Batman #45-47: The Gift - Atop the Fourth Wall
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ส.ค. 2024
- Welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn. In this episode, Linkara looks at a three-part Batman storyline featuring Booster Gold!
atopthefourthwa...
Originally released August 13th, 2019.
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: Booster Gold: protecting his past to ensure... that he horribly screws up the timeline for terrible reasons!
#batman #batmancomics #atopthefourthwall
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The reason why I hate this arc is because of it demonstrates King's complete misunderstanding of Booster Gold's character. Just months before, in "Booster Shot", Dan Jurgens wrote Booster Gold as responsible, caring, and loyal to his friends. One moment that sticks out in my mind comes at the end of the arc, when Superman and Booster return to the 21st century and part ways. Booster watches as Superman fails to save Lois, Jon Kent, and Samuel Lane from a hail of gunfire; he misses by just a few seconds. So, Booster breaks every law in his book, goes back in time, and slightly pushes a gunman off his balance, the ensuing confusion giving Superman just enough time to save his family. Superman never learns that it was Booster was responsible for saving his family. Booster lets Clark think he did it himself. That is the kind of person who Michael Carter is, not the jackass we saw in this and in HiC.
Thanks for sharing this! I'll have to check it out
Of course it’s a great story. Booster Gold is the child of Dan Jurgens. He wrote most of his solo series, became directly involved with his tie ins to average events (Futures End and Convergence) that maintained his character really well. He knows his stuff with his own character lol
thus fulfilling the role of the greatest hero you never heard of. because sometimes it better to not be know.
This arc is great, cry about it.
The state of DC Comics in a nutshell:
Geoff Johns: Alright Dan Didio, I'm gonna leave DC Rebirth for a bit in order to help Warner Bros with the DC Films, don't do anything stupid until I get back.
A few moments later:
Geoff Johns: Alright, I'm back how's eve-GOOD LORD WHY IS THE COMPANY ON FIRE?!
trexrising 40 it’s like that community gif where the guy walks into a room on fire while casually holding pizzas
Didio: I think it's time I stepped down.
Johns: You think???
Geoff Johns didn't do that much of a better job.
Didio is a terrible writer, but from all accounts a consumate business man, he just makes bad decisions because he thinks like a business man
@@thatonebritishidiot3037 that’s the main problem with most of the entertainment industry these days, too many people thinking like business people and only caring about money.
To paraphrase Terry Pratchett "What people seem to forget is that 'Simple' doesn't mean 'Stupid.'"
Crap. The only hope I have is that in a future issue, this conversation occurs.
Booster Gold: "Sometimes, when it comes to time travel, you just have to roll with it. Best way to avoid the confusion."
Batman: "I can understand that, but-"
Booster Gold: "Look, all I'm saying that is if a future version of you appears and tells you get your friend a cheese tray as a gift, you get the cheese tray and don't ask any more questions."
Batman pauses and then looks over at the cheese tray on a nearby countertop: "Uh... thanks?"
Best in-universe retcon I can think of.
That would be the perfect way to retcon out the occasional screwup. Booster Gold, protecting the timeline from DC Comics themselves.
Goddamn.
Or something happens that gets Booster to admit he did something inspired by Mongol hitting Superman with a Black Mercy plant. And Supes punches him while yelling "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
The moment Martha and Thomas Wayne were shot is an instant in time everyone messes with so constantly that at this point it feels like they should be running into another 5 time travelers trying to prevent it and 7 others trying to stop the first 5 and the Joker is also there but no one knows what he wants.
Joker's probably watching the show with popcorn. He doesn't have to do a thing, all the time travellers are causing the mayhem for him.
I kinda want to see a parody comic of that exact situation.
I'm impressed that the exact scenario you listed isn't an equivalent of the "Hitler's time travel exemption act" trope.
You just spoiled the plot of Detective Comics # 1200.
That kind of reminds me of an FF comic where its revealed that Doctor Dooms from every timeline have gone back in time to watch the moment in college when Dooms machine explodes and sets him on his path of becoming the worlds greatest super villain, because Doom is that far up his own ass he feels like he has to watch the scene for posterity.
I actually thought that Booster Gold had been jokerized when reading this originally.
He wasn't!?
That would actually make more sense.
@@alexandredesbiens-brassard9109 I will go read that right now.
That actually would make more sense than it just being Booster's stupidity
The problem is that being jokerized would only have happened *after* he fucked the timeline, which is honestly the biggest problem with his character here
Linkara has a point. The actual gift could be so much easier: "Hey Bruce wanna go back in time to take a picture with your parents that you can then frame and hang up so you finally have a moment in time with them where you are with them as an adult?"
DONE
Hell, they could even play it up as that making them LATE for the Mugging and thus the whole thing never comes to pass. Making it Boosters Fault without him being stupid.
Killua i wonder if it would even work that booster manages to station the police to stakeout crime alley that night at that specific time... i mean how would that turn out for the future
@@ilopominecrafter That would be too safe I think. Or it would just end up with them trying to apprehend him, because superheroes are at that point far beyond the norm. So he comes to late and the whole thing plays out as normal....EXCEPT ARGUS gets made up sooner or something
Killua
Hell, just give him a f$#@ing cheese tray, it’s significantly LESS stupid!
@@daelen.cclark lol indeed
Tevya Smolka
Yeah!
Isn't anyone going to mention that Skeet, the superadvanced robot helper from the future, that has gone with Booster Gold through so many adventures... has no way of protecting itself against what is basically a metal stick?
JohnnyElRed Well you see this is Tom King, he doesn’t actually research the characters he’s writing about, if he wants you dead for his story he’ll do it, the story making sense be damned, even in Heroes in Crisis Superman and Wonder Woman let HARLEY QUINN escape from them, that alone should tell you just how well Tom King knows the actual power scaling of the characters.
JohnnyElRed Skeets only knows how to defend against fresh fruit, pointed sticks aren't covered.
