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By Jason Bourgeois
It's been awhile since I have been positive about something in this rant space. At least, I think it has. I haven't felt very positive about many titles, at least. Either way, this month, we're positive that we're positive. And just what am I positive about? I have a new favourite comic, or at least it is quickly becoming one, but four issues in, and I am absolutely loving DC's new Booster Gold series.
When I first heard about it, I somehow thought it was only a miniseries, and while riding high on the wave of Booster's popularity made sense, I was bummed that it was just a finite series. Once I realised my mistake, I was much happier.
The character of Booster Gold has a long history, for comics, stretching back over 20 years. He started out as being the living embodiment of everything the 80s stood for; greed, opportunistic tendencies, and everything centering around himself. The man had an ego so large even a Stormtrooper couldn't miss it. Booster came from the future, trying to escape his storied past of gambling on his own games, and generally being a loser. He stole several historical artifacts, which all come from our future, and used them to make a new identity for himself in the 20th century as a new hero, not unlike the pre-Crisis Superwoman, although she was more altruistic and honourable than Booster.
Booster had a series of his own that lasted 25 issues, written and drawn by his creator, Dan Jurgens, the man who would go onto fame as the guy who killed Superman in the mid 90s. Wherever Dan went after Booster's series ended, Booster was never far behind. He had already been a big part of the Justice League revamp into a more silly title in the late 80s under Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, with whom Booster became almost as associated with as his creator. When Dan took over the book, Booster remained, and he would also turn up frequently in Superman. If there wasn't Booster, then frequent time travel arcs also came up. It was clear to people looking that Jurgens loved the topic.
And he's not the only one. I've always been a sucker for a good time travel story, or even for a bad one, if it was fun. I was late to the party with Booster's original series, but since I read Superman frequently, and other books, I often ran into him. I had a fondness for him, and always enjoyed seeing him turn up. When 52 kicked off, I was very pleased to see Booster would be playing a big role in the title, and even hearkening back to his opportunistic roots. With the series dealing with the after effects of Infinite Crisis, where the multiverse was recreated, it made sense to bring him in.
The character arc they put him through was great, and also served as a cliff notes of his character, starting out with his more base nature, and bringing him right through to being a true hero.
In the wake of 52, with a new status quo established for time and space of the DCU, giving Booster an ongoing series to explore that and set it up made a good deal of sense, as well. Time is still broken, and with the fluid nature of it after recent events, someone is taking advantage of the situation and trying to destroy the JLA before they're even formed.
Rip Hunter, Time Master enlists Booster to try and fix time, and he's more than willing, as long as Rip helps Booster bring back Blue Beetle, having him not get shot a few years ago by Max Lord when this whole Countdown and Infinite Crisis mess started up. Thus we have the basis for the series, and the time travel begins.
Each issue delves into a point of DC history, and Booster has saved several heroes from being erased. While being there, he's also been instrumental in making events happened exactly as we've been told, in ways we had not seen. For example, Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan were both picked by Abin Sur's ring to be the next Green Lantern of Sector 2814, but it picked Hal because he was closer, and time was of the essence. The only reason Guy wasn't near enough is because Booster urged him to travel back East to see his father, the day before Abin Sur crashed to Earth. I love stuff like that, using time travel to show events from the past in a new light, while also affecting them so they happen the way we already know they do. It makes the book feel like it matters to the Big Picture.
The book is written by one of the guys at DC who knows that Big Picture these days, Geoff Johns, and Jeff Katz who I admittedly know nothing about. Jurgens returns to his baby on art, and I'd be surprised if he's not giving a hand with the writing to some extent. The combination of a top class writer, and an excellent artist who's done far too little lately, makes for a great book. Everything about Booster Gold's newest series is spot on. Fun, funny, yet serious, and full of continuity. With the first arc done, the writers are starting off with their quest to save Blue Beetle, so now is a great time to jump on. Although, while there has been an ongoing arc, each issue has also been self-contained, and is very much like She-Hulk in that regard. Done in one stories, with threads in the background. I love that format, and wish more books would use it. Easily the best thing being put out by DC right now, if not both companies.
If you are a fan of the character, or love time travel, or love the minutiae of DC history, this title is definitely worth a look.
Jason M. Bourgeois
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