Comic Book Review: Booster Gold #3

Booster Gold has been a fantastic read. It is nice to see DC finally crank out a new title spinning from the events of 52 that is actually a quality read. Johns and Katz are a fantastic writing team. Jeff Katz has been a pleasant surprise. You always know you are going to get a quality effort from Johns, but Katz was an unknown commodity.

I went to Katz’s MySpace page and evidently he worked as a film executive on some truly horrible movies like Freddy v. Jason and Snakes on a Plane. Before that he worked for Ted Turner’s wrestling company WCW. Nothing in that resume would get me excited about the prospect of Katz being a quality comic book writer.

However, Katz has proven that you can’t judge someone totally on their resume. Katz has certainly shown he has the chops to crank out a fantastic read on Booster Gold. I’m sure that Johns and Katz have another fantastic read in store for us with Booster Gold #1. Let’s hit this review.

Creative Team
Writers: Geoff Johns & Jeff Katz
Artists: Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with Daniel telling Booster that someone knocked him out and stole the Supernova outfit. Daniel said that the only person who knew about the Supernova outfit was Metal Morpheus. Rip asks if that is a metal metahuman. Booster responds that it is just Daniel’s arch nemesis on X-Box Live who is twelve years old.

Rip says when he was time diving he saw a time sphere similar to his, only cruder and less refined. Before Rip could see who was inside, he was attacked by Supernova. Rip says that whoever Supernova is that he is working with someone else.

Suddenly, Rose Levin knocks on the door. Booster tells Daniel that he has to deal with her and that Rip and Booster have to get back into the time stream. They leave and Daniel opens the door. Rose says she is a reporter and is looking for Booster Gold concerning a connection between him and Supernova. Daniel says Booster isn’t here. Rose looks at the damage inside the house and doesn’t believe Daniel.

We cut to Booster, Rip and Skeets in the time sphere. Booster asks Rip if he is going to have to pull a “Marty McFly” and make sure that Rose and Daniel fall in love since they start Booster’s family bloodline. Rip says he hopes Booster doesn’t have to.

Rip then says that Booster’s JLA certificate turned into a death certificate for Superman. However, there are no anomalies surrounding Superman’s lifeline. This means the bad guys found a domino to top over that will do their dirty work for them. That the bad guys will try and alter Superman’s parents’ timeline. Rip says that the bad guys are going to try and cause the death of Jonathon Kent’s great-grandfather so that Jonathan Kent will never be born.

This means that Superman will be found by Lionel Luthor who will raise him as his own son and call him Lionel Luthor, Jr. That Lionel Junior and Lex will be very close brothers even though Lionel favors Junior over Lex. One day Lex will discover that his teen-age brother is really Superboy. Lex will then succeed in killing his brother in the next year.

Rip locates Supernova’s chronal trail to Kansas City to a gunfighter named Jonah Hex. We cut to Jonah Hex gunning down a man in a gun fight. Jonah tells a bystander that he killed the other man because he asked too many questions.

We see Booster putting on a cowboy outfit complete with a plastic six shooter. Skeets offers to play some Ennio Morricone or Frankie Laine music for Booster. (Morricone is the man!) Booster enters a saloon and saddles up next to Jonah Hex.

Booster asks Jonah if any stranger has asked to hire him for a job. Hex replied that one did, but that Hex turned down his offer. Hex tells Booster that Hex has killed men for less than interrupting his drinking time. Hex says that if Booster can out drink him then he will answer every question Booster has. If Booster can’t out drink Hex then Hex will kill Booster. Booster accepts the wager.

We see Booster and Jonah Hex getting drunk. Hex tells Booster that he doesn’t have many friends, but he really likes Booster. Booster comments that he doesn’t have many friends either. Hex asks Booster what he wants Hex to tell him.

We then get a flashback scene of the newest version of the Blue Beetle turning into the Blue Beetle for the first time during the events of Infinite Crisis.

We slide back to Booster Gold completely drunk and riding a horse out to Dr. Jeb Westfield’s house. Skeets says that Dr. Westfield is who successfully delivers Jonathan Kent’s Great-Grandfather into this world. That if Dr. Westfield dies then there will be no doctor present when Kent’s great-grandfather is born and he won’t survive because of complications during childbirth. Skeets is concerned that Booster is too drunk to handle the mission properly.

Booster insists he is fine. Booster asks Skeets if he remembers the cape that Booster used to have. Skeets says he remembers and that Booster’s publicist said the cape was testing poorly. Booster admits that he lied to Skeets about that fact. That in reality, Booster and Superman were battling some super strong villain, and the villain grabbed Booster’s cape and choked Booster. The villain then threw Booster down using the Booster’s cape and then beat up Booster. Superman knocked the villain out and then looked at Booster and told him “You can’t handle a cape.” Then Superman took Booster’s cape.

