Writer: Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz
Artist: Dan Jurgens/Norm Rapmund
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99
I have to admit, I thought this was going to be another nail in the coffin of current DC Universe titles. One of the benefits of the general mediocrity of the current DC books is that when something half decent comes it is really going to get the opportunity to shine. Such is the case with Booster Gold #1.
By all rights it should be awful, the character was created by Dan Jurgens back in the 1980s as a rather bad capitalism-driven proto-celebrity super-hero. The best incarnation of Booster really ironically came once he was taken away from Jurgens and placed in the Giffen/DeMattais Justice League, here he became part of the comedy duo with Ted Kord’s Blue Beetle. The event of the DC Universe in the past few years have ripped the fun out of most of the characters, and Booster has suffered as bad as most of them. Something good surely had to come along for the character?
The redemption arc that the character went through in 52 leads us to this new series. Geoff Johns picks up the series left off, with Booster, Rip Hunter and Supernova all present for a series that is going to cover the time-travelling aspects of the DC Universe. He’s joined by co-writer Jeff Katz and Norm Rapmund inking over Dan Jurgens return to the character he created. The book starts off with Booster fighting the Royal Flush Gang in the present day, ably assisted by his robotic assistant, Skeets.
A rather cynical Justice League (current incarnation) arrive, summoned by Booster’s Justice League communicator in an attempt to persuade them to let him re-join the league. Batman gives him a week to prove himself. Needless to say, Booster gets sidetracked by being forced to ride the timestreams with Rip Hunter in order to correct all the anomalies left over from their fight with Mr. Mind. He does manage to replicate the first arrival of Superman with a plane rescue in Tokyo though. Booster earns his place in the Justice League, but he realises that if he doesn’t help fix the timeline, it will lead to the death of other heroes, and so he uses his old egotistical characterisation to turn down the offer.
This is a great first issue (seriously, I was surprised) that is dialogue heavy out of necessity, but contains enough splashpages by Jurgens that it reads wonderfully. The plots and sub-plots weave an interesting story that, coupled with the sneak peek into the future of the series on the last page, bode well for this ongoing title. The book should really not work, the time-travelling aspect should cause more problems, and that’s without trying to address the mess that current continuity is causing. And yet, this is a fun first issue, the characterisations are spot-on, the plots intriguing, and the artwork fantastic. I freely admit to being a fan of Dan Jurgens work in the mid-nineties, when he provided some of the best depictions of DC characters around. Teaming him with Rapmund creates his strongest work since he was paired with Bret Breeding on his Superman run.
What we have here is a great super-hero title. Admittedly, some inkling of what the heck is happening in the DC Universe at the moment will help, but it’s not a requirement mainly thanks to the writer’s exposition throughout. Let’s see how it’s faring in 12 issues time.
James Dodsworth - Born and raised in Yorkshire, residing in London since 2000, James has a Law Degree and works for the Anti-Financial Crime Office of a International Asset Management Company. He is a writer and editor for FractalMatter.com.
But his main claim to fame is living next to the pub where Shaun of the Dead was conceived.