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Boosterrific.com: The Complete, Annotated Adventures of Booster Gold
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Showing posts 1 - 4 of 4 matching: waverider

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Watch the Hair

McFarlane Toys announced a new selection of 7" DC Multiverse figures this week, and their selection includes a familiar face, albeit one in an unfamiliar costume.

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Waverider (DC Classic) Gold Label action figure

That's Waverider, but probably not the one most DC Comics readers remember. By which I mean that is not Matthew Ryder, the protagonist of the 1991 Armageddon 2001 event.

As devout Booster boosters can tell from the costume, that's actually Michael Jon "Booster Gold" Carter. Or one of them, anyway.

Here, I'll let the mcfarlane.com promotional text explain:

During the Convergence event, an aged Booster Gold (Michael Jon Carter) from an alternate Earth became the new Waverider when he was fed into the timestream by Earth-0's Booster Gold. This Waverider took on a career in the Multiverse, initially helping Telos and various Super Heroes convince Brainiac to realign the Multiverse. Waverider's ability to surf the timestream enables him to discover secrets hidden in the past and also gain knowledge of future events.

This is kind of a deep cut, even for McFarlane Toys. Booster-rider has only ever appeared in 2 comics: Convergence Booster Gold #2 and Convergence #8 both released on the same day in 2015. And the costume on that figure appears in only the first of those two comics!

© DC Comics

I'm no fan of the ridiculously overworked "New 52" era design of Waverider II with its unnecessary armored leggings gold-plated abs, traffic-sign shoulder arrows, and call-back to NuBooster's hideously medieval gauntlets, but it looks positively svelte compared to the bulky McFarlane figure, which I can only assume is re-purposing re-colored pieces from previous steroid-abusing figures into an approximation of the comic book Waverider II costume. The economics of toy production is a bitch!

But if you (rightly) believe that any Booster Gold figure is a good figure, you can already pre-order your own for $19.99 at Target.com.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: action figures mcfarlane toys mcfarlane.com merchandise waverider

Friday, May 27, 2022

This Day in History: The End of Convergence

If you're starting to feel like tragic events are repeating themselves over and over, you might be a DC Comics reader.

In 1985, the original Crisis on Infinite Earths destroyed the DC Multiverse. Twenty years later, Infinite Crisis revisited the same territory and partially restored the DC Multiverse. Ten years after that, Convergence revisited the same territory and revealed that the DC Multiverse had existed in our hearts all along.

That was 7 years ago today.

© DC Comics

It was in the pages of Convergence Booster Gold #2, released May 27, 2015, that we learned that the Booster Gold who appeared in the New 52 Justice League International was not actually the same person who had appeared in two volumes of comics named Booster Gold.

And it was also in the pages of Convergence Booster Gold #2 that the original Booster Gold died and was brought back to life as the newest Waverider.

© DC Comics

That happened just in time for Waverider to arrive and help save the day in Convergence #8, also released May 27, 2015. How did he help? By empowering Brainiac, the very same creature who had caused the Convergence in the first place.

© DC Comics

The reality created by Convergence lasted barely a year before Doctor Manhattan's tinkering in DC Universe: Rebirth resulted in awkward merging the pre- and post-New 52 realities to create a whole new continuity lying somewhere in between, a reality that has since been revised in Death Metal and is again being challenged in this summer's Dark Crisis.

© DC Comics

Like I said, sometimes reading DC Comics is like being caught in a cosmic hamster wheel of trauma, a wheel that seems to be spinning faster and faster the longer we're on it.

However, the important lesson isn't that the multiverse is full of evil. The lesson is that every time evil rears its head, heroes will emerge to fight it.

© DC Comics

Such is life in every universe.

Comments (4) | Add a Comment | Tags: convergence waverider

Friday, January 29, 2021

Lateral Men

It's been three weeks since Generations: Shattered was released, so you should have your copy by now, yes? Good. Because we're going to talk about it today. Specifically, we're going to talk about this panel:

© DC Comics
art by John Romita, Jr., Danny Miki, Hi-Fi

If you've been reading DC Comics for a long of time, you may recognize most of those people, but Booster boosters in particular should probably have a pretty good idea who the Linear Men are. This is an unusual line-up of that team. It's no coincidence that many of them directly pair up with a Multiversal heroic counterpart, a contrivance that is explained in the story as the nearly omnipotent Dominus bends reality to his will.

