Booster Gold #2

Haw! You all thought I was going to go for Green Lantern #23 instead, didn't you? Well, I'm letting that one ferment a little bit first. In the meantime, I have to give you Booster Gold instead.



This is going to be one of my all-time favorite books, I can already feel it. This was wonderful. Funny, witty, a tiny bit poignant, a little mystery thrown in...who exactly IS that in Supernova's costume anyway?

We begin with Booster laying down the law to Rip Hunter, he'll give up being famous so long as he can get Ted Kord back. Rip isn't too happy about this, and grumbles for a bit, but eventually gives in...as we all knew he would. But getting back to that mysterious Death Certificate for Hal Jordan, that Booster received from the JLA, Rip is researching the Green Lanterns.

Oh no! Hystory is changing again! Hal's not the greatest GL ever, it's...it's...The Greatest Green Lantern is...

...Yup. It's Guy Gardner.

Double haw!

Well, I knew that all along, but it is nice to recieve a bit of validation. Kalinara will be beside herself.

Meanwhile, they've got to stop Sinestro from talking to Guy, because that will lead to untold chaos in the time stream. Guy will die from the yellow plague on Planet Ghera (GL#59), and Sinestro will build the Sinestro Corps years before he should have, and destroy Oa and take over the Universe, including Earth.

Booster isn't exactly buying all of this, but Rip assures him that tiny actions can lead to massive reactions. Then Rip decides to go Time Diving,which looks like fun.

Meanwhile, Guy Gardner is having a heated conversation with his mummy on the phone. She wants him to come home for Christmas, and he's not having any of it, and who can blame him. He's got tickets to the Rose Bowl, and it's the University of Michegan (his old alma mater) vs. the University of Washington. Nevertheless he mopes around for a while. Please keep in mind that this is the old un-braindead Guy. Booster is just flabberghasted, he's never had any sort of experience with old un-braindead Guy, and he's not sure how to handle it.



Then Sinestro shows up, he's still the greatest GL ever, but he's not too impressed with Earth. He's talking back and forth to his ring, which describes him as the Great and Powerful Sinestro. Hmmmm...sounds like the old magic mirror there. That's one smart ring.

So naturally, Booster clobbers Sinestro in mid-air. Sinestro is quite surprised, to say the least, and not too thrilled that this troglodyte has the effrontery to attack him. Between the two of them, they manage to commit quite a bit of damage,while Sinestro thinks that perhaps Skeets is actually a Manhunter. To which Skeets replies..."No man escapes ME!" and being yellow, whacks Sinestro right in the head.

Triple Haw!

Then we have a delightful segue to Rip, and none other than Dr. Thirteen, which just thrills me to the marrow. However, Sinestro has given Booster the slip and is about to pounce on an unsuspecting Guy, when Booster has an epiphany and realizes how much Sinestro loves the sound of his own voice, so he flies up and grabs him again. Sinestro is about to punch his lights out, when Booster starts gushing about what a fan he is, and how utterly utterly fabulous Sinestro is. He gets a little mixed up and calls the Qwardians "Accordians", but Sinestro is so enthralled at what he's hearing, that he doesn't care. Booster points out that he's from the future and can guarantee that Sinestro is just the bestest GL ever. Sinesto harumphs a little bit and says that another fellow from the future had told him that Guy was supposed to be the bestest, when Booster nails it by claiming that this other guy can't be trusted, he was just trying to make Sinestro afraid.

Afraid? Sinestro isn't afraid of anything! Booster then says that his fear is of being replaced, and that by seeking out Guy Gardner, he's showing his enemies that he IS afraid. When Sinestro comments on Booster's Legion ring, he stammers out that they ALL wear rings in the future...in honor of...The Sinestro Corps! Yes, that's it! Sinestro is delighted, and actually twirls his little mustache.

He Twirls His Mustache! This may be one of the greatest panels in Comic book history.

So Sinestro flies off all happy now. Booster however, still goes looking for Guy, because as long as he's known Guy, he's never seen him like this. Uncertain and quiet and maybe even a little afraid. So he changes into mufti, and finds the bar where Guy is having a beer. Booster just walks up, plunks himself down next to Guy and says:

"Hey. How you doin'? Buy you a drink?"

To which Guy replies rather coldly, that "Thanks, I'm straight." and thinks "California!" to himself. Booster immediately stammers "Oh,me TOO, me TOO."

Quadruple Haw!

So they get to talking a bit. Guy says that he used to play for Michigan, which means this takes place after he made the winning touchdown and went home to find that nobody cared, and Mace had been shot. Booster gets Guy to open up a little, and they start to talk about family. Booster admits that he's lost his sister and hasn't seen his parents in...years. Guy replies that he has a brother he doesn't really care for, and that he feels just about the same about his mother. When Booster asks about his father, Guy gets all broody and says that the old lush is dying, and that he used to be his punching bag, and doesn't need any sort of reconciliation crap. To which Booster says that his own dad had been a crook, and he lost a lot trying to help him and get his love. His dad died before they could have any sort of relationship, and he regrets not being able to say goodbye. At which point, Guy gets all quiet, then suddenly hands his ticket to Booster and goes and calls his mother, and gets a flight back to Baltimore.

So Booster is feeling self-congratulatory that he's saved history, when Skeets points out that tomorrow is the day that Abin Sur shows up, and that had Guy stayed to watch the game, HE would have been closest and would have therefore received the ring instead of Hal Jordan. Of course, we all know from reading GL #59 that had that happened, then Guy WOULD have died from that yellow plague, so inadvertently, Booster just saved Guy's life!

So Booster pulls out the death certificate, and now all of a sudden it is for Superman,not Hal Jordan! At that same moment, Rip's body comes flying up and whumps against the side of their time ship thingie, followed by Supernova! Booster is confused and at first thinks that it is Daniel, but Skeets isn't fooled, whereupon the faux Supernova flies off through time, and lands in the old west, where he meets up with a certain grizzled bounty hunter.

Dagnabit, this is fun. I do have one small quibble, according to GG, Mace should have already committed his "suicide" at this point, but I can rationalize this by saying that Guy probably woulnd't want to blurt that little fact out to a total stranger in a bar. Although he doesn't mind saying that his father is a total jerk. But apparently, Booster is the one who puts the whole idea of a Sinestro Corps into Sinestro's mind, which I find to be hilarious.

The art is excellent, the story and dialogue are excellent, you could do a HECK of a lot worse. AND Sinestro twirls his mustache.