Hey there readers! Just a warning…This article has a few spoilers for Action Comics #998 (Dan Jurgens, Ivan Nunes, Rob Leigh and Will Conrad).
The Man of Steel and Booster Gold are now trapped in the future on a planet which is very hostile and is being ruled by the House of Zod. They have just one ally, Booster’s robot, Skeets and he is unfortunately dead. Now, things are pretty bad for the heroes, and although they have managed to get their way out of the predicament, the real stuff is yet to come.
It is at the end of the story that Booster Gold lets slip some things that maybe he should not know and suggested a greater understanding of the DC and Marvel Multiverse.
Worlds Do Collide
In Infinity Countdown Prime #1, there was some fun with the DC Universe, and it had shown a short glimpse of Captain Marvel from an alternate universe, and the character looked a whole lot like Shazam.
After some somber scenes where Booster and Superman see Krypton being destroyed, Superman had confirmed that his father had been pulled out of space and time by a mysterious force. The heroes then head home. Booster refers to Skeets as “Alfred” which is a heavy reference to Batman’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Skeets then objects and Booster replies, “Not like like I can call you Jarvis. Whole other timeline.”
Here, Booster Gold is referring to The Avengers’ butler, who his dying in the pages of Avengers: No Surrender. This joke suggests that Booster has a whole lot of understanding of the multiverse.
This Multiversity has confirmed that there are other multiverses and this leaves room for Arrowverse, DCEU and, the Marvel Multiverse.
Booster then ends this issue with a reference to the Flash, Barry Allen and suggests that he knows about the Flashpoint and Barry’s role. When The Flash had said that he would not go back in time, Booster says, “Really, Flash? You would NEVER?” and Barry responds, “Low blow.”
Barry Allen is kind of responsible for The New 52 and the tangles as he went back in time in order to save his mother. When he tried to fix this, it had opened doors for Doctor Manhattan to mess up everything.
Skeets 2.0
The conclusion to “Booster Shot” has featured a huge upgrade for Skeets who seemed to have been destroyed in the last issue by Lor-Zod. The tech-savvy robot had uploaded himself into all of General Zod’s Eradicators. And this helped in freeing Superman and Booster Gold, and it had also turned the tide against the evil Kryptonians.
The issue ends with Skeets and Booster heading to “face the music” for meddling with time and space. And it is interesting that this story did not delve deep into who they would get chewed out by. Logic suggested Rip Hunter who had shown up in Hal Jordan & the Green Lantern Corps. While he has not been around, he has not stopped going on adventures. And by not telling the fans how he knows some things or who he is working for, it creates mystery and anticipation for what his next appearance might be.