No matter if you favor DC or Marvel, there’s a good chance that you like characters belonging to both sides. Given that, there’s a reason why fans freak out whenever a crossover occurs, or when a simple nod to the competition is witnessed.
Well, in the latest issue of Action Comics, the concluding chapter of “Booster Shot” offers up the second option. Appropriately, it’s time traveler extraordinaire Booster Gold who has a bit of fun with his A.I. buddy in Skeets, referring to him as “Alfred” at one point.
Of course, Skeets objected to being compared to Batman’s trusted butler, prompting Booster to retort with the following:
“Not like I can call you Jarvis. Whole other timeline.”
As you may know, Tony Stark had his own butler, Jarvis, in the comics, thus the quip works rather well. But what makes it doubly amusing is that Jarvis was an A.I. himself in the film universe, a decision made as not to draw too many comparisons between Iron Man and Batman.
Naturally, this has led some to jump to the erroneous conclusion that the little jest confirms Marvel as part of DC’s multiverse, but that’s not the case at all. Keep in mind that Booster specifically used the word “timeline,” not “universe.” Not only is there a difference, but we can’t be too sure of what kind of “Jarvis” he was referring to.
Furthermore, crossovers are often considered to be non-canonical, especially when you factor in that Marvel’s multiverse is made up by at least hundreds of universes, with DC’s consisting of 52; it’s Comic Book 101. Given that, there’s not much room for overlap, let alone all the legality that comes along with it.
Regardless of that, we do recommend picking up a copy of Action Comics #998, which is now available in comic shops. With issue #1000’s release creeping up, it’s for the best the you keep current on Dan Jurgens’ epic run.
