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SPOILER WARNING: The following page may contain story spoilers. Read at your own risk.
Writers: Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz
Penciller: Dan Jurgens
Inker: Norm Rapmund
Colorists: Hi-Fi Designs, Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Nick J. Napolitano
Editor: Michael Siglain
Assistant Editor: Harvey Richards
Cover Artists: Dan Jurgens, Brian (Hi-Fi) Miller, Norm Rapmund
Heroes: Batgirl I, Blue Beetle I, Blue Beetle III, Booster Gold, Rip Hunter
Villains: Joker, Rex Hunter
Supporting Characters: Commissioner Gordon, Skeets II
Settings: 20th-century Gotham City, DCU, USA; 21st-century Rip Hunter's AZ Lab, DCU, USA
Cover Description: Booster Gold and Batgirl are reflected in the lens of the Joker's camera. The cover of this issue is intentionally evocative of Brian Bolland's cover to Batman: The Killing Joke.
Synopsis: Booster Gold struggles to save Batgirl from the Joker.
Chronology: Events in this issue likely take place following Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime #1. During this story Booster Gold travels to the past to participate in events depicted in Batman: The Killing Joke, published in 1988, though taking place approximately 6 years ago in the relative DC Universe timeline.
Issue Notes: According to the cover, this issue was published the same week as Countdown #20.
Reprints: This issue has been collected in Booster Gold Volume 1: 52 Pick-Up.
Page 4, panel 1
SCHOOL'S IN: Booster Gold, Rip Hunter, and Skeets II discuss their situation as time police in Rip Hunter's Time Lab. Rex Hunter slouches in the background. Just as in previous visits to Hunter's lab, the chalkboards are covered in scribbles related to stories unfolding elsewhere throughout the DC Universe.
Page 5, panel 2
Booster makes his animosity towards his father perfectly clear, explicitly wishing for his father's gristly death.
Page 6, panel 1
Booster Gold and Skeets arrive in the Joker's headquarters hidden within an abandoned Gotham City carnival. Booster plans to find the Joker and prevent him from shooting Barbara Gordon, robbing her of the use of her legs and unintentionally forcing her retirement as Batgirl. The Joker's actions are depicted in Batman: The Killing Joke.
Page 7, panel 5
FASHION ALERT: Mere moments after arriving at the carnival, Booster finds his costume destroyed at the hands of the Joker's freak show henchmen. Booster, if a bunch of midgets in bondage gear can destroy your power-suit so easily, perhaps it's time for an upgrade.
Page 9, panel 2
As the Joker does not recognize Booster Gold, this must be the first chronological meeting between Booster Gold and the Joker. Coincidentally, the first published meeting between the two characters was depicted in Justice League International Annual #2, published in July 1988, the same month that Batman: The Killing Joke was published.
Page 11, panel 3
The true time-manipulating foes of Booster Gold and Rip Hunter are finally revealed, having traveled through time to dispatch one of their own failed lackeys as an infant. Why they don't take this action against Booster Gold, who has foiled all of their plans up to this point, is unclear.
Page 14, panel 6
SPOILER WARNING!: Reveal
Page 18, panel 1
SPOILER WARNING!: Reveal
Page 18, panel 3
SPOILER WARNING!: Reveal
Page 18, panel 5
SPOILER WARNING!: Reveal
Page 19, panel 2
FASHION ALERT: Booster stands before a glass enclosure holding a copy of his uniform. Considering that the Joker and his henchmen have just easily destroyed his power-suit, it's good to know that Hunter keeps spares in his lab in addition to the ones Booster keeps in his closet (as revealed in the previous issue).
Page 19, panel 3
Hunter explains to Booster that he was only trying to teach him the lesson about "solidified time," time events that are unalterable. Hunter explains that Ted Kord's death is another solidified time event, and that Booster's attempts to save Ted Kord are impossible. Understandably, Booster does not take this lesson well.
Page 22, panel 1
Booster Gold is confronted by Blue Beetle I (Dan Garrett), Blue Beetle III (Jaime Reyes), and a mysterious fourth Blue Beetle. The gathered Beetles have assembled to travel through time and save Ted Kord from his death at the hands of Maxwell Lord, and are determined to proceed, despite Rip Hunter's insistence that the task is impossible.
Boosterrific Review: This issue is brutal. Alan Moore’s 1989 Batman: The Killing Joke, the setting of the events of this story, is a dark exploration of the interaction between the Dark Knight and his greatest foe. That is a fitting backdrop for this issue explaining the modern rules of "solidified time" travel in the new DC Multiverse. It simultaneously showcases the oft-hidden heroism of the series star, Booster Gold. If you can stomach the violence and trauma of watching one of the DC Universe's most tragic moments replay itself over and over, you'll find that this is the best issue of this series so far.
Boosterrific Rating: Boosterrific!
Average Fan Rating: (1 vote)
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The Chronological Adventures of Booster Gold
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