Time Travel & Booster Gold.

Hey folks,
A short return to a series I love. I love it so much I've talked about it here and here. Have I mentioned I also love time travel? Oh I do. I do.

Booster Gold Effs Up Everything, Again: Booster Gold Day of Death

I first met Booster Gold in the pages of 52. If you have not read that excellent series then I urge you to do so, especially if you are a DC fan. In 52 Booster emerged as the first character who tried to fill the superhero void when Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman decided to take a break after Infinite Crisis. However it turns out that Booster's major character flaw is that he will do anything for fame and fortune. He is a bit of a douchebag, but he does in the end want to do the right thing. It's just that occasionally he strays. Since the end of 52 Booster's been working with Rip Hunter in his own title Booster Gold. I've loved reading this series in trade paperback, so the moment I saw a copy available I had to snatch it up.

And it didn't disappoint. Time travel is a difficult gambit. It often becomes of question of whether you believe that one can change the future by manipulating a significant event or if you follow a philosophy that some events are just always going to happen. It's complicated. It can hurt your head if you think about it too hard. Booster Gold follows the idea that somethings are just "supposed" to happen, it's been deemed "solidified time." This is illustrated in Booster Gold #5 where Booster cannot stop Barbara Gordon from being shot. He desperately tries again and again but tragically it's just meant to happen.

This precedent regarding the rules of time travel, which was established by Geoff Johns, is key to the story arc in Day of Death. In this arc Booster is sent by Rip Hunter to get some info from the Bat Cave since Bruce Wayne has disappeared. But being Booster Gold, well he screws things up. This is not a spoiler-with Booster it's pretty inevitable. Thank God for Rip Hunter. Of course it is the pairing of these two men that makes this series wonderful. They are polar opposites in a "Odd Couple"-kind've way. It's very entertaining as written by Jurgens in this arc.

Back to time travel, writer Jurgens continues to use these issues to show us DC readers what parts of comic continuity are important. The DC universe needs Dick Grayson and the Teen Titans; Dick Grayson is supposed to become Batman and help Damian; these events are "solidified time." Without this series of events then the DC Universe will be in a bad place. Rip and Booster have to put things right. Will they? C'mon this is a comic book. While the ending was slightly predictable I still enjoyed this series because it doesn't wrap itself in convolution. It's still pretty simple to understand. Even for Booster.

Have a great week! Book Slave.