What Happened: This issue begins where the last issue left off(makes sense, doesn't it?)with Booster Gold trying his best to not get killed by Trigon in an alternate timeline. While Booster and Trigon are battling, Black Beetle arrives on the scene and asks Trigon not to kill Booster. Trigon doesn't appreciate the fact that his "servant" Black Beetle is asking a favor of him, but when Beetle tells Trigon Booster is a time traveler and that he may know secrets that could help Trigon, Trigon decrees that Beetle can interrogate Booster. With that, Trigon knocks Booster unconscious. Booster wakes up in Lex Luthor's lab, and refuses to tell Beetle any pertinent information. Beetle tells Luthor to inject Booster with a serum that would reveal all of Booster's secrets, but destroy his mind in the process. Beetle then leaves the lab. Instead of injecting Booster, Lex frees him and tells Booster he can't stomach working for Trigon anymore. Lex tells Booster about a room in Trigon's castle that is off-limits to everyone but Trigon, and Luthor surmises that the key to Trigon's defeat must be in that room. Booster gets in touch with Skeets, and the remaining members of the anti-Trigon rebellion force teleport into the castle and to Booster's location. Raven, Rip Hunter, Lex and Skeets teleport into the room while the rest of the resistance battle against Trigon's forces. The room contains trophies Trigon had collected after his conquest of Earth, and the Black Beetle makes a bee-line into the room and betrays Trigon, stealing a Red Scarab, which he claims will make him unstoppable. Beetle then teleports away as Trigon enters the room enraged by Beetle's betrayal. Raven teleports Booster, Rip and Skeets back to the Time Bubble and they head back to the battle between Deathstroke, Ravager and the Teen Titans. This time Booster intercepts Deathstroke before he can arrive at the Titans base and defeats the Terminator. Booster then proceeds to dress up as Deathstroke to ensure that the Titans will win the battle and that the timeline unfolds the proper way. Raven alters Deathstroke's mind so that he believes he was the one who fought by Ravager's side and erases all evidence of Booster from his memory in the process. This issue ends with Booster realizing that he still has some work ahead of him to fix the timeline. The Second Feature starred Blue Beetle, and since I can't stand him I'm not going to bother to read/review that story. Sorry.
What I thought: I actually have some mixed emotions about this comic... I thoroughly enjoyed the stuff in the future with Black Beetle, Trigon and Lex Luthor. I loved the fact that Beetle was just biding his time, waiting for the right moment to steal the Red Scarab from Trigon. That part of the story was good... The part of the story when Booster an co. headed back to the past bothered me a lot though. Come on, we don't even get to see the battle between Booster and Deathstroke??? Instead we get to relive the battle between Deathstroke(Booster), Ravager and the Titans again? As a Deathstroke fan, that really bugged me. I also don't like that Deathstroke wasn't even a part of that classic confrontation. Bah!
Score: 7 out of 10.
What can I say, I thought Beetle's dig at Booster's expense was funny.
I thought this issue was good but I agree with you...how did Booster even subdue Deathstroke in the first place, thats outrageous they wouldn't atleast show it. He could've hit deathstroke with a rock for all I care, I just wanted to see how he knocked him out. Also, I agree, Jamie Reyes bores me and I never read that and dont plan on it, although, I do believe Ted Kord is the Black Beetle.
ReplyDeleteYeah man, it's not like Deathstroke is some c-list villain, he's one of DC's top bad guys! Come on DC!
ReplyDeleteWell, so far Ted hasn't popped up anywhere during Blackest Night, which is def strange... That said, I kind of hope Black Beetle isn't Ted, I don't think I like the idea of an angry/evil Ted Kord.
Yeah thats why I couldn't believe they didn't show his fight, the only reason I could see them not showing it is if Booster did something wrong and has to go back again, then they showed the fight, but either way that was kind of a letdown.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I wouldn't like Ted to be Black Beetle, but if you recall when Beetle said he'd go back and fix the timeline we never actually saw him do it, and sure the timeline was fixed but for all we know, Ted who's created things that can Rival Batman's creations, he could've created a robot or a forcefield or whatever to fake his death.
