Welcome Back! a Review of Booster Gold, the Complete 2007 Series volume 1

 

Review:

When Booster Gold's first solo series hit the scene in 1986, he was a happy-go-lucky, media-savvy hero with a flair for promoting himself. His shiny robotic side-kick Skeets and occasional struggles with common expressions were explained by his unique back-story - a disgraced 25th century athlete celebrity looking for a new start in an earlier era. 

Over time, portrayals of Booster gave him a more selfish, manipulative and buffoonish slant. He wanted the recognition, fame and rewards that his heroism made possible.

But with his second solo series, launched in 2007, writers Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz have turned the character on his head.

This new series reintroduces Booster Gold with a brilliant twist—he now saves the world in total anonymity. The glory-seeking publicity hound now plies his heroism trade totally behind the scenes. If he does his job right, no one will ever know. Such an ironic development!

This reinvention aligns perfectly with Booster's new role emerging from the weekly 52 series, where he saved the multiverse without recognition, showcasing his courage, heroism and even intelligence - another trait contrary to his previous reputation. 

Even the redesigned series logo captures this shift, replacing the dollar-sign "S" with an Infinity symbol in the Os. 

The first story arc picks up directly from the conclusion of 52 - the new Time Masters working overtime to seal up the fractures in time and repair the damage to the time stream caused by Mister Mind at the conclusion of that epic series.

In so doing, the series visits several fascinating moments in DC's history. There's college-aged Guy Gardner before he became Green Lantern; Jonah Hex gets hired to kill a key ancestor; Flash and Kid Flash have a treadmill-time-sphere collision and risk interrupting the storm that created Flash in the first place, and many more. 

Most intriguing of all is the overlap with the landmark Alan Moore graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke. Booster learns some hard lessons and barely survives his multiple encounters with the Joker. Dan Jurgens' artwork is exceptional, faithfully reproducing iconic scenes from that book but with Booster's unique twists. And it leads to a fascinating confrontational pep talk with Batman himself.

This is a thick book, bringing together 16 issues from the new series. In the second major story arc, Booster tries to save another hero, this time his best friend Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle. The duo's friendship, forged in their Justice League International days, is one of the most unique partnerships in all of DC Comics, with its strength, nuance and depth of friendship. Despite their success in saving Ted, Booster and his Beetle companions learn that altering the past brings unforeseen consequences, leading to a world taken over by Maxwell Lord and his OMAC project, aided by a mind-controlled Superman. Can Booster and Beetle fix this new crack in the time stream?

The creative team of Johns, Katz, Jurgens, and Rapmund masterfully blend action, drama, and mystery, enriching the story with hints, red herrings, and Easter eggs. The book is packed with memorable moments and images, none more shocking than Batman's surprising compliments on discovering Booster's attempts to save Barbara Gordon from the Joker's bullet. The vibrant colors by Hi-Fi are spectacular, making Booster's gold shine brilliantly, distinguishing him even next to Kid Flash's yellow.

Once Johns and Katz leave the series, the quality of the stories hits a bit of a rough patch. Chuck Dixon pens a two-parter centering on a successful robbery by Killer Moth that leads to the creation in the past of an institution whose absence would prevent the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne and therefore prevent Batman's existence. it's every bit as convoluted as that sounds, but not without its charms. Such as when Booster's sister, the resurrected (saved at the last millisecond) Goldstar impersonates Batgirl, while Booster plays Batman and ... Elvis Presley?

The final story line in this collection is written by Rick Remender and has the mighty Starro taking over first Rip Hunter and then all of Earth past and present.While its plot is more straightforward that Chuck Dixon's, it brings in a handful of other time-related heroes and villains but in ways that leave the reader more confused than helped, if they are not already familiar with them.

This new beginning for Booster Gold is a thrilling ride with powerful storytelling, nuanced emotions, stunning art, and brilliant colors. It's full of fun and promise.

Description:

Presenting the greatest, most popular, most beloved, and did we say popular, superhero of all time: Booster Gold!…Or so he hopes to be thought of one day.

As the time-traveling hero gets caught up in the madness of changing histories, fighting Time Stealers, and trying to undo the death of his bestie, Blue Beetle, he will learn the hard way that twisting time too far may just cause it to snap!

Collects: Booster Gold #0-14 and #1,000,000.

Authors:  by Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz, Chuck Dixon, Rick Remender
Artists:  Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  April 23, 2024
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN:  ‎ 978-1779527233
Pages:  ‎ 400 pages

Meet the Superfan - The Gold Exchange: The Unofficial Booster Gold Companion

 

Review:

Ever since he was first introduced to the world in Booster Gold #1 in early 1986, Booster Gold has been a fan favorite. His real-world fame can't approach that of legends like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, of course. But those of us who fell in love with this colorful, imaginative character devour every new appearance, no matter which series gives him some space.

Mega-fans and other boosters of Booster have shown their passion with fan-sites like Boosterific.com which have been around for years and are still active, tracking and discussing every new appearance of Booster. The count, as I write this, is well over 800 appearances and climbing.

Super-fan Russ Burlingame took a different approach. He used his regular writing gig over the course of several years to beat the drum of his love for Booster Gold. In his position in media covering pop culture and comics, he was able to turn his fandom into a chance to interview the creative teams involved with books containing Booster appearances.

Dan Jurgens, creator of Booster Gold and artist of dozens of the issues in his two solo series, was Burlingame's most frequent interviewee. He also picked the brains of J. M. DeMatteis, Rick Remender and Geoff Johns about their vision for and involvement with the second Booster Gold solo series.

The interviews became entries in his ongoing online blog / reporting and lasted throughout the run of that series and the parallel Time Masters series too. It's an impressive level of ongoing access!

This book collects those interviews previously published online. As such, it has a small number of gaps, acknowledged in the text itself, when an article was not recoverable a decade later - the internet is not as permanent as we sometimes assume!

It gives us a fascinating behind-the-curtain peek into the creative process and the publication side of Comics, and there are a few gems revealed about Booster the character and the affection all of these creators have for him. Unfortunately, the book could use a pass by an editor with a sharp red pencil, to correct the many errors, typos and missing words. And the interviews themselves tend toward softball questions and get side-tracked into the nerdy side of the passion.

But us big Booster fans will brush aside those concerns and criticisms, and geek-out on this Booster Gold deep-dive.

Description:

In a series of interviews conducted between 2006 and 2011, entertainment journalist Russ Burlingame collects the definitive companion to Booster Gold, the time-traveling superhero who has to hide his nobility and his capability from villains and become the Greatest Hero You've Never Heard Of.

This volume features "commentary track"-style interviews with Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens as well as comic book writers and artists like Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz, J.M. DeMatteis, and more.

Originally released online at the time of Booster Gold vol. 2's publication, these columns have been out of circulation for a while now, and this is their first time released in any collected form.

Collects: NA

Authors:  Russ Burlingame with foreword by Troy Brownfield
Artists:  NA
Published By:  Independently published
Published When:  Jan. 20 2022
Parental Rating: General
ISBN:  979-8405755908
Pages:  364 pages

What Price for a Friend's Life? Booster Gold volume 2 Blue and Gold

 

Review:

Batman and Robin are a more famous DC hero pair. Hawk and Dove have a longer history. But it is hard to find a super-hero duo more fun than the fan-favourite combo of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle.

