Booster Gold #5
Booster Gold #5 marks a deliberate creative pivot in Dan Jurgens's early run: after four issues consumed by a continuous crime-thriller arc involving the 1000, 'Face Off' stands alone as the first self-contained, single-issue story of the series, demonstrating Jurgens's range and Booster's viability as a day-to-day Metropolis hero rather than just a serialized plot engine. The issue doubles as a showcase for the character's defining satirical theme — superheroism as corporate branding — by introducing the Boostermobile, a promotional sports car provided by fictional auto manufacturer Brysler Motors in exchange for Booster's endorsement, a gag that crystallizes exactly what sets this hero apart from his altruistic contemporaries. The closing scene, in which Trixie quietly wonders whether she and Dirk can truly call themselves Booster's friends when they don't even know his real name, plants the emotional undercurrent of identity and genuine connection that Jurgens would develop throughout the first volume.
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The entire inaugural volume of Booster Gold was a solo creation by writer-artist Dan Jurgens, with Mike DeCarlo providing inks across the early run; Jurgens conceived, plotted, scripted, and penciled every issue, a degree of single-creator control unusual for a DC ongoing of the era. Issue #5 was edited by Janice Race under executive editor Dick Giordano, with colors by Nansi Hoolahan and lettering by Agustin Más — the core production team that carried the series from its launch. The series itself occupied a notable editorial position as the first ongoing title built around a major new character introduced into DC's post-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Story title: 'Face Off' — cover-dated June 1986, published as part of Booster Gold Vol. 1 (DC Comics, 1986–1988).
- Written and penciled by Dan Jurgens; inked by Mike DeCarlo; colored by Nansi Hoolahan; lettered by Agustin Más; edited by Janice Race; executive editor Dick Giordano.
- First appearance of the Boostermobile — officially designated the Brysler Booster Mark IV, provided to Booster Gold by Jeremy Brysler of Brysler Motors as a corporate sponsorship deal; Brysler Motors is a comedic pun on the real-world Chrysler corporation.
- First appearance of Jeremy Brysler (CEO of Brysler Motors) and Jeanie Collins (Trixie's Aunt).
- The issue is the first standalone, single-issue story of the series — issues #1–4 formed a continuous four-part arc; 'Face Off' inaugurates the series' episodic storytelling mode alongside its ongoing subplots.
- The closing scene develops a key emotional thread: Trixie Collins reflects that she and Dirk Davis don't know Booster's real name or origins, foreshadowing the identity revelations that unfold across the first volume.
- Reprinted in black-and-white in Showcase Presents: Booster Gold Vol. 1 (DC Comics, March 2008), which collected all 25 issues of the original series, and in full color in Booster Gold: The Big Fall (DC Comics, 2019), which collected issues #1–12 with a new introduction and original series-proposal material by Dan Jurgens.