Tom King doesn't care about continuity. Heroes in Crisis is only possible because he doesn't understand the speed force.
He doesn't understand anything about the DC universe and he doesn't care.
Didn't Catwoman tag all three speedsters that one time they were in Poison Ivy's control.
Ahh, the road to Heroes in Crisis...
I can’t wait for Linkara to ANNIHILATE that
As a Flash fan I LOVED that they brought Wally back...
then Heroes in Crisis was allowed to happen. 😡
I, too, look forward to its annihilation.
REMEMBER TO VOTE!
dbzfan22 problem is, and I believe Linkara will bring it up as a **MAJOR** thing...
IT DOESN’T MATTER! Yes, these people bring up their traumas... and it affects nothing. None of those characters matter. The comic ignores it and even gives them some traumas that make no sense. Having read all 9 issues, only ONE character brought up a trauma that I got. Sideways talking about his moms death, which happened in real life months ago but in the DC universe could have been WEEKS ago. The traumas of the character should have been the focus of the event, but what happened in the end is it was all filler! Yeah, the focus of the event... WAS PADDING!
Ah, Heroes in Crisis: The New One More Day
@@BronzeBoy520 yeah. best example is Hal Jordan. Whose descent into Madness was a plot point given Parallax and all... not even the alternate covers mention that. they just mention Hal's biggest trauma is , if i remember correctly, was Killowog's death........
that can easily tell you how little they remmebered of the actual continuity.
ALSO. in Heroes in Crisis, Gnark dies........but he shows up fine atttending Roy Haper's funeral in Green Arrow's tie in .... yeah. not even the editor gave a crap
(probably the only good thing about this alongside making clear Booster's and Ted's friendship is canon again).
ALSO. the worst thing about heroes in crisis for me is that with the exception of booster gold, the heroes ended up being "ABSOLUTELY USELESS!" considering Wally basically stops himself from suicide, and booster only helps to establish a fixed time loop to preserve the timeline (inetaead of going back to avoid all the deaths without even bothering to establish why). that's it. everything else the heroes did was (in Linkara's voice from his 500th episode) ALL FOR NOTHING!
I'm sure someone's mentioned it already, but the Phantom Stranger at one point transported Batman and Robin into a timeline where the murder of Bruce's parents was a few days away, as a test of character to see if he would save the Waynes even at the cost of depriving that reality of Batman. He did... but the young Bruce Wayne who saw this was so inspired by the strange caped crusader who swooped in to save his parents that he dedicated his life to studying forensics, martial arts and the criminal element to become the avenger of evil known as... The Batman!
The point is that it was way better than this drek.
The anomaly in the multiverse: The Batman made out of hope and gratitude towards the stranger dressed as a bat who saved his parents
bro that comic sounds sick, do you know what issue or tpb that was?
@@725ken Not sure if it's collected anywhere, but it was in Detective Comics #500. It was the main story in it, "To Kill a Legend".
@@andremarques4863 Thank you so much for answering! Apparently it's printed in the 80 years of Batman book
@@725ken It's also collected in Tales of the Batman: Alan Brennert.
Bad Booster Gold writing, Dumb Batman, Controversial writer.
Yep, it's an AT4W episode.
The only thing missing was to have Frank Miller as the writer
@@Tokumastu1 Oh no. The real thing missing was a reference to One-Face.
The best crossover!!!!
The Godamn Batman with his Jazz and Booster Beard Gold vs One Face and his Rock music!!
@@josedavidcatemac406 And bees...my god...
@@AceSpadeThePikachu They will need Onstar!!! Look out!!! They turned Bruce into a Baby!!! Oh no!! What is Green Lantern saying?? What? Justice? Justice!!! Justice!!! Justice!!!?
booster gold's reaction to hal killing himself was both the peak and the worst part of this comic
What do you mean. To my clearly gets booster gold. He's the best writer of the last 20 years.... Doi
@@texcorps9432 he has written some of the best comics of the past 20 years that is true. Mister Miracle, Vision, Grayson, Omega Men. All absolutely amazing.
@@Revealingstorm. Grayson is good but is not one of the best comics. and he's written more slope that nailed then good ones. Heroes in Crisis and his Batman run are proof of this. Even his mister miracle series has big flaws and weird choices to take characters but since the new gods aren't popular no one cares to admit them. He Always does this in his comics writing characters how he wants them more so then how they are
He ruined the new gods. I really do not understand why most people love his run on Mister Miracle. It was miserable, contrived and poorly written. It ruined a fun and optimistic hero in Scott Free and made Darkseid into a joke. And he is going to write the new gods film. Like ruining them in comics wasn't enough, he is going to destroy them on the big screen.
@@tayojones9460 It's one of those stories that are seen to be good because it's a what if/dream, a different interpretation of the characters, so we get shit like Scott not being as optmistic, being fucked up because of his years on apokolips and currently fighting a war.
It helps that most people don't know jack shit of New Gods to begin with, so less to complain by comparison, so everything being edgier is more acceptable.
That being said he should never write a movie about New Gods if that's really happening, only good thing Tom King did as a representation of them is just how threatening Darkseid is, without even showing up for most of the story, which was pretty cool, though he kinda got killed too easily, but it's some dream Scott is having, so it's also acceptable because of that.
I may not know a lot about Booster Gold, but even I was pretty disgusted by how Booster was presented in this story.
The most baffling part about this whole story is how easy it is to fix.
Option A: Booster brings back the Waynes from a point before they died to see what Bruce became, with the stipulation that they need to be sent back by a certain time, and their memories of it will be erased. They see Bruce as Batman and are naturally pretty horrified at first, but after various interactions like Damian meeting his grandparents, Dick and Tim meeting them as the family he made, and of course, how Bruce turned out after Alfred's raising, they come to accept it, thus giving Bruce some closure on whether or not his parents would be proud of him.
