Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Booster Gold #42 and #43

Finally got around to this so this will be a joint review. I didn't hate these issues like previous ones but they honestly confused the hell out of me. Why was the prison retcon even needed when: a.) they never say if he finished the jail time, b.) we never even see what happened to P.M or Booster/Rip/Michelle between issues. How does he survive getting trapped as the sun torches earth?! I thought the whole point of the jail thing was because Giffin hated that Booster never paid for his crimes. So instead of actually having him go through all that they just torture Booster. Great. I'm not even sure why Rip thought this should be done in the first place. He claimed it was to prevent Booster from becoming P.M. but that's total bull. They could have easily prevented it during the time lab fight. It can't be to get Booster to meet Brainy because that never seemed to be an issue. (Jurgens even had a story idea in place.) The only thing I can think of is the age thing they set up but even that raises too many questions! G/D are the ones that aged him up in the first place so they felt they had to freeze that age? Why would he need to stay in jail to meet the P.M? How can P.M even exist since we know Booster fathers Rip and seen him when he's older? Even if she had no family left everyone else died around Rani so why would anyone be looking for her?

Why did they finally show a naked Booster like that?

I did find the whole idea of P.M to be more than a little cliche in time travel stories. I guessed who it was before I even opened the book.

Most of the Legion members were jerks but I was surprised to see Brainy acting so nice towards Booster. I got the impression he had very little patience for 99.9% of people and didn't like anything he views as foolish. Yet he seemed to be almost drawn towards Booster. Yes, he was curious about him having his gear but Brainy could have been meaner. I haven't read their post-crisis meeting in a while but I think he was pretty much "we don't approve of you stealing my stuff but history says it's has to happen so keep it." I enjoyed seeing a peek of their friendship in TMVP but this wasn't what I was expecting. Their so cute. Brainy seems to be more curious about Booster than the whys of the Legion equipment. He sort of defends him and even seems worried when he asks Rip if Booster will survive. But a few more questions. Why can't Rip explain that Daniel and him sort of took theses things from him? Did G/D not read those issues? Booster probably doesn't even know the details. And how does Booster even know their be friends? You'd think Rip would tell him but wouldn't that prove to Booster that he played this entire thing out. Why does Booster or Michelle even trust him after this? Booster basically knew the whole thing was a set up.

None of this fits with either TMVP or JLGL in terms of storytelling and characterizations. Looking forward to Jurgens' return.

2 comments:

  1. I remember being so very very thrilled when I learned we were getting Giffen and DeMatteis to write Booster...but it never really rose to my expectations, alas. Granted,they had a practically impossibly high level of excellence to try and achieve, and there were flashes of brilliance...but still...!

    I am looking forward to Jurgens. I LIKE Jurgens.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My favorite issue is still their first, I thought great epic things were to come. There were things I like but sadly the bad overshadowed the good IMHO.

    Ditto and looking forward to Flashpoint and the Black Beetle reveal!

    ReplyDelete