Plus couple that with at the end of the last issue of the Arc we see someone enter his Beetle Cave and do his distinct "Bwahahaha" laugh, but then again I could be wrong.
I think(hope!)that DC is dropping hints to make us think that Black Beetle is Ted, but in actuallity it's not him. From the examples you listed, it seems the most probable that BB is Ted.
ReplyDeleteStill, I'm thinking BB is like an evil distant relative of Ted, like a crazy great-grandson or something. Plus there's also the question of who the Black Beetle is working for/with. I can vaguely recall Black Beetle talking to somebody shrouded in shadows at the beginning of the current storyarc. Maybe Ted's the evil mastermind and BB is just his muscle. Eh, who knows I guess!
That also works, Hm...I think we could write a good comic together lol. From everything we've seen so far I wouldn't be surprised if BB was like Rip hunter or someone.
ReplyDeleteOh and this is far off topic bu given your knowledge of Wally West I figured you'd be the one to ask. Do you know any arcs or stories with Wally West and Nightwing or Wally and Batman?
BB = Rip Hunter or Rip = mysterious evil guy behind the scenes would totally work for me. Or better yet, how about evil alternate Booster Gold = BB and evil alternate Rip Hunter = mysterious evil guy behind the scenes! Booster and Rip having to defeat their evil counterparts would be pretty cool actually. Yeah, we'd write one hell of a good comic together!
ReplyDeleteHmmm, off the top of my head I can't think of a Dick/Wally or Bruce/Wally team-up... He popped up every now and then in the Nightwing series, but I can't remember them actually having an official team-up. Bats and Wally really didn't cross paths much besides the JLA comic... I can remember Kid Flash(Impulse)teaming up with Bats to face the Joker, but strangely I can't think of a single Bats/Wally team-up. If I wasn't about to sign off for the night I'd dig through my Flash/Nightwing/Batman books to tell you for sure. I'll def let you know what I find by tomorrow night though.
That'd be awesome, I was actually thinking evil counterparts for both. Only time will tell though. But I'd love if it went that way.
ReplyDeleteI remember Wally showing up in the last Issue of Nighwting and I looked up Wally today on Wikipedia and saw something about a mutual respect with bats and Grayson being his best friend so thats the only reason I ask.
Yeah, Dick and Wally were Titans teammates forever, so they're both pretty close. I think Dick may have been the best man at Wally's wedding, and Wally attended Dick's fake wedding as well. I still haven't gotten around to checking my collection(watching football)but I will by tonight.
ReplyDeleteCool, thats no prob. And Dick's fake wedding? Theres some Nightwing Trivia I dont know, when did this happen?
ReplyDeleteUm, I think it was in Nightwing annual #1... But I could be wrong. Dick(sporting the early 90's rat tail!!!)winds up marrying some chick to solve some kind of crime. Or something like that... I forget how it ends, but everything gets wrapped up nice and neat by the end and Dick is no longer married.
ReplyDeleteHm...I must've read Nightwing Annual 2. Thats the one with Dick and Babs right? Well now I've gotta find annual one because Im curious of this story.
ReplyDeleteYep, Annual #2 was Dick and Babs and the fallout from the engagement debacle. Ann. #1 was a flashback story detailing Dick's pre-Bludhaven days(I think...)
ReplyDeleteHm...I'll try to pick it up tomorrow, then we can have a Nightwing discussion of epic proportions. *Voice echos*
ReplyDeleteA Nightwing discussion of epic proportions?!?! Now that sounds right up my alley!
ReplyDeleteHm...Rate your favorite Robin, in order if ya don't mind. Not by how they were as a Robin but on why you like them the most/least.
ReplyDeleteOh man, that's REALLY tough. They all have certain aspects I really like...
ReplyDeleteObviously Dick would have to be #1, I suffered through his oftentimes unbareable series, so that should show my dedication towards him.
It's close, but I'm going to have to give the nod to Jason Todd over Tim for the #2 spot. I liked Jason as Robin, I may be in the minority, but I did, and the first few issues into his return established him as an almost tragic, sympathetic figure... Of course most of that character development has been lost now...