But even accepting that, one of those Linear Men stands out. Can you spot which one?

© DC Comics
Hint: It's this guy.

Whoever that guy is, I doubt anyone calls him "Rayak the Ravager."

Quick history lesson: The Linear Men concept was created in Adventures of Superman #476 (by Dan Jurgens) in 1991 with the introduction of The (singular) Linear Man.[1] That Linear Man died, sacrificing himself in the 30th-century to "correct" the history he'd unintentionally broken while trying to bring justice to Booster Gold. (You'll find more information on the interactions between the Linear Man and Booster Gold here.)


art by Dan Jurgens, Art Thiebert, Glenn Whitmore, Todd Klein

Shortly thereafter, in Superman #59 (by Dan Jurgens), we learn that the Linear Man was a rogue member of the mysterious Linear Men of Vanishing Point who are "dedicated to guarding the linear sanctity of the time stream." By the time of Superman #73 (by Dan Jurgens), it is well established that there are three remaining Linear Men: Matthew Ryder, Liri Lee, and Hunter.[2] (The impetuous Waverider is often an ally of the group but isn't really a member.[3])

In our group shot at the top of the post, both Liri Lee[4] and Matthew Ryder are clearly identified by name in our Generations: Shattered confrontation. Naturally, the third Linear Man should be Hunter, especially since he appears earlier in the issue beside both Liri and Ryder.

© DC Comics
art by Fernando Pasarin, Oclair Albert, Hi-Fi

So why in the big team shot is Hunter misidentified as "Rayak the Ravager"?

If I had to take a guess, I'd say that whoever wrote the label was trying to recall the name "Ryak the Rogue" from memory. Ryak is the newest Linear Man — the first not created by Dan Jurgens. Ryak makes his first appearance in The All-New Atom #7 (by Gail Simone) in 2007, and he looks nothing like Hunter. For one thing, he's green.

© DC Comics
art by Mike Norton, Andy Owens, Alex Bleyaert, Pat Brosseau

As his moniker might suggest, Ryak was a solo actor in Atom, but he made a cameo appearance beside the other Linear Men on Vanishing Point in Dark Nights: Death Metal: Rise of the New God in 2020. Look closely at that panel, and alongside Ryak you'll spot Ryder, Liri, Rip Hunter, and Waverider, but Hunter is missing, replaced by none other than the original Linear Man himself![5]

© DC Comics
art by Jesus Merino, Vincente Cifuentes, Ulises Arreola

As you can see, keeping the Linear Men straight takes as much work as the convoluted continuity they are sworn to protect. The DC Multiverse is a big place. Every once in a while, we should probably expect the writers, artists, or editors to confused a name and a face.

On the other hand, the events of both Dark Knights: Death Metal and Generations: Shattered involve realities and timelines altered by gods themselves. In which case, if Dominus wants to call Hunter "Rayak," who are we, mere mortal readers of comic books, to correct him?


1 As for the original Linear Man's real identity: it is commonly assumed to be Travis O'Connell. That name comes from the "Linear Men" entry in the Who's Who in the DC Universe Update 1993 #2 (by Roger Stern) which identifies four Linear Men by name and states that "[Travis] O'Connell eventually sacrificed his own life in the late 30th Century." Unless there were multiple Linear Mans chasing Booster Gold in the 30th century, I think we've solved that mystery. (DK apparently agrees; they identify O'Connell by name in their entry for the Linear Man in their officially-licensed The DC Comics Encyclopedia.)

2 Hunter is, as you might have guessed, Rip Hunter. But he's not the one we know. According to the story "Falling in Line" in Legends of the DC Universe 80-Page Giant #1 (by Dan Jurgens), Hunter is the evolution of the young, mischievous Rip Hunter from an alternate history that appears to closely mirror the original Rip Hunter, Time Master, whose pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Earth-1 adventures were chronicled in a book of the same title.

