Title: The Signal Masters – Part 2

Writers: Dan Jurgens

Art By: Aaron Lopresti

Released Date: 10/5/2011

Official DC Synopsis:

The United Nations’ new international team of heroes must learn to work together – and fast – if they’re going to discover the mystery behind the giant alien Signalmen who are appearing all over the globe. Can Booster Gold lead his team to victory, or will they fall?

Review by: Mittens2317

Oh. Wow. Another JLI issue. How amazing. I called my comic store to hold a copy for me as soon as it was announced…

I like Dan Jurgens, really. He’s massively invested in his character Booster Gold, and he’s been pushing him really hard since he was conceived, so it’s only natural that he was chosen to write JLI, or that he was the guy who requested to write it when he realised Booster Gold wasn’t returning. Whichever way you wanna look at it. Anyhow, the big problem that this presents is that he has a very bias outlook on his character. I don’t blame the guy though. I mean, who wouldn’t have? This is his character after all, but it reads too much like a Booster Gold and Friends-kinda book, and less like a team book.

The basic jist of things in this book is that a team of international superheroes has been banded together, and the UN government-types who put the team together have placed Booster Gold in charge, as they believe that he’s a PR-loving mascot who can be easily controlled. That sentence pretty much sums up the whole book. Notice the emphasis on Booster Gold being leader as opposed to the rest being a team? Exactly. It’s less of it being “a team of heroes”, and more “Booster Gold leads a team of heroes”, something which becomes quite evident in this issue.

So, basically, in terms of expecting to read a comic book based on a group of heroes who deal with international “incidents”, this probably ain’t gonna be the book to read. However, if you wanna read a Booster Gold book with some fun character interaction, then look no further. Because, at the end of the day, this is what’s driving the book. It’s not the ridiculously dated-looking villains. It’s not the mind-blowing, revolutionary art… And it’s definitely not the tense mystery that surrounds the story. It’s quite simply the dialogue.

I’ll admit that I never was a regular reader of Booster Gold, but I read it when I could, and I also read Time Masters: Vanishing Point (Dan Jurgen’s tediously boring Return of Bruce Wayne tie-in) All that ever said to me was that he wrote dull, uninteresting stories. But damnit, he knows how to write superhero banter! It’s really frustrating too, because I want my cake and I also wanna eat it. What’s the point in having it otherwise? So why not get someone who can write stories, have them write the plot, but let Dan Jurgens write the dialogue? Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins did it for Gates of Gotham, and Frank Miller was supposed to do that for Neal Adams’ Batman: Oddysey (which would’ve probably made that book just the slightest bit bearable), so why not do the same thing for JLI?

The thing is, the parts of the story which usually drive a comic book – the action sequences – are the pages you wanna skip over. They’re just flat out uninteresting. Not exactly the best way to attract new readers, eh? One good point about them though is that they do actually have a sense of peril about them, because there are certain characters that you just feel are definitely expendable. Especially after reading Suicide Squad #1.

What is definitely surprising though, is that everything that comes after this just keeps you turning page after page, reading every bit of it. I honestly expected to just get to the point of throwing it to the side, playing a bit of Splinter Cell on the 360, and coming back to it later trying to force myself through it in order to write this review. That just wasn’t the case though.

The exchanges between the Russian and Chinese heroes – I still can’t recall their names – is getting better, and we all know that they’re gonna end up being best buds. Batman’s presence as the “Big Fish in a Small Pond” makes for some humorous comments. Guy Gardner’s gearing himself up for a DCnU Revamp of the infamous Bat-Punch, and Booster Gold shows signs of this book being the beginning of his foretold “Glory Years”.

The really bad thing about the characters is no longer how stereotypical the international heroes are. As I’ve said, the Russian and Chinese guys are becoming pretty entertaining. It’s the women. Seriously. The “superheroines” just don’t bring anything to the story whatsoever. Not even former Justice League leader Vixen has something interesting to say. I’ll admit, they have a nice little panel or two towards the end involving Batman, but other than that, they’re just there.

Possibly the best thing about this book though isn’t the sub-plot that I was all geared up for in the first issue (sorry to spoil this for you, but it seems to have just fallen by the wayside) No, it’s what I’ve always liked about reading books starring Booster Gold – Batman in the mentor role.

Batman blatantly has a lot of respect for Booster, as he knows that he is one of the most important dudes in the DCU, and nobody but he, Booster, Rip Hunter, and the little floating gizmo Skeetz knows. So, it’s a really nice thing to see Batman guide someone like Booster. We’ve all seen how he’s mentored the Robins, how hard he comes down on “new heroes”, and we’ve also seen snippets in Batman Inc. Booster Gold’s a different story though, because everyone sees him as a joke, and then you have some big badass like Batman come along, telling you to sit down, shut up, and listen to what this sellout has to say. It’s really entertaining stuff for a Batman fan.

Anyway, as much as I like the character interaction, the fact that the story’s absoloute genitals and the art’s about as ground-breaking as a dorky teenager stamping his feet lets it down too much.

As I’ve said before, I simply cannot in all good faith reccommend this book unless you have money to burn. Please, Dan, do us a favour, write something interesting to compliment these characters. Oh, and another thing… Isn’t Galactus a Marvel character?

Score: 2/5