DCU Comic Book Reviews

BOOSTER GOLD #28

The Tomorrow Memory, Part One

March 2010

Written by Dan Jurgens

Layouts by Dan Jurgens

Inks by Norm Rapmund

Cover by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund

Synopsis

Seventy-three years from now…there is an accident during Project Slipshift.  Now, Booster Gold battles the Royal Flush Gang.  Afterwards, he plays up to the press to maintain his cover.  He is then pulled to Rip Hunter’s lab.  Elsewhere, Michelle Carter (Booster’s City) and her boyfriend arrive in Coast City just moments before Hank Henshaw (aka Cyborg Superman) destroys it.  Meanwhile, Rip sends Booster on a mission to make sure Henshaw is in the space shuttle that causes the accident that turns him into the cyborg.  There, Booster Gold searches the shuttle.  He finds someone in the cockpit, waiting with a gun for Henshaw.  Before anything can happen, the person disappears much like Booster when he transports through time.  The shuttle with Henshaw takes off as planned.  In Coast City, Michelle encounters Cyborg Superman.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

So, we have Dan Jurgens writing (and drawing) a character he created about 20 or so years ago in a plot (Death of Superman) that he orchestrated nearly 15 years ago.  I am not quite sure what to make of it.  On the one hand, Jurgens knows this stuff, so it gives him insight and knowledge that should provide him with a solid foundation to write a compelling story.  On the other hand, it all feels incestuous, as if Jurgens is unable to work something original.  So, do we praise Jurgens for what he knows or damn him for what he knows?

The deciding factor, at least for me, is that I have said numerous times that the best stories of the series are the ones that take place within DC continuity.  When the fixes to time are related to actual published previous stories, I think it gives the story a little bit of extra boost.  We are seeing a story we know from a different perspective, something new, yet familiar.  And this one certainly does that, with the scenes in Coast City just before it goes kerplow.  I loved the insights to what the world was like with Superman dead and the four replacements appearing afterward.  I also liked the short scene on the shuttle, showing Henshaw before (and before we see him as Cyborg Superman).  So, overall, I liked this issue and I am eager to see what Jurgens does with the story and its relation to the “Death Of Superman” storyline (and Hal Jordan’s reaction). 

It is interesting to note that the woman in the shuttle was from Project Slipshift, a time travel experiment.  Is this the beginning of Black Beetle?  Or is this something unrelated?  Is the time period of Project Slipshift before or after Booster Gold’s death?  Would DC actually decide to make the Black Beetle a relative of Booster’s, like his grandmother or something?  I still think it will be Michelle, but we’ll have to wait and see.   

The Beginning Of The End

Written by Matthew Sturges

Art by Mike Norton

Synopsis

Now, Jaime Reyes (aka Blue Beetle) and his family and friends are in Bialya.  One week ago, his family confronted Jaime about his recent angry, sullen behavior.  They want to help.  There is one thing they can do.  They go Bialya, where the blue beetle scarab was first found.  Jaime is drawn to its location.  When he finds it, he connects to the source of the scarab’s power.  When he does, he realizes the true power of the scarab.  To conquer Earth. 

Review

I am guessing the shadowy figure in the back is the Peacekeeper.  When the scarab rebooted, something happened to him as well, so he came to Bialya much like Jaime. 

Anyway, this installment was a lot of exposition, to explain Jaime’s current state of mind, to explain the recent history of the scarab, and to explain Jaime’s history as Blue Beetle.  I can’t really complain; hopefully newer readers will find the information useful.  As a reader of the Blue Beetle book, it is old information.  But I think that is why the ending is so freaking cool.  The entire thing with the Reach and taking over the Earth was such a big deal in the book.  So, to see it pop up again was not only nice, but to have Sturges find a logical way to work it in (with the reboot) was also well done.  Maybe it is just me, but I like when writers can use old continuity in creative ways to tell new stories.  For the moment, I like what Sturges is doing. 

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