Or they could do option B: They play the story a lot closer to what is seen here(though maybe with better reasoning for why Booster is doing this), but at the beginning, Booster is jokerized, and attacks Bruce with the knowledge of what he did. Booster gets killed, Skeets gets damaged, and the suit and Skeets get taken to Waynetech to be analyzed. The story then focuses on Bruce dealing with the fact that his parents living has effectively ruined the world, and ultimately comes to the realization that his parents need to die and he needs to become Batman. Thus, Bruce takes Booster's suit and Skeets, and goes back to where Booster initially changed his timeline, and stops Booster from doing it, thus making this Bruce fade from existence.
Admitably, the second story sounds a lot like Flashpoint, and my heart is more in the first story anyway, but it's incredible that these options existed...But THIS story was the one that got published!
Both very good stories that would preserve the good things about both Booster Gold and Bruce Wayne/Batman. A+ sir (or madame).
I would go with option A as I believe it would be so heartwarming for Thomas and Martha to see the family Bruce has made for himself.
With Dick, they would see a young man that lost his parents as Bruce had, but Bruce was able to help Dick maintain the positive attitude that makes him so beloved in the superhero community.
With Jason, they would see a young man who even though he had died, Bruce was able to help Jason hone his rage into something productive that made it so no one would go through what Jason has gone through.
With Tim, they would proud of his skills as a detective at having figured out Bruce is Batman.
With Damian, they would love to meet their grandson that has reformed from being a cold-blooded assassin with no care for the lives of criminals to the hero that will open himself a hand friendship to Jonathan Kent.
Lastly, I would like to mention Cass as Thomas and Martha meet this girl who was born to only be the ultimate assassin trained by an uncaring father escape from that fate and turned out to be one of the purest women they have ever known. Even more happy that Bruce is helping her learn to speak, read, and write.
Option A sounds like the “Angel” episode, “I Will Remember You.”
I’d love to read Option A. Most stories exploring Bruce getting more closure with his parents seem to do so via erasing Bruce as Batman. I can’t recall ever hearing about Bruce’s parents getting brought forward to see what he became.
Heck, I’d want Selina to get freaked out about whether Bruce’s mom is going to like her, only for Martha to tell her as long as she loves and supports Bruce, Martha doesn’t care who she was. We could even find out more about Martha! Was she born into wealth like Thomas presumably was? Does she understand why Selina might be insecure about marrying Bruce, even if she’s okay with marrying Batman?
Better story: booster takes Bruce to his parents wedding! That's it, just a one shot!
Given how badly written DC Comics are as of recent, that's a pipe dream. I would love to see it , none of the less
Why aren't you a writer? That sounds better than this!
He did team up with his father to fight some criminals at a costume party in Brave and the bold. It's was awesome.
@@cyechan50 Adam West was great as Thomas Wayne there. I honestly think that his voice is a better fit for Batman's Father than The Dark Knight.
I remember the Batman and Catwoman wedding issue and being really pissed off at the end. What is with bad writers thinking superheroes can't get married?!!
alexiaNBC and then Dan DiDio came out not long after that and said some bullshit about how a happy Batman isn't Batman and I had never wanted to punch someone more. DC has got to get better writers and editors becuase holy SHIT has stuff gone down the tubes...
@@amazonstorm And it's not as though Batman's connection with Catwoman lowered his ability to fight. The two have an off-on relationship, of course, but when you look at comics like Batman: Hush, the two working together and doing everything to protect each other against a common threat only made them more sympathetic, powerful, and (shock) relateable! And now we got this crappy universe and that excuse for Catwoman leaving him?!
To quote the American guest from the "Waldorf Salad" episode of Faulty Towers: "Holy cow, can you see what a crummy dump this is?!"
@@amazonstorm My god, Bane was Dan Didio all along!
@@amazonstorm
So what Dan's thoughts on Adam West's Batman? The dude was one of the happiest Batmen I know, and he was a very effective crime fighter!
I think its a problem with the mediums long-running characters and big changes of them as a whole:
It puts authors in a problematic bind - on the one hand they do not want to change anything, because that stuff has been set in place for decades. The status quo, in this case "batman is not married" has after all been present for decades by now. Fans and editorial mandates also means that for such a change to come and to stick, all three sites need to more or less approve of it.
On the other side however, you want big changes because that stuff sells and especially with such long running continuity you need to set your story apart from the rest. What makes THIS Batman story better than literally thousand others is the question.
This means that drastic changes are highly problematic and tend to go the route the wedding did: Announce it with a lot of boom to draw attention, than either chancel it or have it changed/rebooted very quickly. Plus, that change gives you another excuse to promote as a massive change.
And weddings have the unfortaunte tendency to be one of the most drastic changes in a superhero story, especially one that has for many people been defined by a certain brooding-factor, which is hard to intermingle with the idea of a married couple.
Though honestly, I believe that it is better that way. Not because I dont like the idea of Batman getting married, but because we would probably have incredible heavy handed marriage problems (worst-case-scenario: the old "s/he wants him/her to stop the superheroics/settle down/spent more time with the marriage, usually portrayed with said person doing so in an incredibly bitchy fashion so they can break up the marriage so said person does not "drag the hero down"), reboots or just a horrible character dynamic in which depending on the writers preference the less preferred side of the couple is constantly incompetent, absent or constant target for the others antagnoists.
I stopped reading Heroes in Crisis after issue one. It felt like the most pointlessly violent and mean spirited comic I'd read since Ultimatum.
Yeah, I went there. Tear it to pieces, Lewis.
LittleWebHead 87 yeah heroes in crisis was really bad
@Sparten 117 i can understand that and i respect your opinion and in fact i am glad you liked heroes in crisis more then i did.
I stopped after the first issue just cause the writing style just felt way too flowery and pretentious. Made a really bad first impression
Funny how The Protector came back...only to die. Classy.
@@ZoanBlade90 Also Soulstance came back too and then she got killed in heroes in crisis too which doesn't make any sense because last time we saw her wasn't she trapped in the future with stupid harvest so how did she escape that awful future to land in heroes in crisis.
