Get The Casually Comics Re-Animator: The Eternal Lie Part 2 Variant or Tee - www.kickstarter.com/projects/cullenbunn/reanimator-the-eternal-lie-part-2?ref=2kx1ug Also tell me what would be a good gift for Batman :)

Booster just proved why there is no shame in simply asking someone what kind of gift they want. I've been doing that for years and haven't destroyed a single timeline.

One of the more frustrating things about this story was that there was a story arc in Action Comics (written by Dan Jurgens, Booster Gold’s creator) which ended one month before “The Gift” began, in which Booster has to PREVENT Superman from changing the past. One month he’s sternly telling Clark not to be irresponsible with time travel, and the next month he’s… this.

This comic felt like it was written by someone who hates booster gold lol

When I was deployed overseas, Tom King was a part of a DC Comics USO type tour and visited my base. I got to ask him who Booster Gold was to him. His answer was basically Booster is a screw up. It came across very much as he just read Booster’s wiki and nothing else.

All I got from this was what I already knew: Tom King has issues that need to be addressed, and he's turned DC comics into his personal working through trauma.

How does Hal have the will to kill himself? He doesn’t even know what will is.

I went from wanting to kick Booster in the balls to "this man needs legitimate help." Also the what if Bruce's parents were alive was done better in BTAS.

Sasha puts a lot more thought in to this review than Tom King put in to writing the original story.

There was a story in Detective Comics #500 in which The Phantom Stranger takes Batman to a parallel Earth to prevent the death of that Earth’s Thomas and Martha Wayne. I remember it was done much better than the Booster Gold story. Another momentous thing about that issue - it contained Walter Gibson’s final story.

As a massive Booster fan who loves the development he’s received over the years this story made me really sad. It feels Tom King only had a passing knowledge of him and used him anyway

Booster Gold is just the gift that keeps on giving.

Your Batman “NOOO” got me good 😂

I think there are two things we should seriously consider: 1) That this was the setup for why Booster was getting treatment in Heroes in Crisis 2) That this whole adventure was in Booster's Head. Or, he truly was in another dimension- which is why psycho Bruce didn't disappear right away.

The butterfly effect. Does that mean Ashton Kucher should play Booster Gold on the big screen?

I love the Booster Gold coloured eye shadow! 👍🏻

Replace Booster with Bat-Mite, and have Booster trying to stop him? Idk if that would work seeing that saving Bruce's parents would mean no Batman,and Bat-Mite is Batman's biggest fan. But a little thinking could have gone a long way with this one.

Speaking of DCAU riffs on Bruce's parents being alive BTAS had an episode where someone fabricated a world where his parents were alive that actually worked "Perchance to Dream". It really packed an emotional punch. From Bruce initially being completely unable to believe the reality was true to finally accepting the joy of seeing his parents alive and then having it all torn away from him in the end. It was such a gut punch and a great exploration of the scars losing his parents left on Bruce.

Even when she is gutting a bad story, she always sounds so cheerful. Also, that Green Lantern sequence earlier in the video was absolutely terrifying.

True story, a friend of mine had given me both this and later HiC as actual "Gifts" for my Birthday and Yule respectively. While I *know* their heart was in the right place..I never so desperately wanted to have my own time machine to go back and recommend they just get me socks instead.

I wonder if Future Man and Booster Gold ever crossed paths

Honestly, I've always seen this story as Booster trying to fix what he'd done to the timeline loads of times, and failing. So the opening scene in my head is a Booster who's seen the world fall apart a bunch of times already and is now just... running with it. Like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day after he'd done it awhile. I don't know if anyone shares this opinion, but I think it explains why Booster acts so unhinged throughout the story.

