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Boosterrific.com: The Complete, Annotated Adventures of Booster Gold
Boosterrific.com: The Complete, Annotated Adventures of Booster Gold

Buy Booster Gold

All-Star Western

“Panning for Gold”

Volume 3, Issue 19, June 2013
Released April 24, 2013

Cover Price: $3.99
Estimated Issue Sales: 16,838

Boosterrific.com Rating
  • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.

All-Star Western, Vol. 3, #19. Image © DC Comics

 

ARTISTS

Writers: Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti
Penciller: Moritat
Inkers: Rob Leigh, Moritat
Colorist: Andre Szymanowicz
Assistant Editor: Anthony Marques
Editors: Eddie Berganza, Mike Cotton
Cover Artist: Howard Porter

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CHARACTERS & SETTINGS

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ISSUE DETAILS

Cover Description: This book has a fold-out cover. On the left side is Jonah Hex, panning for gold. On the right, hidden when the book is closed, Booster Gold holds a gun to the head of Jonah Hex.

There's a New Lawman in Town, © DC Comics Inc

The logo used for Booster Gold Volume 2 appears on the cover, but the printed circuit board star has been modified to a sheriff's badge more appropriate to the theme of the issue.

Brief Synopsis: Booster Gold, stranded in the Old West and having assumed the role of Sheriff of Red River Junction, joins forces with Jonah Hex.

Issue Summary: Reveal Potential Spoilers

Booster Gold's role in this story:
Featured (Booster Gold plays a prominent role)

Costume Worn: MARK XIII power-suit

Issue Notes: All "New 52" issues published with June 2013 cover dates have gatefold covers as part of DC's "WTF" promotion.

Story Notes: This is Booster's first appearance in the DC Universe since he mysteriously disappeared in Justice League International Annual, Volume 3, #1 several months earlier.

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ANNOTATIONS

For the first time in Booster Gold's adventures, the cover of this issue is truly the first panel of this story.

Page 1, panel 1
Booster Gold, meet Jonah Hex, circa 1880. Booster was last seen disappearing in Justice League International Annual, Volume 3, #1.

Page 1, panel 2
POWER UP: Booster claims to be the local sheriff. To support his claim, he wears a gold "tin star" badge, leather duster, and flat top western-style hat over his familiar Mark XIII power-suit. Rather than rely on his Booster Shots, Booster holds a revolver (that looks like a Colt 1851 Navy).

Page 2, panel 4
Hex sizes Booster up as the sort of person who will not shoot another. In all his years of heroics, Booster has never knowingly murdered anyone.

Page 2, panel 5
Blazing Saddles was a 1974 motion picture parodying the Western genre. In the film, construction worker Bart was appointed as a reluctant sheriff who took his job seriously despite expectations to the contrary. Bart's ad-hoc sidekick was an aging gunslinger with questionable morals. Sound familiar?

Page 3, panel 1
Booster Gold and Jonah Hex first met in Booster Gold, Volume 2, #3. It is not clear whether this meeting takes place before or after that event, or whether that meeting ever occurred in the post-Flashpoint continuity of the New 52. Hex doesn't seem to recognize Booster Gold (who was in disguise in their previous meeting), and Booster Gold may have been too drunk to remember Hex.

Page 3, panel 4
HIS STORY: Although Booster Gold was last seen in New York City in the 21st century, Booster Gold actually is from 25th-century Gotham.

Page 9, panel 3
Booster Gold and Jonah Hex return to Red River Junction to find the town on fire following a bank robbery and massacre by the Clem Hootkins Gang. Booster is shocked by the inhumanity of the assault.

Page 10, panel 3
The issue never makes it clear when this story takes place. Clearly it must be sometime after the American Civil War (as indicated by references to Stonewall Jackson and Gatling Guns). These events presumably take place near the Red River of the South (in Texas or the Oklahoma Territory) after previous Jonah Hex stories sometime in the 1880s.

Page 10, panel 4
Once Booster's memory is jogged by a reference to Confederate General Stonewall Jackson, he demonstrates a near encyclopedic knowledge of Jonah Hex's life. When Hex asks how Booster knows this...

Image Copyright DC Comics

Page 12, panel 5
POWER DOWN: ...Booster tells Hex that he doesn't "know how or why," but he is definitely from the future. How much of Booster's memory is lost, and why? Note that Booster doesn't use his powers this issue. Is Booster's technology broken, is he trying not to draw attention to himself — unlikely if he's playing "sheriff" — or has he forgotten how to use it?

Page 17, panel 1
In a flashback, Booster explains what he remembers of arriving in Red River Junction in a flash of bright light and confusion. Booster witnessed Emmit Stone murder Sheriff Moss and naturally apprehended the murderer and assumed the role of sheriff.

Page 19, panel 4
For the second time (whether either of them can remember it), Jonah Hex demonstrates that he can hold his liqueur better than Booster Gold.

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REVIEWS

Boosterrific Review: The story in this issue is little more than prologue for a "fish out of water" tale. Booster Gold and Jonah Hex introduce themselves to one another over drinks (again), and the reader is introduced to the villains. Characterization is key in stories like this, and everything feels spot on, including the "moody" art. Very promising start.

Boosterrific Rating:

  • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
Worth Its Weight In Gold.

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YOUR OPINION

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