COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Batman #47 (Oh Booster Where Art Thou?)

Booster Gold tried to give Bruce Wayne a gift. In doing so he has undone the entire existence of Batman. The thrilling conclusion to Booster-Gate!

Cover A

Cover B

BATMAN # 47
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Tony S. Daniel
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Cover Artist: Tony S. Daniel, Danny Miki & Tomeu Morey Cover A. Cover B: Amanda Conner & Paul Mounts
Editors: James S. Rich Assoc Editor: Brittany Holzherr
Publisher: DC Comics

What You Need to Know:
The world of Gotham is in Turmoil. Bruce Wayne’s parents were never killed and as a result, Bruce never became Batman. All because of a foolish Gift from Super Hero from the Future and Time Traveler extraordinaire, Booster Gold. The Foolish hero changed the present, as a way to Gift Batman similar to a story he heard about Superman (See the Black Mercy).

We pick up One Year Later, as Booster Gold has been held prisoner underneath Stately Wayne Manor.

Booster looks an awful lot like Aquaman!

Booster has spent the better part of a year since the incident at Wayne Manor, captured in the Cavern that would be the Batcave. Bruce has kept him, hostage, while he repaired Skeets. The unfortunate part is that only Booster’s Voice can activate Skeets Time Circuits.

Bruce takes Booster out of the cave and cleans his emaciated body up and shaves his epic beard! Then he prepares him to activate Skeets, under threat of shooting him with a special gun that will penetrate his force shields. Bruce wants to go back and save his parents and Alfred from Catwoman and Booster ( who brought Dick Grayson Batman into his Home). But Booster has other plans.

What You’ll Find Out:
Booster has seemed to go a bit “Batty” in the Cave over the past years and starts talking gibberish to Skeets. He convinces Skeets to open the Time Portal to a specific time. The Alleyway where Thomas and Martha Wayne are confronted by Joe Chill. Bruce follows suit, although he is soon reminded of just what scene he is looking at. Bruce shoots at Booster, and Skeets gets in his way stopping the bullets and getting destroyed again in the process.

What Just Happened?
Booster explains to Bruce they are now trapped here forever. Bruce takes this quite badly as you can expect, and beats Booster to a pulp! Then as he relents, just in time to see the deaths of his Mother and Father. In a move that I just cannot understand or comprehend, Bruce Wayne of this alternate timeline breaks, and he shoots himself in the head right in front of Booster. This just does not make any sense really in any world, especially since we have just seen that Batman: Metal is about different versions of Batman in different dimensions. Just way out of character. Booster similar to his experience with Hal Jordan stands by idle watching and gets sprayed with the blood.

The final part of the story has the Undoing of all the events that had transpired since Traveling back. I assume as a result of time correcting itself. Booster Gold has a moment of regretting his actions as he describes to Batman and Catwoman the part he played as if it were a Nightmare. He seems traumatized, and rightfully so, and much like Shakespeare’s Macbeth talks about how the spots of Blood just will not come out of his Goggles ( though to the readers they are clearly clean).

Rating: 6 /10
Final Thought:
If you have been reading this arc then you are aware that Booster Gold is a time traveler that has traveled back to give Bruce Wayne perspective. He wanted to show Batman, that the world really needed him, and for him to be grateful. What we got was a story of a what if that was really an exercise in characters acting uncharacteristically, with some attempts at humor that missed the mark and sound like the inane ramblings of Rorscarch. I love the art, and Tony Daniel is a high point for this story. He is somewhere between Jim Lee and Frank Miller in my opinion, so the art has been great. I wanted to give the story a chance, but in the end the Characterization of Booster as an Irresponsible, that can care less about anyone but himself, yet goes to the trouble of getting a “gift” for Batman, is just not well executed. I feel like there was literally a treasure trove of materials that were from Geoff Johns or JM Dematteis, Keith Giffen or Dan Jurgens that could have been used. Instead, we came up with a pale shadow of one of the DCU’s most fun characters. In the end, this arc was a letdown. If you are a hardcore Booster fan, you may want to skip it entirely, but as a story progression, it fills the time until the wedding.