I think you're onto something with booster's mental state. This would be a much better story if they intentionally made Booster unwell from the beginning, and have it matter. I don't think King could write that story, but someone should Love the wig this week!

the Tom King run on Batman has equal parts like and dislike in my heart. some really good moments, some moments that genuinely made me take a break

So, some parts of "The Gift" make a bit more sense if you'd been reading Batman's solo title for a while. A few years earlier, there had been a storyline called Endgame where the Joker created a virus that turned people into Joker zombies. He even developed special strains that could effect specific superheroes and infected the other members of the Justice League like Wonder Woman, Superman and The Flash so Batman couldn't call them for help. The presence of "Jokerized" citizens in this new timeline seems to indicate that something similar happened and Batman wasn't around to stop it, hence why so many heroes are dead. Being familiar with the Endgame storyline also makes Duke Thomas' fate a little more clear, as both of his parents became brain damaged by the Joker during that storyline and presumably, so did he in this timeline. I think the implication was supposed be that Hal was in the early stages of turning into a Joker zombie and that is why he killed himself. This would somewhat explain why Dick Grayson is trying to kill any superheroes that come into Gotham, since he has likely seen the damage Jokerized superhumans can do and wants to keep anyone else from becoming infected. (Your point still stands that it makes no sense for Dick to call himself Batman in this timeline.) The stuff about Catwoman becoming a serial killer in this timeline makes a little more sense (but also not) in the context of King's Batman run. During King's run, there was this ongoing storyline about Catwoman have supposedly gone over the edge and become a mass murderer at some point in the recent past so Selina's behavior in this story was likely a reference to that. It was eventually explained that several dozen terrorists destroyed the orphanage where Selina grew up, killing all the children inside, and so Catwoman tracked each of them down and subjected them to a vigilante execution. Which, I can see why a lot people in universe would be disturbed by that and not want Batman to associate with her anymore, but characters in the main Batman timeline talk about her like she is an unhinged killer like she is the Booster Gold timeline. And then it was reveled that Selina didn't kill anyone. Her childhood friend, Holly, who had gone to the same orphanage, killed those terrorists and Catwoman chose to take the fall. (Which just raises so many further questions 😑). This is pure speculation on my part, but I got the sense that King started out his Batman run not knowing where he was going to take the "Selina Kyle is a killer now" subplot and was making it up as he went along.

I love how Booster starts as a fake hero posing as a real hero, and then develops into a real hero that people think is a fake hero. Batman figures this out in the post-52 Booster series, and it's portrayed at the end of the Justice League Unlimited episode The Greatest Story Never Told (ssn1 ep7), kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mN2Ho8x3qd6uYnk.html

It’s fascinating when Justice League Action cartoon made for kids had much more mature booster than comic book by King made for older fans.

Fun fact about the DCAU version of For the Man Who Has Everything that is the only adaptation of Alan Moore's work that he said he liked.

What a thoughtful gift. Eobard would be proud

Man. This is the time Tom King was staring to worry me. Had he pulled off the wedding I would have forgiven him. But he proved he became a Jeoh Loeb... he's either awesome or horrible... and rarely anything in between.

Ra's controls Eurasia? When was that his plan? They always make him a cartoon villain for some reason Also not my boy Duke... hasn't editorial hurt him enough

10:25 Booster Gold babbling song lyrics while Catwoman ignores him is very on brand for Tom King, in the worst way.

This whole story feels like a fever dream. As for an actual good gift for Batman, something one of a kind with a sentimental attachment. Maybe a screen used Grey Ghost costume....though something more connected to his relationship with Catwoman would be better. Being a time traveler...maybe a piece of her costume from when they first met. Still have to watch out for the butterfly effect on that one. Knowing my luck, that'd end up killing Catwoman.

Booster is an interesting character, and I LOVE Tom King's "Batman" run...but he did Booster dirty in this story lol Congrats to 600 episodes!

King actually wrote a really good Hal story in his "Darkseid War" GL one-shot where Hal achieves, then rejects godhood. There's also a time-travel bit where he talks to himself as a boy - good stuff and not as trauma-focused as King tends to be. It was downright hopeful.

This thing really heralded what was coming by Tom King with Heroes In Crisis. I was glad they gave Dan Jurgens Blue and Gold a little bit after this.