From their earliest days, bonding in the often dysfunctional Justice League International and introducing "Bwahaha" into the DC lexicon, through the emotional wringer of each watching the other be badly wounded or even killed in battle, theirs has been a charming, entertaining, surprisingly strong and deep bond of friendship.

The superhero comics world has lots of partnerships, lots of mentor-apprentice pairings, many peers and teammates, several lovers. But surprisingly few strong and nuanced friendships.Goofy humour aside, this rarity and strength of the bond is what makes this Blue and Gold pair so memorable.

So it does not take long for Booster, immersed as he is in time streams and alternate timelines, to try and save the life of his best friend Ted Kord / Blue Beetle. His shocking death, shot in cold blood by Maxwell Lord in Countdown to Infinite Crisis, was a tragic moment of true bravery and heroism. Knowing all the details, the who, where and when, can Booster Gold, the new Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes and a couple of other Beetles save Ted?

It is probably not a spoiler, given the cover of this collection,to say that they are indeed successful. What they fail to consider, however, is how this change to the past could change the future.

Breaking one of Rip Hunter's core rules about messing with the past allows Maxwell Lord and his OMAC project - helped by a mind-controlled Superman - to take over the world. Now, instead of just Ted Kord, dozens of heroes have been killed.

To try and put things right, Booster and Beetle connect with a band of resistance fighters, led by Green Arrow and Hawkman and their decidedly low-power and motley group. Can they fix things, defeat Lord, solve the mystery of the Time Stealers and also keep Ted alive?

Booster has always worn his emotions on his sleeve and he endures a roller coaster ride of emotional swings in this book. His deepest desire is to spend some more time with his best bud, and his joy is evident initially. But as he comes to realize the cost of fulfilling his selfish wish, he goes through some dark and desperate pages, all well handled by the creative team of Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz, Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund.

This series continues to be such a treat. Johns and Katz give us action, drama and mystery in a well-blended, well-paced tale. They work well with Dan Jurgens, who created the Booster Gold character and, at this point some 20+ years after introducing him, is still the only penciller for any Booster Gold solo series issue.

The creative team continues to sprinkle in so many hints, red herrings, nod to other books or moments and a few Easter Eggs.

And this book is jam-packed with memorable moments. There's (spoiler alerts) Ted's noble self-sacrifice to restore time and return the dead heroes; Booster's despair at the second loss of his best friend; Batman's surprising compliments; the return of Mister Mind, the villain behind the 52 weekly series; a revisiting and reinterpretation of Booster's origin story; a reunion of the old Justice League International gang with Ice, Fire and Guy Gardner; Peter Platinum, the Booster-inspired self-promoting glory-seeker of the year 1,000,000, and so much more.

With powerful story-telling, emotions both nuanced and extreme, gorgeous art and brilliant colors, this series gets even stronger. I give it four and a half capes out of five.

Description:

This time, the time-traveling hero from the future is determined to change history and save his best friend, the Blue Beetle, from murder. But, as Booster is about to learn, twisting time can have some unpredictable, deadly consequences. This volume also tells the secret origin of Booster Gold, and guest stars the heroes of Justice League International as well as Green Lantern Hal Jordan, in his evil guise as Parallax.

Collects: Booster Gold (2007) #0, #7-10, #1,000,000 and 52 Week 24

Authors:  Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz,
Artists:  Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  Dec 15 2009
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN:  ‎ 978-1401220143
Pages:  ‎ 151 pages

Second First Impressions - Booster Gold volume 1 - 52 Pickup

 

Review:

When Booster Gold's first solo series introduced him to the world in early 1986, it gave us a happy-go-lucky, media-savvy hero with a flair for self-promotion. Sure, he fumbled the occasional colloquial slang, but what else would you expect from a 25th century disgraced college football star getting a new start in late 20th century Metropolis?

As the character evolved over time and in the hands of different creators, happy-go-lucky turned into jokes and slapstick farce; self-promotion became selfish, self-centred and even manipulative. Fans were glad to see him in regular Justice League appearances but were occasionally aghast at the increasingly buffoonish portrayals.

His second solo series is a new start, a bold new take on this character. Writers Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz turn Booster on his head. The guy so motivated by fame and glory now needs to save the world in total anonymity. I tip my hat to whoever redesigned the series logo, as well, for nailing this character shift. Gone is the $ dollar-sign shape of the S in the middle of "Booster", replaced by the two Os in the name merging into an Infinity symbol. Brilliant! The logo and the character are amazing reinventions that invert our established perceptions of who Michael Carter is, and what Booster Gold is all about.

This new series follows directly on the heels of 52, the ambitious weekly series that filled in the year in the DC universe without Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman. Booster's role as a Time Master and his need to work in secret started there, culminating in his saving the multiverse - without anyone knowing! A sign o the true heroism at his core. But that climactic battle left cracks and wormholes in the time stream. Booster Gold and Rip Hunter seek to seal them up, with as little downstream damage as possible.

The result is a series of jumps into fascinating moments in the history of DC characters.

We meet a college-aged Guy Gardner with tickets to the Rose Bowl, before he became the arrogant, hot-headed Green Lantern. Jonah Hex and his wild west make an appearance, in scenes that give us a delightfully drunk Booster! Flash and Kid Flash get into a fender-bender with Booster's Time Sphere, putting at risk the night that lightning struck and turned Barry Allen into the Flash. And so on.

This book is also filled with some amazing visuals. With Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens on layouts and pencils, these characters get the loving care and attention of a parent. He also works in some great nods to classic DC moments and occasional "Easter eggs" as well. 

The strongest example is the series of panels when Booster tries to prevent the Joker from shooting and paralyzing Barbara Gordon. From the legendary Batman: Killing Joke graphic novel by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, Jurgens faithfully reproduces these memorable panels while weaving in the Booster twists.

Jurgens nails it again, in similar fashion, at the moment Maxwell Lord shoots Ted Kord / Blue Beetle. Booster jumps between them to try and save his friend, and the sequence of panels nods to the originals in Countdown to Infinite Crisis.

There are also  Easter Eggs and teases aplenty. Things like Rip Hunter's blackboard and its mysterious one-liners, or glimpses into DC moments through the rips in time, plus the occasional "upcoming" issue-ending panels.

My favourite, though, has to be the nod to the Beatles and their Abbey Road album cover, reproduced as Booster and three Blue Beetles (get it?) leave Rip Hunter. So clever!

One small artistic annoyance is the over-use of the classic pose of the hero flying toward us, body tapering to small feet far behind. See the cover of this collection to see what I mean. It's a Comic Books 101 technique, and is over-used in these pages.

Hi-Fi does the colors and these pages look fantastic! For maybe the first time, the gold in Booster Gold's uniform shines brightly. Even standing next to Kid Flash, you can see who wears yellow and who wears brilliant Gold!

This is an exciting new beginning for Booster Gold, and I give it four Capes.

Description:

Named by James Gunn as an influence for Gods and Monsters, the first chapter of the new DC Universe film and television slate! This story inspires the upcoming series BOOSTER GOLD.

Who the hell is Booster Gold?!

A scoundrel from the future intent on making a name for himself in the past, Booster Gold has nevertheless exhibited his share of heroism.

When opportunity arises, you have to seize it! That’s an idea that has driven Mike Carter, a college football star of the 25th Century who earned the nickname “Booster” on the field. Even though people assured him a professional career of fame and fortune was in his future, he decided he couldn’t wait and wagered on his own games. The scandal halted his dreams of professional stardom and ruined his reputation.

Taking a job as a security guard in the Metropolis Space Museum, Mike saw another opportunity. With future and alien technology stolen from the museum, and a time machine that was on display, he realized he could not only become a superhero himself in a past era where his criminal history was unknown, but he could also make his good deeds profitable.

Mike time-traveled to the modern age and debuted as Booster Gold. Now, he fights evil alongside different versions of the Justice League and his good pal Ted Kord, the second Blue Beetle. Though always eager to take credit for good deeds on social media or sign with a well-paying sponsor, Booster is a good guy at heart and will drop everything if he genuinely sees someone in need.

BOOSTER GOLD: 52 PICK-UP explodes from the pages of 52 with Booster Gold on a mission to repair the damaged timeline of the DC Universe...if he's going to earn membership in the Justice League of America!

Collects: Booster Gold (2007) #1-6

Authors:  Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz
Artists:  Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  April 25, 2023 (reprint)
Parental Rating: PG-13
ISBN:  978-1779524355
Pages:  158 pages

Big, Bigger, Biggest Wars - Review of 52 volume 4 (2007)

 

Review:

With this fourth and final volume, the audacious and ambitious weekly series 52 by DC Comics comes to its end. Four top-rated authors and more than two dozen artists teamed up to tell the tale of the year with no Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman in the DC Universe.

Not like those big three heroes never existed, they just stepped back for a time after the shocking events of the Infinite Crisis crossover series. And in this final volume, they begin to reappear, never costumed, never swooping in to save the day. But Diana / Wonder Woman appears in a couple chapters, Clark Kent leads the authorities to one of Lex Luthor's secret hideouts, and Batman's deep vision quest nears an end.

Not that the world stood still, waiting for them, as recounted in this amazing series. With a weekly schedule to fit the year into a calendar year, a dozen separate storylines all unfolded in "real time" making this a high-flying acrobatic act without a net for these creators. And in this final book, they mostly stuck the landing.

In the early days, each issue or chapter touched on four, six, even eight of the many plot threads, such as Elongated Man's quest to restore his dead wife to life, or Black Adam's diplomacy, or the Question's battle with Intergang, or Booster Gold and Skeets encountering unexpected hiccups in the historical record, or three heroes lost in space, and many more.

But here, at the end, the sub-plots get issue-length treatment as they come to their conclusion. The extra space lets these gifted storytellers build more drama and tension, and it works! The reader feels almost compelled to keep flipping these pages to get more of the story and all of its beautiful art.

The Lex Luthor / John Henry Irons / Natasha story is the first to wrap up. Luthor finally figures out how to give himself his Everyman genetic power enhancement. But after studying it for a year, Irons / Steel knows how to short-circuit it - if he can survive long enough, that is!

Luther's tale is big and loud and filled with casualties. Yet it is no contest compared to Black Adam's. Upon losing his beloved Isis and brother-in-law Osiris to the Four Horsemen created by a cabal of mad scientists, he begins a rampage that quickly escalates into what some call World War II, as he wipes out millions single-handedly. The dark side of Black Adam's godlike powers had seemed conquered by love, but we meet them in full display here. His tragic tale is gut-wrenching, his rampage truly horrifying yet always tastefully rendered.

Once Renee Montoya accepts the mantle of the Question, can she save Batwoman from Intergang's overly literalistic interpretation of the prophecies of their Crime Bible? 

Ralph Dibney puts his renowned detective skills to work unravelling who has been manipulating him behind the scenes, setting up a fantastic confrontation with those demons and at last a reunion with his wife Jean, in a sweet and poignant conclusion.

And Booster Gold caps it all. He was front-and-center back in week one, and here at the end he helps to reveal the mastermind behind Evil skeets - Mister Mind, who mysteriously disappeared waaay back near the beginning. The fully grown and mutated Mister Mind butterfly / dragon goes on a time rampage, altering the 52 copies of the multiverse one by one and setting up the DC Universe for a set of well-defined alternate realities for the future. Brilliant! He would, of course, have consumed them outright, though, if not for the work of Rip Hunter and Booster Gold. And who will know of this great and heroic deed accomplished by the glory-hound Booster? Not a soul in any of the 52 universes!

The 52 issues collected into these four volumes have given us a tremendously entertaining ride. The covers collected in these volumes were often stunning in their own right, and the notes and commentary by the writers and peeks at Giffen's rough layouts gave us some tasty extra features too.

4 Capes for this highly recommended series!

Description:

The story of the DC Universe's most eventful year concludes in this final action-packed volume in the series featuring an epic WORLD WAR III between the planet's super-powered beings. Discover the final fates of the stars of the series - Booster Gold, Renee Montoya, Black Adam, The Elongated Man, Animal Man, Lobo, Starfire and Adam Strange - from 52 #40-52!

Collects: Issues #40-52

Authors:  Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid
Artists:  Keith Giffen (Layouts) and two dozen others
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  Nov. 7, 2007
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN:  978-1401214869
Pages:  

Heroes Fall - Review of 52 volume 3 (2007)

 

Review:

Heroes fall in these pages - sometimes literally from the sky! - throughout this third volume collecting the amazing year-long fifty-two issue weekly series 52. From the gruesome death of Captain Comet, flayed alive on the prow of Lady Styx's flagship space cruiser, to her turning Green Lantern Thormon Toxzz into a fashionable earring. From Osiris ripping in half members of the Suicide Squad to Animal Man's brief, quiet death in space. From Lex Luthor killing hundreds of his Everyman heroes with the flip of a switch to the drawn-out, quiet passing due to cancer of Vic Sage / the Question.

Wrapping around these many deaths is the tapestry of woven plot threads. As we prepare for the home stretch of this series, those threads are still very scattered and loose. To switch metaphors, will our team of superstar writers be able to land this plane in its final volume? We have:

• Ralph Dibney (Elongated Man) working with the Helm of Fate on a quest for his dead wife
• Batwoman battling Intergang and its obsession with her role as a necessary ritual sacrifice, per the prophecies of the Crime Bible
• Natasha's tense relationship with both her uncle John Henry Irons / Steel, her mentor Lex Luthor, and her teammates in the new Infinity Inc
• Starfire, Animal Man and Adam Strange still lost in space, teamed very tenuously with Lobo, and being pursued by Lady Styx
• Black Adam's family turmoil

And of course, the return of Booster Gold! His heroically tragic death in volume 2 turns out to be a time-travelling sleight of hand. He's really working with Rip Hunter to stop the suddenly evil Skeets and restore the proper timeline. Of all the threads, this plot development has the most potential to weave together all those others into a coherent whole. 

Nor is this the dumb, self-centered oaf of the Super Buddies era. Here, Booster is deeply invested in a cause greater than himself, working quietly, anonymously (shocking for this character!) and with both wisdom and intelligence to set things right. And his partner Rip Hunter hints at more developments to come. Welcome Back, Booster!

The power of these creative writers to craft compelling stories oozes from every page. Especially strong is the death of Vic Sage - his slow, drawn-out deterioration over several weeks; his delirium and moments of lucidity; the poignant final moments. All spot-on!

We are in for a thrilling conclusion to this epic series!

