood and still managed to look so dapper and in control on the last page. I know that he had one or two IV bags of blood hooked up, but that really seemed like a lot.

Anyway, for whatever reason (by accident or by design?), the JLI members present are the only ones who remember that Max ever existed. Until Superman said "Who's Max Lord?" I didn't understand the significance of Fire's conversation about Operation Land Lord.

Finally, we end with a great quote, the one I began the article with - and it was quite appropriate. We all know that Maxwell is evil. He killed Ted Kord. He hacked Brother Eye and bent it to its will, creating the OMACs - his personal secret army specially designed for combating Metas. Equate him with the devil? Sure, why not? Now he can operate in secrecy, pulling strings, moving pieces all over the board.

As Superman said, "He's the only one who ever got close to defeating us all."

Wow. This going to be a great book. A LOT happened here in what really felt like a short amount of time, and this truly sucked me in. I can't wait to see how this plays out.

What was good:

- Good plot, great cliffhanger ending that left me wanting more.

- Great story for Booster Gold. Even though he got his butt kicked (can't blame him - what kind of coward attacks someone in the back?), he outsmarted Batman and Skeets and found out exactly where Maxwell was. Potentially, if he hadn't, he and the other three wouldn't have been immune... depending on the reason that they were immune, of course.

- I liked Captain Atom's little heroic move with the bomb even if I thought the scene setting it up was a little unclear. He didn't have much to do after exploding though.

- Nice villainous plot by Maxwell - amplifying his psychic power to make EVERYONE on the planet forget that he exists. Crazy.

- Booster's desire to get more active than he was allowed to be in the search for Max is just another sign of how far he has come. While much of this is likely motivated by his desire to avenge Ted, the inner fire is great to see continued even though good ol' Dan Jurgens isn't writing anymore.

- Did you ever think that we'd have THREE TITLES at one time where Booster had a starring or solid co-starring role? It's amazing! I hope it translates into book sales for the main title. I really enjoyed both that I've read thus far as well.

What was "Ehhhh...":

- This wasn't something I hated, but man, Power Girl is a BITCH.

- The cover. I just didn't like it.

- How many ways and places will we have Booster's power suit deactivated just to complicate things for him? It's almost too convenient a plot device. "Hmm, how can we make sure that Max can hit him?" "OOO! EMP Device!" This is in the same week where Booster, in his solo title, was stuck on Daxam due to suit damage.

- What was Max Lord doing hiding a bomb in the middle of the Saudi desert? Maybe I'll have to re-read that part, but I truly don't get the point. Was there once a lab or something of his out there?

What questions I have - feel free to respond to these in the comments:

- Were the four from the JLI ALLOWED to remember, or was it an accident? If it was planned, is he going to toy with them? Does he disrespect him that much? Or is this massive dramatic irony - we know that they're still looking, but he won't? Seems awfully careless of him.

- What is Max Lord planning? This is obviously what we'll find out in the future.

- Does anyone believe for a minute that he is truly haunted by shooting Blue Beetle? I didn't.

- Time will tell, but I wonder how much we'll see this quartet truly working together and how much we'll see them completely at odds.

- Is Dr. Fate (his artifact was revealed at the end of this BG #32) going to play a role in Time Masters, Booster Gold, JL:GL, or some combination of the two?

Wrapping It Up:

In the future, I hope to be able to begin some theories about what we'll have happen. They'll all be wrong, but it'll be fun to talk about. Right now, I'd like to let the story play out for another issue or two and go from there.

Have a Boosterrific day!