I got Tom King fatigue when I read this, the guy has a flair but it always just turns into "tragedy porn."
My God!
I have been looking for the right words to express Tom King's signature style, and you have done it beautifully. Tragedy Porn.
Thank you.
Up in the Sky is where he takes a break.
@@seannyhan2254 tragedy porn combined with shamelessly stealing the 9 panel grid from watchmen or "paying homage" to watchmen. The dude is basically trying ti be alan moore. But he doesn't understand why stories like "for the man who has everything" work beyond just "superman was TRAUMATIZED!!!!"
@galactic85 you can't steal the 9 panel grid. It was the original standard for a comic book. Which is the reason why watchmen used it.
^^that guy knowing that would require him knowing anything about comics or actually making a good faith argument which that guy is incapable of. “RiPPeD ofF wATCHmEN”
Help us Geoff Johns-Kenobi. You're our only hope.
Hello there?
You were the chosen one! It was said you would save DC comics, not leave them in darkness
How ‘bout marv wolfman or dan Jurgens himself?
Those would be good choices.
GeneralKenobi75 at the same time though, he destroyed captain marvel and made him a joke to the internet
@@daelen.cclark They're good writers in their own right. But Johns has a greater respect for the history of the DCU.
Booster!? WHY? Philip Fry is more responsible with the timeline.
Kyoji Kasshu He did do the nasty in the pasty.
The funny thing is that Fry's voice actor, Billy West, actually voiced Skeets in Justice League Unlimited and Batman: The Brave And The Bold.
@@colonelmustang854 That is actually why it was one of the first examples that popped into my head, I am not ashamed to admit.
@@colonelmustang854 In Justice League Unlimited too
"Ooh, a lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm-My-Own-Grandpa".
Also regarding Tom King. I don't hate him, but I feel he kind of keeps writing the same story and should probably be talking to a psychologist for his PTSD.
That psychologist should schedule a meeting for Frank Miller as well
He's no Garth Ennis.
my problem with tom king is that, when he has limited space of writing (like in Mr. Miracle) he is very good. but when he is free to write as much as he wants......he kinda becomes like Bill Jemas.
a better way of saying it.... King is like George Lucas back when he was creating the first star wars movie. they both needed a good editor that was able to know when to tell them NO
@@Clay3613 That's more of a compliment, since at least King is a better writer and actually likes superheroes. Ennis is a joyless hack who can't write anything that isn't distasteful garbage that's desperately trying to outdo Mark Millar.
It works for lesser known characters like Vision, Mister Miracle and now Adam Strange but for these characters with larger history it just doesn't line up
20:32 Ladies and Gentlemen, Booster Gold.. Our new Bearded Idiot!
Oh sweet Christ... Beared Idiot is a legacy character?!
John Morgan Could be.
One was enough!
And the hero that brings controversial.
@@johnnygyro2295 no because Didio hates Legacy character
20:36 "Look out! The future's brakes have been cut!"
Me when I finished high school and I realized adulthood was coming sooner than I wanted it to.
Wait, I didn't realize the guy who wrote Heroes in Crisis was the same guy who wrote Mr. Miracle 2017. For the record, it turns out he's ALSO the guy who wrote the 2017 Vision miniseries
Both of these books are seriously some of the best comics I've ever read, and and are pretty much the best proof you can get that "bad comic" doesn't necessarily equal "bad writer."
Right. That's why it's hilarious when you get salty fanboys who try make it seem like King is the worst thing ever to happen to comics. I absolutely hate Morrisons Batman run but that doesn't mean I hate Morrison.
@@Revealingstorm. Its just that king has a limited writing style that works well for obscure characters in a mini or maxi series but not main stream characters in an event or long running series
I'm still upset with what he did to Victor. Where the hell was he getting vibranium while with the Runaways?
Tom King wrote the comic that basically saved my boyfriend's life, Mr. Miracle, so bad Batman run or not, he will forever hold a very special place in my heart.
that is genuinely moving and I'm happy for both of you, if a man's life means one bad Batman run, that's a bargain in my book
I believe I said something to you about this earlier (I can't find the comment) But I am happy that that happened and I wish you and your boy well
Why do I get the feeling that Booster has Combine Harvester going on in his head on repeat?
This reads like some 14 year old's fanfic who is trying way too hard to be dark and edgey.
Literally every comic book multiverse is a fanfic.
Here's the thing Batman's relationship with his sidekicks, especially the Robins and Barbara. These people, are Batman's kids. He considers them to be family. And he was a great father, really. He loves them more than anyone. So tell me how a wife, who's a great heroine in her right, will harm his focus if his five or six children, including his biological son whos still a teen, would?
Gosei: There's a simple explanation for that.
@@dnmstarsi One that's Far to Complex for you to Understand.
Then Gotham War happened and now his children hate him
I'm reminded of an old Brave & The Bold issue that I love. Going with the idea that certain universes are on different time frames (e.g Superman & Batman debuting in the 30's on Earth Two, but in the modern era on Earth One), the Phantom Stranger sends Batman & Robin to another Earth where Bruce's parents haven't been killed yet with the question of whether it's a good idea.
Bruce, overcome with emotion, searches frantically for Joe Chill. Meanwhile Dick acts as the detective and learns about the world. He discovers that the world has very little heroic literature and star charts don't show Krypton's star. Also, young Bruce is a spoiled brat. He wonders if preventing the Waynes' murder will deny the world of its only hero.
Bruce finds out the the Joe Chill is not the potential killer in this world and has to rush to Crime Alley and Dick decides to help. The near death experience and image of the bat-like person who saved them inspires young Bruce to begin training with his parents still alive.
That's how you tell a "What If..." style story about the Waynes' survival. You don't turn a real hero into a complete moron who doesn't even get the point. Even if he got the wrong idea about the Black Mercy, how does changing time equate to that? One is an illusion and one is very real. Alternate Bruce has no memory of the original timeline, but Superman under Black Mercy did. That was the point. His real memories fighting the false ones.
