Laid Back Comics: All-Star Western #19 Guest Staring Booster Gold

There is one thing to say about this, Jimmy Palmiotti is a man on a mission with All Star Western. When the gate-fold “WTF” covers were first announced he kick up the gears and started promotion the book to anyone and everyone he could. Why? The answer was simple, the guest star that would be joining the book of course.  A certain time traveling hero by the name Booster Gold, who hasn't been seen since Justice League International book. This was a twist to be sure.

All Star Western is honestly best be described as a cult book, the best book you may not be reading, and many others. It is mainly because while it may have be a book placed in the same DC Universe it stayed in its own corner because it took place in the past, with little connections to the bat books. Here though is a full injection to the rest of Universe as Booster now thrown into the mix. The book itself is broken down into four different sections, the meeting, the villains, Boosters arrival, and the back up Stormwatch. With the first two sections of the book flows very naturally it only feels like it trips a little when we get to the area where Booster first appears as it was a sudden shift with very little lead in.

That is not to say the story placed by Palmiotti and Grey where Jonah Hex meeting the time traveler who now sudden wearing a sheriffs badge isn't still a good read. Hex calling Booster out on his tough guy act and pretty much giving him an idea that this world he has entered is not some polished western, where violent gangs will do horrible acts just for some possible cash is done and you need a bigger bad gang to catch them. And now he has a bit of a comic foil to follow him around which has been a small staple of the series. Gray and Palmitotti though aren't pushing a pure comedy though and as much as I would love to see the Booster of the old JLI days working with this cowboy, we are seeing the slightly more serious side. It shows in how they write him and what he wants to do to criminals as to what Hex will do as well.

There has to be a lot of credit on how much one enjoys the issue thanks to Moritat on art, but also colorist Andre Szymanowicz who did something sublet with Booster as with everyone else. The world is slightly dark and at times dirty like the old west should be, but Booster comes off bright and colorful at times, he stands out and as a man from the future it makes sense. He still ‘clean’ as opposed to Hex and the world he lives in. It is this little touch that gives this book something a little more special than a small guest star.

The other item this book has been doing lately are these small backups of other western heroes and villains. Here is a story of Gun Fighter coming to the rescue of a convoy of women from raiders and werewolves. With that running around it is no wonder Hex wasn’t fazed by a time traveler.

Overall All Star Western is a great book that doesn’t get the newsworthy notes that it should. If you’re a fan of Hex or Booster than this is a perfect time to pick up this issue and the issues that follow.

OVERALL 8.5 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening writes for Broken Infinite, follow him on Twitter @BAClend

#41 - JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL : THE SIGNAL MASTERS

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL
#1 - 5
Storyline: The Signal Masters
Written by Dan Jurgens
Art by Aaron Lopresti & Matt Ryan
Colors by Lopresti (issue 2) &  HI - FI

by Frankie Rodriguez

TALE OF THE TAPE

            Welcome again to another review as we continue to enjoy Justice League Month. As we continue to look at things with the Justice League, we are gonna take the time to look at the second Justice League title that has come out in the new 52; Justice League International. Now, the original Justice League International run was beloved by many fans. There was slapstick with great adventure and serious plots mixed together to be one of the most beloved incarnations of the League. Come 2010, Justice League Generation Lost actually dealt with some of the most popular members of the JLI together to face off with their former benefactor and manipulative, murdering bastard, Maxwell Lord.

            Yes. I am NOT a fan of Mr. Lord. Why? First, he manipulated the Justice League into getting UN status and adding members, then he was good, then we became evil and lost his body and became the NEW Lord Havok. After that, he some how got his body again and was a good guy . . . again. Yet, that changed once he got on Checkmate. Max proceeded to kick off everything from Infinite Crisis to Final Crisis to even Justice League Generation Lost. Max Lord proceeds to SHOOT TED KORD, the former and much beloved Blue Beetle, in the head to kill him. Sure, he ended up manipulating Superman and forcing Wonder Woman to kill him. Yet, Max gets resurrected ... only to manipulate the JLI back together; who ultimately defeat Max but not without cost.

            And now the new 52 happened. The Justice League International was chosen as one of the titles chosen as the first wave of relaunch. And look: We got several big JLI alumni with Booster Gold, Fire, Ice & Guy Gardner. We got new Rocket Red Gavril Ivanovich, JL alumni Batman & Vixen and brand new members Godiva and August General In Iron. Yet, how does this team function? Do they live up to the old JLI legacy?

