Generations Shattered

Cover Description: This book has two covers with equal distribution (one by Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, and Hi-Fi; another by Lee Bermejo). Both feature Booster Gold.

Brief Synopsis: A team of heroes is assembled from across the Multiverse to save time itself.

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

Costume Worn: MARK I power-suit

Page 34, panel 4
When Kamandi and Skeets (in the form of a glove on Kamandi's arm) arrive in Metropolis from the future to recruit Superman to help them stop the "doom cloud" that is destroying time, they are intercepted by...

Page 35, panel 1
...Booster Gold (in his cape!) and Skeets. As we will soon learn, this is Booster's first chronological visit to the Daily Planet Building, and he has narrowly missed his first meeting with Superman.

Page 35, panel 3
Future Skeets confirms that both Skeets are the same entity from two different points in time.

Page 35, panel 4
Booster says he has "barely been here a day." Later in this adventure, Booster will reference his Legion of Super-Heroes Flight Ring, and he was unaware of the origin of that particular piece of equipment until after his first meeting with Brainiac 5, as seen in Booster Gold #9, which took place on August 22, 1985, also the same day "Booster Gold" was introduced to the public. Therefore, we'll assume this occurs the day after that, on August 23, 1985.

Page 36, panel 2
A chronal storm, what Kamandi calls the "Goneness," arrives in Metropolis, and Booster, both Skeets, and Kamandi witness Superman being erased from history.

Page 37, panel 4
Skeets is also consumed by the Goneness.

Page 37, panel 5
BORROWING THE CAR: When Kamandi tells Booster that he has been sent from the future by Booster's future self who was also consumed by the Goneness, Booster takes this news with surprising aplomb, especially considering this is his first day on the job.

Page 37, panel 9
HIS STORY: Booster predicts the invention of social media. In 1985, social networking websites we now know them today was still a decade in the future.

Page 49, panel 1
Booster has traveled to Vanishing Point, a city at the end of time, with Kamandi and Future Skeets where they meet with the rest of the team assembled to save time. Each hero has been plucked from a different point in history, and in some cases, from different Earths in the Multiverse. The other heroes are Batman (from 1939, pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Earth-2), Superboy (from the 1950s by way of the 31st century, pre-Crisis Earth-1), Sinestro (from the 1960s, pre-Crisis Earth-1), Starfire (from 1983, pre-Crisis Earth 1), Dr. Light (from 1987, post-Crisis Earth), and Steel (from 1993, post-Crisis Earth). Presumably, Booster Gold, a 25th-century student of 20th-century super heroes, knows quite a bit about most of his unexpected new companions.

Page 49, panel 3
POWER DOWN: Future Skeets breaks down, stranding the heroes on Vanishing Point. (In Booster Gold Volume 2, #1, 2007, Rip Hunter will upgrade Skeets to travel through time so long as he is near Booster Gold. It would seem that restriction will be removed sometime after that.)

Page 50, panel 3
POWER UP: Booster hits on Starfire, and is repaid for his effort with punch to the jaw. Even in the 1980s, Starfire is strong enough to decapitate a man, so it's a good thing Booster has his force field always working. (Booster's force field will be on at all times he is in costume, at least until the events of Booster Gold #12.)

Page 51, panel 4
Booster's comment on Superboy and the Flight Ring is a bit of an inside joke. As originally planned by Dan Jurgens (Booster's creator and the writer of this issue), Booster's Flight Ring was intended to be Superboy's, stolen from the Superman Museum. This plan was thwarted by Crisis on Infinite Earths, which removed Superboy from history. Note that this comic represents Booster Gold's first retroactively chronological meeting with Superboy, as with all other characters in this issue.

Page 52, panel 1
In the fractured shards of history that surround Vanishing Point, Booster Gold witnesses Superman's rocket leaving Krypton (as it appeared in Superman #1, 1939), Professor Zoom killing Iris West (with Iris dressed as Batgirl in Flash #275, 1979), Starfire kissing Robin (by which she "absorbed" his language" in New Teen Titans #2, 1980), Guy Gardner joining the soon to be called Justice League International (Justice League #1, 1987), Bane breaking Batman's back (Batman #497, 1993), Superman's fatal fight with Doomsday (Superman #75, 1993), the emblem of the Yellow Lantern Corps (first seen in Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #21, 2007), Aquaman of the New 52 era (first appearing in Aquaman #1, 2011), and the Batman and Wonder Woman of Future State (see Future State: The Next Batman and Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman, 2021).

Page 53, panel 2
Booster does not recognize Doctor Light out of her costume. (Kimiyo Hoshi wore a variant of the evil Arthur Light's costume in her first appearance in Crisis on Infinite-Earths #4, 1985) Like Superboy, this is retroactively his first meeting with her, as the events of Justice League #4 (1987) are still in his future.

Page 54, panel 1
The assembled heroes are confronted by the Linear Men, a team aligned with Rip Hunter and charged with protecting the history of the universe. This is an unusual line-up of Linear Men, pulled from across the Multiverse, most of whom have no known connection to time-travel. The group is identified in text as Ultra-Humanite, Artemis, Matthew Ryder, Liri Lee, Rayak the Ravager, O.M.A.C., Eradicator, Major Force, Nemesis Kid, and Knockout. However, the character identified as "Rayak the Ravager" appears to be Hunter, an alternate reality version of Rip Hunter whose story is told in Legends of the DC Universe 80-Page Giant #1 (1998). Ryak the Rogue (note the difference in spelling and title) is a Linear Man who first appeared in The All-New Atom #7 (2007). Ryak was seen with the other Linear Men in an unnamed cameo in Dark Nights: Death Metal Rise of the New God, so the incongruity is likely a case of mistaken identity between artist, writer, and editor.

Page 55, panel 3
FASHION ALERT: Booster Gold is drawn (by John Romita, Jr.) without his collar and with a solid blue star on his back. This is wrong, though like Rayak/Hunter/Ryak, it is hard to tell if the mistake is intentional. As is common when many artists work on a book, there are many inconsistencies, even from panel to panel. Elsewhere throughout the issue, Booster is shown in a period appropriate costume (with a hollow star on the chest only). Booster appeared with a star on his back only rarely during his tenure with the Justice League International (first appearing in Justice League America #34, drawn by Adam Hughes in 1990).

Page 64, panel 2
Booster Gold does not recognize Dominus when he reveals his involvement. This is not a surprise. Dominus, an ancient, cosmic-powered Lord of Chaos with the power to warp reality, won't reveal his existence to Superman until Action Comics #747 (1998). Dominus's interactions with the inhabitants of Earth have been few and far between.

Page 65, panel 2
Dominus explains that he has put together this particular line-up of Linear Men by controlling their minds...

Page 66, panel 3
POWER UP: ...and he tries to repeat the effect on everyone assembled. Mind control has often been among Booster's most severe weaknesses, but for unclear reasons, it does not work this time. As a last resort...

Page 74, panel 3
...Dominus scatters Booster Gold and the rest of his hastily assembled team "across time."