In Booster Gold Volume 2, our hero became a time travelling policeman, someone whose job was to travel through time and ensure that history unfolds correctly. Given that the DC Universe has a propensity for frequent, reality-shifting Crises, the obvious question becomes "what is correct"? What history can be changed, and what can't?

Booster Gold #5 answers that question, which is why it is in my list of the twelve best Booster Gold comics.

To teach Booster Gold (and his audience) about the limits of interfering with history, the original Time Master, Rip Hunter, sends Booster back to one of the most known and respected stories in DC Comics history: The Killing Joke. Booster soon learns there is nothing funny about it.

What follows are about a dozen pages of Booster Gold (and Skeets!) having his shiny butt handed to him by the Joker and his goons. Over and over again, Booster tries to prevent the Joker from brutalizing Barbara Gordon. Over and over again he fails.

It's not always an easy read, but it is a worthwhile one — especially when you realize the gambit Hunter is playing and at what personal cost. It is also a valiant definition of true heroism courtesy of writer Geoff Johns. No matter how many times Booster Gold gets knocked down, he always gets back up again. What a guy!

It should be noted that a large part of what makes this light-on-dialogue book such a great read is the art, which Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund intentionally based on the original material drawn by Brian Bolland.

While legendary writer Alan Moore always gets most of the credit, Bolland's detailed and disturbing art is no small part of what has made The Killing Joke an enduring classic, and he deserves some recognition for making Booster Gold #5 one of The Best Booster Gold Stories Ever.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: batman best of brian bolland dan jurgens geoff johns joker norm rapmund rip hunter skeets the killing joke

No sooner do I post one Michael Doran Newsaradar interview about the upcoming Future State event than he releases another, this time with Generations: Shattered writer (and Booster Gold creator!) Dan Jurgens.

Nrama: Dan, the [Detective Comics #1027] story pretty much is a lead-in to what we know about Shattered #1 from the solicitation. The "original" Batman is recruited from his timeline to serve on a time-crossed team (somewhat reminiscent of Avengers Forever). The most interesting new detail not in the solicitation seems to be that despite his appearance on the covers we've seen, Kamandi twice refers to Booster as an old man.

Jurgens: Yes, Kamandi refers to Booster as an old man, but that's by design and all meant to lead to part of the overall mystery of what's happening—not to mention the idea that we can have different generations of characters.

Nrama: So then it suggests to us he's referring to a Booster not from the current main timeline or his original timeline, but from a timeline years-decades removed from the current core DC timeline. Did we interpret that clue correctly?

Jurgens: You did!

Nrama: Will any other time-plucked characters be part of the story?

Jurgens: Yes, one in particular, who'll play a key part in the story and, we think, serve as a very pleasant, fun surprise for readers.

Nrama: Speaking of surprises, most "mysterious" comic book foes (in solicitation terms, as Shattered #1 promises) turn out to be established characters in new guises or making surprising returns. Can you give any clues as to who your's is?

Jurgens: Sure! He has definitely appeared before, but I think it's been a while since we've seen him. His power level has definitely positioned him with the ability to manipulate time into something he can shatter, dominate, and shape to his own desire.

Please, please, please let it be Black Beetle!

I guess we'll find out when Generations: Shattered #1 arrives January 15, 2021. In the meantime, you can read the whole interview at GamesRadar.com.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: dan jurgens gamesradar.com generations interview michael doran

Because Booster Gold is a comic book character, Boosterrific.com is usually pretty much alone in its field reporting on his copious public appearances. If Booster was a real person, there would be, like, hundreds of sites stumbling over one another to repost paparazzi photos of him eating a burrito while headed to the gym wearing sweatpants in a desperate ploy to seduce your valuable click.

I might be a niche site, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to use those other sites' playbook! I'm the Internet, too, guys.

On October 4, former Justice League International artist Kevin Maguire tweeted an image promoting social distancing that he created in an intentional homage to his own 1987 cover to Justice League #1.

On October 7, former comics news website that now specializes in clickbait listicles, CBR.com, reposted the image with only the bare details necessary to inform the uninitiated of its visual significance without adding any significant commentary. (Shame on me. That was snarky. CBR doesn't deserve to be made fun of like that. To be fair, there must be plenty of people encountering the image for the first time who are unaware of the JL cover. "CBR: the best comics website for people who don't read comics!")

