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Boosterrific.com: The Complete, Annotated Adventures of Booster Gold
Boosterrific.com: The Complete, Annotated Adventures of Booster Gold

Buy Booster Gold

The Adventures of Superman

“The Linear Man”

Volume 1, Issue 476, March 1991
Released January 29, 1991

Cover Price: $1.00
Guide Price: $3.00 (as of 2017)

Boosterrific.com Rating
  • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.

The Adventures of Superman, Vol. 1, #476. Image © DC Comics

 

ARTISTS

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Dan Jurgens
Inker: Brett Breeding
Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
Letterer: Albert DeGuzman
Assistant Editor: Dan Thorsland
Editor: Michael Carlin
Cover Artists: Dan Jurgens, Art Thibert, Glenn Whitmore

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CHARACTERS & SETTINGS

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ISSUE DETAILS

Cover Description: A Linear Man stands above prostrate Superman and Booster Gold.

Brief Synopsis: When a Linear Man, an agent of a future force of time policemen, arrives in Metropolis to take Booster Gold to justice for crimes against Time, Superman is accidentally teleported into the far future.

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

Costume Worn: MARK I power-suit

Issue Notes: "Time and Time Again! Phase 1." (Superman diamond chronology "1991:8.") The antagonist of this issue, a time traveler named Linear Man, was created by Dan Jurgens. The backstory of this issue's conflict, a time cop who has come for Booster Gold, was established in events occurring in Booster Gold's first adventure, as seen in Booster Gold #8.

Reprint Notes: This issue has been collected in Superman: Time And Time Again.

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ANNOTATIONS

Page 2, panel 1
First appearance of a Linear Man, a member of the DC Universe's time police force. Both Waverider and Rip Hunter will work with the Linear Men in future appearances.

Page 5, panel 1
The fate of Skeets revealed: Booster has deactivated and stored Skeets in a common storage locker in Metropolis. This is the first appearance of Skeets since Booster's own series ended in issue #25 back in 1988.

Page 5, panel 6
POWER UP: Despite no longer using Skeets, Booster's wrist communicator is still linked to the deactivated robot.

Page 6, panel 1
Booster is apparently lounging with two fellow members of the Conglomerate, Reverb and Maxi-Man. Oddly, all three are in costume.

Page 6, panel 2
Booster attributes his decision to deactivate Skeets as a problem of culture: "he really didn't fit into the league." Though Skeets' deactivation is blamed on Guy Gardner's acerbic personality, it probably had more to do with Skeets' lack of a sense of humor.

Page 7, panel 1
FASHION ALERT: Booster's origin is retold. Note that Booster's back shows no sign of the disappearing/reappearing star that was added to his costume in Justice League America #34. In this book, Booster appears in his original costume, likely because the artist in this issue is Dan Jurgens, Booster Gold's creator and artist for every issue of the Booster Gold series. The star will be absent throughout his appearances in the "Time And Time Again"

Page 7, panel 2
Flying past the Daily Planet Building, Booster mentally recalls that, "in many ways, Skeets was the best friend I had here for a while." Though this may call into question Booster's loyalties to his friends, it probably says more about attitudes between humans and artificial life forms in the future of the DC Universe. To Booster, Skeets is more like a tool that proved no longer useful rather than a companion or even a pet.

Page 8, panel 2
Superman, as Clark Kent, sees the Linear Man attack Booster, and leaves a crucial conversation with Lois Lane in order to assist him. This is telling of Superman's character: he and Booster have never seen exactly eye-to-eye, but the Man of Steel is still willing to abandon an important personal conversation with his lover, Lois, in order to save Booster Gold. What a stand-up guy.

Page 13, panel 4
Over the course of several panels, Booster demonstrates that he has overcome his early 20th-century cultural awkwardness with references to Jesse James, "Rock N' Roll," and George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic. This pop culture savvy will remain a major component of Booster's personality well into the future.

Page 15, panel 1
Booster reminds Superman that he has quite some experience with time travel, and may be able to use the Linear Man's time controls. By this point in his career, Booster has traveled through time on three separate occasions by three different methods. (And this is still the tip of the iceberg.)

Image Copyright DC Comics

Page 16, panel 3
Watching Superman disappear through an accidentally created time vortex, Booster wonders aloud, "Looks like Metropolis might be in the market for a new champion. Wonder what the job pays?" Despite all the years, Booster hasn't changed much.

Page 16, panel 4
Booster Gold and Lois Lane meet for the fourth time. (Previous meetings took place on two separate occasions in the pages of Booster Gold and once again in an Action Comics/Booster Gold crossover story).

Page 16, panel 5
Booster demonstrates a previously unrecognized knowledge of time travel. From a brief observation of the time portal that absorbed Superman, Booster is able to accurately postulate that Superman has been displaced several hundred years into the future.

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REVIEWS

Boosterrific Review: A battle between Booster Gold and the Linear Man, a time cop who plans to bring Booster to justice for his crimes against recorded history, leads to an unexpected encounter between Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Dan Jurgens' story slyly alludes to old plotlines in Booster's debut series while providing a launch for a new story arc for Superman.

Boosterrific Rating:

  • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
Worth Its Weight In Gold.

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