Sorry, Funky. I didn’t like Brubaker’s “Lost in Space” epic, but I didn’t hate it as much as you did, apparently. I just dealt with it as a clearing of the decks kind of thing for what he really wanted to do with the book.

I've only read an issue so far (I thought it was half an issue, but I turned the page, and it turned out to be a full one.)

Having just read Brubaker's Capt. America, the change in writing style was jarring.

And then I remembered that I hadn't seen positive reviews anywhere, and felt I should hold you to task for not writing a review negative enough so that I knew to stay away.
That said, I guess it could pick up, can't stand that art though, it's actually worse than the early image art it's trying to mimick.

reminds us of a time when DC’s mainstream comics really, really sucked. Oh, maybe DC didn’t want to do that. Too late!

I think they shut the door on that as soon as they came out with a new Booster Gold book.

Picture time like a zipper. The present is the actual slider with the pull tab, the past is the interlocked teeth the slider has already moved over, and the future is the unlocked teeth further up the line that become interlocked as the slider moves over them. What you do at the slider can affect the unlocked teeth of the future, but once they're locked (according to the version of time travel the Booster Gold series is using) you can't touch them without extenuating circumstances. Booster comes from the unlocked teeth way up by the collar. By going to what he perceived as the past, he was actually jumping to the slider. He saw himself as moving from the present to the past, but he was actually, objectively, moving from the future to the present.

Now that makes no sense, unless you consider that in the DCU there is a definitive "present." The entire zipper is laid out, from the beginning of time to the end, but the point the slider is at - where the main DCU books currently are - IS "now." Some people will say that's silly or "nowcentric" or something, but it makes as much sense as Earth being the most important planet in the universe or the DCU reality (Earth-1, right?) being the most important dimension in the multiverse.

As for those extenuating circumstances: When Mr. Mind started eating chunks of the multiverse, he made kinks in the zipper. Now, as everyone knows, when a few of the locked teeth become seperated, it isn't long before the whole zipper splits and is of no use to anyone. Unfortunately, Booster and Rip don't have the tecnhology to push the slider back over the gaps like you would with a real zipper (if that would even work, metaphorically), so Booster has to go back and force the teeth back into alignment by hand. But he can't do anything with the teeth that are already locked. Therefore, Rip is convinced that Booster can't save Blue Beetle, because Ted's one of the locked teeth, and thinks he shouldn't even try because if it somehow worked, it would damage the zipper.

The Blue Beetle of the future, however, had access to technology that, essentially, let them pry open the locked teeth temporarily and slip them back into place when they're done. He can treat the zipper like a zip-lock bag, as long as they put everything back in place when they finish - i.e., making sure everyone still thinks the Blue Beetle died.

Sorry that was so long, and I hope it made sense.

In his earliest appearences, Booster was indeed a misplaced figure, flailing desperately to find his place in a society he wasn't familiar with. That treatment sort of died by the time he joined the Justice League and ever since Booster has sort of ironically been the pop culture reference guy in his appearances.

His sister Michelle was never actively the superhero Goldstar. On the one occasion when she donned the costume in order to discover whatever it was that had kept her brother performing as a super hero when his fortune was already secure -- at the time, he was a multi-millionare celebrity -- she was kidnapped by aliens. She died because Booster chose to save the population of the Earth instead of his own sister. Michelle's death wasn't so much a tale of misplaced responsibility, but the high cost of heroism.

As for time-travel, DC has been so inconsistant with its approach to the physics of time manipulation, anything could indeed be possible. In his history, Booster has both failed and succeded at changing the past, present, and future depending on what writer was at the helm.

Rip Hunter is either a schizophrenic or is actually multiple people. I mean, why would a guy who believes that time cannot be changed (Hunter's so-called "solidified time" theory) go through so much trouble to disguise his own history to protect himself from time-travelling assassins? Discounting what the man says, there's a lot of fun to be had with the concept of changing the known. (Just look at DC's Elseworlds and Marvel's What If?s.)

So, there you have it. Booster Gold: heavy on DC history, light on plot, but full of glib fun. (Not exactly Swamp Thing, is it?)

The defense rests.

I just wish one of the members would say, “Hey, you know we beat Despero, right?”

Errr....they didn't beat Despero, at least not as a team. The first time out, J'onn used a deus ex machina power and took the villain out solo. Then, during "Breakdowns," it was support staffers Kilowog and L-Ron, not any of the ostensibly "active roster" members, who defeated the great pink bastard.

They were effective in plenty of other stories -- The Teasdale Imperative, rescuing Mr. Miracle from Apokalips -- but the whole point of the Despero stuff was to maintain the villain's frightening unstoppability by allowing only very outre and one-time-only sorts of means to take him out. The side effect of this is that the JLI had to look inefficacious so far as stopping him was concerned.

IIRC, part of the significance of Booster's sister was that she was killed when stepping up to fill in for Booster when he didn't want to fulfill his responsibilities. That was a significant moment for a character whose motives up to that point had been purely selfish; sort of like if Uncle Ben hadn't died until Amazing Spider-Man #20 or so. (No sarcastic comments about Ultimate Spider-Man from the peanut gallery, please.) It never paid off because his book was cancelled soon afterwards (a case of too little, too late, really) and JLI never followed up on it, but it's a pretty solid motivator that's been sitting unused. (Arguably more so than Ted's death, since Booster did do his best there.)

