Booster Gold: 52 Pick-Up

I thought I’d take a bit of a break from movie reviewing to review a newly released collection of the first six issues of the new Booster Gold comic. It’s a fun effort to liven things up with a tale of a comic book that you should all be reading (at least those of you that read comics, which frankly should be all of you), and should not in any way be taken as a sign that I was just uninterested in watching a movie today.

When DC’s big event of last year, 52, came to its conclusion, there were a number of new titles to try to capitalize on 52’s success. First up was Countdown, a new weekly title that, putting it politely, was not as well-received as its predecessor had been. There were also three miniseries that were a good deal better written in Black Adam: the Dark Age, The Four Horsemen, and Crime Bible: Five Lessons in Blood. Finally, and easily most importantly of all, there was a new ongoing title for Booster Gold, Savior of the Multiverse.

It’s a great premise for a comic, as Booster Gold and Rip Hunter are now off secretly repairing the time stream from villainous time travelers. In doing so, we get a comic that touches on all of the major moments in DC history, like the crippling of Batgirl and the death of Ted Kord, shows us some nice bits of the multiverse (the all-too-brief appearances of Dr. 13 and his crew were a treasure), and gives us some great characterization as well. After all, Booster Gold is somewhat renowned as the super hero that most wants to be famous and loved by the world, so how well is he going to take it when his work requires him to make the world think he’s just a buffoon instead of a proper hero? This collection of the first story arc also ends with what has to be the single most satisfying comic book moment this year has had so far, a claim I do not make lightly.

Writers Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz have made this title into one of the top three best comics coming out of Marvel or DC right now, and you should all be reading it. If you were waiting on a trade to see how it goes, well, it’s out and you must pick it up pronto. Otherwise nobody will respect or love you, and you don’t want that, now do you?

Rating: ****