Description:

Don't miss the third in a 4-volume collection featuring the year-long story that changed the DCU! 52 VOLUME 3, with a new cover by J.G. Jones, contains the lead stories from 52 WEEKS 27-39! 52: A year without Superman; a year without Batman; a year without Wonder Woman...but not a year without heroes

Collects: Issues #27-39

Authors:  Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid
Artists:  Keith Giffen (Layouts) and more than 2 dozen others
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  Sept. 5, 2007
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN:  978-1401214432
Pages:  

Black Adam's Heart of Gold - Review of DC Comics 52 vol 2 (2006)

 

Review:

A smiling, happy Black Adam? The usually stern and dour strongman falls in love, weds beautiful Isis, and sets out to change the world.

The plotline with Black Adam and Isis forms the backbone of this second quarter of the weekly 52 series. Writers Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid continue their collaboration, weaving a dozen plot threads through this audacious series. Remember, they sought to publish weekly issues and to have the events unfold in "real time", in which a week passed in the story each time a week passed on our calendars. That no doubt sounded like a terrifically grand undertaking with lots of enthusiasm at the start. But by the end of this volume, they have reached the mid-point. So how are they holding up?

Based on the primary special feature of this omnibus, one-page reflections from each main contributor in turn, they had settled into a healthy if somewhat stressed rhythm, working on their assigned pieces and admiring the sometimes-shocking twists being introduced by the others. For all the ambition of the project, at times it continues to feel too big, too ambitious, with too many threads that can disappear for weeks at a time.

Keith Giffen handles all the layouts, setting the tone for a stable of artists, with eight pencillers and another eight inkers contributing to these thirteen chapters. Giffen's breakdown skills lead to an overall visual coherence even as the styles change from intense caped battle scenes to more cartoony throwback styles around classic Shazam characters. The special feature glimpses of his breakdowns are a treat, a wonderful bonus to see how he communicates his ideas to the finishing artists.

The main threads in this quarter see Black Adam and Isis joined in Kandaq by Vic Sage aka The Question and his reluctant protege Renee Montoya. Their investigation into Intergang's growing presence in Gotham has led them to that faraway land. Elsewhere, Ralph Dibney aka Elongated Man flirts with the body-less helmet of Doctor Fate in his quest to bring back his dead wife; the lost and star-wandering Adam Strange, Animal Man and Starfire meet with Lobo and his role as pope of a star-spanning fish-religion; Lex Luthor launches his new super-team to both success and tragedy; and perhaps most notable of all, the heroic death of Booster Gold and the revelation that Skeets may have a villainous streak to him.

The Booster Gold thread is one of the plot pieces which suffers from the frenetic and fragmented storytelling. He has hit rock bottom shockingly quickly after being publicly disgraced in volume 1. But he seizes an opportunity for renewed heroism and fame with a high profile and impressive feat to save Metropolis - only to be killed by the resulting explosion! There is a body and a funeral, it's hard to see how the writers bring back this character who had been looking like a central player in 52.

Skeets, meanwhile, continues to dig into what Rip Hunter knows about the growing number of time anomalies. Spoiler alert! the big revelation that Skeets has a villainous dark side comes as a beautifully brilliant plot twist.

By times fun, cheeky, dark, confusing, there is a lot to take in over the course of these 13 chapters. As the series reaches its mid-point, we look forward to the second half of this wild ride.

Description:

Continue to explore the DCU's lost year in the second volume of a 4-book collection featuring death, danger, romance, terror and the never-ending search for heroism! This 304-page volume - sporting a new cover by J.G. Jones - contains the lead stories from 52 WEEKS 14-26! 52: A year without Superman; a year without Batman; a year without Wonder Woman...but not a year without heroes.

Collects: Issues #14-26

Authors:  Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid
Artists:  Keith Giffen (Layouts) and 20 others on pencils, inks and colors
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  July 25, 2007
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN:  ‎ 978-1401213640
Pages:  ‎ 296 pages

New Bat, Same Old Gold - 52 volume 1 (2006)

Review:

The ambitious, audacious DC Comics weekly series 52 remains stunning today, nearly 20 years later. On the heels of the shocking, universe-shaking events of Infinite Crisis, the DC Universe jumped ahead one year, a year in which the biggest heroes - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman - were absent.

The 52 series answers the questions: what happened in that year? who filled the void? And it did so in near real-time. A new issue each week, with an elapsed time of one week in the lives of these characters. A very novel and challenging project!

To pull off its aggressive weekly publication schedule, four of the strongest writers in the company's stable worked in close collaboration: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid. The result is a year-long story, massive in scope, unparalleled in complexity and integration. It can be soap-operatic in its shocks and twists. And if volume 1 is any indication, they pulled it off to tremendous success.

The void left by the absence of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman does get filled, with several characters stepping into the vacuum.

There's Booster Gold, of course, who not only intentionally stepped in but sought to leverage his involvement for maximum publicity and profit. The corporate logos on his suit are reminiscent of race car driver coveralls. And with his future-based knowledge of past events, he seems well poised to reap great reward.

There is also Supernova, whose origin and backstory remain a mystery - who is he, what are his powers, motivations, origins? Stay tuned! 

Even Black Adam, in his way, steps up. He gathers a coalition of both meta0humans and political ties with sympathetic nations.

Blend into this mix diverse and separate story threads like Ralph Dibney, the Elongated Man and his quest for answers about his wife's death; or Renee Montoya and Vic sage / The Question investigating Intergang's incursion into Gotham - and the spectacular introduction of Batwoman! or John Henry Irons / Steel battling with his niece and watching her become a devout follower and pawn of Lex Luthor; or Adam Strange, Animal Man and Starfire lost and stranded on a faraway planet. 

So much is happening in this series!

Through this volume, collecting the first 13 issues, there is very little overlap in these diverse plotlines. Ralph Dibney and Booster Gold overlap long enough for the (former?) Elongated Man to deliver a scathing lecture on Booster's fraudulent opportunism; Green Lantern appears briefly in both the Elongated Mad and the black Adam story lines, before disappearing again.

But these narratives are largely parallel worlds thus far. Yet as they build in tension, they feel ominously like a massive collision is approaching.

Art duties are shared by six pencillers and seven inkers in these 13 issues. Yet they manage to have an overall consistent feel. Their work is driven, without being constrained, by Keith Giffen's breakdowns, which are excerpted for one of the special features in this volume, a delightful "extra" interspersed throughout. It's lots of fun to compare his breakdowns with the artist's final pages and panels.

This 52 is going places, and I want to be along for the ride! For sheer audacity and top-notch execution, this big-scoped series scores 4 capes for volume one.

Description:

After the INFINITE CRISIS, the DC Universe spent a year without Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman-a year in which those heroes were needed more than ever as the fate of the world hung in the balance. 52 features the best and brightest writers from the comic-book field including Geoff Johns (INFINITE CRISIS), Grant Morrison (ALL STAR SUPERMAN), Greg Rucka (WONDER WOMAN) and Mark Waid (KINGDOM COME), working together to tell the tale of a world awakening from a nightmare to face a new day.

Collects: issues 1-13

Authors:  Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid 
Artists:  Keith Giffen (layouts) and various others
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  May 1, 2007
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN:  978-1401213534
Pages:  295 pages

Not. Without. Her. Review of I Can't Believe it's not the Justice League (2005)

 

Review:

The very title of this collection telegraphs its light and humorous tone, and it delivers! This sequel to the Super Buddies introduced in Formerly Known as the Justice League shows why this creative team's original run on Justice League International in the late 1980s was so well received. Keith Giffen and J. M. Dematteis reinvented the Justice League, filling their pages with toned-down power levels and amped-up dialog, relationships and team dynamics, all overlaid with witty and sarcastic dialog. It was a breath of fresh air and captured the imagination of the fandom of the day.