Tim's def #3, I've always liked him right from the get-go, especially during his Young Justice days, but then again, I loved everything about YJ. As a matter of fact, one of the MANY piles of comics laying around my place is the complete Robin series. I have no idea when I'll ever get around to reading that!
Steph is #4, she's another character I've always liked, she's really grown into a very good, interesting, multi-dimensional character.
And then there's #5... Damian Wayne... I really don't like Damian. He irks me like few other comic book characters do. So there you go. What's your list look like Jason?
To be honest my list is the exact same order as yours, which I figured would happen. Dick has proved himself tenfold that he's one of the best to ever don a mask, whether it was as Robin, Nightwing, Batman or even The Target (dun dun dunnnnn) He's always shown to have his heart in the right place and take on all comers.
ReplyDeleteJason is second but really close to being first, I always felt a connection to him after finding out about his death because I don't think people wanted him dead as much as they wanted to know what would happen if he did die. I think he's a great character and very multi-dimensional, unlike some people who you know how they react to people, you'd never be able to predict how Jason would react to someone like Superman or Wonder Woman or even Gordon.
Tim's third of course because he's one of the best damn detective's ever in my opinion, he's the closest thing to Batman in that department and he's a great leader.
I feel each of the first three Robin's represent Bruce differently, Dick in terms of heart, Jason in terms of emotion and Tim in terms of detective skills.
Stephanie is fourth because she was used as a sacrificial lamb, not unlike Jason, yet her character still is given the ability to work, she could've easily fallen into the abyss but she's quickly becoming my favorite Bat-female since Barbara.
Lastly is Damian who I just plain don't like. He's a jerk, he's disrespectful and he has no morals, I have never rooted for a character to be killed off like I want Damian to be, It sounds brutal but its 100% true.
I've got to say I'm a bit surprised Jason Todd wasn't number 1 for you. It seems we fully agree on things here, even about Damian. I often wonder why Grant Morrison created a character as throughly unlikeable as Damian to become Robin... Then again, I know people who are huge fans of Damian. My own sister is a big fan of Damian... Go figure!
ReplyDeleteReally? I can't believe anyone like's Damian, I'd love to hear her reasons on why she likes him. And Yeah I'm a huge fan of Jason but I've been a fan of Grayson since I was like seven years old, so old habits die hard I suppose.
ReplyDeleteShe basically likes him for all the reasons you and I don't. She likes his bad attitude, and she likes that he's an obnoxious, disrespectful jerk. A few of the other guys who follow this blog are also fans of Damian... Me, I just don't see much to like about him.
ReplyDeleteWow, I was unaware Damian had more than three fans, those being Ras, Talia and Damian himself. I'm curious to see what happens with Damian when Bruce returns.
ReplyDeleteAs long as Grant Morrison is in control of the Bat-universe, Damian isn't going anywhere. I figure if Grant is still writing the main Batman book when Bruce comes back, Damian will unfortunately be Bruce's Robin.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Damian would lose his "edge" because when Damian and Bruce did team together Bruce yelled at him and said he dishonored his sensei and Damian shut and behaved for once, which I found amazing, So if Bruce can get him to grow up I'd be fine with that.
ReplyDeleteRespectful Damian is a good thing, annoying pain in the ass Damian is not!
ReplyDeleteYou know what I would actually like...Is for Damian to join Jason, just to see the reaction from the Bat-family, Especially Bruce. And of course Tim's I told you so.
ReplyDeleteNah, I could never see that happening. To be honest, I wouldn't be shocked to see Damian become Batman before Bruce comes back. Grant Morrison spelt out very clearly in Batman #666(i think)that he eventually wants Damian to take over the Batman mantle.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I read that issue, and I cant even express how much I hated it. It wasn't even like he was Batman to help people or save Gotham, he was Batman for the sake of being Batman. Actually he was more like Jason then anything, killing people and believing he's the hero.
ReplyDeleteHa, I'm glad you said it, 'cause that issue confused the hell out of me!!! I think I had to read it 3 times just to understand what was going on!
ReplyDeleteIt was without a doubt, the most random odd Batman comic I've ever read. That made me hop Damian never puts on the Batsuit ever, because if he did that'd when I'd be done with Batman comics...well his anyway.
ReplyDelete