Oh boy, time travel really does a number on the head
With the latest installment of Booster Gold, Dan Jurgens gets the chance to write a scene where Booster Gold and Booster Gold have a heart to heart. Don’t worry, the universe doesn’t annihilate itself, but it will warp your head.
I’ve seen plenty of time travel movies and read plenty of time travel literature over my life. The ending to time travel stories always ends in one of three ways; a) the past isn’t changed and only the time traveler knows, b) the past is changed for the better and only the time traveler knows, or c) the time traveler gets stuck in an infinite loop and is trapped forever reliving the same events over and over again. For Booster Gold he gets to experience two and a half of these.
Last issue, Booster the Elder and Booster the Younger were trapped in the past following the whole time jumping chase for the mystical chronal dagger. Because Booster the Younger was yanked out of the time stream and exposed to everything that would happen in the future, the future time line was skewed trapping Rip Hunter in the past during a time when he was manipulating events to ensure Starfire would make her escape to Earth. Following the events so far? Me neither…
I like how during their time together, the Younger gets to ask the Elder about the future and his role as a quasi time master. It’s somewhat refreshing to see the Younger’s face change as he realizes he will play a bigger role, and it gives him a moment’s pleasure to know that all the goofs he’s going through now have a positive impact in the future. It’s just too bad the Elder’s face is full of anguish as he has to hide the fact that Ted Kord is still dead.
Meanwhile, Michelle, the once dead, now alive again sister of Booster, has cracked the code so to speak, and has found out she used to be dead. Using a chronal portal, she’s able to see everything that happened to Michael that she missed out on, and she’s not to happy about it. I think readers can sympathize with her predicament, as everything that has happened to her since her return feels like a betrayal as everyone has lied to her about what really happened.  She’s now left with a decision as to what she should do next. And fortunately, her decision is to jump somewhere in time.
I say a good decision because for the last year it seems Team Time Traveler has grown beyond the quaint stories the started the series, to something that has become a bit unwieldy for everyone involved, and having certain hanger on characters disappear gets us back to the roots of Booster and Rip Hunter.
Booster the Elder also has a tough decision to make as he and Skeets decide to wipe the Younger’s mind so he forgets everything that took place during their recent adventure. Had the Younger remembered everything that had happened it could have really changed the flow of the story and tossed the series into that infinite loop scenario.
By issues end, Booster and Rip are reunited, and I’m hopeful the duo get to have a few adventures together ala the Quantum Leap stories that kicked off the series. For now, I’m just glad the whole dagger story is over as it was wearing out its welcome with the constant overlap of time and place.
The Booster Gold series has been dragging for the last six issues or so, and the ending of this arc gives everyone a chance to take a step back and examine where they want to go with the story. I’m hopeful things can be turned around and put this title back on track to be a great series, but for now Booster Gold #19 only earns 2 out of 5 Stars.
11 Comments
Like in 52, Rip’s blackboard refers to current events and gives us hints for futur ones in the DCU, “Batman and Robin aren’t Batman and Robin” refers to the end of Battle for the Cash Cow. The Vigilante remark concerns the current “Death Trap” storyline in Titans, Teen Titans and Vigilante. “The Equation is out there” Oracle: the cure’s main storyline. “The Immortals will fight side by side” I’m guessing Diana and Achilles are teaming up against Genocide. Lastly “HE is comming back”, my guess is that it’s refering to a certain time displaced caped crusader…
I couldn’t take it anymore, money is tight these days and the endless “What If?” type stories and non-stop time-travelling just wore me out. I didn’t want to drop this book but finally just couldn’t go on with it…
Biff
I was finding it tough finishing this arc of booster gold. Whenever you have time travel as a key element in a story major confusion is always a possibility.
It’s a good thing I’m such an outright mark for the Booster, because I will keep reading this no matter how bad it gets — provided Skeets does not go _anywhere_.
I wish they would get someone else to write the series, while Jurgens isn’t always bad, the series neeeds a boost.
Respectufully request a marvel review, a FULL marvel review, any marvel review
Wish granted, if somewhat wistfully, HungryMoses. It makes me sad that you seem more impressed by the logo in the corner of the cover than by any quality within the book… Moreover, it’s never been my intention for these reviews to replace actual purchase of the comics we cover. If anything, I’m trying to steer people towards books that I think deserve more love than they are getting.
In any case, a Marvel review awaits you here.
hungryMOSES,
That’s one of the things I love about this site. Just about any other site has majority Marvel stuff with a little of everything else. This site’s more other stuff with Marvel in between. And to me that’s refreshing.
Im not saying that Matthew, i love the site i really do. This is just the case of what you guys like and what i dont. Im a Marvel and damn proud, you guys favor DC, theres nothing wrong with that at all. I do read a few DC books, but what you guys review I either dont like or cant jump into without a backstory. Let me rephrase what i said please review a comic that I read(jk)
Important statement of unofficial Major Spoilers policy: We don’t favor anybody.
What do you read that you’d like to see covered? Bear in mind that Marvel doesn’t send us previews anymore, and many times I find that a book that I haven’t specifically put on my pull list can sell out before I make it to the store. I’m not at all averse to picking up something specifically for review purposes, but at 3 to 4 bucks a pop, I don’t have as much leeway in that department lately.
I know that I cover most, if not all of the bloody Avengers titles, as well as hitting Spider-Man as often as I can pick up an issue. I’m not finding a lot of joy in Fantastic Four lately, and I have trouble reading an Ultimate title with a straight face. The last time I covered Wolverine, I was flat-out attacked for perception of bias, so I’m not eager to re-enter that particular battle. As for X-Men, I can’t wrap my mind around the X-Universe since I stopped reading X-Factor. I intend to review the New Mutants revival, presuming I can get a copy, and I almost always cover Captain America. I just reviewed a Marvel title on Friday, while Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Fist, Nova, & Secret Warriors got quick hits in last week’s RFR…
HungryMoses: I can see where you may believe there is a bias in our coverage of the site as the last two weeks there have been 8 DC review, 4 Marvel reviews, 1 review of Boom! 2 reviews of Dynamite Entertainment, 1 review of Dark Horse, 1 review of Moonstone Books, 1 review of IDW Publishing. However keep in mind, most other sites focus on Marvel and DC exclusively. From that breakdown it really looks like Major Spoilers is trying to cover and touch on a variety of titles from as many publishers as we can. If you really want to get technical there are 1544 articles featuring Marvel content and only 1180 posts about DC.
Also keep mind those “other” sites have a staff of paid writers and interns who make writing reviews and articles their primary jobs. At Major Spoilers, I spend as much time running and maintaining the site, while holding down two other full time jobs (three if you want to get really technical). Matthew also works two jobs and does reviews for Major Spoilers when he gets the chance. Since the money flowing into the Major Spoilers site is but a trickle (thanks to those that have donated or purchased our merchandise – it is appreciated!), we cover what we cover when we get around to covering it.
It is true – Marvel stopped providing full review copies some time ago, and hence there has been a dramatic drop off in the number of Marvel reviews we do. If you want to change that, kindly send a letter or email to the PR people at Marvel and ask them to change their policy. DC has only ever sent us two review copies. So our reviews from the big two generally cover those comics we take the time to invest in or purchase.
If you would like to make a suggestion for a book you would like to see reviewed, you can always make a suggestion – although I should point out the two marvel reviews that appeared on the site were already scheduled prior to your request. Or, if you or someone else would like to submit reviews for possible publication on the site, you know how to contact me.