Lando Calrissan is not in charge of Gotham City ... he's the District Attorney.
"Bearded Idiot"
I love how you're building your crazy steve injustice leauge
“The Gift”; Flashpoint But Dumber!
Charles Hockenbury the live action flashpoint: The gift but dumber.
If I be honest, Flashpoint would probably be one of the only things to save the DCEU. To have a excuse for a reboot without having to throw literally everything away and start over. This can get rid of all of the bad stuff, the overly dark tone, Jared’s Joker, the cold Superman, Steppenwolf, and any other bad things in it. But allows them to keep the good stuff like Wonder Woman, Shazam, and Aquaman (Though Aquaman is a bit iffy right now considering what his actor is doing right now.)
The “gift” i assume is that we didn’t have another flashpoint happen
ilopominecrafter honestly at this point I don’t know if clearing the whole board again would be good or bad remember the main problem with the nu-52 was a lack of commitment (and staff abuse).
Zettabeam62 and absolute slaughter of character personalities to be dark, gritty and edgy and the tone depressing and “realistic” (which none of it is, there is actual Color and more emotions than rage and depression out there). So i say yes, wipe the board and go back to the original timeline or keep some of the rebirth origins, but keep the best of new 52 in (all 3 of them i assume). Rebirth already showed that going back to that stuff was a good call and a massive success, while going back in tone and all else afterwards since doomsday clock isn’t done yet has plummeted...
"Convincing your friends to commit suicide is, admittedly, kind of awesome"
- Booster Gold
1. Why is it that Red Dwarf, a cheesy British SITCOM, was able to do a story like this but actually GOOD with "Tikka to Ride" but the venerable, prestigious Detective Comics Comics completely fails?
2. I think at this point the DC editorial staff need to be assigned auditors who make them go stand in the naughty corner whenever they so much as say the word "Crisis".
The Waynes surviving and the world being fucked over is just as absurd as Barry Allen saving his mom and the world being fucked over as a result.
I think Flashpoint happened because of Barry changing time, not specifically because his mom was alive.
@@randomduck8679 his mom living caused a ripple effect that screwed everyone over for some reason.
Jesus Christ, this story is horrifically psychotic.
So bad that you bet Frank Miller and Rob Liefeld had a hand in writing this crap
alexiaNBC And used it in their superhero universes.
You haven't seen anything yet. Heroes in Crisis takes all these problems up to eleven, and adds a whole bunch of new ones
Eli Burry-Schnepp Well f it in a bucket.
This reminds me of that episode of Star Trek where Kirk falls in love with an anti war activist in the thirties and HAS to let her die because if she lives her activism prevents the US from entering WWII in time and Hitler has too much of a foothold to be brought back down. Only that was good
Was McCoy not Kirk in that story
Your description of how Booster is SUPPOSED to be portrayed actually reminds me of another character with a similer line of thought. And is accused of being an idiot for the same reason.
Luffy from one piece.
Don't get me wrong. Boy is certainly dumber then booster. But he is straightforward. He prefers A to B thinking.
Luffy just never had a formal education and is really ADHD.
Regardless I love him anyway, because I'm really no different from him.
I think if you suggested doing what Booster did here to Luffy, he would kick your ass.
For as much as Justice League Action treats Booster Gold as a joke character (and even then he has his more heroic moments, though all but one’s pretty much immediately undermined by the writing for him)...nothing that depiction of Gold has done comes anywhere near as uncharacteristically moronic as what this depiction has wrought. Seriously, what did I just witness in this review?
At least they remember he's in charge of protecting the timestream.
The Black Mercy plants were so infamous that Mother Mercy, the sentient plant that spawns the plants, was nearly recruited into the Sinestro Corps but chose the Green Lantern Corps instead. I'm sure everyone with a brain would say giving that would be a horrible gift.
There's a Mother Mercy plant? And it's a Green Lantern?! Why does it sound like that story was better than this one?!
Soooo about that Booster Gold retrospective.
Well like Lewis said in the Cassandra retrospective his retrospectives pretty much cover characters who got screwed over. And Booster Gold seems to fit.
@@KidSnivy69 How was ROM screwed over?
Arc Caravan marvel kept everything about rom except rom and the dire wraiths. And considering how popular marvel is I’d say he got screwed over.
@@changvasejarik62 Thought Marvel still kept Dire Wraiths and ROM's story completed.
Arc Caravan no idw is making rom comics and rom is still slaying wraiths as far as I know. Wait a minute I d w... Dire wraiths... zOMG IDW IS OWNED BY THE DIRE WRAITHS SOMEONE CALL MARVEL AND KURT RUSSELL!
... So basically this is the Version of the DC Universe Where Everyone IS INSANE
Dear Lord what is wrong with the premise of this story. In no sane person's head would this gift be a great idea. Just wow.
I do like that you always stress not to harass the comic creators. Just like in this video and in the Cassandra Cain retrospective. It's something people need to remember, especially in this day and age.
My opinion on Tom King: when he’s good, he’s really good; but when he’s bad he’s really bad.
But I still love what he did with Kite Man
I tend to give Tom King more slack than most when things like this happen. largely because I am assuming he is exorcising personal demons from his time in the CIA.
Kudos to him on that.
Shark Dude 7 hell ya
@@dappercrow1454wait what?!
This story made me understand dc's obsession with Batman lately. I am a big Batman fan but dc acts like if batman never existed then the entire dc universe falls apart. I know many things would be different but not to the point that an entire city is burning!
Also, I can't believe Ra's would be able to take over both Asia and Europe without batman. There are more heroes in other countries in the DC universe. Greece for example has a hero call Olympian who is blessed by the gods with the powers of the argonauts. Don't tell me Ra's has enough resources to beat a character with mythical powers.
I sometimes wonder what it would be like if DC Comics was instead Action Comics and Superman was overexposed instead.
AC comicstorian.
