BOOSTER GOLD #20 REVIEW

[Walt Kneeland]

Review by: Walt Kneeland (walt.kneeland@gmail.com )
Quick Rating: So-so
Story Title: 1952 Pick-Up

Booster goes to 1952 to kill some time while Rip fixes the stalled Time Sphere.

Guest Writer: Keith Giffen
Guest Penciller: Pat Olliffe
Inker: Norm Rapmund
Artist (Bookend Sequence): Dan Jurgens
Finished Inks (Bookend Sequence): Rodney Ramos
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letters: Sal Cipriano
Asistant Editor: Harvey Richards
Editor: Michael Siglain
Cover: Jurgens & Rapmund
Publisher: DC COmics

While on the one hand it's kinda cool seeing Giffen (if only as a "guest writer") back on this character...this issue feels entirely like some "filler issue." It doesn't seem to tie to the previous arc, nor really begin anything new...and even on the art, is "bookended" by one art team with the bulk of the issue another.

Rip's time-bubble has stalled out, and he's quickly annoyed by an impatent Booster. Booster decides to "time dive" into the early 1950s, where he gets swept up in a quick adventure apparently involving the original "Suicide Squad." He also gets a chance to see at more length the time period of "The Fonz," who he finally realizes is not real, but still enjoys none the less.

As a generic "Booster Gold, the greatest hero you've never heard of" story, this isn't bad...but it really doesn't advance the ongoing plot any, doesn't deal with ramifications of recent goings-on, and as such just doesn't feel like it matters--all the more if the reader isn't familiar with Suicide Squad history in detail. I finished the issue, and was simply left wondering "That's it? That's all this issue is?"

The visuals are decent--I still very much enjoy Jurgens' pencils. Not so thrilled with the main part of this issue, especially having Jurgens' art side-by-side with Olliffe's. Ollife's work is not bad by any means...it's just not Jurgens', and not what I associate with my ideal visual style for this book.

As an ongoing thing, this issue feels like you could pass on it without missing out on anything essential to the ongoing chronicle of Booster. As a one-off, it's a decent issue to pick up just for a quick read of a story dealing with the character. (Then again, what seemed a throw-away two-parter earlier in the series sparked a 5-issue arc several issues after).

This issue could be a lot better...but ultimately, it doesn't begin to be as bad as it "could" be.


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