Roughly twenty years ago, Dan Jurgens introduced Booster Gold to the world. As the writer and artist of the series, Jurgens established Booster's corner of the DC Universe, borrowing heavily from the lush depth the DCU provides. Things being what they are, Jurgens found himself drawing the second (and current) volume of "Booster Gold" to fit the story from Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz. As Geoff and Jeff chose to move on, Jurgens took the opportunity to captain Booster's stories as both writer and artist.

This issue is Jurgens first issue in both roles. Jurgens does a fabulous job of providing a great deal of story and imagery in his first outing. The story picks up with Booster enjoying some downtime with his sister, Michelle, also known as Goldstar. The interesting thing about downtime when you are a time traveler is that it can happen wherever or WHENever. This issue puts the Booster and Goldstar in the time of daVinci, wherein we learn that Michelle might have been the inspiration for the Mona Lisa.

Jurgens makes great use of the paradoxical nature of a time traveling hero, giving us a chance to see that Booster still doesn't necessarily think every situation through entirely. Additionally, the story puts Booster in an awkward place when the Elongated Man asks about his own future. In doing so, Jurgens shows that while Johns and Katz may have set the current adventures of Booster Gold in motion, truly it is Dan Jurgens who hard-wired the hero and, as such, knows him best.

Jurgens art is as good as it ever has been, and he gets a lot of work here, with many pages carrying six panels or more. The density that creates really makes the splash pages shine more brightly, and Jurgens fills those masterfully. Jurgens uses a great deal of page-wide panels, which gives the book a very cinematic feel.

If there was any doubt that "Booster Gold" would be as strong a read after Johns and Katz, those doubts can be put out to pasture. Jurgens is here and ready to take his character in new directions through exciting scenarios he did not have the chance to employ before. Through it all, Jurgens gives Booster a mysterious new adversary, which fuels the direction this storyline takes out of this issue.

For more insight from Jurgens himself, check out the interview CBR conducted with him recently.