Booster Gold #17

Dangit, I really want to like this comic. It stars a character from "my" era of the DCU in Booster Gold. It is written and drawn by Dan Jurgens, one of my favorite creators. It even has good guest stars and brought back Goldstar from the original series. And yet this book underwhelms me every month. Ever since Geoff Johns left around issue 12, this book has been kind of meandering along. I'm just not interested in the time-dagger story. The mystery/energy villain isn't very interesting, although his rant this issue did add a little depth to the character. This issue had Booster show up at the scene of a confrontation earlier in the series (when the Flashes helped him take on Super Nova) but not enough time has passed to make this really feel like a classic confrontation. I'm not even that keen on the idea that Booster will be teaming up with himself. I assume Rip will mind-wipe past-Booster after this adventure to explain why our present Booster doesn't remember it, but that plot device renders most of the stories we're getting kind of pointless. I think this book should remain a team up book, with Booster visiting different eras and having adventures there, but I wonder if it would be better if he stayed a bit longer so we could get more characterization from the guest stars. Barry Allen was pretty boring this issue, which goes along with my opinion of the character (and explains why I'm worried about Flash: Rebirth). The strongest parts of the first 12 issues were Booster's interactions with Skeets and Blue Beetle, without those guys to bounce off, Booster just isn't as neat a character.

Jurgens' art is as solid as always. I will continue to pick up this book because it has the elements I want from my DC comics, even if the execution isn't up to what I had hoped.

Average