DC All In Special
“Alpha”
Volume 1, Issue 1, December 2024
Released October 2, 2024
Cover Price: $4.99
Writers: Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson
Artist: Daniel Sampere
Colorist: Alejandro Sanchez
Letterer: Steve Wands
Assistant Editor: Marquis Draper
Editors: Chris Conroy, Paul Kaminski
Cover Artists: Daniel Sampere, Alejandro Sanchez
Heroes: Aquaman, Arsenal, Batman, Batman V, Beast Boy, Black Canary II, Black Lightning, Blue Beetle II, Blue Beetle III, Booster Gold, Cyborg, Deadman, Detective Chimp, Doctor Fate VII, Doctor Light IV, Donna Troy, Fire, Firestorm I, Flash III, Green Arrow I, Green Lantern, Green Lantern I, Green Lantern II, Green Lantern III, Green Lantern IV, Hawkgirl II, Ice, Jade, Martian Manhunter, Mera, Mister Terrific II, Nightwing II, Obsidian, Oracle, Power Girl, Question II, Raven VI, Robin V, Shazam, Spectre, Starfire III, Steel IV, Super-Man, Supergirl V, Superman, Swamp Thing, Wonder Girl III, Wonder Woman, Zatanna
Villain: Darkseid
Supporting: Skeets III
Settings: Alpha World, DC Multiverse, 21st-century; Justice League Unlimited Watchtower, DCU, Earth orbit, 21st-century; Metropolis, DCU, USA, 21st-century
Cover Description: Booster Gold and Skeets stand among other DC Heroes on the wraparound standard and foil covers by Daniel Sampere.
Brief Synopsis: The reformed Justice League fights Darkseid.
Booster Gold's role in this story:
Featured (Booster Gold plays a prominent role)
Costume Worn: MARK I.v2 power-suit
Page 1, panel 1
This events of this story take place "52 days later" following the conclusion of Absolute Power #4.
Page 2, panel 2
This horizontal sequence of seven panels across a two-page spread references recent crises in the DC Universe. The first panel is the death of the Justice League in Justice League #75 (2022).
Page 2, panel 3
The second panel is the Titans replacing the Justice League against the Secret Society of Super Villains in Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #5 (2022). Booster Gold was present for this.
Page 2, panel 4
The third panel is the eruption of Lazarus Island in Batman vs Robin #4 (2023) that precipitated the "Lazarus Planet" event that played havoc with super powers around the globe. Booster Gold appeared on the cover of Lazarus Planet: Omega #1 but otherwise played no role in this event.
Page 2, panel 5
The fourth panel is from Knight Terrors #4 (2023) where Deadman confronted Insomnia after the latter had trapped the heroes and villains of the world in their own nightmares. Booster Gold played no role in this event, either.
Page 2, panel 6
The fifth panel hints at the horrors unintentionally unleashed by Beast Boy (via the machinations of Amanda Waller) in Titan: Beast World #1 (2024). Booster Gold played no role in this event, either.
Page 2, panel 7
The sixth panel is Brainiac activating his newest creation, Brainiac Queen, in Superman #14 (2024) during the "House of Brainiac" event. A photograph of Booster Gold was seen in Superman #13, which took place during "House of Brainiac," but Booster Gold himself played no role in this event, either.
Page 2, panel 8
The seventh panel is the arrival of the Amazo androids Last Son, Paradise Lost, and Global Guardian on the battlefield in Gamorra Island in Absolute Power #4 (2024). Booster Gold was present for this event.
Page 2, panel 11
Roy Harper, also known as Arsenal and Red Arrow, holds up his Justice League membership card with only one hand, his right. Last time Arsenal was a League member, his right arm was cut off (in 2010's Justice League: Cry for Justice #5). Prior to that, the last Justice Leaguer to lose his right arm in active duty was Booster Gold, in Justice League #89 (1994). Both of them eventually received organic replacements: Harper following the "Flashpoint" event of 2011, Booster in Extreme Justice #12 in 1996.
Page 2, panel 13
Metamorpho is famously among the first heroes to turn down a Justice League invitation (in Justice League of America #42, 1966). He was later an active member during the first International era, sacrificing himself to save others when the Justice League's Refuge satellite was attacked and destroyed by the Hyperclan in JLA #1 (1997). He was later resurrected (in 2002's Doom Patrol #4) and was considered for membership in the "New 52"-era Justice League International led by Booster Gold in 2011 (as seen in Justice League International #1) but did not join that team, either.
Page 4, panel 1
And now Booster Gold is present for All In! Booster arrives, with Skeets, swooping down from the sky to save two children and a cat from a highrise apartment building fire. Issues of Blue and Gold established that Booster's current base of operations is New York City, but on the next page Booster will say that he is on Superman's "turf," implying that this takes place in Metropolis.
Page 4, panel 2
Booster delivers the rescued children to adults, uncharacteristically refuses a reward...