Booster and Skeets arrive at Dr. Westfield’s house. Suddenly, Supernova appears on the scene. Booster and Supernova start brawling. Booster saves Dr. Westfield from Supernova’s attack. Supernova then makes a quick escape. Booster locks onto Supernova’s chronal trail and follows him. Dr. Westfield comments to his wife that he has had enough of Kansas City and that they are moving back to Smallville.

We slide to Booster arriving back at Rip’s time sphere. Booster tells Rip to move over and that Booster is going to drive the sphere. That Supernova is in the time stream. Rip retorts that Booster is drunk and shouldn’t be driving. Booster shoots back what in the world is going to hit out in the time stream?

And right on cue, the time sphere collides with something. We see that the sphere just rear-ended the Flash’s time treadmill. On the treadmill is the definitive Flash, Barry Allen, and Wally West as Kid Flash. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Booster Gold #3 was a fantastic issue! Johns and Katz continue to impress me with their excellent work on this title. I dig the pacing on this issue. Johns and Katz manage to give us an issue that moves along at a pleasant pace just off well timed dialogue that has such a good flow. We don’t get much action, but we get enough properly placed action that keeps the issue lively.

The story continues to be strongly plotted. That is no surprise considering that Johns is an excellent technician of constructing intricate and stoutly developed long term plotlines. Johns has incredible long term vision and impressive attention to detail. And it really shows through on a title like Booster Gold that deals with such complex themes such as parallel universes and time travel.

It is enjoyable that Johns has given us a properly structured story with a clear point and purpose. The continual mission of Booster and Rip policing the time line offers nearly limitless potential for intriguing storylines.

The dialogue in Booster Gold #3 is well crafted. I’m going to give Katz more credit for the dialogue than Johns. I am guessing that Johns is the head writer and is responsible for the plotting of this title. And that would leave Katz the task of delivering the dialogue. If that is the case, then I am impressed with Katz’s dialogue.

Katz displays an excellent sense of humor. The dialogue between Skeets and Booster about the cape was brilliant. Absolutely classic! I was busting out loud laughing. And that rarely happens when I read a comic book. The dialogue between Rip and Booster arguing over Booster driving the time sphere while inebriated was funny. I chuckled at Rip yelling out “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk!” as Booster took control of the time sphere.

What is so enjoyable is that Katz delivers snappy dialogue is entertaining without being too cutesy. And Katz doesn’t go overboard with the snappy dialogue. Katz gets in enough “trendy” references like Daniel’s arch nemesis Metal Morpheus from X-Box Live, but, at no point is it like Katz is trying too hard to be “hip” like Bendis sometimes does over on Ultimate Spider-Man.

Katz and Johns give us a very well developed Booster Gold. The two writers have remained committed to strong character work and making sure that Booster Gold is a properly fleshed out three dimensional character. Johns and Katz are emphasizing the fact that Booster is a man outside of time and, due to the nature of his mission, is a rather lonely person. Between having to work in anonymity, being away from his old JLA teammates and the loss of his best friend Ted, Booster is certainly in a shortage of friends. And it is clear that this lack of friends is wearing on Booster.

Johns and Katz move along the plotline involving Daniel Rose. We get a nice Back to the Future reference as Booster worries about having to make sure that Daniel and Rose fall in love and start Booster’s family bloodline. You know that it isn’t going to be nice and easy getting Daniel and Rose together and I’m sure Booster will have to get involved at some point.

Johns and Katz give us a rather neat plan to kill Superman. It was certainly more interesting than the villains just trying to kill Superman as a baby or something like that.

I loved Jonah Hex’s appearance in this issue. Being a huge fan of the old Clint Eastwood westerns, I dig characters like Hex. And this certainly wasn’t the appearance by Jonah Hex that I was expecting. I figured that we’d probably see a fight between Booster and Jonah. Instead, we get surprised with a scene of the two men getting drunk and bonding with each other. Johns and Katz create some excellent chemistry between Jonah. And the dialogue was hilarious.

The mystery of who is wearing the Supernova is compounded by Supernova’s unknown partner manning the time sphere. I’m certainly curious to learn more about the identities of these two men who are operating as the foils to Rip and Booster.

Johns and Katz serve up a brilliant hook ending to Booster Gold #3! The appearance of none other than the man himself, Barry Allen. The greatest Flash of them all. I am a huge Barry Allen fan, so clearly I’m excited for the next issue. I have resigned myself to the fact that DC will bring back from the dead every single character except Barry Allen. So, if I can only get my Barry Allen fix through time travel stories then so be it.

The Bad: I have no complaints with this issue.

Overall: Booster Gold #3 was another sweet read. Johns and Katz are an excellent team and their combined efforts have given us the first new DC title since Infinite Crisis that I have truly been impressed with. Booster Gold is one of DC’s strongest titles and is certainly worth your money.