All-Star Western

Cover Description: Jonah Hex and Booster Gold crouch under the gun of Romeo and Damita.

Brief Synopsis: Booster Gold and Jonah Hex continue the search for the gold stolen from Red River Junction by the Clem Hootkins Gang.

Issue Summary: Most of the Clem Hootkins Gang have been killed by Romeo and Damita as part of a violent Yoruba Religious ceremony. The dwarf Cyclops survives, and is being kept in a cage.

Booster Gold and Jonah Hex discover the corpses of the Clem Hootkins Gang, but not the gold stolen from Red River Junction. Though Hex is reluctant to continue the hunt for the gold, Booster offers Hex a reward (a portion of the stolen gold) for continuing the search. Hex agrees and tracks the gold to Romeo and Damita.

While Romeo and Damita sleep, Booster sneaks into their bedroom and recovers the gold. Fearing that Booster will leave him behind, Cyclops sounds the alarm. Booster's force field proves useful against 19th century sidearms, and he escapes with Hex and Cyclops. Reveal Potential Spoilers

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

Costume Worn: MARK XIII power-suit

Page 1, panel 3
Chango (or Shango) is the Orisha of "thunder, drums, and dance" in the Yoruba religion originating in central Africa. Yoruba beliefs have spread widely throughout the Caribbean, where worship of the Orisha Chango was adopted in the religion Santeria. Practice of Santeria has traditionally involved animal sacrifice and blood rituals.

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FASHION ALERT: Jonah Hex asks Booster Gold the question we've been wondering for years. "That shiny thing yer wearing ain't got no buttons or hooks? How do you take a ...?" Booster doesn't answer.

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POWER DOWN: Booster admits that he is suffering from partial amnesia, admitting, "there's a star on my chest, so for all I know, I'm a sheriff in the future."

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John Wayne is perhaps the most famous actor in Western genre films, but his movies, while undeniably violent, are generally free of blood and gore. In an interview with Russ Burlingame at ComicBook.com, issue co-writer Justin Gray described events in All-Star Western #19 as inspired by the 1969 movie The Wild Bunch, notable for its depictions of extreme violence in the name of "realism." John Wayne said of The Wild Bunch that "[i]t would have been a good picture without the gore. Pictures go too far when they use that kind of realism, when they have shots of blood spurting out and teeth flying, and when they throw liver out to make it look like people's insides." Gray is no doubt aware of this philosophical contrast to his storytelling and is referencing it here through Booster's dialogue.

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Doctor Amadeus Arkham is the founder of the Arkham Asylum for the criminally insane in Gotham City. He was also an adventuring partner of Jonah Hex in the first 19 issues of All-Star Western.

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POWER UP: According to Booster Gold, his powersuit goggles can see heat signatures and "all kinds of things" through walls. For the first time, he also indicates that his suit has amplified hearing devices in the cowl.

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POWER UP: Booster lifts a wooden chest filled with sacks of gold coins. Roughly estimating that the chest appears to be about 36-inches wide by 20-inches deep by 16-inches high by 1-inch thick, if it was filled with gold, it could weigh up to 7,000 pounds (3,150 kilograms)! That's some super strength on display, Booster!

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POWER UP: Booster may not have much memory, but his force field is still working perfectly. In previous powersuits (including his original), Booster had to manually activate his force field. Perhaps now it has an automatic fail safe.