Page 4, panel 3
MEET THE PRESS: ...and then takes a selfie with three other children? Ok, maybe two of the three kids are the ones he rescued, although their clothes don't match. But where did the Black child come from? Was he a previous rescue? Just how many people (and cats) did Booster Gold save today?
Page 5, panel 1
Leaving the scene, Booster is congratulated by Superman. Since we know that Superman wouldn't willingly stand by while others are in danger, we have to assume he arrived on the scene only after Booster had rescued everyone who needed rescuing.
Page 6, panel 1
Superman gives Booster a membership card granting him "limited" access to the "gamma" tier of the Justice League. The card identifies Booster's power level as "S-40".
Page 6, panel 3
HIS STORY: A flashback to Booster's time as a security guard in the Space Museum of the 25th century (first revealed in Booster Gold Volume 1, #6) shows such exhibits as the covers of Dark Crisis #1 and Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #5 (both drawn by Daniel Sampere). Other exhibits include Flash's costume-storing ring, Hawkgirl's helmet, Batman's batarang, Wonder Woman's shield, and what has to be a reproduction of Green Lantern's power ring. If it's not a reproduction, why didn't Booster steal that?
Page 7, panel 4
Booster also remembers seeing a blank Justice League membership card in the Space Museum (on display beside Hawkman's helmet and a model of a mind-controlling spore of Starro the Star Conqueror).
Page 10, panel 3
Later that night, Booster Gold and Skeets arrive at the new Justice League Watchtower for the official formation of the Justice League Unlimited. Other heroes on the scene are Aquaman, Arsenal, Batman (Bruce Wayne and Jace Fox), Beast Boy, Black Canary, Black Lightning, Blue Beetles (Jaime Reyes, and Ted Kord), Cyborg, Deadman, Detective Chimp, Doctor Fate, Doctor Light, Donna Troy, Fire, Firestorm, Flash (Wally West), Green Arrow, Green Lanterns (Alan Scott, Guy Gardner, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Soljourner Mullein), Hawkgirl, Ice, Jade, Martian Manhunter, Mera, Mister Terrific, Nightwing, Obsidian, Oracle, Power Girl, Question, Raven, Robin (Damian Wayne), Shazam, Starfire, Steel (Natahsa Irons), Super-Man, Supergirl, Superman, Swamp Thing, Wonder Girl (Yara Flor), Wonder Woman, and Zatanna.
Page 12, panel 2
When an enemy crashes the party, Skeets points out that this is not what was meant to happen. This is reminiscent of Skeets' breakdown at Superboy's memorial service when events started diverging from recorded "history" in 52 Week 1.
Page 14, panel 1
What enemy would dare confront this many assembled heroes? None other than Darkseid (with the power of the Spectre)! The events of these pages are seen elsewhere in this issue from Darkseid's perspective (in the story "Omega").
Page 15, panel 5
Batman (Jace Fox) orders Booster Gold to stop contemplating how he could fix history and instead join the other heroes in the immediate fight against Darkseid. Although Booster does appear to fly into action...
Page 18, panel 21
...Booster isn't seen again on panel until after Darkseid has been banished.
Page 21, panel 1
When the Justice League needs a time traveler to go to Alpha World to spy on Darkseid, Booster Gold volunteers. Although he is putting on a brave face, he must be concerned because he is uncommonly rude to Skeets.
Page 22, panel 2
Booster lands on Alpha World in a panel that looks very similar to how the Terminator arrived on present-day Earth in the 1984 sci-fi time-travel movie of the same name. Booster will soon learn that he has been separated from Skeets and is apparently stranded in the multiverse/timeline. This feels similar to what happened to Booster during the events of the Convergence event.
Page 23, panel 1
FASHION ALERT: Alpha World looks a lot like a combination of Metropolis and Darkseid's Apokolips, but that's not the strangest thing happening. Somehow, Booster Gold has returned to his original, long-destroyed Mark I costume, which is definitely not what he was wearing on the Justice League Watchtower. In an interview with thecomicsourceblog.com promoting this issue, writer Josh Williamson explained that this is not an error: "[H]e's wearing his original first appearance costume in in the last scene, and there's a reason for that. That is a spoiler for future stuff. Let's just say something happened to Booster that made him revert back to his original stuff, so I can't go beyond that without giving out spoilers for much further down the line." Bouncing through time? That's not Convergence, that's what happened to Booster during the Futures End event!
Page 24, panel 7
It's not just Booster's costume that has changed. The "L" in his Legion of Super-Heroes Flight Ring is now the Greek alphabet letter omega, the symbol of Darkseid.
Boosterrific Review: For the first three or four decades of comic books, publishers shamelessly repeated stories over and over, knowing that their audience turned over every few years as readers aged out of endlessly repeated superhero stories. But now we have event stories aimed squarely at readers intimately familiar with decades of other events' stories. Progress? At least the art is printed on better paper than it used to be.
Boosterrific Rating: Gold Standard.
SPOILER WARNING: The content at Boosterrific.com may contain story spoilers for DC Comics publications.
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