Booster Gold #10

I...Oh Ted...!

Curse you, Geoff Johns, for making me care! *sniffle*

Anyway, when last we left, Booster and Blue Beetle had reassembled the BAND, and they had dispatched EvilMax with some...er...dispatch. Then, Boosters EvilDad had shown up with his nefarious crew in tow, mainly, the Ultrahumanite, Per Degaton and Despero! The scary music had swelled to a crescendo, and we were left hanging for a month.

THIS month however, we open to Rip Hunter, Daniel and Whatshername...Rose, wandering around Rip's lab, complete with a destroyed Time Sphere and more cryptic warnings scribbled on the chalk board. I LOVE cryptic scribblings! It seems pretty obvious that Ted Has To Go, although neither Skeets nor Rip are happy about it.

Basically then we cut back to the fight. You would think that with Superman thrown into the mix, that he and the League could wipe these guys out pretty quickly, but that doesn't seem to be the case. They seem to be there, to keep the Ultrahumanite, Per Degaton and Despero occupied, while Booster has some interaction with his rotten creep of a father. They have some banter back and forth, mainly consisting of Booster asking "why" and EvilDad cackling...evilly. Oh, and Booster keeps fading in and out periodically, which is just driving him NUTS! Meanwhile, EvilDad has sicced his evil robot Maximilian on Ted, who's doing his best to dodge the hits. Max the Robot says that he doesn't want to kill Ted, but he sure as heck doesn't mind hurting him. A lot.

Then...TADAAAAA!!! Skeets shows up! Woohooo! Ted is of course, delighted to see Skeets and even offers to "kiss that golden butt of yours!" Skeets is a bit more sedate in his joy, and merely mentions that it is a pleasure, and oh, by the way, how is Ted's Bug? He always enjoyed their chats.

Awwwww!

Then Max the Robot starts monologuing, and he and Skeets square off. Max the Robot may be more powerful than Skeets, but Skeets has a secret weapon...a little something that Rip helped him whip together...and...and...basically, Skeets craps all over Max. LITERALLY! THAT'S something you don't see everyday!

Meanwhile, Booster's EvilDad, Supernova is doing his very evil best to undermine Booster's confidence, not to mention his self esteem. All about how Ted isn't worth the deaths of all the others in this altered reality, and so on and so forth. Booster keeps fading in and out, his "history unravelling." Booster can't quite figure out how it is that his Dad even KNOWS about all the stuff that he's quoting, as the camera pans in on Supernova's ear.

That's odd. His ear appears to be...talking!

HOLY CRAP! It's Mr. Mind!

I can honestly say that I did NOT see that coming. And yet...it makes such perfect sense! Or at least it does if you read 52, because at the end of 52, it is Booster Gold, who defeats the machinations of Mr. Mind, and saves the Universe, even if nobody except he, Daniel and Rip know about it. Although Mr. Mind obviously remembers, and he's been nursing quite a grudge!
HE'S been the one manipulating Supernova, and his merry little band, HE'S been the one who got the Black Beetle from the future to go to Booster and talk him into resurrecting Ted! This is Just So Perfect.

Rip, Daniel and Rose however, have not been at the fight, they are busy running around collecting Time Sphere's, Legion Rings and other goodies, so that they can restore Booster's timeline. I did love the fact that apparently it is Braniac's ring that Booster ends up with. So appropriate.

Mr. Mind is still fighting Booster and Ted, and in a spectacularly disgusting panel, vomits out all of his little worm children...all over Booster. Yechh. Thank goodness for force shields! And, as Mr. Mind, stands there gloating and calling Booster a dumb jock, that dumb jock uses a little radio feedback to scramble Mr. Mind's communications, and incidentally freeing his father from Mr. Mind's mind control. Too bad he basically rips his ear off doing it. In his typical fashion, Supernova isn't grateful in the least. This guy is giving Guy's father a run for the Worst Father Ever category!

Mr. Mind in his usual fashion, makes a run for it, while bloviating that This Isn't Over! And then Ted, in my favorite panel does...this.

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GO TED!

Too bad about Bea however. I do have a caveat about Bea getting blasted, or roasted or whatever. Back in JLI, when they were first fighting Despero, he tried to blast Bea,and the blast went right through her, because she wasn't just ON fire, she actually WAS Fire! A Radiating Plasma, with no actual form! So I do think that they are cheating a bit on this. It serves as the dramatic impetus for Ted's Noble Sacrifice however. You just knew that this was going to happen. Booster is still trying to think of a way to save everyone, but Ted has realized that he can't be there. Skeets however, oddly enough says to have faith, that Rip will come through.

However, just as Ted is about to sacrifice himself, he gets tackled by the Black Beetle, who has been beating the rest of the the League up. Too bad he drops his scarab on the way. The Black Beetle desperately wants the Blue Beetle to live...therefore ensuring that Jaime Reyes will never come into being. Apparently, Jaime steals his girlfriend or something. What a crybaby!

But Ted is resolute. And his goggles are broken again. That's never a good sign.

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Oh Ted.