And props to the cover designer for getting as close as they could to the Zero Month trade dress without actually including the logo (including the words "Zero Issue" under the #0).

And I REALLY liked the art in last issue, and still think you're wrong. But this one... not so much.

Hm. River Run was awesome. Trial By Fire had elements of awesome and elements of brilliance, but was maddeningly inconsistent with a lot that had come before-- and a conclusion to a story like Swamp Thing shouldn't go back and rob the previous stories of their emotional content. (The redemption of Arcana was brilliant, the Tefe retcon terrible.) And the rest was often a mess, even when cowritten with Morrison.

But as much as I WANTED to hate Mark Millar's initial issue, I was ultimately okay with it enough to buy it. I've said all I need to about the school scene and the regression on Johnny Storm's part was largely disappointing, but I like the Invisible Woman subplot and the rationale behind it, and I was actually concerned that Millar was going to create a whole new ex in the form of "Mrs. Fantastic" so I was happy that he used an already existing character.

red-Ricky: I'm not saying that the old JLI wasn't goofy, and near the end, it did get a bit too silly. But to dismiss it completely as a bunch of idiots standing around cracking jokes at each other is wrong, too, which is what everyone always brings up these days. I just wish one of the members would say, "Hey, you know we beat Despero, right?"

Sorry, Funky. I didn't like Brubaker's "Lost in Space" epic, but I didn't hate it as much as you did, apparently. I just dealt with it as a clearing of the decks kind of thing for what he really wanted to do with the book.

ZZZ: You make a good point, and I agree with you to a certain degree. Ultimately, though, they should try to understand why Rahne is leaving, especially Jamie, since she told him about her vision. I think, like Andrew, that David probably did the best he could to get her out of there, but the whole thing was so forced and didn't fit well with the way David has been writing this. Everyone seemed to be acting out of character just so Rahne could go join a different, and probably lousy, team.

Somebody should get lucky at leasst once in their lives.

And I like red-Ricky's assessment of Booster Gold. The stolen car analogy now makes me think of Booster as the "Ferris Bueller" of the DCU...

And this is different from the present time how?

(In before T.)

Ha. I actually was going to write that. I really am getting predictable.

By the way, Greg, disagree about Zero Hour. To me that was a time when DC mainstream comics were actually good. I bought and enjoyed way more DC books than Marvel at the time, by like maybe a 4 to 1 ratio.

1- Don't buy War Bonds they are a bad investment right now. Interests are too low, prices are too high.

2- I like the idea of Tiny Titans and Super-Friends. But at $2.25 a pop (plus tax), I think DC is missing the boat as to how much disposable income their target audience for this book has; and how often they'll be coming back for seconds. I think they should use the opportunity to experiment with format, sizes and ways to cut cost. I honestly don't see these books lasting if they don't find a way to make them cheaper (even if that means switching to ashcan size). It's just a thought.

3- As for Booster Gold and Blue Beetle...

A- It is what it is. A buddy cop popcorn film, ala Lethal Weapon. The only thing missing is Booster Gold saying "I'm getting too old for this" and Blue Beetle saying "This is another fine mess you've gotten me into". Which he used to say! Quite often! In the old Giffen League series.

B- Speaking of...

The DeMatteis/Giffen Justice League was nowhere near as ineffectual as recent DC revisionists would have you believe.

I think you are wrong. The old Giffen League was riddled with self deprecating humor. If anything, this is the most faithful adaptation written by someone other than DeMatteis. You got to remember, the Giffen League may have beaten the Lords of Chaos, Darkseid and Despero; but they were also turned down (for membership) by Mullet Starman, Diablo (who? ...exactly) and Apache Chief.

C- Story wise, you are not missing anything. Booster's sister died four issues before his book was canceled. I think she is supposed to be his new motivation for this set of adventures (kind of like Blue Beetle was his motivation in the previous series.)

D- Again, this appears to be a "just for fun" romp through the DC Universe. You know... kids borrow Dad's car; kids wreck Dad's car; kids steal a new car to replace the old car; It's like "The Big Lebowski". It even has the old... "You think they saw us?"

As for X-Factor, I've known several people who moved away over the years, and yes, they're adults and free to do whatever they please, but when it happens, you say goodbye, throw a going away party, reminisce, promise to keep in touch, but you do NOT just leave with no explanation, or say "I can do whatever the hell I want." If someone leaves your close circle of friends, and you don't know why or where they went, that's a clue that you were never really friends to begin with.

And like Bill Reed said, "Saxon" is probably a Dr. Who joke - every season of the current incarnation of the show has had a recurring word or phrase that tied into the season finale: "Bad Wolf" in season 1, "Torchwood" in season 2, and "Vote Saxon" in season 3. David might go somewhere with it, but it's probably just like having the magic numbers from Lost pop up or having someone idly sculpt Devil's Tower in their mashed potatoes. Good for a giggle if you recognize it, something you supposedly won't even notice if you don't. That last part obviously doesn't always work as planned.