I have an idea on how to rewrite this story. What if instead of trying to save the parents, Booster trys to snag them out of the timeline to come to the wedding. He fails to do so, but he spooks them enough not to go down the alley. When he returns we could have a similar story, but it makes more sense

I've only read the Booster stories in "Future Lost," and of course, I've watched your videos on him. I'm far from being an expert on Booster. But, to me, character flaws are obviously part of the character design. And in the older stories at least, he also has some goodness in his heart that makes the flaws forgivable and even endearing. I don't think Tom King struck the right balance here. Just my two cents. Nice analytical wrap-up at the end; I'm always amazed at how well you digest a story and explain your take. Thanks for 600!

Booster here is so out of character in the story makes me wonder if the writer actually knows who the character actually is or just write a brief Google description of him.

Sasha’s Batman voice is always hilarious

I really like the idea of this story and wish it was able to be more fleshed out. I am glad it means we get more Booster on this channel!

It's bizarre that Booster Gold spends so much of the comic in the dark alternate reality where all his friends are dead or crazy smiling and remarking about how cool the new timeline is.

I tried Tom King's run of Batman...couldn't get past the first volume. It just didn't feel like Batman. Now, after learning how he wholely disregards the love for certain characters and writes in character assassinations (Wally West front and center here), I'm glad I dropped it.

There's a lot to be said about King's Batman, and I can't say much good about it. Personally I consider #36 and #37 one of the best Superman/Batman stories I've read, but that's the best thing I can say about the whole run. I think at the time I was more forgiving of the low points of the run because I was hyped for the wedding. Or maybe now that the wedding has passed I'm more critical of it. Hard to say.

There was a Teen Titans Annual where Dick tells his story to Jericho. He says that by helping him bring his parents' killers to justice, Bruce saved Dick from becoming like Bruce. I believe Bruce has said this somewhere as well. He took Dick in to stop him from becoming like Bruce.

Tom King dealing with his demons through writing stories, sometimes bad stories are the result, other times they're just stories that exist.

19:45 Tom King, ladies and gentlemen! Man, comparing this with the Superman annual was even more brutal than the story itself...

Feels like Batman writers trying to write a Booster Gold story.

I hate what King did with Booster in this story. Honestly, I'm not very fond of how Booster has been handled in the past decade or so in general. I love his original run and the resurgence the character had with 52 and his second book in the 2000s, but the 2010s saw the character change to something almost irrecognizable at times. I really don't like it. At this point I feel not only fans but a lot of writers in DC only see him as a wacky lunatic verging on complete psychopath like in The Gift, and keeping making stories featuring this bizarro version of Booster, only further perpetuating this mischaracterization. It's similar to how I feel about Cassandra Cain, though in that case DC has been trying to make amends recently, it still doesn't make up for all the shit. As someone who started reading comics in the late 90s and had a lot of contact with 80s comics as well due to resellers and reprints, it feels like the more modern era of DC consists mainly of fucking up the characters I grew up loving (Wally West, Booster, Cass, the Titans as a group, etc) becaus they were legacy characters or "late" additions the dinosaurs running the company see as expendable.

I'm convinced every Tom King batman story is just one of those ever worsening alternate lives he experienced while in the omega sanction.. Also, based off of his writing, you could make the argument that he doesn't like/ feels some kind of way about every superhero except for superman

Booster being dead inside because during one of the runs he's the guy that deals with all the time travel problems meaning he has seen everyone die a hundred times in a hundred ways only for it all to undone by him meaning he has an untold amout of trauma is an interesting point to take for time travelers stories. This story doesn't do it its focuses to much on the gross spectacle of "oh no batman gone" and gives of flashpoint paradox vibes in the worst way and doesnt focus on the self introspection or using Skeets as a means of bringing it up.

So glad to see you doing good on your own. You were my one of my favorites during the top 10 era

Tom King: the most hit and miss comic book writer in the history of the medium. The same writer that gave us the Vision 12 issue mini series gave us Heroes in Crisis. He gave us Superman: Up in the Sky, and he gave us The Gift. Like a Targaryen, you don't know which way his coin has landed until you read the book.

