Action Comics #995

Will Superman and Booster be able to get along ? What is Booster's current canon?

SPOILERS AHEAD

We start off with them in the future--Booster's time to be exact. Superman is still missing the picture and blames Booster for stopping the alternate timeline from existing. Booster naturally has to point out what Superman never seems to get whenever they team up in time travel stories: that changing history actually makes a mess of the timeline. Then comes the best surprise since Ma Gunn as BRODERICK makes his first appearance since the first Booster Gold series !

Broderick!

Cut back to Booster explaining that he couldn't let history be changed and Superman still going on about getting his answer. Booster is knocked out but Skeets tells Superman to take the Time Sphere since they can't leave without it. They can get Booster later.

Superboy sneaks out to follow his mom on her recuse mission to save her father.

Booster wakes up to find himself in cell with his dad. At first the character feels different from the one Johns wrote. Johns made Jon Carter someone that looked down on Booster and basically used his insecurities against his son to get what he wanted. This one smiled and was excited about the possibility of the guards being stupid enough to put a powered up Booster with him. Fortunately he returns to form to the guy we all despise soon enough.

Superman and Skeets rehash Booster's origin story. The Jon Carter bit is from the Johns/Katz run but it's still unclear how much of old canon exists. He knocks out Broderick and plans on running away without Booster. Unfortunately for him that means Superman is there to flick him unconscious. That panel with Superman behind him preparing to do just that is officially my favorite image from Booth. Even better is Booster FINALLY meeting his mom and Superman building Booster up some for her.

For some reason Superman didn't make sure the Eradicator was destroyed and it sends them to future where Zod has his own planet.



Overall: The concept of what family means to characters has always fascinated me. Clark barely knows Jor-El/Oz yet he's build up such an idea of who he was that he can't stand to think of who he could of become. Partly because it makes Clark question who he is and likewise what that means for Jon. But Clark is starting to grate on my nerves with his behavior so I hope he is done acting like this. Booster himself actually considers what Clark is going through even though he can't understand since his own dad was so horrible. I'm also glad Booster at least realized it was the Kents that made Clark a good person and a hero.

Clark is such a hypocrite and so unlikable for a good portion that I wanted someone to shake him. Let's go over this again. He put everyone at risk by going back in time even though he isn't an expert. Booster corrected the mistake by preventing an alternate timeline from being created. Superman questions Booster doing that when he was the one that endangered lives--including his own son--looking for answers. In doing so Booster had to force them to leave in a time sphere at the last moment resulting in the Eradicator following then damaging their ride.

Superman shows disdain for stealing even though he himself used the Cosmic Treadmill without permission. He didn't realize he'd be powerless on Krypton nor think how he'd return. Clark is being reckless and blaming Booster for things that aren't his fault. For some reason he trusts Skeets to know what's right though. It's strange but it reminded me of all the times Bruce didn't make a big deal about stealing, past wrongs and Booster.

I expected to see Jon Carter when Booster mentioned his dad not Broderick. Mr. Carter still appeared though and I'm a little undecided if his appearance is too much with the whole dad theme going on in this arc. As a Booster fan though I'm intrigued as Jurgens didn't have Booster mention his dad in the same tone Johns did. Booster responds differently as he was more vulnerable while he's more angry here. I'm not sure how to feel on the change in the father and son dynamics. I did wonder if Johns/Katz had wrote them as Jurgens envisioned and this is more in line with comments Jurgens' Booster mentioned.

 I don't really like bringing Booster's story backwards in other regards. Superman previously reached a point of mutual respect with Booster and now he's back to passing judgement. Much like in the first series Skeets tries to reason with Superman since the Man of Steel isn't listening to Booster. He puts it all into perspective on everything Clark has and everything Booster didn't. Much like the original Superman still insists that Booster should pay for his crimes. Skeets informs him that Booster is paying for his past and is where he's supposed to be in the timeline.

As glad as I am to see Broderick again I've been hoping to see him at a later point in his development. The story after he pursued Booster into the past and needed to find another purpose has so much potential. He was just in this issue as window dressing although he doesn't act as over the top as he did in the first BG series future arc.

My favorite part is Booster reuniting with his mom and Superman getting himself back in my good graces by talking about Booster being a hero. I love how Booth even made Booter sit awkwardly like he's embarrassed. Clark relating the meeting to how he'd feel if Jon disappeared was a very heartfelt connection. I don't have much to say on the rest as the other plots are still being set up. I did enjoy the issue even though I do have some nitpicks.





Say What?: Booster says we probably know who he is in his narrative but we may not know his real name. Isn't that public knowledge in this canon?

We learned that Jon Carter was abusive to the twins' mom in the second Booster Gold series but it's said here that it was so bad that she ended up in the hospital more than once..




Questions Asked?: Why did the Eradicator download the local language when no one was talking and it links Superman to the House of El anyway?

Wouldn't Superman genetic scan list him as Kal El?

What is it with Jurgens and these odd Booster endorsements? This is the second time the adult diaper thing was mentioned. I believe JLI was the last time he brought it up and he denied approving it.

Doesn't it usually take Superman longer to absorb energy?

If Booster didn't prevent the alternate timeline it would affect the whole Multiverse?!

Does Clark know Booster's history or not? How Well known is it? Wouldn't Skeets still be the one that informed Superman?

Are they suggesting it's the same time sphere or Rip uses the same type of energy signal that differs from other time machines?

Is time travel still regarded as a crime punishable by death?

Where did Skeets get that footage of Booster and his dad?

They can make his forcefield fail but didn't take his weapons away? Why?

Superman didn't know he didn't deactivate the Eradicator? Yeah, this one is on him too.