DCU Comic Book Reviews

BOOSTER GOLD #26

Dead Ted, Part 1 Of II

January 2010

Written by Dan Jurgens

Layouts by Dan Jurgens and Mike Norton

Inks by Norm Rapmund and Mike Norton

Cover by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund

Synopsis

Ted Kord of Earth rises from his grave as a Black Lantern.  In Arizona, Rip Hunter can’t locate Booster Gold, who has traveled back in time to Ted’s funeral.  Then, he was unable to deliver a eulogy for his best friend, something that still bothers him.  In El Paso, Texas, Skeets locates Jaime Reyes (aka Blue Beetle) to see if he knows where Booster might’ve gone.  Blue Beetle decides to help Skeets find Booster.  In Metropolis, Daniel and Rose are arguing when Skeets and Blue Beetle arrive, looking for Booster.  Just then, Black Lantern Ted Kord attacks the house.  Blue Beetle fights back and is soon joined by Daniel in the Supernova costume.  Ted shoots Supernova and is about to take his heart when Booster Gold arrives.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This issue is much like most of the other Blackest Night tie-ins or crossover mini-series.  It features exposition on the history of the dead character, followed by the return of said dead character, followed by the encounter between the dead and the living.  What sets this issue apart from the others, however, is the funeral sequence.  I don’t recall if there was ever a funeral shown for Ted in Countdown to Infinite Crisis or when the Infinite Crisis series started, but even if there was, Jurgen’s take is easily the best.  It is touching, tender, and full of love not only for Ted, but also for Booster and his feelings for his best friend.  There are a lot of emotional moments in the scene and it effectively adds so much to the final page when Booster re-encounters the friend he failed to eulogize.  The rest of the issue, as I said, is standard and despite the obvious connection between Ted and Jaime, the latter’s role in this story fell forced.  I am not sure if Jaime is needed.  Although, his role is not distracting and I think Jurgens can add something more to it in the second part than what we see here.  Overall, this was a very good issue, highlighted by a great look back at the death of Ted Kord. 

In this issue there was no technical “second” feature.  However, the page count remains the same as if it had that second feature.  And there was a second artist, as well.  Norton, who handled the Blue Beetle second features, is the artist for the Blue Beetle sections of the issue.  So, in a sense, the second feature was incorporated into the first story.

I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier, but I wonder if Booster’s sister is Black Beetle?  It occurred to me when Rip was talking about Booster, mentioning his sister followed by a mention of Black Beetle.  Maybe she was so upset at being “dead” and not part of a true timeline, she decided to master time to destroy her brother, who brought her back to life. 

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