I saw Linkara's take on this story a while back. Glad to see you cover it too! It is ALL kinds of messed up! And we love seeing it.

Gah Booster has been done dirty so much in recent years and I hate that happening to one of my favorite characters

This story feels like flashpoint with all the random shit that changed, except for starting another reboot

This issue was in some collection I bought lol, I felt so bad for Booster. He just wanted to get Batman something nice and personal

Yeah, "The Gift" was the first sign that Tom King wasn't the infallible wunderkind that fans and DC Editorial was building him up to be... and yet it still didn't prepare us for how awful Heroes In Crisis would be...

I enjoy these longer videos, especially when they are about comics I've heard about but hadn't yet decided if I wanted to read them. I am a fan of Booster Gold, but mostly the fun JLI period with Ted Kord/Blue Beetle, so these deeper (?), darker Booster stories are hit and miss for me. Thank you for an interesting, well-written episode!

Great video, and your rendition of the Bat-Man's voice tickles me to no end

That Joker's art on the wall is everything

Great vid Sasha. You rule. Love the big comic breakdowns

Eye shadow colors are well done. Nice job

I'm glad I clicked on this video! I should of known I was gonna love your take on it! thank you Sasha keep it up

It sounds like this is a mix of For the Man Who Has Everything with a Flash Point triggering event, but with Bruce's parents instead of Wally's mother.

I see "Batman" and "Booster Gold," I click.

This was the third worst Tom King story at DC for me. #1 be Heroes in Crisis (but then again it seems Editorial aka Dan DiDio is more to blame for that than King). But Batman #81? Yeah, that one just takes the cake as being worse than this. From the start of Bruce/Selina coming back from a mini vacation with the former thinking Alfred is safe (he's not) and then Damian getting freed by the entire Bat-Family (minus Ric and Stephanie) and then all of them jobbing to Thomas Wayne off-panel. Cause...

Thank you, Sasha, for this episode. I didn't read "The Gift", but I did read "Heroes in Crisis" which I thought was interesting but had reservations about. My recollections might be off, but I think this was released during Didio's tenure; I felt at the time that Didio was encouraging stories which had a "Mature Readers"/Vertigo-like take on them. Considering that Vertigo was phased out at around that time, it didn't surprise me that a story like this would be published. However, at a time when fans seemed to be looking for something familiar/comforting/positive/stable/heroic/etc. after the upsets of Flashpoint and New52, stories continued to be published where the most dangerous threat DC heroes faced was each other. Which, I mean, really, isn't a new thing, but at a time when we had BATMAN V SUPERMAN and the Injustice games and CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (just to show that Marvel was in on this too!), it sure seemed like the Bat-family had more shards of Kryptonite than Lex Luthor did. ...and so we get "The Gift", which might've been ok if it'd been published under the Black Label imprint, but Black Label was still a few years away. So thank you, Sasha, for reminding us of how much care had been spent on the character of Booster Gold over the years. Ending on such a positive note, going over a brief history of the character and all of the recommended storylines tht show how out of place "The Gift" was was really very welcome. Thank you for that gift! Hopefully "The Gift" will be relegated to that bookshelf of ideas that fans ignore except for when CBR brings it up as angry clickbait. I'm really enjoying your show. Thank you so much for the work you do!

I'd managed to have forgotten reading The Gift... perhaps because it felt a little incomplete, as if I'd missed an issue somewhere along the way. In many ways it's precisely the alternative universe I enjoy, but for a lot of the reasons you highlight, it left me a little cold. Alongside Jurgens run, it's tonal differences felt like it was supposed to build to some turning point that it never reached. Still, it was something I read with a "thank god they didn't forget about Booster", a prayer I hope never ends.

omg a booster gold video on my birthday!! what a rush!!! great video!!!

I think the most tragic part is that the whole 'what happens if bruces parents never die' idea is very well explored in the Batman/Superman comics. Also i have to admit. My love for booster comes entirely from JLU. They did him so damn well in the one episode they let him shine in, and i'll never forget it. He should be explored more often, because his entire existence explores what it means to be a super hero at its very foundation, because he doesnt really understand it. Kinda reminds me of Marvels Speedball.

