Booster Gold #3: Hexed

Don’t drink and time travel

Some of you may be old enough to remember Crisis on Infinite Earths that featured heroes from the present fighting along side heroes from the old west. Only in comics could something like this play out and play out well. We haven’t seen this kind of crossover for a while, and with the word Crisis being tossed around the offices of DC Comics, it seems like a perfect time to bring the two together again. I like my westerns, and I like my superheroes, but do I like superheroes in my westerns? It’s two great tastes that taste great together in Booster Gold #3.

Previously in Booster Gold: While Booster Gold, Skeets, and his great great great great great great great (long ain’t it?) grandfather Daniel Carter thought everything was cool with the multiverse, Rip Hunter knows forces were conspiring to alter history and kill the superheroes. The solution, travel through time Quantum Leap style, to make sure history plays out like it should. Unfortunately, someone knocked Daniel on the head and stole his Supernova suit to do a little meddling with Green Lantern’s history. Booster and Skeets were able to prevent Sinestro from meeting Guy Gardner too early, while getting a glimpse at the softer side of Guy. Meanwhile the faux Supernova traveled back to the old west looking for an ornery cuss to kill someone related to Superman.

The issue kicks off with Michael confronting Daniel about how he lost the Supernova suit, while a cleanly shaven Rip tells of his encounter with someone, or something in the time stream.

I don’t know about you, but the whole “let’s kill the hero before he was born” shtick smacks of Per Degaton’s previous attempt at offing the JSA in the pages of – well – JSA (JSA #66 – #72). If this is indeed a Per Degaton plot, then things are going to get very interesting especially if the recent events in JSA Classified #19 and #20 and Justice League of America #1 and #9 play a part in the story. Can you imagine Booster, Skeets, and Rip trying to take on Per Degaton, Despero and the Ultra-Humanite?

A knock at the door interrupts the team’s pondering. It’s none other than Michael’s great, great, great, great (well you get the picture) grandmother there to get a story on who Supernova is. This is also the first meeting of Daniel and Rose Levin, and having a room full of guys hanging around can’t be good for romance. Since Rip and Booster know someone is after a distant relative of Superman, they hop in the Time Sphere and head back to the old west.

IMAGE REMOVED BY DC LEGAL DEPARTMENT

Man, I love these time stream images. Not only do we get to see the history of the DCU (Young Justice) but also events currently playing out (Anti-monitor of the Sinestro Corps.), as well as things that might yet be. The Dr. Thirteen stuff continues to impress, and I’m wondering if the quick panel shots we are seeing here are going to play out in Final Crisis, an on-going Dr. Thirteen story, or if the team will somehow play an important role in Booster Gold. Wouldn’t it be great if they were able to actually meet DiDio and give him Tom Welling Prime Punch to the face, thus erasing the last couple years of DC events?

Rip has followed the chronal residue (eeewwwww) and discovered a plot to kill Jonathan Kent’s great-grandfather. If the plan isn’t stopped, it isn’t the Kent’s that find young Kal-El, but rather Lionel Luthor, who raises Lionel Luthor Junior. It’s only years later when Lex discovers LL Jr.’s is secretly Superman, that Lex is able to kill him.

The trail leads to Kansas City and dressed in a cowboy getup reminiscent of Marty McFly in Back to the Future III, Booster meets Jonah Hex. Jonah was approached by Supernova to kill someone, but he isn’t telling unless Booster can out drink him. Ha! Gotta love a plot point where two well known characters get wasted.

Jonah confides to Booster that he didn’t take Supernova’s contract but does tell him who is the intended target – Doctor Jeb Westfield, the doctor who will eventually deliver Jonathan’s great-grandfather. Booster jumps on a horse and drunkenly rides to the doctor’s house where he recounts a time when Superman wasn’t too kind to him.

Upon arrival, the villain disguised as Supernova emerges from the time stream to attack. Supernova has mastered the suits controls and is able to give Booster a run for his money as the two fight. The noise is enough to bring the good doctor out of his house and this gives Supernova a chance to strike by transporting a herd of buffalo over the head’s of the Westfield family.

Booster acts fast enough to pull the family to safety, and as Anti-Supernova makes his escape, Skeets and Booster jump in the closing time portal to follow.

While a herd of buffalo suddenly appearing out of no-where is an interesting way of trying off a character, it is a pretty crazy way to kill someone, which makes me wonder if Supernova’s mental state is off the deep end too.

Back in the time stream, Booster and Skeets hop in the Time Sphere hoping to catch up with Supernova, but Rip isn’t too fond of a still inebriated Booster trying to drive the time machine. Remember, you should never drink and drive, you could run into someone.

IMAGE REMOVED BY DC LEGAL DEPARTMENT

Cool. I love that DC has stuck to their guns and kept Barry Allen dead, but I also like the fact that they left a huge loop hole that allows for Barry to make an occasional appearance because of his time travel adventures. Here you go Barry Allen fans, yet another chance to experience the adventures of the Silver Age Flash. Next issue promises to unmask Supernova, but I have a feeling we aren’t going to like the answer.

The Good

• Self mockery of time travel by the time travelers
• Don’t drink and time travel
• Jonah Hex
• Art and colors are wonderful
• Superman cranking his Bat-Dickness level up to 5
• Lionel Luthor that looks like the Smallville equivalent
• Antrho’s jacket
• Michael Carter’s first meeting with his future wife
• Metal Morpheus

The Bad

• If it isn’t Per Degaton, I’m going to be really disappointed
• Buffalo?

I said last issue that the one thing that could cause this series to fail is if it becomes too Quantum Leap like. After reading this issue, that fear been reduced greatly. Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz do another bang up job of telling a time travel tale that doesn’t make my head swell up and go Ka-Thooooom! We know Booster’s ultimate goal is to save his best friend Ted Kord (aka the second Blue Beetle), yet I’m more interested in seeing if we will actually learn the origin of Rip Hunter. I’m also keen in seeing how Booster’s actions will help in the Final Crisis series coming next year. It’s rare that a series grabs me by my balls and makes me its bitch, but I think Booster Gold may have done just that. I love this series, and really think this should have been DC’s weekly series that is the backbone of the DC Universe. I’m going to give Booster Gold #3 the same score as issue #2, 4.5 out of 5 Stars. Near perfect, but the buffalo thing still bothers me, even though it did make me laugh.