Booster Gold # 15

Booster Gold is on the trail of a mystic knife that could change the course of history. In the process, he encounters the Elongated Man, at a time when he was still happy, hopeful and on the verge of joining the Justice League

This is a nice sidetrip down memory lane for old-time readers, made more poignant by the knowledge that we know the sad fate awaiting Ralph Dibny and his wife. Trivia buffs may also be intrigued by the possibility that the missing knife in this issue is somehow linked to the one that helped turn Carter Hall into Hawkman, way back in the 1940s.

At the same time, readers of this book may be getting the feeling that they have seen this all before. The BOOSTER GOLD comic has spent too much time going over the past of the DC universe, dangling the possibility of "what could have been..." and milking the drama from these situations for all they are worth. We have already seen Booster fail in saving Batgirl from being crippled and from preventing Blue Beetle's death. So old readers may probably feel numb when we see that he cannot prevent the tragedy that will befall the Elongated Man and his wife.

The story is also a bit convoluted with all the time travel and running around from one place to another. The comedy sub-plot involving Booster's sister and Leonardo de Vinci just takes up space (like we all couldn't guess the outcome of that joke from the start.)

The art has a clarity and sharpness to it but could also be more fluid and less posed. Of course, these have been the characteristics of many of Jurgens's works in the past. That seems to be too ingrained to his style, to the point that it can't be changed. On the other hand, Jurgens is showing improvement in his dialogue which flows more naturally.

Maybe we can get a few BOOSTER GOLD stories that don't involve changing DC history but which are just decent adventure stories.