But when they brought the gang back together as the Super Buddies, it initially fell flat. Formerly Known as the Justice League was overly goofy, its character portrayals too one-dimensional. This time, though, they got it right. This 6-chapter book is a true delight to read, a hit for fans of these characters and a fun ride for new readers.

The Super Buddies are horrified to discover that a new sports bar opening next to their headquarters in a local strip mall is co-owned by supervillain Blackguard and... Guy Gardner?!

Life gets even more challenging when Booster Gold accidentally condemns the entire team to Hell. Can they survive the tortures devised by the demon Etrigan, escape Hell and get back home? And if, say, they wind up not home, but in a mirror-universe where the Super Buddies are strippers and bouncers at a seedy gentlemen's club, then what might they do?

It's a delightfully oddball premise, and Giffen and Dematteis carry off the dialog banter with deft wit. I especially love Blue Beetle's critiques of Etrigan's famous rhyming couplets - always a great idea to antagonize your captors!

But it is the depth of the relationships, the character development and emotion that score highest in these pages. Booster Gold emerges from his previous one-dimensional, moronic frat-boy portrayal, as he becomes the one who first figures out certain key details of their dilemma. His relationship with Fire, so poisoned over the years by his willingness to exploit her, takes some fascinating new turns. For her part, Fire and Mary Marvel become on-again, off-again Besties.

And most significant of all is Ice. She was killed, you may recall, by Overmaster in the Judgement Day crossover event in the Justice League books. But when they meet her in Hell, Fire and Guy Gardner must deal with powerful emotional swings. Can they overcome Etrigan's strict rules and rescue Ice? Guy Gardner is determined to rescue Ice - "Not. Without. Her." - but does he have the willpower to do what must be done?

Kudos to artists Kevin Maguire and Joe Rubinstein for their phenomenal ability to push the story forward with their images. Highest grades go to their stunningly simple, clean and powerful portrayals of the emotions, especially those of Gardner and Fire. And they get several pages, over the course of the book, to stack up panels of facial expressions reacting to off-panel events. New colorist David Baron gets a shout-out in the corny credit-roll, and definitely deserves attention - the colors and shading he brings to these tales add such visual texture and appeal, immediately noticeable compared to Formerly Known.

One final Booster Gold note - when the team tells him about former super-villain Blackguard opening the sports bar next door, his reaction is basically "who?" Yet he fought Blackguard multiple times in his very first story-arc, in Booster Gold in the mid 1980s. Ancient history to this time traveler?

Super Buddies were such a joke in their first appearances, but this book hits the mark with an entertainingly complex tale.

Description:

I can't believe it's not the Justice League! But you will when the Super Buddies finally open for business - complete with their own theme song. But things hit a sour note when a former foe - Blackguard - opens a sports bar next door to their new "headquarters" in the strip mall downtown! Worse, Blackguard has a partner, the Buddies' old pal Guy Gardner!

Things go from worse to worser when Booster Gold accidentally consigns half the team to Hell for all eternity. The rest mount a rescue mission, but just being a Super Buddy may not be enough to deal with demons, monsters and zombies ... and a dead teammate resurrected!

Collects: JLA Classified #4-9

Authors:  Keith Giffen, J. M. Dematteis
Artists:  Kevin Maguire, Joe Rubinstein
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  Dec 30, 2005
Parental Rating: PG-13
ISBN:  978-1401204785
Pages:  144 pages

Super Buddies! Review of Formerly Known as the Justice League (2004)

Review:

The creative team of Keith Giffen, J. M. Dematteis and Kevin Maguire reunite both with each other and with several of the characters that made their legend a decade and a half earlier. They gained fame and acclaim with their late-80s reboot of the Justice League franchise, taking it international and breathing new life into post-Crisis staid, old DC Comics with their light tone and humor. Fifteen years later they brought us this self-aware and cheeky attempt to recapture the success of what their Justice League run accomplished.

Unfortunately, they missed the mark.

In DC continuity, the United Nations has broken ties with the globe-spanning Justice League offices. Now, some classic members (Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash and others) have reconstituted the Justice League of America. Maxwell Lord, though down, is far from out. He gets the band back together. Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom and Fire are joined by Elongated Man and Mary Marvel. Cybernetic life-form L-Ron and Green Lantern flop G'nort also grace these pages.

What you will not find anywhere in this collection of the complete 6-issue mini-series is a classic tights-and-capes bad-guys-vs-heroes battle. In fact, the only power-vs-power conflict is a mind-controlled smack-down between Mary Marvel and Captain Atom, and a very brief slap-fight with some Harvard-educated and very erudite and eloquent neighborhood thugs.

Instead, all the tension and conflict is internal - Blue Beetle tires of Booster's idiocy, Fire eyerolls at Mary's wide-eyed naivety. Any external conflict is settled through negotiation, often hilariously so, as when the mighty Manga Khan toys with becoming a BDSM Submissive.

With wry, dialog-driven humor and relational conflict, our writers pack lots of exposition and word bubbles onto these pages, with occasionally tedious results. When it works well, this series is loads of fun. When it falls flat, which it does too frequently, be sure to distract yourself with Maguire's ability to convey emotion through facial nuances and simple lines. Even on the collection's cover, Cap's exasperation, Fire's coquettish come-hither look, Booster's frat-boy smugness and Mary Marvel's youthful innocence shine through.

The Super Buddies era became a point of embarrassment in the intervening decades and is the nadir of Booster Gold's nearly 40 years of existence. In this series, he is a one-dimensional, almost exclusively idiotic and selfish buffoon. His marriage for money to an always off-camera rich old woman especially grates on the nerves. Fans who saw his potential from day one and who were thrilled with his part in the popular Justice League International series, found this a bridge too far.

Yet it is also a vital moment in his history, as Formerly Known as the Justice League kicks off a renaissance in his importance in the DC universe. After some lean years with very few appearances in the late '90s and early 2000s, these appearances lead into Booster's appearances in JLA Classified in 2004-2005 and then into a starring role in the weekly 52 series in 2006-7, before finally returning to a solo series all his own, Booster Gold v2, starting in late 2007.

Still, this series is more miss than hit, and this reviewer gives it 2 capes.

Description:

Max Lord attempts to open a super team for hire, and recruits his old friends from the Justice League! Featuring Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Fire, Mary Marvel and more. Don't miss this reunion of the creative team behind the classic JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL: Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire!

Collects: Formerly Known as the Justice League mini-series issues #1-6

Authors:  Keith Giffen, J. M. Dematteis
Artists:  Kevin Maguire, Joe Rubinstein
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  April 1, 2004
Parental Rating: PG-13
ISBN:  978-1401203054
Pages:  137 pages

Riddle Me Nothing - Batman Volume 5 Zero Year - Dark City

 

Review:

Set amidst the Zero Year DC Comics crossover event of 2013-14 that spanned all Batman-related titles, this collection pits a still-new, still-learning Batman against the sadistic brilliance of the Riddler. Can Batman survive police opposition and pursuit, rookie mistakes, and the Riddler's multi-faceted plans long enough to defeat him and save Gotham?

