Booster Gold

ARTISTS

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Dan Jurgens
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Colorist: Gene D'Angelo
Letterer: John Costanza
Editors: Alan Gold, Barbara Randall
Cover Artists: Mike DeCarlo, Dan Jurgens

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CHARACTERS & SETTINGS

heroes: Booster Gold, Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Ultra Boy
villaines: 1000, Chiller
supportinges: Dirk Davis, George Bush, Nancy Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Skeets I

Settings: 20th-century Metropolis, DCU, USA; 20th-century Washington, DC, USA

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ISSUE SUMMARY

Cover Description: An unconscious Booster Gold is held aloft and threatened with a knife by the villainous Chiller.

Brief Synopsis: Booster and the Legion of Super-Heroes must work together to save the president from a 1000 assassination attempt. As a result, Booster Gold is thrust into the public limelight, exactly where he wants to be.

Issue Summary: Micheal Jon "Booster" Carter, native of the 24th century, is fighting Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, and Ultra Boy, all members of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th century, in the skies above 20th-century Metropolis. The Legionnaires mistakenly believe that Booster is involved in an assassination attempt on United States President Ronald Reagan.

The combatants are unaware that the President and Vice President are being abducted by the Chiller in the city below. Fortunately for the President, Skeets has been following the limousine and interrupts Chiller's assassination attempt. Booster responds to Skeets summons by explaining the situation to the Legionnaires. The heroes join forces and rush to save the President.

In the aftermath, Brainiac 5 decides that Booster is in the right place at the right time. Before returning to the future, the Legionnaires ensure that the necessary artifacts are put in their proper place to eventually end up in the Space Museum in the 25th century where Booster will steal them. Booster is publicly rewarded by the President in a televised press conference in Washington, D.C. In the excitement, Booster garbles his own alter-ego, and is officially dubbed "Booster Gold."

Nearly a year later, Booster Gold enjoys the fruits of his exploits at a Dusk commercial shoot in Metropolis with girlfriend Monica Lake. Elsewhere, with the aid of Doctor Shocker, Benny, Marty, and Sarah Davis, the Director of the 1000 vows revenge on Booster for foiling his prior plans. Reveal Potential Spoilers

Costume Worn: MARK I power-suit

Issue Notes: In this issue, the gold star on Booster's chest is simplified from previous appearances, and the lines dividing it into simpler geometric shapes are omitted.

This story has been reprinted in the following issue:
Showcase Presents: Booster Gold (2008)

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ISSUE ANNOTATIONS

Page 1, panel 1
Narrative balloons describe this story as "the very first Booster Gold adventure." The date is given as August 22, 1985, and "moments ago" Booster was fighting Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, and Ultra Boy. Yet in the previous issue, the date was given as August 21, 1985, so this must be one really long fight.

Page 2, panel 2
POWER UP: Booster forces an energy surge from his force field back through his costume's circuitry to electrocute Chameleon Boy. How exactly this is achieved is unclear.

Page 3, panel 1
Booster mistakes the Legionnaires for Time Cops from the Space Museum. Booster is fearful of being tracked down and being made to pay for his crimes in the future. This will be the basis for the events in upcoming issues of Booster Gold.

Page 5, panel 2
George Bush is familiar with Chiller from CIA briefings. Prior to being elected Vice-President of the United States of America, Bush served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Page 5, panel 3
Demonstrating a refined power of deductive reasoning, Booster concludes that Ultra Boy can only use one power at a time. Booster's intelligence will be downplayed for years.

Page 10, panel 7
First chronological appearance of Dirk Davis as a member of the press assembled to hear the President's speech.

Page 13, panel 4
POWER UP: Booster combines the abilities of the Legion Flight Ring and his force field to turn himself into an invulnerable missile in order to bring down one of the 1000's "assault copters."

Page 14, panel 1
Brainiac 5 has given his Force Field Belt and Flight Ring to President Reagan to aid him against the Chiller. This is an example of a predestination paradox. Brainiac 5 must have returned to the past in search of Booster Gold in order for Booster Gold to have received Brainiac's equipment in the future: neither event can exist independently, and the requisite closed time loop is therefore a paradox.

Page 16, panel 1
HIS STORY: Braniac 5 confirms that there is no record in 2986 of Booster ever being brought to justice for the theft of artifacts from the Science Museum in 2462.

Page 16, panel 3
HIS STORY: Booster reveals that sometime in the future, there will be a nuclear exchange, tying the timeline of Hex into his own and therefore mainstream post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Universe continuity. According to Hex #4 (1985), the nuclear holocaust will take place in 2045. The wide-spread destruction of the war and its immediate consequences are explored further throughout the DC series Hex, published concurrently with the first volume of Booster Gold in the mid 1980s.

Page 17, panel 4
MEET THE PRESS: Booster Gold stands beside the President and First Lady Nancy Reagan on the White House porch in Washington, D.C. to receive the Medal of Honor for saving the President. In front the large crowd of reporters, Booster nervously fumbles his own name and Ronald Reagan mistakenly dubs him "Booster Gold" instead of Booster's intended code name: Goldstar. Rather than correct the President's mistake, Booster accepts the name. The Medal of Honor is a military decoration, made to soldiers who exhibit extreme bravery on behalf of the United States of America during combat. As a civilian, Booster is not eligible for the Congressional Medal of Honor, but he could have been granted a Presidential Medal of Freedom, which the President can bestow on a civilian at his discretion on the grounds of meritorious contribution to the interests of the United States of America.

For more annotations from this issue which occur at a different point in Booster Gold's chronology, click here.

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ISSUE REVIEW

Boosterrific Review: This issue includes some of the most enjoyable action sequences yet in the title's run-to-date in the process of providing a very satisfying conclusion to the early adventures of Booster Gold. Skeets saves U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Then Booster Gold saves Reagan. Then Brainiac 5 saves Reagan. And the fight still isn’t over. In addition, this issue fills in a lot of empty holes that were left following the origin revealed in issue 6 and still manages to tie together some dangling sub-plots into a tease for the year-end story arc. This comic book stands as a testament to Dan Jurgens' art and storytelling.

Boosterrific Rating:

• Currently 5.0/5 Stars.

Average Fan Rating:

• Currently 4.5/5 Stars.

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