The panel that you've chosen as the thumbnail is very *riveting*

That cutaway to Spock….are you trying to make me cry?

Wasn't Skeets revealed to be evil at one point? Did he become good again after that?

This is an actual time where the quote "Why would Hal Jordan do this?" makes too much sense.

And Booster wonders why he's no longer invited to the Justice League birthdays party anymore.

Another wonderful appearance of Editor Sasha!

Great comic critique. I look forward to more.

Why didn’t booster just go back in time tell Thomas and Martha Wayne they will sadly not live to see their son’s wedding, so he’s here to take them to their son’s wedding, boom a good gift, a week with his dead parents from the past

Your Batman voice is the best!! Thank you!

I never expected Booster Gold to *actually* reach that level of stupidity! I can't, I just can't!

I remember seeing this, him constantly cleaning his glasses got me in the heart

.....Thank you, Sasha for another wonderfully explained...as much as this story would allow. I always look forward to your videos and analyze. Steve S over at 'Trek, Actually...' does this as well. Like you, he gives insights that a common reader doesn't usually don't catch. I know, I wasn't very good in English Comp II...but I had my moments. ....I hope you, your husband and children are doing well...and again, Congratulations.

Great Video!

I feel like if Batman’s parents were saved, there would still be a Batman.

Makes Booster sound like a Himbo, or having dialogue coming straight from Rick & Morty

That was Beyond Awesome Casually comics keep it up 😀😎👍🤘❤

"Nothing against fart jokes". Fart jokes are classics. They're in Shakespeare and the Canterbury Tales.

It’s a “what my life could’ve been and still can be”

Your Superman voice is fantastic. We need it in at least one official DC adaptation at some point.

If Catwoman were a Batman style character, instead of the Batcave would she have the litter box?

is that project super powers in the background?!?!? love that comic

All of this could've been prevented if someone had just sent him the wedding registry...

Sasha's voice acting is hilarious 😂 NOOO!!!

"Booster Gold - The Greatest Hero Tom King Never Knew"

This story had some of the messiest time rules of any DC story I've seen. Usually they just cleanly do the "One Timeline/Butterfly Effect" thing. Which already makes Booster Gold and Reverse Flash both insane to be dicking around in the past.

I think a lot of Booster Gold stories, post Jurgens [still need to read the Geoff Johns stories, glad a tpb reprint seems to be happening, but would've loved an omnibus], have the problem of assuming egotistical heart-of-gold celebrity heroes are all morons when it comes down to it...I can't think of one bad story with those types of characters, where it doesn't come down to 'they act COMPLETELY out of character because they act way dumber than they're supposed to be'... I don't know why it happens, maybe the authors find it more funny, or maybe it's their way of giving the character karma, while accidentally turning them into a strawman of the character they once were in the process... But really, it felt like Booster was a lot more multidimensional in that first run I read, by Jurgens... The second hardcover really meandered near the end, and Millenium felt like it shot the entire storyline in the foot, with what it did to the supporting cast, and then Booster himself... But whether it's cartoons or comics, he's not an idiot. The man stole a bunch of superhero gear out of desperation, not stupidity. Let alone, he got away with it more or less. I don't know if it's the sort of himbo-flanderization that seems to happen a little recently to characters or if it's just the weird IQ drain that happens, but I really think that ends up being a key part of what brings these stories down a peg. But that's just my take, I hope the Geoff Johns post-52 run proves to be even better than I expect it to be, since I've heard great stuff about it. 😁

“The Gift” arc is indicative to the event comic HEROES IN CRISIS: trying to tackle mental health yet is grossly mishandle, mischaracterization, a lot of characters dying in grandiose way, and character assassination.

Good video, also you rocking that hair style

I think the weird thing about this story is that Superman/Batman did a very similar story where Bruce lived in a timeline where his parents lived after timeline shenanigans But in that story as soon as he gets his memories back he becomes Batman again and spends the story brooding over how he has memories of both his parents alive and dead and how he handles it