Booster Gold #27
Reviewed by Russell Burlingame
Written by: Dan Jurgens
Pencils by: Mike Norton & Dan Jurgens
Inks by: Norm Rapmund
Colors by: Hi-Fi
Letters by: Jarde K. Fletcher
Cover by: Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund
Publisher Name:
DC Comics
$3.99, 40 pages, Color
For everything that didn't happen last month, there's about ten things that did happen in Booster Gold #27. There is, of course, a throwaway panel that will be the subject of most or all discussion of this comic, but for today we'll just deal in the absolutes; it's an exciting issue, and an entertaining one. While the "secret weapon" used to do away with Black Lantern Ted Kord is exactly what I expected it to be (and so not all that effective as a secret, at least to readers), it was satisfying on a karmic level and made perfect sense; one has to wonder if, months ago, Jurgens and Johns were actually thinking about this sequence when the "Beetlecave" was reintroduced at the end of "Blue and the Gold."
The script is clever, emotionally honest and makes complete sense along with the rest of the "Blackest Night" material, which is a huge plus considering the history that DC has with "red sky crossovers" that just come out of nowhere and lead to nothing. Jurgens' art is pitch-perfect (as it usually is on this title) and while Mike Norton has handled the transition between Jaime Reyes' backup feature and the main story with Booster and company well, it still kills me that in a "Blackest Night" tie-in he only very rarely manages to draw the Black Lantern ring on Ted's finger (he missed it completely last issue). It's a small thing, but it takes me a little out of the story, especially when the ring is such an important plot element in this issue.
While Booster and Skeets might not have a huge impact in the final outcome of "Blackest Night," I think it's clear that the biggest story beats (revealed in the last ten pages of the book, in separate scenes) are ones that Booster will be chasing over the next year or so. With so much dealt with, and so much set up--so much action and so much emotion--this is one of the two or three best issues of what is already one of the best superhero comics on the market.
Take A Look Inside
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Reviewer Bio
Russell Burlingame is a journalist and columnist living and working in New York City. In high school, Russell interviewed Elliot S. Maggin for a review of the Kingdom Come novelization, and since then has worked consistently in and around the comics industry. He interned for Wizard magazine, and has freelanced for Wizard and Newsarama, in addition to a number of non-comics publications, Russell is currently working on a graphic novel based on Cap'n Internet, the comic strip that ran in his college newspaper; and a graphic biography of folk singer Phil Ochs with artist Marion Vitus.
Currently, in addition to his freelance work and his comics projects, Russell writes a number of columns for ComicRelated, including Conscientious Sequentials, The Gold Exchange, What's Perhappenin', Closing Statements, Reflecting 'Pool and To See or Not To See.
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