Booster Gold
“The Lesson”
Volume 1, Issue 7, August 1986
Released May 15, 1986
Cover Price: 75¢
Guide Price: $3.00 (as of 2013)
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Dan Jurgens
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Colorist: Gene D'Angelo
Letterer: Augustin Mas
Editor: Alan Gold
Cover Artists: Mike DeCarlo, Dan Jurgens, Gaspar Saladino
Heroes: Booster Gold, Superman
Villain: Ranzee
Supporting: Benny and Marty, Dirk Davis, Jack and Jill, Jack Soo, Jason Redfern, Lois Lane, Lord Galeb, Skeets I, Trixie Collins
Settings: Metropolis, DCU, USA, 20th-century; Vellar, DCU, Space, 20th-century
Cover Description: Superman stands fiercely over a limp Booster Gold, lifting Booster's head from a puddle, while Lord Galeb watches from the background.
Brief Synopsis: Booster Gold and Superman become embroiled in a civil war on an alien world, leading to a fight between the two heroes.
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
Issue Notes: In this issue, Booster is colored solid gold when his force field is active.
This story has been reprinted in:
Booster Gold: The Big Fall (2019)
Showcase Presents: Booster Gold (2008)
Page 1, panel 1
FIRST APPEARANCE: First appearance of Lord Galeb (unnamed), ruler of an unnamed planet. Lord Galeb's name will eventually be revealed by Z, whose real name turns out to be Ranzee. This is Booster Gold's first trip into space.
Page 6, panel 2
Appearance of Benny and Marty. Benny hits on Trixie, who is repulsed by the comic book writer. Many comic book readers have the same effect on women.
Page 7, panel 1
FIRST APPEARANCE: First appearance of Dr. Jack Soo, a S.T.A.R. labs technician, interviewing for the opportunity to design a supersuit for Booster Gold's impending female "sexy crime-fighting sidekick!"
Page 7, panel 6
Dirk gives Dr. Soo a $150,000 advance towards the construction of the suit. This one check alone puts Dr. Soo in the top 5 percent of income for United States citizens in 1986.
Page 8, panel 3
POWER UP: Skeets reveals that Booster's force field doubles as a life-support system, allowing Booster to survive in space and other hostile environments. Since the force field has to allow for breathable air to bass through its "impervious" membrane, it remains unclear how it can protect its user in oxygen deprived environments. In the future, Booster will sporadically don some extra protection, either simple breathing apparatus or full body space suit, in the limited instances when he willingly departs from the Earth's atmosphere.
Page 11, panel 1
PRODUCT PLACEMENT: Dirk is shown reading the "Blazing First Issue" of Booster Gold's Blaze Comics comic book, coincidentally titled Booster Gold.
Page 14, panel 1
Booster starts a fight with Superman over Superman's unwillingness to fight Lord Galeb for the life of Ranzee. This is Booster's first published participation in a long tradition of hero-on-hero violence inspired by a misunderstanding of some sort. Since superheroes so often rely on their fists to solve conflict, it is no wonder that they so frequently come to blows despite all falling under the umbrella of "good guys." (In the very next issue, it will be revealed that Booster is already an old hand at this sort of conflict.)
Page 15, panel 4
POWER DOWN: Superman is completely unaffected by Booster's Booster Shots. This will not be the only occasion on which Booster will have the opportunity to test his power against Superman.
Page 17, panel 6
POWER UP: Booster reveals that using his Mass Dispersal Force temporarily depletes his force shield, perhaps explaining why he uses it so rarely. Skeets uses the opportunity to incapacitate Booster, something that he is apparently incapable of doing while Booster's force field is active.
Page 20, panel 3
Cameo appearance of Lois Lane, arriving at Reailleu towers to interview Booster Gold for the Daily Planet, Metropolis' most famous newspaper. This is the first meeting between Booster and Lois Lane. Superman, Skeets, and Jason Redfern are present to mark the occasion.
Page 21, panel 2
Lois reveals that Clark Kent doesn't like Booster Gold, which is not a surprise considering that Superman, Kent's alter ego, has previously voiced his opinion on the hero. Booster tells a bystander that he is "6'5", 215" lbs, 5 pounds lighter than the previous-issue's cover information. Did the events of space travel cause Booster to lose a little weight? Astronauts tend to lose weight during space missions, not so much for lack of exercise or low gravity, but because they simply don't eat enough. Booster probably wasn't fed very well in Galab's prison cell.
By the way, though it may not have been obvious in the original newsprint publications, recent releases make it clear that the gentleman in the trench coat is wearing a DC Bullet pin. The colorist has given him deep red hair, but what's the chance this is intended to homage then-DC Editor-In-Chief Dick Giordano?
Page 22, panel 1
HIS STORY: Skeets tells Superman that the historical record of the future indicates that a Booster Gold was active in Metropolis in this time period, though his records are incomplete because of the Time Void that began in 1986. (Booster acts unaware of this, though the fact that records exist raise the question if Booster's "idea" to become a superhero in the 20th-century following his studies of 20th-century heroes may be more than an inspired idea.) Philosophically, Skeets' revelation brings into question the concept and exercise of free will in the DC universe: if Booster was born fated to return to the 20th century, all of his actions are predetermined. Though Skeets points out that he has not brought this to Booster's attention ("Each man must feel that he controls his destiny, that he is creating history not fulfilling it."), Skeet's understanding of the situation clearly shows that Booster's robot friend has a pragmatically fatalistic point of view of the nature of time.
Boosterrific Review: A visit to an alien world sets the stage for the first battle between Booster Gold and Superman. Clearly, the personalities and motivations of Booster Gold and Superman would place them at odds even on the planet Earth, but setting the story on an alien world amidst the turmoil of an apparent tyrant and a freedom-loving populace allows for a full exploration in the differences between the experience of altruistic Superman and the naivety of selfish Booster Gold. This comedy of errors is really to the issue's benefit, lifting the cliched fight between heroes from a simple slugfest to an exploration of ethics for the new hero on the block. Disguising the character development in what would at first glance be a standard action farce, Dan Jurgens makes this issue surprisingly more enjoyable than one might first expect.
Boosterrific Rating: Worth Its Weight In Gold.
Average Fan Rating: (3 votes)
More annoying boyscouting by Superman, but otherwise a pretty good "moral" story.
Superman sucks - Booster will get his revenge later on this pajama clad-wimp! Hurrah for mega-fame!
Good issue-the contrast between Booster and Superman is what makes it work.
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