Action Comics
“Booster Shot, Part IV”
Volume 1, Issue 996, March 2018
Released January 24, 2018
Cover Price: $2.99
Estimated Issue Sales: 41,978
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Will Conrad
Inker: Will Conrad
Colorist: Ivan Nunes
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor: Andrea Shea
Editor: Paul Kaminski
Cover Artist: Dustin Nguyen
Heroes: Booster Gold, Eradicator II, Superman
Villains: Eradicator, Lor-Zod
Supporting: Skeets III
Setting: Jekuul, DCU, Space, 21st-century
Cover Description: This book has two covers, only the 1:1 "variant" drawn by Dustin Nguyen features Booster Gold (with Superman).
Brief Synopsis: Booster Gold, Skeets, and Superman accidentally arrive in the future of New Krypton and are confronted by the Eradicator and Lor-Zod.
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:
Superman: Action Comics: The Rebirth Deluxe Edition (2019)
Superman: Action Comics Volume 5: Booster Shot (2018)
Page 3, panel 1
Picking up where the previous issue left off, Booster Gold, Skeets, and Superman find themselves in front of a statue of Zod.
Page 6, panel 3
Skeets identifies their current location as the planet Jekuul. An editorial note identifies that Zod was last seen in the Fortress of Solitude in Action Comics #984, but his activities on Jekuul were seen more recently in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #37.
Page 6, panel 5
SCHOOL'S IN: Time Master Skeets alludes to "the Earth/Krypton War" as an event coming in the near future. Is this a hint at future events in the DC Universe such as we used to see with Rip Hunter's chalkboards in Booster Gold Volume 2?
Page 9, panel 6
Booster Gold and Superman have fought on several occasions (including Booster Gold Volume 1 #7, Superman: The Man of Steel #10, and Adventures of Superman Annual #4 to name a few). Booster has never won. Avoidance is probably the best plan.
Page 14, panel 2
LIQUIFIED TIME: Booster advocates fixing the future by changing the past. Does that mean that Zod should never have taken over Jekuul, or that none of Rip Hunter's rules of Solidified Time still apply to DCU history in the "Rebirth" era? Or is Booster just lying to Superman to manipulate him?
Page 14, panel 2
POWER UP: Skeets is demonstrated to be capable of overriding the programming of a Kryptonian Eradicator unit and manipulating the Eradicator like a puppet. Although Kryptonian technology is very advanced compared to Earth technology, both are at least 5 centuries behind Skeets.
Page 14, panel 5
Batman and Superman have been identified as the "World's Finest" team since appearing on the cover of World's Finest Comics #2 in 1941.
Page 16, panel 1
The heroes are ambushed by the Eradicator. (Not a Kryptonian Eradicator robot, but the Eradicator robot that ended up on Earth and took humanoid form to "replace" Superman following the "Death of Superman" story that "Rebirth" reintroduced to DC continuity.) Having resumed its original programming, the Eradicator now works for General Zod.
Page 18, panel 5
"Be-tee-double-yoo." Booster is phonetically spelling "BTW," shorthand for "by the way" (which ironically takes far less time to say).
Page 19, panel 1
Booster should focus on what he's doing. In this one issue, he's been man-handled by two Eradicators and now Lor-Zod. Even with a nigh-impenetrable force field, New Krypton is a dangerous place.
Boosterrific Review: It's absolutely clear by now that "Booster Shot" is about family, so it should be no surprise that Dan Jurgens stretches the theme to include the villains, too. The only knock against the story is the nagging sensation that the "main" plot regarding Superman's quest for his father is becoming increasingly irrelevant to the adventure through time. We haven't forgotten about Jor-el, have we?
Boosterrific Rating: Worth Its Weight In Gold.
SPOILER WARNING: The content at Boosterrific.com may contain story spoilers for DC Comics publications.
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