Saturday, September 21, 2013

Michelle and Boosters' Sibling bond

I think too many readers ignored the details Dan Jurgens put into Booster Gold. I always appreciated the level of character work he's done especially in regards to the first series. For me what makes any story great is the focus on character and while he didn't use Michelle much I admired what was shown under his pen. Her relationship with her brother was interesting in a way twin relationships rarely are in comics. Usually they tend to be very cliché, some times polar opposites, some times far too similar, the same exact costume designs, separated at birth, you get the idea. While there were some nods (like their birth names and sometimes the style of their hair cuts) the acted like standard siblings.
 
Now you could say that the Goldstar costume is similar to the Booster Gold uniform but really there's enough changes for it can stand on it's own. In story it wasn't even made with Michelle in mind but rather a PR stunt they were planning. Michelle never had the drive to be a superhero just sort of went along for the ride. When she stole the costume it was more or less to see what was so appealing about it. She tested out and didn't try to fight crime. But one of the best scenes with her was when Michelle realizes she can't stay in their time since by helping Booster she made herself a criminal. Look at how they interact: 
 

It feels like how a family would talk, and gives the reader some good insight on their relationship. Before this Michelle tells him that he's forgiven and now they fall into causal quipping. She can shut down his ego (even if he's merely joking here) in a second. Jurgens shows them bicker later on in Booster Gold vol. 2 and likewise it has that same bond but uses it to make them both act petty in amusing ways. It's the little details that really stand out.

2 comments:

  1. One of the things that annoys me so much with the new 52 universe, is that Booster shows up so seldom. And, that we lost Michelle and Rip.

    And considering that Booster was THE hero of the year-long 52 crossover, it is doubly annoying.

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  2. It's a grab bag at the moment. I think Johns wants to use Booster and potentially Rip again. Which is good but I think he wants to reset Booster which is annoying. It would be one thing if this was how he started out in DCnU but he didn't. The annual pretty much said buying JLI was pointless since they ignored most of it anyway.

    It sure is.

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