Booster Gold
“Crash”
Volume 1, Issue 4, May 1986
Released February 20, 1986
Cover Price: 75¢
Guide Price: $3.00 (as of 2013)
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Dan Jurgens
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Colorist: Nansi Hoolahan
Letterer: Augustin Mas
Editor: Janice Race
Cover Artists: Mike DeCarlo, Dan Jurgens, Gaspar Saladino
Heroes: Booster Gold, Thorn II
Villains: 1000, Blackguard, Director of Death, Mindancer
Supporting: Benny and Marty, Dirk Davis, Jeanie Collins, Myron, Skeets I, Skip Andrews, Trixie Collins
Setting: Metropolis, DCU, USA, 20th-century
Cover Description: Booster Gold, Skeets, and Thorn fight Blackguard, Rose, and the Director's android in the 1000's lair.
Brief Synopsis: With the aid of Thorn, Booster Gold and Skeets escape from their captivity, defeating Blackguard, Mindancer, and the 1000, to much fanfare.
Issue Summary: Reveal Potential Spoilers
Booster Gold's role in this story:
Featured (Booster Gold plays a prominent role)
Costume Worn: MARK I power-suit
Issue Notes: On the cover of the book, Booster's star is colored blue. This is the color that will become the norm for the costume, though it will still be another 8 months (Booster Gold, Vol. 1, #12, January 1987) before his star appears as solid blue on the interior panels of the book.
This story has been reprinted in:
Booster Gold: The Big Fall (2019)
Showcase Presents: Booster Gold (2008)
Page 5, panel 1
Booster Gold and Thorn meet for the first time. This is Booster's first "team-up" with a present-day DC hero. Despite fighting together, Booster will learn Thorn's name not from the heroine herself, but instead from the villain.
Page 6, panel 2
Aunt Jeanie calls Trixie by her given name, Theresa. The name "Theresa" is of Greek origin, refering to the late summer, or harvest season.
Page 15, panel 1
POWER UP: Skeets admits that his visor-projected "Stun Blasts" are weaker than Booster's wrist-projected Booster Shots, explaining why Booster is the superhero, not Skeets.
Page 17, panel 3
POWER UP: Booster uses the bracelet on his left arm to increase his power levels, "channeling the energy back into" himself, making him "stronger than ever!!" For the first time, Booster clearly demonstrates technology-aided super-strength by upper-cutting the head off of the Director's android in one punch.
Page 18, panel 4
POWER UP: Booster proves that he can release stored energy in his costume in an explosive blast, in this case directed at destroying the Director's android. This tactic is apparently dangerously unstable and will be rarely used in Booster's future.
Page 19, panel 7
Booster tells a departing Thorn, "the JLA is begging me to be a member." Unfortunately for Booster, this will never, ever quite be the case.
Page 20, panel 1
The sun is rising in the morning, the day following Booster's destruction of the 1000's lair. Therefore, this is Sunday morning, October 19, 1985.
Page 20, panel 2
PRODUCT PLACEMENT: Booster is shown on a box of Flakies. The box indicates that a Skeets toy is "free inside." (Now that is a cereal giveaway that I really, really want.) If it is like typical cereal prize, the Skeets included is made of cheap plastic that requires assembly.
Page 20, panel 3
MEET THE PRESS: Booster appears on the television tabloid show Metro Today. Hearing Booster mention Thorn on the television, Rose Forest wonders why she hasn't heard about Thorn recently.
Page 21, panel 3
FIRST APPEARANCE: First appearance of Benny and Marty, respectively the writer and artist of Blaze Comics' Astro Teens comic book. These two characters mimic Marv Wolfman and George Perez, respectively the writer and artist of DC Comic's popular New Teen Titans comic book. Though never a member of the Titans, Booster will cross paths with them many times. In fact, Booster's first cameo appearance will be in New Teen Titans Vol.2 #29.
Page 22, panel 3
Myron and two others representing Senator Ballard and the International Revenue Service arrive to audit Booster Gold for never paying taxes to the U.S. Government. Take note: if you ever become a celebrity superhero, remember to pay your income taxes.
Boosterrific Review: A solid conclusion (of sorts) to the title's first story arc.
This issue is the Booster Gold equivalent of the old standard The Brave and The Bold style team-up comic book. Booster and Thorn join forces to topple the 1000 in what is mostly a very straight-forward "beat-em-up" story. What saves this issue from tedium is the solid demonstration of Booster Gold in action, nods to classic DC Universe continuity, and the contrast between the personalities of the issue's protagonists. (Booster Gold is a public showboat while Thorn is a behind-the-scenes crusader. They are an unlikely couple to say the least.) If that's not enough, this issue teases the debut of the least used power in Booster's increasingly complex arsenal: tax evasion.
Boosterrific Rating: Worth Its Weight In Gold.
Average Fan Rating: (2 votes)
I always enjoyed the product placement in these books, and this one's got the classic "(insert character's name here) will (insert terrible outcome) if you don't buy this issue!"
While the contrast between Thorn and Booster is a nice touch, there really is nothing memorable about the issue.
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