Booster Gold #10 (DC – Johns / Katz / Jurgens / Rapmund)
In order to correct the past and save the future, Booster Gold faces a startling reality — someone from his past must live and someone must die! Can the greatest hero the world has never known do what must be done to save all of time?
Readers of this book knew this was coming for a few issues now. Booster went back in time and saved his best friend, Ted Kord aka The Blue Beetle, from dying at the hand of one Maxwell Lord in the classic Countdown to Infinite Crisis (one of the best one-shots in recent history). By saving Ted, they created a whole new timeline where Lord and his OMAC armies have destroyed everything and killed everyone. Booster keeps trying to undo history and have both a bright future and save Ted, but to quote my favorite vulcan “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few… or the one”. In Issue #10, Geoff Johns puts some permanent nails in Blue Beetle’s coffin, it would seem his death is one of those “history solidifying” moments.
Besides the bad news about Beetle, we also get a solid look at who the Time Stealers are. This is the band of temporal villains who have been haunting Rip Hunter and Booster for the better part of a year now. They are Jon Carter (Booster’s dad), The Ultra-Humanite, Degaton and Despero. Huh? Yes, you heard me right, those three big baddies are following the D-lister Carter. How is that possible? A very clever plot hook by Mr. Johns, that’s how! Jon Carter pulled those three in time before they were the JLA arch-enemies that we cower in fear of now. Pulled by Carter at the beginning of their careers so he could shape them. Nice move! Also we have the Black Beetle, a future Blue Beetle bad guy and… the real mastermind behind the Time Stealers, Mr. Mind. It seems the worm made his escape from the end of 52 after all.
This issue ends with a bang and leading into Booster Gold #1,000,000 (set the wayback machine to 1998), after that it looks like Booster helps Batman save Gotham back in the day. While I have very much enjoyed this series, and in all honesty, more than I ever thought I would. My big question is where does this end? Booster can’t save time indefinitely. My guess is this series will get absorbed or take a major turn (i.e., Booster coming into real time) when Final Crisis gets resolved.
Issue Grade: B+
