Review of Booster Gold # 19 (DC Comics) By Eddie R.

Reality Lost: Epilogue

To be Honest, I was never a fan of Booster Gold when growing up.

There was just something about him which turned me off. I mean over the course of reading comics for 25 + years, I had bumped into Booster on occasion in various books, but I never really went out of my way in order to seek him out, or to learn more about this character who happened to show up just after the Crisis on Infinite Earths back in 1986.





So when I began to read the weekly series “52”, I felt kind of disappointed when they added Booster as a Subplot. To my surprise, as weeks went by, I began to get interested not only in the part which Booster began to play, but the role he had taken on as a “Reality Cop” with Rip Hunter. At the end of 52, I was left with a sense that Booster was going to play a much bigger role in the background of the DCU.

I was also left wanting more. More Booster, more Rip, more changes to reality.

So when DC announced an ongoing Booster Gold series, I was in hopes that this wasn’t some lame attempt to shoehorn Booster into a series, after showing such a strong potential in 52, which was destined to end far much sooner than it should be. And I am happy to say that my hunches were right.

If anyone asks me about the current state of the DC universe, I tell them to go read the current Booster Gold series. Just like Booster is portrayed as “the greatest hero you never knew about”, I.M.O this book is like that for the DCU. With so many factors currently in play, it’s hard to understand what’s going on and where things might be heading, but somehow, the writers always manage to bring us up to speed and give clues as to where we are heading. The best example of this is the Chalk Board in Rips Hunter’s lab. Never has a device plot been so effectively used. And the current issue of Booster Gold continues to build on this.

Booster Gold #19 is the epilogue to the 5-part “Reality Lost” story arc, which marked the return of Booster Gold’s creator, Dan Jurgens, as both writer and penciler to the series. Setting up a scenario where Booster must continually “clean- up” after himself via a series of time travel events, Booster alters the current reality to the point where Rip Hunter no longer exists. During the same period, Booster’s sister, Michelle, gets abducted by a mysterious figure imprisoned within the time stream, who then shows her the reason behind her continued existence. Michelle’s reaction is one of heartbreak and crying foul, for feeling she has been cheated out of a life, unlike her brother. The way she rectifies the situation will leave readers wondering what consequences will come of this.

It is also during this “clean up”, where Booster encounters a few situations where he ensures the birth and demise of his best friend (and soon to be back up feature) Blue Beetle. Booster also enlists the aid of the one person he knows he can trust with helping is such a major task... Himself.

While I was glad to see this story arc come to an end, I am left with the question as to if this adventure has had any effect on the current state of the DCU?

And just like clockwork, in the background of the last panel, the Chalk Board appears, and it shows me things are about to get interesting once again.

9/10.