DCU Comic Book Reviews

BOOSTER GOLD #21

Day Of Death, Part I of IV

August 2009

Written by Dan Jurgens

Layouts by Dan Jurgens

Inks by Norm Rapmund

Cover by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund

Synopsis

Rip Hunter encounters Black Beetle, who wants to learn the real identity of Rip Hunter.  In Coast City, Booster Gold saves people in a building fire.  They think it was Superman or Green Lantern.  In Arizone, Rip tells Booster Gold that they need to maintain their anonymity.  With Batman dead, Booster needs to go to the Batcave to retrieve pictures the Dark Knight had of Booster Gold in the past.  In the batcave, Booster is able to find the pictures, but encounters the new Batman, Dick Grayson.  Booster explains why he is there.  However, the explanation is interrupted by the appearance of the Black Beetle, who attacks Batman.  When that fails, Black Beetle goes back in time to make sure Dick Grayson dies when he was the first Robin.  It is time for Booster to go back in time and this time he can’t fail. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Somehow, somewhere, I managed to lose my work-in-progress for this review.  I am not sure when or how, but when I opened the file to finish what I had started, it was gone.  For awhile I stared at the blank screen, trying to recall what I written.  I can remember the basic gist, but not the exact words.  So, in essence, what I remember saying is that I really liked this issue.  More than jut liking it, however, I think for the first time in a long time I am actually excited to see what Jurgens has planned for the rest of the story.  I have stated before that this book is at its best when Rip and Booster are playing timecop to DC continuity and not just to random historical events.  When DC events (such as Zero Hour or One Million) are referenced or the characters became a part of it, the story, I think takes on added zeal.  That is what makes the story, which is not part of “Batman R.I.P.” or even “Battle For the Cowl” but at the very least plays upon those events.  Plus, with the efforts to eliminate Batman (or a Batman) from history, Jurgens has the chance to really mine the vast publication history of the Dark Knight (everything from “War Games” to “No Man’s Land” or even pre-crisis).  Hell, the upcoming story is partly based on “Death Of A Family.”  I am looking forward to seeing what Jurgens can do with so much history to draw from. 

One of my favorite scenes from the book is actually a serious one, the moment when Booster tries to explain what the pictures meant.  It is heartbreaking because he is describing his failure to save Barbara Gordon to the man who once proposed marriage to her (even if DC did only because they were about to kill him and then had to forget it happened when they decided not to).  I like the way the scene plays out, with Dick’s agitation at what he is hearing and Booster’s rambling explanation doing little to help.  But it plays well because it works whether you know of the history of Babs and Dick or not. 

Armor-Plated, Part 1 of 3:  Golden Child

Written by Matthew Sturges

Art by Mike Norton

Synopsis

San Antonio is attacked by a giant robot that calls itself Thinko.  After a lengthy battle, Jaime Reyes (aka Blue Beetle) is able to defeat the robot.  Afterwards, Jaime visits Dr. Neumann, the son of Thinko’s builder, to learn more about Thinko.  However, Dr. Neumann finds his father’s invention to be outdated compared to his own creation, Unimate.  The next day, the city was swarmed by an army of robots called Unimate. 

Review

This short little story had almost everything you can imagine:  mystery, action, suspense, humor, some great characterization and was extremely fast-paced.  At only 10 pages, it definitely provided bang for the buck.  I loved the comment about being able to afford sidekicks.  And the idea of a 3-hour fight was amusing (although I suspect most superhero battles are like MMA fights and last less than 5 minutes).  The first couple of pages are kinda dense, with a lot of stuff going.  Most of it, however, is necessary as Sturges needed to recap the history of Blue Beetle ad bring fresh readers up to speed.  I am sure there will be a few people here and there who will no very little of Blue Beetle, so the recap will be helpful.  For someone like me, who has been with the character since the beginning, it felt like a little bit of overkill. 

It is interesting to note that Booster Gold flashes back to a pivotal moment in the history of Blue Beetle during the first part of the story (from Infinite Crisis, issue #5).  Kinda like a big Blue Beetle throughout the entire issue. 

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