@@jimkol8799 It's strange to me that DC named its company after Batman's original comic instead of Superman's.
It's kind of funny when you remember they did an Elseworlds story called *The Nail* that explored "What if the Kents never found Superman's Rocket?". Superman has probably had an even STRONGER impact on the DC Universe than Batman, and despite all the metahuman hatred that erupts in his absence, the universe still seems pretty stable.
I can't imagine what would happen if they made a Nail-style "What if Batman never existed" comic nowadays... the world would probably explode for a completely unrelated reason.
You only NOW noticed? You're like 15 years late
So when DC isn't using the Titans as a punching bag, they just use Booster Gold as one and assassinate his character even worse than previous stories!
Man, Heroes in Crisis has to be up there with Holy Terror and Ultimatum as one of the most anticipated and requested AT4W reviews.
JaiCSC don’t forget One More Day! :)
@@gennybaratta2460 Actually, this feels like One More Day, only it's a HERO who doing this madness! Jeez, even Mephisto is like "Is that necessary!?"
Battlion 50 too true
I shouted "WHAT?" out loud at the screen twice when Booster's plan got explained. Why is the comic book industry like this?
Edit: "Oh Brucie, you never were the world's greatest detective."
Third out loud "WHAT?"
This would have been a decent Deadpool comic.
...except deadpool isn't this dumb either!
@@keelanbarron928 I could actually see Deadpool doing something like this on purpose to screw with someone he didn't like.
@Keelan Barron Holy crap! Someone who actually knows that!
@@MegaManDBZX yeah...though i think the guy who written the "story" of the deadpool game wouldn't know that.
@@InoMercy yeah, maybe thanos. (By the way, are they still at odds? I haven't read any deadpool comics in a while.)
There was a Batman Adventures (Batman Adventures, The New Batman Adventures, Batman and Robin Adventures; whatever it was, it was a tie-in comic to the DCAU) where--oh, no. I can't actually remember the specifics... anyway, it involved the story of "what if Bruce's parents hadn't died," and hooo-boy is it a bojillian times better than this. More well thought out, Bruce isn't psychotic at the thought of his parents dying, Dick became a low-level criminal (but one still trying to do good where he could) after his own parents are killed... y'know LOGICAL progression of a world without Batman. But, *BECAUSE* there's no Batman, things are turning out for the worst all over in Gotham, and eventually everything is made right again, and the status quo restored.
Of course, there's ALSO "To Kill A Legend," my favorite Batman story, where the Phantom Stranger decides to give Bruce the once-in-a-lifetime chance to save his parents (in another universe) for a birthday presence. Bruce--and Dick--have a few days to come to terms with the idea, because the universe where they're going the save the Waynes doesn't have other planets, Atlantis, Paradise Island, or anything else that might produce a super-hero, or any kind of heroic literature (with the exception of Sherlock Holmes and some other mystery fiction). If the Waynes are saved, and this Bruce never becomes Batman on this Earth, the entire universe misses out the chance for a living, breathing hero. But Bruce can't live with himself--there's two people being threatened with death, and he's gonna save their lives. And other than the fact of the Waynes' survival, Bruce and Dick never see the outcome on this world. But, there was one other person at the site of the Wayne shooting, a young witness who saw it all. But, in this universe, young Bruce Wayne didn't watch his parents' brutal murder in front of his eyes. No, this time, a mysterious, costumed stranger came out of the night to save his parents, and then disappeared. And this Bruce Wayne, despite previously being a royal brat, is inspired to change his ways, to dedicate his life to attaining the peak of human physical and mental achievement, to become a hero. Maybe a dark hero, like the one that saved his parents, but a hero without the tragic backstory we all know so well.
TWO stories dealing with the idea of the Waynes surviving, and SO SO MUCH BETTER than the trash garbage shit pile the Gift is.
Those sound amazing! Gonna hunt them down.
I remember hearing that second one! A universe where Batman's the only superhero is still a weird idea to me.
Gotham Adventures #33 and Detective Comics #500
I forsee another moment of Linkara getting drunk and ranting to Dan Jurgens...or maybe this time Dan Jurgens will get drunk and rank to Linkara.
I was hoping for Lewis to let out his unbridled rage and I was not disappointed. And thanks for pointing out that that disconnect with the Action Comics story. Shame no one but Dan Jurgens seems capable of writing Booster well.
The Johns/Katz series was really good too.
Sheesh, so Geoff gets DC’s comics to turn around only to get a panicked phone call to save the DCEU. Hopefully you get some downtime Mr. Johns
I feel bad for Johns. While I don't like every story he has written, at least he was passionate about what he was writing and usually optimistic.
@@KidSnivy69 Also it helps that, despite some of his ideas and retcons being a tad suspect, Geoff Johns is actually a decent writer with a vision that he'll stick to.
@@KidSnivy69 indeed
Why not DC bring linkara to write some of the books?
captain Rockatron good question
So in a nutshell they pulled a DC Countdown mix with youngblood storylines. That’s just a mess up storyline
They should make Kiteman a hero. The war of Jokes and Riddles made him someone who we could sympathize with and honestly, a whole Kiteman book would be hilarious.
Give it time. With the success of the Harley Quinn show with him being one of the main side characters and most popular, he will.
Honestly, him being an ally of the Bat family like how Harley is in the Wayne family adventures web comic would be cool!
DC: why don't young people want to read are books?
Also DC: 9:18
I never seen this before but Hal's face in that seen is just straight up disturbing
Joseph Christovich Yes because young people TOTALLY want to see the suicide and death of a well known and beloved hero! That’s why they did it a DOZEN times in Heroes in Crisis!
@ Joseph Christovich
I love how you spelled "our" as "are".
That perfectly captures DC!
XD
Comic book stories suffer from just doing anything and everything that comes to mind. Leading to the most stupid and inane shit you've ever read, on top of the most tasteless and sickening, right beside some of the best.
Frankly, as a medium, it's a mess. They're damned by too many cooks in the kitchen and a history so long.
Not to kick a wasps nest but why do I feel like that “KIDS ARE WEAK AND DUMB ADULTS LOVE THIS” is EXACTLY how Zack Snyder looked at handling the DCEU
I believe there are only 6 words that describe this story in general
And I quote......
Ahem...
"WWHHAATT!!!!??!?!??
THE!!!???!
HELL??!!!!
IS!!!
GOING!?!
ON!?!?"
😤
That is a good description for Tom King's Mr Miracle series.
Why does it feel like DC is regularly taken over by middle school edgelords?
Almost every niche or group gotta have that edgelord. From Comics, to RPG's, to any medium, we just gotta have one that lacks the self-awareness of being one and making the same trappings of many others alike.
Probably for the same reason that Japan produces so much 'wacky' art and pop culture. A culture of extreme rules and limitations demands an extreme response. But since they still have to get permission for content; it can never truly go far enough.
Not really middle school edgelords more like a publisher in the middle of a mid-life Crisis.
@@ejdejesus8441 More accurate. This is a bunch of men in their 50's+ trying desperately to hang onto their glory years while not realizing what made it good in the first place. The Dark Knight was edgy and dark, so everything has to be that way. The Dark Knight had a darker, more grounded and serious tone, so of course Man of Steel should be the same way. It's all over DC products.
@@flamemasterelan Marvel too.
When are comic companies going to get the hint that marriages do not ruin superheroes? If anything, getting married tend to make the heroes stronger. They have someone to fight for, a reason to never give up so they can go home and hold their loved ones after a hard battle, a sympathetic shoulder to lean on when things get rough, the list goes on.
Linkara, I am not one of your Patreons (sadly enough) but I just can't wait to see you EVISCERATING Heroes in Crisis. I enjoy greatly the way you speak about the issue.
The more I read stories by King, the more I get the feeling that he doesn't like Booster Gold. And Kings style of writing doesn't seem to fit to a comic like this. His comics are more... what's the word? More like nightmares, where nobody wakes up and nothing makes really sense. It worked with "Mister Miracle", but in the end it's all a big series of events about nothing. And he does that now for quite a while and it ends with a big "meh" and shrug by me. Maybe King should step back for a while and write more his own stuff again, like "Sheriff of Babylon."
Given that supplementary material for Heroes in Crisis called Booster a "narcissistic sociopath"...
I love the fact that Linkara's Batman voice is the same, even though it's not Bruce anymore.
Let's be fair: no Batman means none of the people he trained are operating and it's like 20 different superheroes.
Kai Creech The issue there is that there are still multiple other heroes who are just as capable who would’ve stopped this Joker shit a long time ago, yeah 20 heroes are related to Batman, but there are over a hundred heroes who aren’t. And even than with that explanation Dick Grayson shouldn’t be operating at all yet here he’s BATMAN! That doesn’t work with your explanation.
@@ryancarson6962
I didn't think it fixes the entire situation, I just thought it mitigated that specific problem. And I do like the idea of ever size in the Batman's connections do people make the world a better place more than Batman as a loner has.
OH MY GOD! HE IS COVERING "THE GIFT"!!! Will this be like a "training" for his eventual review of Heroes in Crisis!? YOU MAKE THE CALL!
(ALSO Linkara, hopefully you can cover Tom King's Batman's arc "Knightmares". Thta's when his Btaman run started to go off-the-rails. with King abusing the "it's implied the audience knows" narrative and forgot to explain and show things like how Flashpoint Batman took Batman to that machine in which he is currently trapped during said arc)
Also(I honestly regret this political joke but yeah):
Woke Broke: Comicsgates review(Ya boi Zack, Comicprosecrets, etc.)
Broke: extreme SJWS:
Wake-Rich: Linkara.
@@vwin9112 Are you a contributor of this comic or are you just naturally bad?
Jane Doe what do you mean?
Van Win what is this Comicsgate thing? As for the sjw thing, I feel that the idea of analysis and deconstruction of tropes and concepts in media is a good thing but I admit the direction is all wrong
Jon Brewer ...But John Stewart’s awesome?
I've gotta wait a whole year for another event comics month?
Awwwww
I think 2017 taught Lewis to not do a themed month, a character retrospective, and Event Comics Month in the same year. Especially since this year A Voice in the Dark happened and that threw off the schedule worse than large projects like themed months already did.
Honestly it felt like the Writer wanted to turn Booster Gold into a DC version of Deadpool with his “comedic” timing, his “banter”, talking to himself, having a convoluted plan, and not really caring about the consequences of his actions
Well I didn’t expect this.
If this story and heroes in crisis are any indication Tom King needs a therapist because the amount of bipolarity in this story is kind of disturbing.
A jokerized city of heroes..... was this the prototype for the batman who laughs?
An entire city of Crazy Steve's
Man Linkara REALLY wants to talk about Heroes in Crisis.
Never read the story myself but from what I read so far about it I can wait it’s inevitable review.
Trust me, it's fucking bad!
Ah yes, my most hated story arc of King's run. I am still very soured over what happened to Booster here.
The Wedding of Batman and Catwoman; DC's answer to One More Day.
8:30 saying that escalated quickly is the understatement of the next 5 millennia
Seriously one page and your already screaming and I’m eating my words from last week
What did you say last week?
Edgar Garcia ya in one of the comments I made in last weeks video I mentioned in the edited part that I looked up the story line without reading it and saw a synopsis and I didn’t see how bad it was and that for a joke since he built it up as horrible that I’d be eating those words and I was right if you try to find the comment it will seem weird so you should know that I like roll playing as this outlandish character with a cast of his own so if I seems weird that’s why
I remember when... I think it was maybe issue 3 of Heroes in Crisis, right when all the negative press about the book was finally settling in and word of mouth got around about it. Every comics outlet rightfully threw ire at it. And yet, in one book I happened to pick up that month, there featured an advertising the trade style promotion ad with a taken out of context quote spun to make the book sound good. This was LONG before the book even FINISHED, and they were already scrambling to cover the bad PR it was getting. NEVER seen that before for an ongoing book. Blew my mind.
