corner box
menu button
Boosterrific.com: The Complete, Annotated Adventures of Booster Gold
Boosterrific.com: The Complete, Annotated Adventures of Booster Gold

Buy Booster Gold

Booster Gold

“The Night Has Two Thousand Eyes”

Volume 1, Issue 3, April 1986
Released January 17, 1986

Cover Price: 75¢
Guide Price: $3.00 (as of 2013)

Boosterrific.com Rating
  • Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
Fan Rating
  • Currently 3.0/5 Stars.

Booster Gold, Vol. 1, #3. Image © DC Comics

 

ARTISTS

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Dan Jurgens
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Colorist: Nansi Hoolahan
Letterer: Augustin Mas
Editor: Janice Race
Cover Artists: Mike DeCarlo, Dan Jurgens, Gaspar Saladino

return to top

CHARACTERS & SETTINGS

return to top

ISSUE DETAILS

Cover Description: An angry Booster Gold appears to be absorbing energy rays.

Brief Synopsis: Booster Gold and Skeets follow Blackguard and Mindancer to the underground lair of the 1000, where they are eventually captured.

Issue Summary: Reveal Potential Spoilers

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

Costume Worn: MARK I power-suit

Story Notes: The title of this issue is a reference to a nineteenth-century poem by Francis William Bourdillon titled "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes." The poem is about the death of a soul in the case of unrequited love. This could either be a reference to the disastrous date between Booster and Monica Lake or the actual physical eyes of the 1000, which seem to be watching and working against Booster Gold.

This story has been reprinted in:
Booster Gold: The Big Fall (2019)
Showcase Presents: Booster Gold (2008)

return to top

ANNOTATIONS

Page 5, panel 5
The Director of the 1000 demonstrates a "symbiotic" link with his large android bodyguard. Surprisingly, this advanced technology will be rarely used in future issues. (This is a common failing in science fiction stories in general, and comic books in specific.)

Page 6, panel 6
Rose Forrest is revealed to be the Thorn. Rose Forrest suffers from multiple personality disorder; while most people sleep, Rose masquerades as the Thorn, yet both personalities believing that the other is a separate person. Essentially, this is the same relationship as existed between the characters of the narrator and Tyler Durden in Chuck Palahniuk's book Fight Club. The Thorn was a supporting character in a number of issues of Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane, first appearing in issue #105. Thorn helped Lois and Superman stop the criminal organization 100, precursor to the 1000.

Page 7, panel 6
Booster has a date scheduled with Monica Lake, star of the TV show The Love Cruise. In Booster Gold, Vol. 1, #1, Dirk indicated that the date of Booster and Monica would be on Saturday night, so today is likely Saturday, October 18, 1985.

Page 8, panel 2
FIRST APPEARANCE: First appearance of Monica Lake. Booster and Monica dine at the Imperial, one of Metropolis' finest restaurants. The two are meeting socially in an attempt to boost the careers of both, though of course the media reports that they are romantically link and potentially contemplating marriage, his first and her fifth.

Page 9, panel 3
For a hero who cherishes the spotlight, Booster remains especially coy about his powers when discussing them with the general public. In his discussions with Monica Lake, he describes his Legion Flight Ring as "magic" and dismisses his other powers with the glib comment that he was "born with them."

Page 9, panel 6
SILVER SCREEN: Booster mentions his movie to Monica before realizing that she has fallen asleep on him. She will later be promised the lead female role in the film.

Page 9, panel 7
POWER UP: Booster is revealed to have a signal device, which he describes as "an alarm" in his left wrist. Predating cell phones, Booster's communication array in his bracelets is fairly sophisticated. It is never revealed how other people receive or transmit signals to Booster's bracelets, though presumably it requires a specific device. This ability is rarely used.

Page 10, panel 9
BUSTER GOLD: Senator Ballard's name is revealed by Booster Gold. Ballard asks "Buster" for an endorsement, but Booster "can't talk now."

Page 12, panel 5
SPOILER WARNING!: Reveal

Page 13, panel 3
MEET THE PRESS: First appearance of Trixie's roommate, her Aunt Jeanie. She is watching coverage of Booster's date with Monica Lake on Entertainment Alive where they are speculating that Monica will make Booster her 5th husband.

Page 16, panel 1
POWER UP: Skeets indicates that Booster's offensive power output is adjustable. Booster is shown to handle his wrists bracelets to comply with Skeet's recommendations, demonstrating that Booster needs to use his hands to modify his ray blasters and force field.

Image Copyright DC Comics

Page 18, panel 1
POWER UP: Booster's Mass Dispersion Force is used to absorb several dozen "500 lbs... overgrown ping-pong balls" and "fuse their molecules" when he discharges them. This is the last time that Booster will use his Mass Dispersion Force in the pages of Booster Gold. Booster jokingly suggests that he should have been called "Transporter Lad." The name "Transporter Lad" sounds suspiciously like the names of the 30th-century Legion of Super-Heroes. Since several aspects of Booster's powers are derived from Legionnaires, the name is appropriate.

Page 19, panel 1
SPOILER WARNING!: Reveal

Page 22, panel 1
Mindancer comments that Booster's "invulnerable" force field is similar to Braniac's "famous impenetrable field." This offhand comment is a sly reference to Booster's original and unused origin. As previously mentioned, Booster's force field was originally intended to be Brainiac's field, though changes in DC Universe continuity following the Crisis on Infinite Earths required a change.

return to top

REVIEWS

Boosterrific Review: An enjoyable, if somewhat forced issue. This issue opens with Booster Gold dealing with the rather morose emotional fallout of the recent "death" of his robotic sidekick Skeets, but it soon meanders through a standard romantic situation comedy and melodramatic soap opera before launching into more standard super heroic action sequence. While the ride may not be as smooth as previous issues, it is worth the cost of admission just for the sight of Booster Gold on a date in a purple tuxedo over his regular costume. Priceless.

Boosterrific Rating:

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

Average Fan Rating:

  • Currently 3.0/5 Stars.
(2 votes)

  • Currently 3.0/5 Stars.
BoosterPowershot (Oct. 5, 2010, 00:35:50)
Not a spectacular issue, but still some noteworthy hints at his origin.

  • Currently 3.0/5 Stars.
KMD (Nov. 11, 2009, 14:21:31)
Enh. Not a good issue but not a bad one. I'm sure nobody thought Skeets was dead. Considering Mindancer offed so many people, the writers don't seem to be too disturbed by this-when you kill that many people in a comic, there has to be some sort of consequence or even emotion

return to top

YOUR OPINION

Show Terms and Instructions

Name

Email

Website

Rating
  • Currently 0/5 Stars.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Review [leaving this field blank will result in no review being displayed]



JUMP TO PAGE



SITE SEARCH


return to top

SPOILER WARNING: The content at Boosterrific.com may contain story spoilers for DC Comics publications.