Booster Gold #5 Review

BOOSTER GOLD #5
Written by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz
Art by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund

I think Booster Gold's hold on me is starting to wane. It still has it's moments and I do enjoy the book, but it's becoming fairly predictable and is showing signs of being a one trick pony with basically the same thing happening every issue. The ending to this issue shows signs that Johns and Katz have other plans in mind for the future of this series, so I expect my full blown Booster love to be back in full force with subsequent issues.

As for the contents of this issue, much like I predicted in my Post-Crisis Previews, the entire premise of this issue is Rip trying to teach Booster that some things just cannot be changed and were meant to happen. He does this by sending him back in time to try and save Batgirl from being shot and paralyzed by the Joker. Booster tries and fails over and over until Rip finally lets him in on his little secret that it was all just a lesson to show Booster he can't save Ted Kord and should stop trying.

To be honest, I found most of the Joker stuff fairly weak. There's little to none of the standard comedy from Skeets and Booster and Booster, who has taken hits from Doomsday, constantly gets physically beaten by the Joker and his sideshow freaks, which just strikes me as wrong any way you look at it. Add in the fact that this went exactly as just about everyone expected and the was a bit of a let down.

However, there's some good stuff here as well. We get a look at the villains who were behind Rex and Supernova and they end up being the Ultrahumanite, Despero and Degaton. Not sure who Degaton is, but none of these villains strike me as the kind of characters that would be behind this type of plot. I'm guessing someone else will be revealed as the mastermind of this scheme. Another great shot was a new chalkboard scene to open the issue up. The one I like is the "No trophy = Stephanie?" in reference to the trophy case for Spoiler in Batman's cave. Another good one is "Gog is dead! The age of Gog is upon us!". Reference to Johns' Kingdom Come arc in JSA maybe? I'll have the chalkboard in the Moments of the Week for those interested in all the random quotes.

Finally, the ending shows promise of giving this series a new direction with the introduction of several Blue Beetles from the past, present and future all requesting Booster's help in saving Ted Kord after Rip refused to help him.

Verdict - Check It. Usually a Must Read book, but this month's offering just fell a little bit below the bar. Still better than most books on the market though.

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