On October 8, the comics gossip tabloid that Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens recently called "disreputable," BleedingCool.com, also reposted the image. They went a step further than their click competitor and added a gallery of other images Maguire has drawn that also homage the aforementioned Justice League #1 cover. Reputable or not, that seems like at least some value added in return for your click.

Now, on October 9, I will repost the same image because, like the other sites, I don't really have anything better to post. And I'm adding nothing of value other than the unenlightening observation that my doing the same thing as everyone else does nothing to advance the human condition in any meaningful way. And heck, I'm not even getting paid. (#nihilismnow!)

Hopefully, if you saw the following image on Twitter or CBR or Bleeding Cool, you'll still enjoy seeing it again as much as I do. Personally, I never get tired of Maguire's art.

No, sir, Mr. Gardner.

Footnote: I'm a little surprised I haven't yet seen Maguire's image posted at the former Newsarama, but it seems they've been too busy posting bigger news to resort to reposting social media pics. Check out their latest "feature" piece, "Marvel characters who have wielded Captain America's shield." (Double shame on me. There's always the weekend.)

UPDATE 2020-10-09: ComicBook.com is getting in on the action! Hi, Russ!

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: blue beetle cbr.com dan jurgens fan art gamesradar.com justice league international kevin maguire plague social distancing twitter.com

On Monday, I wondered if the solicitation for Generations: Shattered meant that Booster Gold was going to make a previously unannounced appearance in yesterday's Detective Comics #1027 anthology.

The answer is yes. Kind of.

Words by Dan Jurgens, art by Kevin Nowlan, Hi-Fi, Andworld Design

First of all: The return of "Buster" Gold, a running joke as old as Booster Gold himself! (See page 2, panel 3 of Booster Gold Volume 1, #1!)

Second of all: Is that Skeets on Kamandi's arm? Kevin Nowlan may be the issue's credited artist, but boy howdy does that look like a Dan Jurgens circa 1992 design.

This story, "Generations: Fractured," has a very Zero Hour feel to it. I'm not sure whether that's intentional or coincidental, as Dan Jurgens did write and draw Zero Hour, after all.

We're told at the end of the story that it will be continued in Generations: Future State #1, but I have no idea what that will be. BleedingCool.com suggests that it is a series (mini- or otherwise) that Dan Jurgens will presumably be writing in 2021. However, on Twitter Jurgens seemed to have a bone to pick with some of Bleeding Cool's reporting, so whatever the truth is here is anyone's guess.

Just let me go on the record saying: Hey, DC, please, please, please publish a series by Dan Jurgens featuring Booster Gold and time shenanigans! I even promise not to complain about the cover price.

UPDATE 2020-09-17: BleedingCool has revealed a teaser poster for Future State coming January and February 2021. Which is slightly more than we knew before.

Looks like we'll see more in DC solicitations next month.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: batman bleedingcool.com dan jurgens detective comics future state generations kamandi twitter.com

I've been a grouch all week, but it's not all bad news in the world. I mean, DC Fandome version 2.0 is set for tomorrow, and DC is promising us 24 hours of free comics. That's not nothing.

And if Booster Gold fans want even more comic books, you should know that on Wednesday, Newsarama/GamesRadar broke the news that Booster Gold would be appearing in Generations: Shattered #1 in January.

(I said that like you didn't already know it, but you probably did. So many people got in touch to share that Newsarama article, I must have been the last to know. Thanks for keeping me informed, everybody!)

Judging from the article, Generations: Shattered looks to be a $10 anthology book collecting some of the pieces of DC's abandoned "5G" event. The official solicitation hasn't been revealed — and might not be revealed for a while considering that Newsarama says it's coming in January and DC hasn't even released its December solicitations. But we do know that Dan Jurgens is listed as one of the writers, and we did get this look at the sweet cover by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado.

Pay close attention:

Booster hasn't had that shaded star on his costume since Booster Gold #8 in 1986! Could that be an accident? I think not.

Dare we hope that Generations: Shattered will actually revisit Booster's original post-Crisis on Infinite Earths chronology for the first time since... ever? Remember, back in 1986, Booster was living the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Ah, the good old days!

Maybe this wasn't such a bad week after all. #CorporateCrusader #BringBackTrixie

Comments (4) | Add a Comment | Tags: 2020 conventions covers dan jurgens dc fandome gamesrader.com generations ivan reis joe prado newsarama.com solicitations