Booster Gold #4

Enough shilly-shallying! On to the goodness that is Booster. It all starts on the very first panel of the very first page! Rip is moaning about having a fender-bender in the time stream, Booster is trying to sober up, and Barry tells Kid Flash..."Take a good long LOOK, Wally. THAT'S why you don't drink alcohol to excess." Wally meekly says "Yes, Uncle Barry", while a slightly hung-over Booster points out that all that whisky actually saved Superman. When Rip tells him that he doesn't want to hear it anymore, Booster replies sotto voce "Yes, 'uncle Hunter!'"

Three panels in, and I'm smiling already.

Then the Supernova tracking alarm goes off, and the four of them leap into action! Woohoo! Booster is actually being the smart one in the bunch, when he points out that it's too easy, they couldn't possibly have found Supernova already...unless he WANTED them to! Which is exactly what happens. Supernova shows up with his teammate...the nefarious Rex Hunter! It falls a little flat because nobody outside of Rip even knows who he is. Apparently he's some loser who tried to join Rip's team years ago, but got kicked out because of his irresponsibility.

Basically, Rex wants to change history, making HIMSELF and Supernova the only superheroes left. Barry and Wally rush in to help, but Fwwaaammm, they are blinked out of existance! So we end up with a matchup between Rip and Rex, Booster and Supernova, and Skeets vs Maximillian.

Wait...Maximillian?

A SUPER version of Skeets. An EVIL super version of Skeets. I am in heaven.

There is a little bit of other stuff thrown in. Dan flirts with Whatshername...Booster's great great great Grandmother a bit, while there is a page of Dan Garret fighting a mummy for some reason that I am sure will come apparent in future issues. But the good stuff is our heroes squaring off against one another.

It turns out that this is the time and place that Barry gained his superpowers, and evil Rex and Supernova have place a lightning rod on the roof of the building, so that Barry won't get zapped. Holy Back to the Future! Rip is doing pretty well against Rex, but Booster is getting pretty frustrated about dealing with Supernova, so he rips off the hood to reveal...HIS FATHER!

I totally did not see that coming. And yet, it makes perfect sense, because the Supernova costume is designed to only work for someone with Booster's DNA. Booster's Dad has a big old scar and is missing an eye...so he's obviously evil! EVIL!! Poor Booster. Not only is his old man a real bad guy, but he's ALSO a huge jerk, and keeps making really snarky comments to Booster about what a failure he is, and how he's not worthy to be a hero, and how his sister's death was really his fault and so on. Like I said...poor Booster.

Booster IS a hero however, and manages to grab the lightning rod, with a little help from Skeets. But then Skeets gets blasted by Maximillian, and Booster is horrified. His mean old Dad grabs the remnant of the lightning rod, just in time to get hit by a bolt of lightning himself, which causes him to disappear with a big KRAKOOOM! Then Barry gets hit with an even bigger KRAKOOOOOOMMMMM! and history as we know it, is restored.

Rip beat the crap out of Rex obviously, but Booster is pretty pissed that his Dad got away. Rip theorizes that the lightning bolt must have burnt out the chronal energy cells in the suit, so that wherever or whenever his Father is, he's trapped, and therefore no concern of theirs. I can tell you right now, that this is so going to come back and bite them in the butts someday. Meanwhile, Rip is able to repair Skeets, which is a very good thing.

Booster is feeling a little bit down, which is certainly understandable. Oh, and did I mention that Barry and Wally are back, feeling good as new, if slightly confused, and get to run off together on their adorable little treadmill? Anyway, Booster wants to go and save Ted. NOW. Rip gets all defensive and tells him that he's just as bad as Rex, wanting to change the timeline for personal gain. Booster points out that he doesn't want to erase anyone, he just wants to SAVE a life, which is a heck of a lot different from what Rex and Supernova were trying to do.

Rip conceeds, but says that there is one more thing that they have to do first. Isn't that the way that it always is? He says that there is one more anomaly that they missed. Black Canary shouldn't be the head of the JLA ( I agree, she should be back in Birds of Prey, dammit!) and that the current leader should be...Barbara Gordon! Booster is confused of course, and thinks of Oracle, but Rip says NOT Oracle, it should be...



Holy Guacamole!

I am now confused as heck. Because as much as I was fond of the original Batgirl, I do have to admit that I simply LOVE Barbara as Oracle. And apparently everybody and his brother knows that Barbara IS Oracle. I mean, if Booster knows, then everybody knows...right? I don't have the foggiest idea of how they are going to resove this, but I am breathlessly awaiting next month's book!

THAT'S a cliffhanger!