Zero Year was Scott Snyder's innovative and clever reinvention of the Batman and much of his surrounding mythology and origins. In Greg Capullo's renderings, Bruce Wayne looks more like a Marine than a Playboy, Riddler's red muttonchops give him a roguish retro look that becomes all the more playful with his green blazer and fedora.

In these nine chapters, Snyder saves his most radical re-imagining of backstories for Jim Gordon, giving him a shady history redeemed by the touchstone of two gifts: a trench coat that becomes his signature look, and a puppy loaded with significance and symbolism. No spoilers here, you'll need to read it to understand what the puppy represents.

Snyder's Doctor Death storyline is fairly boilerplate but leads in nicely to the Riddler's multi-dimensional plot and its strongly nihilistic endgame. While Snyder's backstories often lean very heavily on exposition, they still work better overall than the Doctor Death sequence which, while grotesque and somewhat mysterious, does not particularly stand out from other Detective Comics tales.

The real star in these pages is artis Greg Capullo. His renderings of Doctor Death and especially the remains of his murder victims are horrifyingly gruesome, with distorted bodies and bones leaving us with a shudder. And his handling of flashbacks stands out with their memory-soaked sepia tones and cleaner, simpler lines evoking an earlier, presumably simpler if still more dangerous time.

The story and art are always intense, often sharp-edged and twisted, occasionally heady and always dark. A few nods to steampunk-Batman perhaps in the police blimps and dirigibles. Overall, this is a taut tale backed by a despotic and destructive Riddler and solid to strong art, weighed down by its own intensity. I like what Snyder and Capullo are doing in this Batman reinvention, and it is worth checking out more, including the many crossovers published in the Zero Year collection.

Description:

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Before the Batcave and Robin, the Joker and the Batmobile ... there was ZERO YEAR.

The Riddler has plunged Gotham City into darkness. How will a young Dark Knight bring his beloved hometown from the brink of chaos and madness and back into the light? From the critically acclaimed, New York Times #1 best-selling creative team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, BATMAN VOL. 5: ZERO YEAR--DARK CITY is the concluding volume to Batman's origin story, as you've never seen it before.

Collects: Batman #25-27, 29-33

Authors:  Scott Snyder
Artists:  Greg Capullo
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  Oct. 7, 2014
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN:  978-1401248857
Pages:  256 pages

Emotional Exercises - Green Lantern New Guardians volume 3 Love and Death

 

Review:

The best super-teams bring together characters with a range of powers and personalities. They bond as a team, learning each other's strengths and weaknesses and how best to deploy them in their battles.

The New 52 era Green Lantern: New Guardians team consists of one representative of each of the seven different Corps. As such, there is a sameness to their powers - rechargeable power rings able to manipulate light at the bidding of its wearer. And their personalities, while distinct (and paired visually to their physical characteristics too), are tied to the emotion driving their power rings. Atrocitus's rage bubbles over on a hair-trigger; Carol Ferris's love drives her decisions, including giving her a willingness to manipulate others when it benefits her passion. And so on.

With this foundational sameness, writer Tony Bedard needs to take extra care to distinguish the nuances in this team. He does not always succeed in the larger group settings, but in the smaller scenes where two or three are gathered, these emotions and motivations do shine through. The goading of Atrocitus, the raw self-centeredness of Larfleeze, and more do peek through at appropriate moments.

Green Lantern Kyle Rayner visits each in turn as he seeks their guidance in his quest to master all the colors of the emotional spectrum.Anyone who has struggled with mastering any one of their own emotions will marvel at how quickly he masters most, with only one or two stretching more than a few pages. Yet he is under immense pressuere to succeed. Can he master them all in time to stop the end-of-life plans of the Guardians of the Universe?

As impressive as is the combined might of the seven Corps, as powerful as Kyle Rayner becomes once he achieves mastery and becomes the White Lantern, they still need the assist of a back-from-the-dead Black Lantern Hal Jordan to defeat Varthoom the First Lantern and the Guardians themselves.

Lead artist credit in this thick 9-chapter volume goes to Aaron Kuder, although he only drew half the book. Nearly two dozen other artists finished the rest, which leads to a loud and stylistically erratic visual experience. Where this works best is in the series of manipulations of time and emotional experiences that the First Lantern puts each member of this team through.

The cover work is amazing! Each cover is included at the start of the chapters in this volume, and they are filled with raw, intense emotion, so visually striking!

The final chapter of this story feels very much like an end, with moving visits around the team to wrap up their final fate after the cosmic battle. It does give a satisfying conclusion to this otherwise jumpy and chaotic collection.

Description:

Tying into the latest Green Lantern event masterminded by comics' hottest writer Geoff Johns, Kyle Rayner and his fellow Ringer bearers must join forces to beat back "The Third Army" and survive "The Wrath of the First Lantern!" Green Lantern Kyle Rayner must master the emotional spectrum itself in order to stand a chance against the Third Army. But even then, a more dangerous threat lurks in the shadows--The First Lantern!

Collects: GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS #0, 13-20

Authors:  Tony Bedard
Artists:  Aaron Kuder and more than 20 others
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  Feb. 4, 2014
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN:  978-1401244064
Pages:  288 pages

Overmatched by Overmaster: Wonder Woman and Justice League America volume 2

 

Review:

Note: My review of Wonder Woman and the Justice League America volume 1 was published several months ago and can be found here.

Overmaster is back, and with his amped-up powers he threatens to kill every living thing on the planet. His citadel lands atop Mount Everest, causing global tectonic tremors and disasters that pull our heroes into rescue missions, and dividing their forces, making a direct assault on Overmaster that much less likely to succeed.

This extra-thick trade paperback collects the entire 7-part story of the Justice League's battle with Overmaster, crossing all three of the then-current Justice League titles. It's loud, it's brash, conflict and super-powered slam-downs jump from nearly every page.

Wonder Woman gets top billing in the title of this collection, due to her leadership role with the Justice League America. Unfortunately, her minor role within the story consists mostly of convening team meetings and arguing with Captain Atom, whose hot-headed reactions and unwillingness to follow her direction further fragments the team at this critical moment.

Dan Vado and Mark Waid take turns telling the tale in their respective books and do a solid job of weaving together a consistent and coherent narrative. The action directly continues across all three JL titles. You have to read all the issues to get the story from beginning to end, there are no "meanwhile, in another part of the world" tie-ins here! That makes this collected TPB essential to get the full story from beginning to end - back in 1994 when these were published, you'd have to make sure to pick up each book every month and read them in the right order.

Vado and Waid also put these characters through the proverbial wringer too. Ice spends most of the story under the mental control of Overmaster and actively working against her former teammates, before ultimately being slaughtered by him; Metamorpho sacrifices himself to save the team; Booster Gold is badly hurt in battle and dies in the hospital operating room - sort of.

Since we are in the middle of a series of reviews related to Booster Gold and his history and evolution, this is a significant moment that we need to include. 

After Booster's futuristic suit was shredded several issues back, beyond the abilities of late-20th century tech to fix, Ted Kord builds him a heavy suit of armor. After years of the sleek, image-conscious playboy hero, the visuals of this chunky battle-gear are jarring, even if the chest star and general blue-and-gold color patterns remain.

