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

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Booster Gold

“Reality Lost, Part One”

Volume 2, Issue 15, February 2009
Released December 10, 2008

Cover Price: $2.99
Guide Price: $3.00 (as of 2011)
Estimated Issue Sales: 26,831

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Fan Rating
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Booster Gold, Vol. 2, #15. Image © DC Comics

 

ARTISTS

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Penciller: Dan Jurgens
Inker: Norm Rapmund
Colorist: Hi-Fi Designs
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Assistant Editor: Harvey Richards
Editor: Michael Siglain
Cover Artists: Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund

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CHARACTERS & SETTINGS

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ISSUE DETAILS

Cover Description: Booster Gold and Skeets struggle against the fantastic powers of the Elongated Man.

Brief Synopsis: Booster Gold finds only trouble when he tries to clean up the loose ends of a previous mission.

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

Costume Worn: MARK I.v2 power-suit

Issue Notes: This issue marks the return of Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens as writer for Booster Gold. Jurgens was the sole writer for the entire first volume of Booster Gold. In light of the return of Jurgens to writing the new, time-travel oriented adventures of Booster Gold, it may be worth noting a previous quote from Jurgens. In Andrew Goletz's Life of Reilly blog (which includes Jurgens' time as a writer of Marvel Comics' Sensational Spider-Man), former Spider-Man Special Projects Assistant Editor Glenn Greenberg quotes Dan Jurgens from a 1995 memo: "Time travel stories always give me a headache! They're often hard to explain, seem like an easy way out, and are usually incredibly cumbersome." Quite ironic given the contents of this issue. (Visit lifeofreillyarchives.blogspot.com, Part 23 for more details.)

This story has been reprinted in:
Booster Gold: Reality Lost (2009)

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ANNOTATIONS

Page 3, panel 4
After barely escaping a mob with Skeets, Booster Gold finds himself face-to-face with Leonardo Da Vinci, one of the world's most accomplished artists and the foremost icon of the Italian Renaissance. Booster is interrupting a studio session in which Michelle Carter is posing for the aged artist. Though the year is not stated specifically, it is likely approximately AD 1503, around the time that Da Vinci is reported to have begun work on his masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, which Michelle may have inspired.

Page 4, panel 4
POWER UP: Skeets II reveals two arms extending from his undercarriage, which when partially extended give him the appearance of a hovering flattened golden chicken.

Page 5, panel 4
The Time Masters argue about time-travel. Michelle's concerns that the effects of her time travel may have changed history indicate that she believes in a relative theory of time-travel that runs counter to Rip Hunter's oft used argument of inflexible history, or "solidified time." Booster, of course, supports Hunter's circular causation or fatalistic theory of time travel. For more information on the variations of time-travel theory within the DC Universe, see here.

Image Copyright DC Comics

Page 7, panel 4
NOT ALTERNATE REALITY?: The Time Masters arrive at the site of Rip Hunter's lab in Arizona only to find that there has never been a lab here. While this doesn't necessarily mean that Rip Hunter has never existed, it certainly means that certain historical events have been modified. Skeets' comments highlight the difference between a modified timeline and the alternate reality of Hypertime in the DC Universe.

Page 8, panel 2
HIS STORY: Michelle threatens to tell the JLA that Booster wet his bed until he was 10 years old. Whether this is exactly accurate is anyone's guess, although as Booster's twin sister, Michelle is certainly in a position to know.

Page 9, panel 5
Booster, Skeets, and Michelle use a Time Sphere to return to the Gotham Museum of Antiquities five minutes after their last trip, as seen in Booster Gold, Vol. 2, #12.

Page 10, panel 2
In a rare moment of self-awareness, Booster acknowledges his own history and accomplishments while simultaneously contemplating business opportunities for his own toy line of Booster Gold action figures. Each of the figures he mentions represents a different era of Booster's career.

Page 11, panel 1
Chronologically, Booster Gold meets Ralph Dibney, the Elongated Man, for the first time.

Page 12, panel 2
Booster and Ralph recap the events of the aforementioned Booster Gold, Vol. 2, #12.

Page 13, panel 5
It's not that I'm calling Skeets a liar, but.... The image that Skeets projects from Elongated Man's future is from an unidentified birthday party. The heroes pictured (Guy Gardner, Elongated Man, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle II, and Superman) were never simultaneously on the same team, and Booster has never been shown at any of Ralph's parties.

Page 15, panel 5
As Booster contemplates what to tell Elongated Man about his future, he recalls their uncomfortable encounter from the pages of 52 Week 7, wherein Ralph accused Booster of failing to warn him about the fate of his wife, Sue Dibney. Booster's memory must not be so great however, because at the time Ralph was only growing a beard. Booster only met Ralph with a beard while Booster was posing as Supernova in 52 Week 31.

Page 16, panel 5
A PAIR OF DOCS?: Booster Gold tells Michelle to stay put while he travels back in time. This means that when they arrived at the Gotham Museum minutes earlier, this same Time Sphere would have already been waiting for them.

Page 17, panel 4
Booster Gold, Elongated Man, and Skeets finally face their mysterious foe, a being "imbued with enough chronal energy" to make himself unrecognizable.

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REVIEWS

Boosterrific Review: What at first appears to be a coda for Chuck Dixon's story in Booster Gold, Vol. 2, #11 and #12 soon reveals itself as the story that those previous issues were hiding. Dan Jurgens, returning to his rightful throne as writer of a Booster Gold series, must have already coordinated with Dixon to establish the scenario for this convoluted tale with a mysteriously knowledgeable villain. Jurgens' work has always been especially respectful of the conventions of the Silver Age and established canon of the DC Universe, and this story is no exception. Certainly it is no coincidence that for the first time in the series, Michelle Carter is beginning to act and be treated like a real character under Jurgens' pen. This is a good start for another convoluted adventure.

Boosterrific Rating:

  • Currently 5.0/5 Stars.
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Average Fan Rating:

  • Currently 5.0/5 Stars.
(1 vote)

  • Currently 5.0/5 Stars.
Justin Garrett Blum (Sep. 18, 2010, 01:25:07)
Since I'm reading through a bunch of these issues for the first time, I may as well contribute a rating. The artwork from Jurgens and Rapmund is probably some of the most consistent I've yet seen in the series up until this point. It's sharp and dynamic. Also, I'm loving the sibling rivalry between Booster and his sister. I'm willing to overlook Da Vinci speaking fluent modern English. A great start and it's nice to have Jurgens back at the helm.

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