Blue and Gold
“Application Denied”
Volume 1, Issue 1, September 2021
Released July 20, 2021
Cover Price: $3.99
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artist: Ryan Sook
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editors: Brittany Holzherr, Jamie S. Rich
Cover Artists: Dave Johnson, Ryan Sook
Heroes: Aquaman, Batman, Black Canary II, Blue Beetle II, Booster Gold, Green Arrow I, Hawkgirl II, Hippolyta, Naomi
Villain: Omnizon
Supporting: b-bo, bill, dubba, gawd, gg, jdj, outliar, radiojo, she kat, Skeets III, t-grrl, zblah
Setting: New York, NY, USA, 21st-century
Cover Description: On the $3.99 standard cover by Ryan Sook, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle pose for a social media post. On the $4.99 "card-stock" variant cover by Dave Johnson, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle are opposite ends of a playing card. (The phone case Booster is holding in the Johnson cover was drawn by an uncredited Kevin Maguire.)
Brief Synopsis: Booster Gold and Blue Beetle team-up to save the Justice League from alien kidnappers.
Issue Summary: Reveal Potential Spoilers
Booster Gold's role in this story:
Featured (Booster Gold plays a prominent role)
Costume Worn: MARK I.v2 power-suit
This story has been reprinted in:
Blue and Gold (2022)
Page 1, panel 1
The anonymous speaker mentions her "former boss." Could this be the return of Booster Gold's original secretary/sidekick/love interest Trixie Collins? Trixie and Booster last crossed paths in Chase #4 (1998).
Page 3, panel 1
FASHION ALERT: Booster Gold and Skeets assault an alien spacecraft in the skies over New York City. Booster is livestreaming the action, broadcasting his own heroics to fans across the globe via the Internet in an effort to raise donations to support his efforts. Booster wears his familiar costume, but Skeets has once again been given a makeover, now more round than rectangular with sharp-pointed fins.
Page 4, panel 2
Booster's livestream appears to gain mostly negative comments. (Is this intended to be an accurate representation of the general public's response to livestreaming, or does this commentary represent only the stance of inhabitants of the DC Universe towards Booster Gold specifically?) One commenter emphasizes the words "Zero" and "Hour," an injoke reference to another Dan Jurgens comic book mini-series, Zero Hour.
Page 5, panel 1
As Booster is ambushed by an alien robot, one of the commenters worries about Superman (typed as "SOOPERMAN"), reportedly trapped inside the alien ship. The commenter uses Superman's shield as his avatar, and identifies as "b-bo," suggesting that this is perhaps Superman's pal Bibbo Bibbowski. (Shhh. Don't anyone tell Superman that his number one fan follows Booster Gold -- his "second fav'rit!" -- on social media!)
Page 5, panel 6
Commenter "gg," a Guy Gardner fan, reminds audiences that Booster Gold fought (and named) Superman's foe Doomsday in Justice League America #69 and Superman #74. (As a reminder, Guy Gardner didn't fare any better against Doomsday that Booster did.)
Another commenter continues to insist that the fight is staged. That commenter goes by the initials "jdj" and uses a word balloon for an avatar. Could this be meta-commentary from story writer Daniel John Jurgens himself?
Page 8, panel 2
POWER UP: Booster Gold tells his followers that his "suit's fiber-weave circuitry is solar powered!" Booster's "power rods" were first introduced in Booster Gold #8, and Dr. Shocker proved that they had a finite supply of power in Booster Gold #10. The rods were drained completely and damaged in Booster's final fight with the Director of the 1000 (Booster Gold #12), and Booster had to travel back to the future to replace them (Booster Gold #13). Presumably, Booster has upgraded his suit since then. Amusingly, Booster Gold's suit now being solar-powered means he has even more in common with his frenemy Superman, who derives his powers from Earth's yellow sun.
Commenter "she kat" says "Hang in there, baby!", the slogan of a famous 1971 motivational poster by Victor Baldwin in which a cat dangles from a branch.
Page 8, panel 3
Another aspect of Booster's public persona that has changed over the years is his openness about being from the future, a secret he guarded very carefully from even his friends in his earliest appearances. Booster's future origin wasn't revealed until Booster Gold #6.
Page 8, panel 4
POWER DOWN: The alien robot claims to have found a way to penetrate Booster's famously impenetrable force field, originally designed by Brainiac to hold Superman at bay. Does this make the attacking aliens smarter than Brainiac?
Page 10, panel 4
While it is true that "Blue and Gold" have been working together as a duo since Justice League International Annual #2 (1988), they've never actually had a team logo before.
Page 12, panel 1
Time compression in comic books is a funny thing. Though Blue Beetle says they were only Leaguers for "a few months," Booster and/or Beetle were members of one incarnation or another of the Justice League from Justice League #1 in 1987 through Extreme Justice #18 (1996), a span of 9 years.
Page 12, panel 3
The captive Leaguers Booster Gold doesn't recognize are Hippolyta and Naomi. The latter shared one panel with Booster in Superman volume 5, #19. The former, despite having been Wonder Woman's mother since her first appearance in All-Star Comics #8 (1941), appears on panel with Booster Gold for the first time. (Leaguers Booster does recognize are Aquaman, Batman, Black Adam, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Hawkgirl.)
Page 14, panel 6
I'll save commenter "radiojo" the trouble of "zoogling" by explaining that "Butch and Sundance" are the titular character of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a widely-acclaimed 1969 movie about the bromance between two marginally-competent Old West outlaws. Lou Abbott and Bud Costello were among the premier comedy buddy acts in radio, film, and television in the middle of the 20th century.
Page 19, panel 1
SPOILER WARNING!: Reveal
Page 21, panel 5
"Always" might be a bit of an overstatement. Booster first said "bros before heroes" in Heroes in Crisis #4 in 2019.
Boosterrific Review: DC first promised a Booster Gold and Blue Beetle team up as early as 1988. It's been a long wait, but it's worth it. This is a real fun comic that rewards longtime and new readers alike.
Boosterrific Rating: Boosterrific!
Average Fan Rating: (2 votes)
SPOILER WARNING: The content at Boosterrific.com may contain story spoilers for DC Comics publications.
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