Booster Gold #8-9 "Time Bridge"

Hey Legionnaires! It’s your pal, the Kord Kid, back to cover some Legion periphery! After my recent coverage of “Convergence: Booster Gold”, our mutual friend and fellow member of the Legion of Super-Bloggers, Bilingual Boy, asked me to take a look at another Booster/Legion team-up. The story is called “Time Bridge” from 1986. So without further ado, let’s dive right into “Booster Gold” #’s 8&9, by Dan Jurgens and Mike DeCarlo.

In the year 2986, Brainiac-5, Ultra Boy, and Chameleon Boy have been summoned to the Time Institute by Chronarch and Dr. Manning. It seems a time machine has been unearthed. Not just any time machine either, one that belonged to Rip Hunter and was stolen by Michael Carter, aka Booster Gold in 2462. That’s not all…inside was a force shield belt belonging to none other than Brainiac-5! 

This discovery baffles the Legionnaires, the time machine only made one trip from 2462 to 1985. How could B-5’s belt be there? There’s only one way to figure it out…they have to go back to the future! Just kidding, they gotta go back in time! Suddenly it’s 1985 and a time machine is materializing just outside Metropolis. It’s not the Legion though, it’s Booster Gold!

We get a glimpse at Booster’s arrival, as he and Skeets make their way around town. He knows that historically there will be an assassination attempt on the President. He’ll arrive just in time to save the day and get rich and famous! Meanwhile, under Centennial Park, the villains known as the 100 are planning that very thing! With the shape shifting hitman Chiller, they plan to kidnap then kill the President and Vice President, leaving an inside man, Senator Ballard (who is secretly the leader of the 100) in charge of the country! The Legionnaires arrive, and spotting a billboard announcing the President’s visit to Metropolis come to the conclusion that Booster Gold plans to assassinate the leader of the United States. 

Donning disguises, the trio sets out to find him. Later, at the President’s public appearance, Booster spots the shape shifting assassin. He’s half right…he spies a shape shifter, but not Chiller. 

It’s Chameleon Boy. The Legion spots Booster too and figuring he’s there to carry out his plan to kill the President…all hell breaks loose! The heroes fight and Booster is soon snared by Chameleon Boy in dragon form…which is just the distraction the 100 needed. Chiller, having taken the identity of a Secret Service agent, ushers the President and Vice President into a car to take them to “safety”.

While Brainiac-5 goes to retrieve the Legionnaires' Time Bubble, Booster manages to adjust the power flow on his blasters enough to shock Chameleon Boy, giving himself a chance to get free. Ultra Boy is none too happy though and is quickly in pursuit. 

Booster, apparently smarter than he looks, figures out that Ultra Boy can only use one power at a time and manages to get in a punch that takes him out…only to find that Brainiac-5 is now charging back into the fight! When Booster and Brainy’s force shield belts meet though, they’re momentarily fused together. Then using his penatravision, Ultra sees what’s going on. Booster not only has Brainiac-5’s force shield belt, but also a Legion flight ring! 

While the heroes have been busy with their battle, Chiller has made it to an isolated area, and is ready to kill the President and Vice President! Luckily Skeets has been following him and arrives just in time to stop him…well, distract him. Skeets quickly calls for Booster’s back-up. 

Now that they know Booster isn’t the actual assassin the Legionnaires follow him to Skeet’s location. They still have questions about the stolen Legion tech, but for now they trust him enough to work together. When they arrive though, Chiller has called for back-up too and the heroes find themselves under fire from several helicopters. The combined might of Booster and the Legion prevail, but not before Chiller manages to teleport to safety. 

Ultra Boy calls for the others to take Booster into custody, but Brainiac-5 advises against it. Booster’s theft of their tech and his actions in 1985 are part of their past. Taking him to the future may well alter history. So they decide to allow him to remain, provided he agrees to act as a hero…they can always return if he doesn’t keep his word. 

Shortly after, Booster is publicly thanked by the President, and begins appearing in ads for cologne. The rest they say is history!

So there you have it…Booster’s origin, first adventure, and his first meeting with the Legion. It’s funny to me, having just recently read “Convergence: Booster Gold”, that the Legion seems to forever be wondering how he got that flight ring? And did they ever really figure out how Brainiac-5’s belt ended up back in time? I guess either I missed it or the answer is lost among the twists and turns of time travel.