BOOSTERRIFIC BLOG

 This Day in History: Booster Gold Strikes Out

Wednesday, April 18, 2012
As most fans know by now, DC Comics has just canceled Hawk and Dove again. The pair has a terrible track record at maintaining a series, in no small part due to the fact that they have never had a first-tier writer. Their stories tend to be hackneyed and dull, typically accompanied by lackluster art.

DC was no doubt acutely aware of the pair's limitations when they launched the third Hawk and Dove series in 1989. To ensure a good launch, the series included several higher profile guest stars in an extended Invasion! flashback. Naturally, this flashback was designed to make Hawk and Dove -- and not their guest stars -- look good.

Always smooth with the ladies, Booster. (At least Firestorm couldn't have done any better, right Shag?) Two years earlier, Booster had saved Hawk's life in the Mexican desert in Booster Gold #17. Booster was quite rude at the time, though Hawk had been unwittingly assisting in a madman's genocidal plot. Perhaps catching a falling Booster is Hawk's way of returning the favor.

Outside the character pieces presented in the flashbacks, the rest of the book is really quite dull. Hawk and Dove pal around with some friends that are not introduced to the reader, then the heroes make a mess of stopping a run-of-the-mill supervillain who is naturally using his advanced, lifelike robots to rob jewelry stores. This issue is costumed comic books at their most droll, a time-capsule of late-1980s mainstream storytelling given a golden lining with the inclusion of Booster Gold.

Perhaps this very lack of a signature adventuring style is the reason that the pair have had so much trouble maintaining their own series over the years. Maybe they need a home in a more forgiving ensemble environment. I hear the JLI is hiring.
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