CLASH FACTS

            Justice League International begins with a discussion between Andre Briggs, UN Head of Intelligence and several members of the UN. Briggs states that they need they own team of heroes. Heroes who don't hide behind secret identities and heroes they can control. The UN agrees to it. We cut to a UN research team in Peru where they are checking on semic activity when they all fall into a big hole that just appears out of nowhere. Booster Gold arrives to see groups of protestors in front of the Hall of Justice against this new Justice League as Gold talks to Briggs. Briggs tells Booster to ignore the people when he says no and tries to calm the people down. One person in the crowd says that the UN has crossed a line and that they are gonna take measures. Briggs tells Booster that he's been chosen to lead the new League and we get a reaction we know and love from Guy Gardner . ..

   "YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME?!"

            Ice and Rocket Red tell Guy to give Booster a chance when Guy just leaves. On his way out, Guy runs into Batman. Batman actually endorses Booster as leader but Guy just waves Batman off and flies away. The rest of the JLI has introductions as Briggs shows them their new jet which starts the first of many snipes between Rocket Red and August General in Iron. Red goes over to Booster saying he can't work with August General but Booster isn't hearing it. Booster tells Briggs he wished the team had more raw power but Briggs just goes on to blame Booster for not keeping him on the team. Booster shoots back that he just met the team and has no information on their abilities but Briggs says that it should not matter for a real leader.

  Yeah . . . Briggs . . . you are kind of a douche.

   the team head out with a surprise . . . Batman being already on board. Booster Gold immediately thinks that Batman thinks he can't cut it as leader but Batman reassures him quickly that he's here to lend a hand and give a connections between the JLI and the Justice League. As the newly assembled (seriously, they just met literally 5 minutes ago and they are thrown into this mission) JLI head for Peru, some of the protestors decide they don't like the UN and their idea of a JLI so much ... they'll blow up the Hall of Justice. Yay. 


    The JLI lands in Peru where they start a search as Godiva decides to show how uncomfortable she is by being snarky. Booster tells the team to split up in pairs which Godiva decides to remind him (& the readers) that Booster JUST met them. Suddenly, from the ground, the JLI are attacked by demonic looking ... Gotsumon?!  Um ... I am serious. They look like red, scary Gotsumon. *sigh* 


    As they fight, Godiva proves her snarkiness again after BATMAN tells her to get more involved in the fight.

 "Sod off, Bats. Lethal rock creatures aren't my style." 


    Godiva .. . you make me miss the Beefeater!! THE FRELLIN' Beefeater!!! 


   The rock creatures retreat only to give way to big ole giant . ..Um . .. It looks like a cross between the Iron Giant and Monarch. And he's huge. The JLI try to fend off the first of the Signal Men (hmm ... not the most original name. Honestly, it would sound better if the Signal Men were fighting Dr. Who) but . .. with little luck. Between Rocket Red's failed attempt at talking to the Signal Man through his techno-telepathy ability (new but very welcome), Godiva make sure she sticks out like sore thumb and Brigg's deciding to berate Booster and the team, we get to see Booster and the league get cut down to size. After the Signal Man smack them around and nearly kills Ice, Booster (against complains from Vixen & Rocket Red) calls a retreat. By the way, Briggs showing up early decided to tell Booster that they are televising the League against the Signal Man. And it was televised world wide ... which ends up having Guy throwing a fit at a bar when he sees Tora getting hurt. 


  The team returns to Booster getting berated immediately by Briggs till he sees Batman and says . .. *laughs* 


 Briggs : "You . .. You have no Authorization to be part of this . . "  Hahaha. You told Batman he can't be there. To pilfer a joke from comic book reviewer Linkara: He's the God damn Batman. He'll do what he wants.

   Only to have Booster stand up to him, making it known that he is leader of this team. Rocket Red snaps at Booster for not being a real leader but Booster defense himself till Guy flies in. Guy insults Booster, asks to be made leader and checks on Ice with in seconds. Ah ... nice to see Guy has really grown as a person. Booster is about to walk when August General in Iron gives a vote of confidence to Booster. Batman and Godiva do the same. Briggs opens him mouth again but its ignored and Booster continues to lead. Great! Just in time for things to get WORSE. 3 more Signal Men show up and start blasting entert to the sky, each as big as the first one the JLI met. And in space, we get to see our main protagonist for the first time ... Perax . .. Perac ... Peraxes? No, that's not it. Peracola? Nope. Not it either. Peraxxus. 