Wasn't expecting Bruce to become Cable near the end, minus the Liefeld proportions.
When I hear about Heroes in Crisis, it leads me to ask one question: Why was Wally West brought back again?
what was so infuriating about this was that it came out within WEEKS of the better superman crossover. My comic shop still had the former on the shelf when this was out!
Tom has forgotten how humans behave. Sometimes I wonder if he's been replaced by some kind of alien robot.
It feels like they were trying reinvent Booster into this dark humor driven character like Archer.
Except they forgot the part that Booster isn't a new character with a blank slate.
I'm glad you took the time to praise Tony Daniel's work at the end because throughout the review I was thinking, "Jeez, this artwork is far too good for the story it's telling."
So, this is a booster gold comic as written by the Joker?
Nah. Then it'd actually be funny.
25:13 then again the Superman Reborn merged the history of New 52 and the Pre New52 and ended up undoing convergence in the process (even if appaently nobody remembers that) into a single continuity so maybe Kord's and Boster's story as Best friends is once again canon to DC's timeline.
16:38 you know what's funny about the black mercy plant in one of the Green Lantern Comics there was actually a main plant that was sentient and it actually became a Green Lantern
I remember that. It was when Mongol II was trying to turn the Sinestro Corps into the Mongol Corps using the plant, right?
Was it still a parasite? To be chosen by a green lantern ring, being a good person is kind of a prerequisite.
@@JaelinBezel it was kind of the mother of all the plants
@@00KingKiller that didnt answer my question. Was it able to feed off the energy of the ring so that she didnt need a host? That'd probably drain it a lot faster...
@Cody Hines It was much more benevolent. It served as sort of a cosmic burial ground, using its hallucinations to give the dying a happy memory while they passed away in peace. It was only when Mongol found it and corrupted it into being a weapon that it gained its infamous reputation.
Well Booster's character is assassinated but at least we have Wally back *OH WAIT! THANKS TOM KING!*
Pat Rex 11
If only they do what they did with Cassandra Cain.
(Watch linkara’s retrospective for the details.
@@Makareno94 Me, doesn't read the comics: THEY KILLED ALFRED!?
It’s amazing how much Geoff Johns means to DC. Rebirth was amazing... but since he left it has fallen again ... :/
Oh my God that moment with Hal Jordan killing himself and Booster Gold's expression is cause for concern. And I don't even mean within the comic itself. I've heard from somebody that Tom King suffers from very bad depression, although the person who told me this did not cite their source so I can't take it as anything more than a rumor, but if that has any truth to it and it's reflected by Tom King in his work then I seriously hope he's trying to get some help before he does something bad to himself. I can't fairly judge his books because I stopped reading Batman 6 issues after Rebirth for financial reasons, but I have not heard positive things since the Batman/Catwoman wedding plot, so I've had little interest in picking the book back up, but I hope Tom King's mental health and work improves.
22:00 I actually believe Ra's taking over a couple continents to be the most believable part about this awful story lol.
The Gift
Sounds like a title for a chapter from Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark
I get the feeling from this that Tom King REALLY hates Booster Gold.
You know i think the worst part of this story arc was that around the same time a superman and booster gold story took place in action comics and revoled around booster geting pist with superman about timetraveling to cription since it could alter the time stream and then goes into booster backstory and why hes a hero
Linkara, your videos coming out one or two days or even a week late are nothing compared to the schedule slips major comic companies have.
coughimagecomicscough.
Hal Jordan: (points his ring to his head) PERSONA!
This feels like Flashpoint all over again. One tiny change and everything goes crazy.
watchmen is constructed in a way that you know that any kind of sequel or spinoff is just a WRONG IDEA
S1nwar after reading most of doomsday clock I can’t argue too much, but after finishing the league of extraordinary gentlemen: tempest. I will say Alan Moore is not infallible and does have the capacity to make bad sequels of his own work just as much as Geoff Johns. And after reading before watchmen: minutemen(the only watchmen spin-off I will vouch for)I will also say Darwyn Cooke you are still missed.
I mean...I liked it!
WOW!! What kind of crack were the editors smoking when they said that THIS was worth printing?!?
His Vision was probably my favorite series in Marvel... and then there's this.
And thank you for saying that about Morrison. I've been trying to put my finger on what bugged me about the early issues of JLA Vol. 3 for years, now.
Dear Linkara,
Please review Power Rangers: Shattered Grid.
No no, this is where BAD comics burn. Shattered Grid was awesome
@@SchweitzerMan Yeah, but he loves Power Rangers, so I want to hear his opinion.
@@simbasorariku3 I think he mentioned in Ninja Steel video that he only focuses on the shows, not the comics.
Yeah But He Has Done A Few Power Rangers Comics Before
More than likely it’ll be a patreon sponsored review. Even then, I’d prefer he do Beyond the Grid both because of it being a bit more polarizing so we’d be surprised by what he thinks of it and because it, unlike ninety percent of the franchise nowadays isn’t brought to us exclusively by Jason David Frank’s ego.
"So dark, are you sure you're not from the DC universe?"...oh...wait...but seriously, I'm morbidly curious, how Hal kill himself?
Extreme Madness looks like he punched himself to death. Maybe. idk
It begins...
I will NEVER forgive King and Didio for what they did to Wally!
Know how ya feel I’m a fan of the classic new gods by jack Kirby and outside of mr miracle, and barda new genesis is being screwed with just as much.
A clip from "Yes, Minister"? You just made my day, Linkara.
The thing I don't understand is... how did Booster think the 'gift' was going to work even if things hadn't gone to hell? I mean, he doesn't take Bruce with him, Wonderful Life style to show him the altered timeline. Was he just going to tell Bruce afterwards "Hey, I saw an alternate timeline. It sucked, good thing you missed it!"