Booster Gold #16

Booster Gold #16
"Fresh Start"
Creative Team: Dan Jurgens (Writer and Pencils)/Bob Lewis (Inks and Colors)/Albert DeGuzman (Letterer)/Barbara Randall (Editor)

Summary

Booster and friends have finally made it back to 1987, and it’s time to rebuild Goldstar, Inc. As you might recall, right before Booster went to the future, his base of operations had been leveled. But he’s got a new plan! Buying a mansion and making it his new headquarters. And, to celebrate this ostentatious purchase, Booster has decided to steal Don Johnson’s wardrobe from Miami Vice!

He meets his supporting cast in a meeting room in the mansion and explains that because he owns the mansion, he’s been able to install all sorts of security and other systems that will hopefully prevent a repeat of the Shockwave incident from Booster Gold #11. Also, he’s decided to take Goldstar, Inc. to another level by reforming it into Booster Gold International, which he intends to turn into a giant conglomerate by acquiring a whole bunch of other businesses with his wealth. Michelle points out that such a plan would need someone with business savvy, which isn’t really Booster’s thing, to which Booster retorts that he’ll have Dirk and Trixie handle it. Yeah, I’m sure a publicist and a secretary will be great at managing a giant corporation. Soo and Rip will hang around as science-type guys.

Monica Lake then barges in to protest that her subplot died on the vine several issues ago, and also that she wants the female lead role in the Booster Gold movie.  Booster tells her to “buzz off”. Monica insists, explaining that she used him for months to get that role, and Booster responds with an even uglier tirade, telling Monica that he used her for the publicity and that’s it, and also that Booster isn’t “a one-woman kind of guy and [he] never will be”. Trixie overhears this, and that pretty much kills any romantic relationship they might have had dead.

But Booster cares not! It’s time for a photo op as he and Dirk head to Metropolis to announce that they’ll be building a new, much larger building on the site of where their old headquarters stood as a gift to Metropolis. Clark Kent watches the press conference in his capacity as a reporter, and storms off in disgust.

Booster’s mildly charitable efforts are interrupted, however, by a blimp crash! Only he can save Metropolis from a blimp that has somehow wandered into the downtown area while on fire. Booster, not being strong enough to just lift the thing, separates and blows up the engine before managing to land the blimp at a nearby racetrack, getting himself some more good publicity in the process.

At Booster’s new mansion, Soo examines the repaired super-suit, and tells Booster that it was because he was constantly running his forcefield that he got sick because he didn’t build up a resistance or…you know what, this whole “Booster is dying” thing never made any sense. The upshot is that Booster will have to pick and choose where he uses his forcefield or he’ll get sick and die because of...uh...science!

Michelle also wants to talk to Booster, and tells him that she’s decided to travel. I'm sure that's a subplot that will lead to great things.

Dirk, realizing that Booster has rather emphatically disclaimed any romantic relationship with Trixie earlier this issue, makes his own move, using his daughter and inviting Trixie out for pizza. Well, let’s hope this pairing works better than the last one.

Tibet! Cheshire kills some monks with swords before getting into a helicopter. Bet you didn't know that Tibet still had bands of warrior monks roaming its borders! Her Soviet contact then hires her to steal “a very deadly formula.”

Speaking of which, the man who invented said formula is at a company called “US Biotech” and has gotten famed psychopath and occasional super-hero Hawk to help him “save the world…no matter the cost.”

Back at the Booster mansion, a mysterious figure breaks in, only to get caught by Booster. It turns out the man is a representative of the new Justice League who invites Booster to join. Booster’s pretty stoked. To be continued!

Continuity!

-Cheshire and Hawk faced off a few months back in  New Teen Titans #20-21, in a story where the Titans managed to get their asses kicked about twenty times in two issues.

-Hawk has been basically insane ever since his brother and crime-fighting partner Dove died in Crisis on Infinite Earths #12.

-House ads for Suicide Squad (which was pretty awesome), the Wally West version of the Flash (which eventually got pretty awesome) and Young All-Stars (which was essentially Roy Thomas' last stand).

Review

A bold new direction for Booster! And by bold new direction, I mean, "Let's take the worst aspects of Booster's character and kick them up a notch!" It was a strategy so sound that it got the comic cancelled nine issues later.

Actually, it's not really a new direction so much as it's trying to reorient the book a bit. I have no idea why they decided to turn Booster into a venture capitalist, but it doesn't quite ring true. The biggest problem (which actually gets mentioned, but not really resolved a few issues later) is that it makes sense for him to play super-hero to make money, but if he's buying and selling corporations en masse, he doesn't really need to be a hero at all, which kind of makes the book seem pointless.

Also, who the fuck wants to root for a corporate overlord? Hell, even in the '80s that didn't seem particularly attractive. And while I might appreciate the risk-taking inherent in making your lead character basically an asshole, I have the feeling it didn't do much for the general public.

Oh, and the Trixie/Booster romance gets killed by Booster essentially saying, "FUCK MONOGAMY!" Again, not really good for making Booster more likable, and Trixie probably deserves better than just getting shoved into another slow-burn romance with another member of the supporting cast.

It feels like all they've done with this issue is kind of shuffle things around a bit, and kind of just made things a bit worse.

But hey, at least Booster finally gets to fight a real villain next issue with Cheshire and all! That's a sort of progress!