His memory of historical events is also crystal-clear here, a rare case. Booster has always leveraged the fact that he came from the future in enhancing his wealth and celebrity, but more often than not has had to rely on the memory banks of his robo-sidekick Skeets for the details. And fair enough - how is your own memory and knowledge about events that happened 500 years before you were born? But here, he has much better recall - THIS was a climactic event in Earth's history and, even clearer in his mind, he himself would play a critical role. This was his moment!

But maybe history is not so pre-determined and set in stone? Or his memory is faulty? Because that's not how it turns out. Not only is he not the hero of the day, but Booster Gold is also soundly defeated and critically injured by the battle-ax-wielding Devastator. With his left arm severed at the shoulder and a major gash across his chest, Booster loses too much blood and, despite Captain Atom's efforts to get him to a hospital, Booster dies. But only for a few panels - it seems Overmaster's influence on the Earth has somehow temporarily paused dying. It gives Booster a chance to return to the frontlines of the battle, but once Overmaster is defeated, will he return to being dead?

The art in this collection fits perfectly with stereotype characteristics of the mid-90s comics scene. The men are extremely buff, the women lithe and sexy, the battles blast-heavy and everything strongly inked. From these pages, the work of Marc Campos really stands out. His images pop from every page that he draws, with an intensity three notches above the other artists. And nearly every one of his pages boldly breaks the bounds of the typical rectangular layouts. He often forgoes panels altogether, overlapping and blending his images together into a cascade of intense action, emotion and colors.

Description:

Comics writers Mark Waid and Dan Vado are joined by Marc Campos and a team of veteran artists as they present one of the most action-packed stories in Justice League history with WONDER WOMAN & JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA VOL. 2.
 
With Wonder Woman leading the Justice League America, the team has had to battle enemies from within and outside threats too big for any one hero. Now they have to contend with the return of the Overmaster and his Cadre, who are more powerful than ever before. The only way to defeat this cosmic
threat is for Wonder Woman and her team to join forces with the Justice League International and Justice League Task Force! But will the cost of victory be too high?

Collects: JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #86-91, JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #65-66 and JUSTICE LEAGUE TASK FORCE #13-14

Authors:  Dan Vado, Mark Waid
Artists:  Marc Campos, Others
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  Oct. 10, 2017
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN:  978-1401274009
Pages:  192 pages

It's Like Doomsday is Here - Superman and Justice League America volume 2

Review:

The landmark early-90s Death of Superman storyline was a can't-miss event in DC Comics history. The nearly unstoppable fighting machine Doomsday tore through everything in his path, including the Justice League America, and was only stopped through the mutual destruction - and death - of Superman.

This collection of nine JLA issues plus one JLA annual leaves lots of gaps - to get the full Death of Superman story, including the JLA's ongoing involvement in that conflict, you'll need to turn to one of the other TPBs or a Superman Omnibus that collects the full tale. Here, we see only the Justice League's inability to stop Doomsday (#69) and the fallout as they mourn him and assess the impact on the league (#70)

And the impact is significant - Blue Beetle is left in a deep coma; Booster Gold's hero days are done after the destruction of his super suit and its tech from the future. Ice is also badly hurt, and Fire expended so much flame-energy in the battle that her powers have disappeared.

So, after their time of grieving, Maxwell Lord and new team leader Wonder Woman begin recruiting new members. And it's a very mixed new rookie class. They bring on board the wanted fugitive Agent Liberty, the self-doubting and reluctant Black Condor and the young raw talent of the Ray. Can Wonder Woman balance the demands of caring for the outgoing members and honoring their contributions on the one hand while forming the recruits into a new team on the other?

And will their powerful enemies allow them the time to do all that team building? Not likely. Doctor Destiny puts them through a dangerous, dream-world wringer for four issues, as they meet old friends like Hawkman and other classic JLA heroes who have turned into fascist thugs, capturing and torturing the likes of Sinestro. And Wonder Woman, Guy Gardiner et. al. And does the key to defeating Doctor Destiny lie deep in Beetle's coma-filled subconscious?

No sooner is the Doctor Destiny threat overcome than the secret of Bloodwynd is revealed, in a story that gives the Ray and the Atom a chance to shine.

Dan Jurgens' run on JLA as writer and occasional artist ends with the final issue in this collection. His work here is loads of fun. The abrupt transition between mourning Superman's death in #70, recruiting new members in #71, and the reappearance of a classic JLA roster but with cold-blooded wielding of fascist powers, is as jarring and bewildering to the reader as to the League members. These are all strongly written tales, until the Bloodwynd two-parter that closes the collection.

We are currently also surveying some of Booster Gold's history and evolution in a series of reviews, and we find several key moments in these pages. It's Booster who gives Doomsday his name, blurting out "It's like Doomsday is here" to Superman at one early point in the battle. We also see how much of his identity and self-worth is tied up in being a hero, as he reacts poorly to the end of his hero days. He becomes sullen and angry, frustrated at the destruction of his powered suit, rendering him a mere mortal or, worse, ordinary again.

It also answers the question, "Where's Skeets?" - Booster's flying robot sidekick is so central to his solo adventures but is nowhere to be seen in Justice League stories. At least not until Booster fishes Skeets out of a box in storage and turns him back on in an attempt to repair his super-suit. Poor Skeets!

Most powerfully, of course, is Jurgens' portrayal of Booster's deep friendship and concern for Beetle. In a poignant and moving final page of #70, his bedside watch over his comatose friend closes the grieving issue on a somber note, with heavy inks painting the darkness all around them. Beautiful!

The intense violence, death and mourning make this an intense read. The art is solid and occasionally brilliant, most of the stories engaging. A solid entry in JLA history.

Description:

THE JUSTICE LEAGUE—RIPPED APART!
 
The Man of Steel has died! Falling at the hands of the monster Doomsday, the Justice League's most powerful member is now gone. And in addition to killing Superman, the creature grievously injures Leaguers Blue Beetle, Booster Gold and more!

How will the Justice League re-collect in this moment of crisis? Who will be the newest members? And how will they cope in a world without Superman?
 
Veteran comics creator Dan Jurgens is joined by an all-star team of artists that include Rick Burchett and the legendary Dave Cockrum as they chronicle the JLA’s loss of their leader and the world’s greatest hero, Superman!

Collects: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #69-77 and JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA ANNUAL #6.

Authors:  Dan Jurgens
Artists:  Rick Burchett, Dave Cockrum
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  Sept. 6, 2016
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN:  978-1401263843
Pages:  240 pages

Enter Big Blue: Superman and Justice League America volume 1

Review:

Can a group of people survive indefinitely in an environment of chaos and conflict? Of course not, neither in real life nor in comics superhero teams.

As this early-90s incarnation of the Justice League crosses the five-year mark with issue #61, the creative team recognized the need for some changes. Bigger-name characters enter, trying to instill leadership by being the adults in the room; newer characters bring a breath of fresh air and a needed upgrade in the team's power levels.

To make these changes, DC Comics put the Justice League America series in the creative hands of Dan Jurgens, for both the writing and the art duties. This volume starts with Jurgens' arrival. Jurgens brings Superman into the mix, starting a run of major DC heroes leading the JL that Jurgens and others would stretch for the next 30+ issues of the series, and for our purposes they would be collected into four volumes that we will review in turn. The volumes reprint issues from the early to mid 1990s, and were released over 2016 and 2017, tying in nicely with the cinematic release of the Justice League movie.

