Booster Gold #15 (Volume 1)

Booster Gold: But for now, it's time for the world's best-looking, best-dressed, and just plain best superhero to go to work!

Christmas review of a semi-Christmas comic!

OLDER SPOILERS AHEAD



Title: "Runback"

Rip decides to fight the police hand to hand, which if you know anything about Rip you know he's fully capable of doing. Jack Soo? Not so much. Along with Skeets they come up with a plan to rescue their friends. Meanwhile Booster gets treated by a doctor who confirms the bacteria theory as the cause of his illness. He gets fixed to the point he's almost 100% thanks to the advanced medical tech (this includes mending his broken bones.) Turns out the judge ordered the treatment which Broderick thinks is a waste. This starts a mini debate on the morals of the time and shows some of Boosters' rebellious tendencies. It's the crux of his relationship with Broderick, their opposing views on what is lawful and what's right. This is also another reason 2462 is pretty messed up.

The trio sneak in to get information with the humans dressing up as the cops they knocked out. They discover another way to time travel and the "only one method of time travel" rule. The latter is one of the many limitations applied to the genre by DC. It boils down to a human body not being able to use the same means twice or their die. I never cared for this plot and apparently neither did the writers since it gets dropped some time after the Time Masters mini series. Although I guess it makes more sense than solid time.

Broderick takes Booster and Trixie to a spot to wait their transport when Rip and Soo arrive to help out. There's too many guards which makes their capture easy. Only a new arrival shows up to set them free. This is truly Michelle's greatest moment, she stole a (flying) school bus and fired a warning shot at Broderick. We find out later that firearms are HIGHLY illegal meaning Michelle put some effort into this. Soo fixes Boosters' suit and the manage to fly off towards the time machine they found. Booster tries to explain himself to Michelle but she tells him that she already knows all about the superhero gig he has going. Turns out Skeets realized Boosters' destiny before he stole anything and sent a picture of him with the president to the family before they took the time sphere.

It seems Skeets was more of a mastermind than anyone gave him credit for. Which makes sense, no his reasoning for this isn't anything more than ensuring history plays out like it's supposed to but think about it. This is the reason he decided to help Booster when he was taken from the museum. He might have even put a few ideas into his head to get him to go back in time. As for the Carter family they forgave Booster and before their mom died she was very proud of her son. Broderick ruins the family moment to attack with Animal and refuses to listen Trixies' explanation of Booster belonging in the past. The logic actually pisses him off to the point he nastily threats her. His temper triggers bad memories and Animal turns against Broderick to come to the aid of the woman who saved his life. I'm not sure if Broderick was firing at Trixie or being tackled made him press the trigger but the blast hits a cable.

Booster puts on a happy face saying he'll hold the cable together so the rest of them can go home then find his own way back. Animal gets the idea of what's happening, tosses Booster onto the time platform and holds the cable. As their leaving they witness Broderick killing Animal to try and stop them. Arriving in the past it seems they jumped ahead a few months thanks to the damage. Trixie grieves for Animal giving his life to save them. Nurse Devlin (the one that snapped at Booster just before he was cornered by the mob) gets a truckload of food for the needy by a man with dark hair, shades and a beard. If you look closely you can see his real ID. It seems someone learned something during this arc.

Both ladies were awesome here, Trixie pretty much kicked the most ass and did so seamlessly. BG #15 is a prime example of why I love Michelle's character too. She's forgiving and willing to selflessly throw everything away for her brother. They don't have the standard cliché twin relationship and come off as believable siblings. Their banter at the time platform is my favorite interaction between them. Well I did character studies on her based on different writers work and if you read that I think you know how I feel. Jurgens naturally did the best job and while he never really had a chance to recapture what he did in volume one he still kept most of her important traits. I know that sounds weird since she won't be in this for too long but he gave her a lot of personality. Rip was likewise badass although this is a much tamer version of the things he does in his solo work. This was Broderick at his worse and he comes off pretty crazy in his obsession. Trust me I know he's easy to write off as a forgettable goon here but this isn't why I think he's so compelling. Well I'll explain it when I get to that issue.

I'll get back to reviewing this series at some point but for now I have other plans. Plus I'm still not sure if I'll review some of the tie ins.


Say What?: Outside the hospital a man talks to a woman while a machine marked "news" in front of them. He acts surprised at the thought of executing Booster. If he's a police officer why is he shocked since the news already stated the death sentence (which Rip/Soo/Skeets heard) especially since it's part of the law? I suppose it could be some random person on the street they interviewed.

There's a scene with the cops being beaten up ended with Skeets sounding like he had a idea. Yet Rips' given credit for dressing up as the cops to access files?

Booster never had his flight ring taken away by the police?

One of Booster fans favorite nicknames for him is finally brought up as he coins himself the Corporate Crusader.

Did You Know?: Although Michelle appeared in past issues as a picture and in flashbacks this is her first speaking role.

Michelle mentions she has "pilot merits" although this doesn't really come up again. I once saw a theory that the reason she took the school bus was because it was from her job as a driver. Given the Carter family history this makes sense.