Booster Gold Causes Dick Grayson, Catwoman's Deaths in Batpoint

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Batman #46 by Tom King and Tony S. Daniel, on sale now.

As shown last issue, Booster Gold's misguided attempt to give Bruce Wayne a very nice but unusual wedding gift resulted in the creation of a darker Flashpoint-type alternate reality. Booster had gone back in time to save the lives of Bruce's parents before their murder, but inadvertently created a divergent "Batpoint" continuity. In this altered history, Bruce never became Batman, which has in turn drastically altered the destinies of both his villains and allies alike – and not for the better.

In Tom King and Tony S. Daniel's Batman #46, part two of "The Gift," Booster continues to try to fix the reality he's broken, believing that finding Selina Kyle is the key to making things right. But as the bumbling Booster keeps proving in this arc, all he really does is continue to make things worse. And in this issue, his ill-conceived plan ultimately makes things especially bad for Bruce, and certainly not the kind of gift for him that he had intended.

With Friends Like Booster Gold …

Booster's childlike logic last issue surmised that Bruce Wayne could help him go back in time and fix everything. Instead, Bruce not only kicked him out of Wayne Manor, but destroyed Booster's mechanical companion Skeets – and the time machine contained within. Like Marty McFly stranded in Biff Tannen's timeline, Booster is forced to find an alternative to fixing this broken world – without the benefit of time travel.

This issue opens one year after Booster's failed attempt to garner Bruce's help, where Booster – now sporting a full beard, but none of the maturity it superficially implies – breaks Selina Kyle out of Arkham Asylum. Yes, Selina has been committed to Arkham – seemingly excessive punishment for being a burglar, yes? Well, here in Batpoint, Selina is no mere burglar – she's a serial killer, and her breakout initiates a series of events that only brings more chaos to Gotham. Enough chaos to induce Thomas Wayne to have a heart attack. Way to go, Booster.

… Who Needs Enemies?

Why did Booster spring Selina from her prison in the first place? As Thomas eventually recovers, Booster rambles off his master plan to an oddly silent Selina – that is, the Plan B that took him a year to concoct. That plan? To simply introduce Selina to Bruce, and hope that love – which the two don't share in this reality – will do its thing and somehow set the world aright.

Selina's ambiguous and lackadaisical response – "Meeeow" – leads the seemingly unhinged Booster to realize that his crazy plan won't work, at least without the right attire. As a result, Booster also concocts a new costume for Selina – a familiar looking one that transforms her into a recognizable Catwoman, but one that's constructed about as carelessly as his plan to supposedly save the world.

Love Will Find a Way – Or Not

By the time Booster is ready to play matchmaker between Selina and Bruce, Thomas has recovered and is back home resting, even as Gotham and the world continue to crumble around him. So what better time to try and set up Bruce with a killer he's never met? As Bruce embraces the happiness he finds with his father's recovery, while denying the ongoing and increasing unrest outside the mansion, Booster and Selina break into the Wayne Manor – and introduce plenty of unrest inside its walls.

Selina goes on to do what everyone (except Booster) would expect a committed serial killer to do – she immediately murders Alfred, and then Thomas. Batman's – that is, Dick Grayson's – arrival only adds to the chaos, and by the time the bloodbath is over, Batman, Martha Wayne – and seemingly Selina – all lie dead, leaving only the shell-shocked Booster and a traumatized Bruce.

That's right – Booster's disastrous, history-changing actions have not only led to pandemonium and violence around the world, but they've also brought about the very catastrophe that he was trying to prevent. Bruce's parents again lie dead at his side, violently and senselessly murdered, just as they were in the mainstream reality that led to the creation of Batman. Some gift.

Did Booster Just Back into the Solution He Needed?

In the wake of this violent incident, Booster lies behind Bruce, mumbling in a self-congratulatory and delusional celebration that he's saved the world. While he seems deluded, though, is he actually right? Last issue, Booster had surmised that Bruce's parents had to die for him to become Batman, and now he's stumbled his way into the first part of that scenario. Might his misguided presumption actually come to pass, albeit decades later? Can the deaths of his parents still be the catalyst for an adult and self-absorbed Bruce to eventually take up the mantle of The Bat? If so, would this incarnation of Batman ultimately come to understand and believe what Booster has done, and help him set reality straight?

A Batpoint Batman would have some parallels to his Flashpoint counterpart, mainly as an older version of the character in a world that's simply too far gone for him to save. In Flashpoint, Batman helped The Flash restore the timeline, although the Flashpoint continuity remained as an alternate reality, at least temporarily. Could a Batman in this reality help Booster Gold in a similar manner, restoring history as it was meant to be, even if his own world is too chaotic to be saved?

Whether it's saved or not, the world of Batpoint stands to remain relevant. Flashpoint had largely been forgotten, but King found good use for it in "The Button," the aftereffects of which continued into King's run on Batman. While "The Gift" comes across as a standalone arc, the same can be said for the recent "Everyone Loves Ivy," which is referenced in this issue. And an incarnation of Bruce Wayne who becomes Batman much later in life would make for an interesting ally, or foe, of the Batman we all know.

"The Gift" concludes in Batman #47, on sale May 16.