3 Technically, Waverider, like Rip Hunter, is two Linear Men. See, Waverider and Matthew Ryder are the same person, separated into two timelines by the accidental death of his/their parents. In violation of the Linear Men's prime directive, Waverider himself changed the history that forced the divergence that allowed his alternate self to grow into his role as the Linear Men's Ryder. (For details, see Superman #61 by Dan Jurgens.) And while we're on the subject, I might as well mention that Matthew Ryder and Waverider first appeared in Armaggeddon 2001 #1 by Archie Goodwin... and Dan Jurgens.

4 Liri Lee is the only female member of the Linear Men. I probably don't need to tell you, but she was created by Dan Jurgens for Superman #59. She takes the name Linear Woman in Time Masters: Vanishing Point #6 (by... oh, you know). That may take place in a different reality or at a different point in Liri Lee's future chronology than the events of Generations: Shattered. The biggest problem with hanging out at Vanishing Point is that time and space don't have meaning anymore.

5 This isn't the first time O'Connell has been seen since his "death" in Adventures of Superman #478 (by Dan Jurgens), and there are many well-intentioned websites that appear to confuse O'Connell and Hunter, which is understandable. (Heck, I did it myself when I first listed my annotations for the issue, and I obviously know better.) Both O'Connell and Hunter share a 1990s affinity for shoulder pads, pointless belts, and cybernetic parts. And, of course, they are both Dan Jurgens creations. Rule of thumb: if he has black hair and a holster, it's O'Connell; white hair, Hunter.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: characters dan jurgens fernando passin gail simone generations hunter jesus merino john romita jr linear man linear men liri lee mike norman rayak the ravager rip hunter ryak the scout waverider

Monday, March 28, 2016

Crazier Things Have Happened

This past weekend at WonderCon, DC Comics unveiled many of their plans for Rebirth. Although Ted Kord will be returning to mentor Jaime Reyes, there was no hint that we'll be seeing a Booster Gold comic anytime soon.

At least no obvious hint.

© DC Comics

That's Gary Frank's cover to DC Universe: Rebirth, the one-shot book written by Geoff Johns that will be launching the Rebirth event. If you're familiar with Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel frescoes, you'll recognize Superman's pose as he reaches out to touch the hand of god. A contributor to Comics Amino thinks he knows who that god will be.

Who could the character that ties directly to rebirth and is manipulating things behind the scenes be?
...
A being who is apart of the time stream itself and has the knowledge of the past, present and future and can monitor any activity within the time stream.
...
I think Waverider Booster will be the key to everything.

It may be wishful thinking on my part, but I'd like to believe this commentator (who posts under the pseudonym "Booster Gold"!). Part of his argument is based on an exchange between Johns and Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens at the "DC All Access Live: DC Universe Rebirth" panel at WonderCon.

If you fast-forward to about 34:50 in the video above, Dan Jurgens will be introduced as the writer who will be returning the post-Crisis Superman to Action Comics in June. He will conclude the interview with this exchange with Geoff Johns:

Johns: There's also a character in there that will tie directly to Rebirth, and some of the stuff that you're playing with is long term for the story we're building. It's really exciting.

Jurgens: Right, exactly. You'll certainly see more of that right in the first issue as we see someone manipulating things behind the scenes putting everything in its place, and it's building to quite a big conclusion.

Last week Johns told Booster Gold fans that big things are coming and we're going to be happy, and now Jurgens is teasing some time-manipulating puppet-master responsible for restoring portions of the post-Crisis DC Universe. Is the reason we haven't seen Waverider since Convergence because he's been busy fixing the DCnU?

So, Booster Gold in Rebirth? Who knows. It could all just be a coincidence or wishful thinking. After all, DC teased that Booster would play a significant role in both Infinite Crisis and Futures End, and neither of those came to pass. However, I'd rather stay positive and hope for the best. Isn't that what a rebirth is all about?

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: 2016 action comics aminoapps.com blue beetle comicbookresources.com conventions dan jurgens gary frank geoff johns michealangelo rebirth reboot superman waverider wondercon


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