If you’re a Booster Gold or Rip Hunter fan, you need to read this series. Contrary to what I feel is most people’s perception, Time Masters Vanishing Pointy is not a Return of Bruce Wayne/Batman story. Make no mistake: this is a Rip Hunter and Booster Gold story. The fact that the protagonists are searching for Bruce is merely a McGuffin, or plot device, to grab the reader’s attention and push the plot forward. The real point of the story is how these events affect Rip, Booster and potentially the larger DCU. Bruce is barely brought up in this issue. Even Hal and Superman are kind of afterthoughts in this whole affair (at least up to this point in the story.)

That said, I loved this issue. It had everything. There was a lot of action, good dialog, and great character moments. It begins with a flashback to a seminal moment in DC history that also reveals part of Rip’s motivation and character. In the flashback, Rip learns that he must protect the time-stream or else the bad guys will change history for their own advantage. This danger is echoed later in the issue when we see a group of villains who have come together to do just that. And, these villains are taken from specific moments in DC’s history, when they are all theoretically at the height of their dastardly prowess.

We are then taken to Rip’s “present day”, where he battles with Claw and attempts to make sense of where (and when) he is in the time-stream. Rip’s been split off from Booster, Hal and Superman, who have been thrown into a different time and place, where a battle is raging between two warring factions. Hal and Superman decide to step in and protect the losing side, while Booster remarks that Rip is going to be angry (specifically at him) because the other two decided to get involved. During this battle, we see another flashback to a conversation between Rip and Booster, which reveals why Booster might be one of the more tragic characters of the DCU. Great stuff!

I thought the first issue of this min-series was a rather ho-hum time travel story. It appears Jurgens might have just been putting the pieces in place because, with issue two issue, the action has been ramped up and the larger themes of the story are starting to be revealed. If you missed issue one, you can jump on here, as you’re basically clued into what has come before. It also feels like Jurgens is just building up steam as we head into issue three because this issue ends with yet another reveal. I am excited for the next issue, and I am definitely “in” for the entire mini-series.