  Peraxxus has a sort of Jack Kirby look to him and has the original Batwing color sheme of light blue and purple. Yay. The JLI splits up into pairs, going for a classic team up route as each pair checks on the Signal Men and a way to stop them. Vixen and Fire go to South Africa. Godiva and August General end up in Canada. Ice and Rocket Red end up in the depths in Russia with Batman and Booster Gold back in Peru. Each team end up in caves only to find themselves swarmed by more . ..  evil Gotsumon. Seriously. 


 Briggs pitches a fit about the JLI being a media disaster and that they found that the controller of the Signal Men are out in space. Guy eavesdrops and heads into space where Peraxie gets the drop on the Green Lantern. Each set of the League tries to break free but are captured and teleported to Peraxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxus, who is beating Guy Gardner around like a rag doll. Then we get the reason why Pera-mydius ( Gold Ranger: I call on the power of Peramydus, HIYAH!!!) Godiva, after coping a feel on Batman with her hair, grabs a laser from his utility belt and frees the team. The 9 heroes gather together to face off against Peraxxus only to find that he pressed the button . . . which made him transform into a even more gruesome monster ... WAIT! NO! That didn't happened. No, Peraxxus presses a button to make the Signal Men light up faster . .. which actually sets about the end of the planet.
  
   Do our heroes stop him? Sure! How? With the power of Friendship, Heart of the Cards . .. blah blah blah. 


No. That's not what happened. But if you really want to know what happened . . .




CLASH TACTICS


   Okay. This was one of the new 52 books. How do I think it faired? I am getting to that.  Artistically, Aaron Lopresti is drawing some of his best work here. He seemed to have gotten a real hold on a majority of these characters when he did Justice League: Generation Lost, pre New 52. Yet here, he's making some spectactular panels. Matt Ryan's inks are really making Lopresti's pencils stand out alongside colors from HI-FI, giving us something visually appealing on each page. Ever character is distinct. Ever emotion is capture. There are a lot of different characters in this book and this team is really show casing them all artistically. Which gets me to the writing for the book. 


    Dan Jurgens is swimming in somewhat familiar territory. You see, back in the early 90s when the JLI reform both its American and European Branches after the landmark Breakdowns crossover, Dan Jurgens has wrote Justice League America which featured Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Ice, Fire and more. And while these characters are almost the same, there are some differences in characterizations. The character interplay with the team has been excellent, helping to flesh out personalities and really give us a feel that this is a new team, a new time and a new place. Particularly enjoyable have been the interactions between Rocket Red & August General in Iron and Godiva's lovely interactions which reveal her nervousness to this whole grand stage that is the JLI. These character bits make the book truly enjoyable. The pacing was excellent. Every breather had a reason. Every battle great in scale. But so did our heroes. My only real issue with this story is the fact that the first 2 issue felt very much like Booster Gold guest starring the JLI. I know that Jurgens had literally just finished his run on Booster Gold prior to the new 52 and I guess that the fact that Booster had so much focus as leader was a good thing. But this is still Justice League International. The balance between all the characters didn't really happen till issue # 3. Batman was being a different kind of mentor to Booster Gold which was a far cry from the original JLI days. And while the majority of the League got some great development, Vixen was the character that was least developed; I think she was the casualty of Booster's "I'm the Leader" subplot; hence the balance of characterizations leaning heavy on Booster but lighter on Vixen or Jurgens did not feel comfortable with her. I'm not sure. Hopefully, this will change over time.

  Overall, Justice League International was and enjoyable ride from start to finish. The threats felt imaginative and grandiose. The characters were fleshed out well. The plots were moving along at a great pace and it made you want to know more about these characters and the status of the team. Evil Gotsumon aside, Lopresti, Ryan & HI-FI give some of their best work with JLI. It is something for them to be proud of. Jurgens gives us a fun book that retains the spirit of the original and yet, different. While it does seem that Booster really overtakes the first two issues, Jurgens breaks down the other characters the remainder of the storyline. I know he'll do well cause Jurgens is the writer that had Blue Beetle Ted Kord beat a Darkseid level like villain, Starbreaker, with his brain. 
 
With all that, I give Justice League International (#1-5): The Signal Masters, an Intercontinential Champ Contendership (4 out of 5). Besides the heavy Booster focus and lack of character balance the first 2 issues, this is a great read. You can pick up all 5 issues at either your local comic shop (like I do) or get them digitally from Amazon or DC.


NEXT WEEK: The Justice League Enters the Dark Side when we go JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK!