I feel that Booster Gold, much like Cyborg, is an untapped marketing tool in the DC arsenal.
They're really missing the boat by not doing more with the character based upon looks and power set alone.
I feel that Booster Gold, much like Cyborg, is an untapped marketing tool in the DC arsenal.
They're really missing the boat by not doing more with the character based upon looks and power set alone.
Don't complain. Create.
We need Booster back bouncing around the DCU!
And the Katz/Johns book was a highlight for me. It added another layer that I thought was genius.
The majority of the DCU thinking Michael is the equivalent of a used car salesman with only the select few knowing the real deal.
The Jurgens artwork, the ties to Rip, Supernova etc. was just a blast.
"My name is Wally West. I'm the fastest man alive!"
I'll try being nicer if you try being smarter.
For me, that book was the crystalized essence of "beautifully executed, but I don't like the actual content." I like Booster doing hero stuff, but I hated that it was basically constant retcons stealing real achievements that I saw happen from other characters. I didn't like Rip as his son, because it didn't match earlier post-COIE Rip. I hated that comic's Rip - he was like the worst parts of Batjerk and Batgod (pulling strings, manipulating people to "teach lessons", etc.). And I really hate the idea that some things are "fixed" in time and can't be changed, while others can, with no rule set to which are which as it just feels contrived to facilitate maximum angst and suffering and yet still have take backsies. Oh, also loathed Batman knowing about Booster trying to save Barbara back when as the cherry on the top of an already-hated storyline.
But I thought it was well-executed, and thought it offered a great emotional connection to Booster. Despite the fact that I disliked the majority of plotlines, I still read the entire series because I did mostly like that Booster. I binge-read, though, and don't think I would have kept on if reading real-time. Definitely skimmed and fumed a bit.
Mild annoyance in the form of (I think it was this one) yet again re-writing Booster's past to make him less culpable for his actions with the football betting. I still prefer the original, where his mom was not sick yet, his sister wasn't on his case, and his dad wasn't involved and he pissed away a bright future because he was too impatient to wait for the riches. I'd rather have addressed the issues of the difficulties of being poor in general than adding some extra stuff to make him have been forced into violating rules. That he did make a dumb call and it cost him a lot. And he didn't even learn his lesson there. So off the past he went. But despite greed, he did care about being a hero (as in his original series) and over time improved. But yeah, I'm cool with everyone not knowing that and him being okay with that later.
Last edited by Tzigone; 01-14-2021 at 05:20 PM.
See, I was never attached to Rip or the Linear Men so I didn't mind the retcons.
I also liked Booster weaving in and out of the history of the DCU working behind the scenes.
And while I'm not a big fan of the Killing Joke either, I love Barbara as Oracle and I understand why that issue was there. It showed Booster there are some things that can't be undone, no matter how badly you want them to be. Just the same as Wally did in Chain Lightning.
"My name is Wally West. I'm the fastest man alive!"
I'll try being nicer if you try being smarter.
Problem is, there's no rule to which things can't be undone. I like a consistent rule set. This way just means they get to have it both ways - hurt the character by lack of ability to change when they want to and undo everything when they want to. Give me a rule to which ones can and can't be changed, and I'll be much more okay with it. Otherwise, I just feel like I'm being jerked around. It's a lazy plot-device when there aren't rules, IMO. I feel the same about all the way the speed force works.And while I'm not a big fan of the Killing Joke either, I love Barbara as Oracle and I understand why that issue was there. It showed Booster there are some things that can't be undone, no matter how badly you want them to be. Just the same as Wally did in Chain Lightning.
I hate the issue because it has manipulative Rip (again, I absolutely hate characters treating others that way), and because it's just a constant misery, angst-fest thing. And, of course, the Batman-knows-all thing I also hated.
If it'd been things we hadn't seen, I'd be more okay with it. I know it would have been less powerful that way. But this way, it's all retcons all the time. Makes Booster look great, but it makes other heroes look lesser than they were because it steals their accomplishments. And then they end up (unknowingly) taking credit for what they didn't do, which I also don't like. It diminishes others, and that's not okay with me. The NTT were particularly problematic, since it was so early in their careers it sort of undermined their founding bedrock and ultimately makes them entirely failures without him. They lose on day one.I also liked Booster weaving in and out of the history of the DCU working behind the scenes.
Oh yeah, and Guy making up with his abusive father - hell no (that was that book, right?). I hate that trope. I want people to kick their abusers to the curb. I don't think forgiveness is in and of itself good. I think it's a bad message that people need to let people who hurt them back into their lives and or that things will be better if they do. Have posted on that before.
Also mildly annoyed at Booster saying Barbara was the love of Ted's life? I mean was he just fooling himself because of how much he cared about Ted and he was upset other didn't as much? Because that a mutual not taking it further, as far as I recall, and I really don't like it being retconned into something more important that it was. I don't like that happening with relationships. But I'm not sure this was the first book to recast that relationship.
EDIT: Never read Linear Men. It's just this Rip didn't match the Rip from the 1980s Booster Gold series and that bugged me. I did read some post-COIE Time Masters, but too grim for my taste.
Last edited by Tzigone; 01-14-2021 at 05:54 PM.
Very fun read. I went to read issue 1 and ended up reading all 6 one after the other. Much respect to mr Dan Jurgens, he just knows how to make a fun comicbook. In Jurgens we trust
I'm a huge Booster Gold (and Blue Beetle) fan and collector:
Author of the law review article "The Lawyer as Superhero: How Marvel Comics' Daredevil Depicts the American Court System and Legal Practice," Capital University Law Review, Vol. 47, No. 2 (2019).
Download it for free at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....act_id=3389544
I will never forget this low point in Booster's history. Just garbage writing and horrible character assassination by a hacky writer who cared nothing for the character he was trashy. King ignored decades of character growth and wrote the worst Booster in his entire history.
What made this garbage story even worse was at almost the exact same time over in Action Comics Booster was being written like he should be by Jurgens which made Kings look even worse. That is a prime example of why DC editorial is considered such a joke these days.
I read Tom King's Batman run through around #50 and generally liked it, and I've loved most other things I've read by him (especially Mister Miracle, Sheriff of Babylon, and Grayson), but I also disliked the way he wrote brain-dead Booster in those Batman issues.
Heroes in Crisis had that gorgeous Clay Mann art, and I loved how Booster and Beetle eventually teamed up and saved the day, but I didn't care for his portrayal there either. And based on the original concept (a facility for superheroes and supervillains to receive treatment for PTSD, which sounded timely and intriguing), I was so psyched for it. It ended up being kind of a huge disappointment to me, despite the artwork.
Author of the law review article "The Lawyer as Superhero: How Marvel Comics' Daredevil Depicts the American Court System and Legal Practice," Capital University Law Review, Vol. 47, No. 2 (2019).
Download it for free at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....act_id=3389544
Yup. I remember at the time thinking I'd missed something when I read the first King issue. So much so, I re-read it then went online to check if I'd missed an issue explaining why Booster was suddenly an arsehat.
An yes, the Jurgens issues of Action were bloody awesome!
"My name is Wally West. I'm the fastest man alive!"
I'll try being nicer if you try being smarter.
April's issue of The Flash has a lady called Gold Beetle. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle's daughter apparently?
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