Overall: This issue begins with that annoying little girl Booster took in making a mess of Rip Hunter's lab. Instead of being on hand for whatever punishment Rip and Booster's sister Michelle decide to mete out, Booster instead leaves to do some good old fashion patrolling. Naturally Booster winds up in Highland Park, Illinois, the hometown of the deceased Ted Kord. While patrolling, Booster catches some dumb kid trying to steal some knock-off jewelry from a pawn shop. Booster confronts the kid, who tells Booster that he wants to be a hero akin to Robin Hood. Booster tells the kid his days as a masked avenger were over, which leads to the kid telling Booster that he couldn't tell him what to do, and that Booster and the other costumed heroes were a bunch of elitist snobs. With that Booster snaps, screaming and yelling about how tough the life of a hero is, before totally losing it and calling the kid “Ted” and cursing him for leaving Booster alone. Booster takes off and sits atop the city thinking about what had just happened, and decides to head to the gravestone of Ted Kord. After having a good cry, Booster asks Skeets to get some flowers for the grave before finally leaving Ted behind, which(for all intents and purposes)ends this issue.
Wow... I've been complaining about the way Giffen and DeMatteis had been writing this series for many an issue of Booster Gold now. They seemed obsessed with devolving Booster's character and simply writing stories from Booster's JLI days. This issue did a complete 180 from pretty much everything Giffen and DeMatteis had been doing. First off, the story itself was really powerful, with Booster(seemingly)finally coming to terms with Ted's death. Sure he can travel back to the past to see Ted, but that's obviously not the same thing, and it looks as if Booster finally figured that out. This issue also kept the comedy to a more tolerable level... I don't need 24 different jokes on each page, which is what I'd been getting in this series. This was the first time in a while Booster looked like that character I'd become a fan of again, and for that I'm extremely pleased. Here's hoping the next few issues keep up the great work.
Score: 9 out of 10.
Yes, that's right, Booster is mourning the death of Ted Kord... Again!
Yes, that's right, Booster is mourning the death of Ted Kord... Again!
Glad to see the turnaround, sure the story has been done before but if it's done right I don't mind. I hope it stays this consistent. The one thing I didn't like about this issue is the fact that it really made me think that Ted isn't coming back anytime soon, especially as the Brightest Day White Lantern hero or whatever.
ReplyDeleteYou know, much like Booster, I'm at peace with the fact Ted won't be coming back... In some way, this issue really helped me get that peace too. After DC pretty much resurrected a whole mess of c and b-list characters, I kind of doubt they'd bring Ted back now. If ever there was a time to bring him back, it would have been at the end of Blackest Night. I mean Johns brought back, what, 12, 13 people? I can't imagine that Ted will be brought back this soon after Blackest Day... Nope, I'm pretty sure poor Ted is destined to RIP...
ReplyDeleteSucks... I want some more Ted Kord comics, but hey, what can ya do? I still think the ultimate showdown would be for Ted to finally come back just so he can confront Maxwell Lord. I'd love to see that.
ReplyDeleteTed coming back and arresting Max would be the ultimate revenge, but yeah, I wouldn't be betting on a Ted return anytime soon unfortunately... I think DC is set to stick with Hai-Me for the long run, which makes me laugh, because the ONE modren variation of a hero I can't stand(Hai-Me)seems to be getting the nod over the older hero(Ted)... I'll NEVER be able to figure DC out...
ReplyDeleteLol I never thought about that. No Connor Queen, Kyle Rayner or Wally West but we get a whole bunch of Hai-Me in our lives.
ReplyDeleteYep... If that doesn't prove that the people running DC hate my guts, nothing will!!!
ReplyDelete