Batman: The Brave and the Bold
“Time Jerks, Part 3”
Volume 4, Issue 15, September 2024
Released July 24, 2024
Cover Price: $7.99
Writer: Mark Russell
Artist: Jon Mikel
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: Ferran Delgado
Assistant Editor: James Reid
Editors: Rob Levin, Ben Meares
Cover Artist: Dan Hipp
Heroes: Batman, Batsaur, Booster Gold, Bugster Gold, Superman, Supersaur, Wonder Woman, Wonderdon
Supporting: Skeeter, Skeets III
Settings: Earth orbit, Space, 650,000th-century B.C.E.; Washington, DC, USA, 21st-century; Earth orbit, Space, 25th-century
Cover Description: This book has multiple covers. Booster Gold is featured on the Dan Hipp variant.
Brief Synopsis: In the present day, Booster Gold enlists the Justice League to save the 25th century.
Booster Gold's role in this story:
Featured (Booster Gold plays a prominent role)
Costume Worn: MARK I.v2 power-suit
Page 41, panel 1
In search of help to save 25th century Earth from a catastrophic asteroid impact, Booster Gold and Skeets return to the Hall of Justice in Washington, D.C., in the present day 21st century. Booster Gold was born and raised in the 25th century, but left in 2462 to become a 20th-century super hero (a story originally told in Booster Gold volume 1 #6). Therefore, an asteroid striking Earth in 2471 does not threaten Booster Gold's origin; our hero will exist whether or not the asteroid destroys all of humanity.
Page 41, panel 2
Booster appeals to Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman for help while eating a corn dog. Although Booster seems to prefer early 21st-century corn dogs, the fried cornmeal-coated sausage on a stick was almost certainly invented in the 20th century (the exact moment and location of conception is disputed).
Page 42, panel 2
POWER UP: Returning to 2471 (the specific year is made clear on page 50), Booster's Time Sphere demonstrates the new ability to use a "chronology beam" to transport exterior objects through time alongside it. In this case, the towed objects are Batman's Batwing and Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet. Three passengers can fit inside a Time Sphere, so the chronology beam is only necessary if the Batwing and Invisible Jet are to be useful in deflecting the asteroid.
Page 42, panel 5
According to the Time Sphere's chronometer, Booster has been waiting for 5 hours and 22 minutes since the previous panel. This story makes the most sense if the events of the following four pages take place between these two panels.
Page 43, panel 3
FIRST APPEARANCE: First appearance of Bugster Gold, "Earth's most beloved super hero" from 65 million years in the future. Wearing a costume similar to Booster's, Bugster also has his own time sphere and robot sidekick, Skeeter.
Page 43, panel 4
Bugster Gold comes from a future in which the asteroid has destroyed humanity. In the main timeline of the DC Universe, the Legion of Super-Heroes lives in the 31st century, so the timeline that spawns Bugster Gold and the timeline of the Legion of Super-Heroes are mutually exclusive...
Page 44, panel 2
LIQUIFIED TIME: ...and because this asteroid was always intended to strike in the Earth (until Bugster Gold accidentally deflected it during a prior trip through time in a sequence of events mirroring Booster Gold's actions in part one as seen in Batman: The Brave and the Bold #13), it is the familiar DCU timeline of the Legion of Super-Heroes that is the aberration and must be prevented!
Page 44, panel 4
Bugster Gold uses his own powers of time travel to destroy the Batwing and Invisible Jet and send the Justice League 65 million years into the past. Why Bugster sent them so far back is never explained, but it does serve to give the Justice League a chance to meet the Jurassic League.
Page 47, panel 3
Booster Gold, Skeets, and Skeeter arrive in Bugster Gold's Time Sphere to rescue the Justice League (but not the Jurassic League).
Page 48, panel 2
Booster explains via flashback that after his five hours have passed (six pages earlier!), he met and befriended Bugster Gold. Together they...
Page 49, panel 3
...traveled back to the 21st century and shared corn dogs...
Page 49, panel 4
...which was just a ruse to give Booster the opportunity to steal Bugster Gold's Time Sphere and strand the future hero in his own ancient past.
Page 50, panel 4
Without Bugster Gold interfering, Superman easily destroys the asteroid threatening the 25th century. The crisis has been averted, yet many questions remain: Why did Batman and Wonder Woman even bother to came along for this trip? Whatever became of the Jurassic League? Will Bugster Gold and Skeets fade from existence now that their timeline has been destroyed (again), or will they remain in the 21st century and continue to fight for their future? Were any lessons learned?
Boosterrific Review: As much as I typically enjoy Mark Russell's satirical writing style and as interested as I am in philosophical consideration of the cyclical immutability of time and the illusion of free will, I can't say as I enjoyed this three-part story, its conclusion least of all. Why does Booster Gold have to be an imbecile (in multiple timelines) just to make this point? It all feels a bit like bad fan fiction.
Boosterrific Rating: Tarnished.
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