Jurgens immediately begins having some fun with the art. Fire has a different outfit every couple issues (including a racy lingerie photo shoot); Blue Beetle contorts into stunning acrobatic shapes and movements; various Green Lanterns weave fantastical structures out of their rings - my favorite being the 40-story-tall yellow Guy Gardner; inter-dimensional transfers lead to great use of inks and colors for fading in and out, and landing in stunningly exotic and dangerous landscapes.

Two recurring themes Jurgens weaves into the stories are what it means to lead such a chaotic team, and how it compares to the JLA glory-days of Hal Jordan, Superman, Aquaman and the classic team.

Superman and Batman have a long history, one that is beautifully explored in the Superman / Batman series that followed a decade later. Here, seeing them holding long discussions about working solo vs leading and mentoring this team is a fascinating glimpse into an earlier moment in their relationship, as Batman declines to join the team but cajoles and persuades Superman into not only joining but lead it.

And Hal Jordan, the Atom and Aquaman all pile on in their disdain for the levels to which, in their opinion, the team has sunk.

So, it is all the more amazing to see this team defeat the Weapons Master, with Beetle using brains over brawn to outsmart him; or Guy and Maxima collaborating to scam the alien Chaq and his properly certified deed to the entire solar system. Or the whole crew working together, with a big assist from mysterious new teammate Bloodwynd, to free Maxima's home world from the powerful Starbreaker.

But half the charm of this series is the team dynamics, the interpersonal relationships. And Jurgens has lots of fun in that area too. Flip through these pages and be amazed at how many of the pages are spent in Headquarters or their individual rooms or travelling together to their next battle. These are hardly filler moments, in Jurgens' hands; rather they are central to the stories he is telling.

Since we are doing a series of reviews related to the evolution of Booster Gold, I will end by noting that his involvement in these pages is almost entirely as a supporting character. His participation in the battles make minor contributions; his bromance with Blue Beetle continues, with witty banter and by challenging Beetle's obsession with Bloodwynd; and he hits on just about every woman in the room. The conflict with Fire over those racy photos is brief but very funny! The most poignant is a tender 2-page scene when he attempts to comfort Maxima as she grieves her losses. But is this a real or a put-on sensitivity? By this point in his history, the solo series (also created, written and drawn by Dan Jurgens of course!) has ended, and I anticipated seeing Jurgens make full use of his creation, but was disappointed in Booster's trivial and largely superficial contributions to these stories.

 

Description:

Dan Jurgens takes over as writer and artist on the classic JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA—leading directly into the legendary DEATH OF SUPERMAN!

The Justice League of America is in disarray. With only a few heroes left on the team, they are now a shadow of their former selves. Superman, seeing that the JLA is in crisis, decides to rejoin and inadvertently becomes their leader. Now the Man of Steel—alongside Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire, Ice and new members Bloodwynd and Maxima—must face some of the deadliest threats that the League has ever seen.

Collects: JUSTICE LEAGUE SPECTACULAR #1 and JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #61-68 (1992)

Authors:  Dan Jurgens
Artists:  Dan Jurgens
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  March 29, 2016
Parental Rating: PG-13
ISBN:  9781401260972
Pages:  240 pages

Of Embassies and Origins - Justice League International Part 2 (Eaglemoss Collection v77)

 

Review:

Since we are doing a series of reviews focusing on Booster Gold over his nearly 40-year history, we include this one as a collection of some of his earliest appearances, dating to late 1987. That places the original publish date of these tales while his original solo series was still going strong. 

This book is a beautiful, glossy hard-cover with smooth and heavy-stock paper inside, although the sometimes-low print reproduction quality leads to blurred and hard to read word balloons on occasion. It is also a rare book here in North America, as Eaglemoss Collections targeted UK fans with this series.

At this point in the history of the 1987-rebooted Justice League, they have gained official United Nations recognition and sanction. To ensure their reach truly is global, they rebrand as Justice League International (as does the title of the series!) and they open new headquarters buildings around the world: New York, Paris and Moscow are included here.

As this is a product of 1987, with the Cold War still raging, geo-political reality factors in. The United States insists that Captain Atom be a part of the new JLI. The Soviet Union likewise does the same, installing one of their Rocket Red Brigade on the Moscow-based squad,

But the politics, like everything else in this series, is kept light-hearted and suffused with humor. From the Martian Manhunter's straight-faced delivery and the "is he pulling our leg?" reactions it engenders, to the slapstick and accident-prone Captain Atom and the punny buffoonery of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, it is a fun read that puts the comic in Comics.

These early chapters of Justice League International's history are most notable for two other things, beyond the humor and global politics. First is the crossover with the Millennium event. "No man (or woman!) escapes the Manhunters!" Nearly every character had their own sleeper-agent Manhunter to deal with in their own books, and the whole team was shocked to discover their Rocket Red was an infiltrating Manhunter. They eventually draw on old-Justice League America alums Superman, Hawkman and Hal Jordan Green Lantern for a final confrontation on the Manhunters home world. It is a solid story arc in its own right, and introduces the first appearance of the farcical Lantern G'nort, who would become a recurring character.

The second notable element in these pages is the original origin story of Maxwell Lord. His scheming and manipulative control of the team have been evident from the start, and in the final chapter of this collection we learn of how he is under the influence and control of a sentient bot sent by Metron. The history, origin and character of Maxwell Lord would continue to evolve, of course, to the point that he gets mind control over Superman and then with his bare hands executes a cold-blooded killing of Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle, in the run-up to the Infinite Crisis event. But here in these pages, we get the first hint of his motivations and complexity of character.

Since I selected this book in part for Booster Gold's early history, it is notable that his involvement in these pages is mostly comic-relief. Contrary to the more self-centered arrogance in his own book, Booster is a joker and not to be taken seriously, almost from the start of his Justice League involvement. There are jokes. He is spectacularly shot down and his ego popped by Parisienne women. He does, however, save the day at the climax of the Manhunters crossover - which he, naturally, wants full credit for!

Skeets is nowhere to be found. Perhaps his flying, robotic best-bud and partner from the Booster Gold solo series is redundant here, as Booster bonds with Blue Beetle?

Finally, this collection adds a bonus story: reprinting Mister Miracle #1 from 1971. It introduces Scott Free and his mysterious gadget. While this is one of Jack Kirby's Fourth World stories that cross multiple titles, including the New Gods, in this first issue there is no hint of that larger reality - well, except for the mystery gadget!

Decades later, these stories are still fun although do feel quite dated. And several characters fit the humor mood of the series but contrast strongly with their canonical personalities. The poor print quality of the book also drops its score. Overall I give it 3 capes.

Description:

The World's Greatest Super-Heroes, the Justice League, have dropped the "of America" from their name and are going international! But it's the most unlikely grouping of heroes you'll ever see! Batman, Blue Beetle, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Guy Gardner, Mister Miracle and Booster Gold are now joined by U.S. representative Captain Atom and Russian representative Rocket Red.

But can this ragtag group work as a functioning unit and prevent an international incident from happening, all while stopping the robotic menaces of the Manhunters and The Construct? And just what is the shocking secret of their mysterious benefactor, Maxwell Lord?

Collects: Justice League International #8-12 (Dec 1987-April 1988) and Mister Miracle #1 (1971)

Authors:  Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Jack Kirby
Artists:  Kevin Maguire, Jack Kirby
Published By:  DC Comics and Eaglemoss Collections
Parental Rating: PG-13