Ad


Booster Gold #29


The Gold Exchange: So first off—criminy! These First Wave previews are really creating an anthology feel when you tack them onto books with backup stories. Are you looking forward to having your own book back, along with the price decrease that's to come with it, when Beetle takes off for greener pastures soon?

Dan Jurgens: Yeah, I am. Nothing against Jaime, but I always thought BG felt better as a solo book. Plus... I missed the two pages I lost in the process. It's nice to have those back.

GX: What was Crain's strategy for getting home? If her tracking is busted and she just wants to save Coast City , did she plan on fading out of existence or sticking around and mucking with the past in order to resume her life?

DJ: If she has no way to get home she would seem likely to end up stranded in the past, wouldn't you think? Provided she survives Coast City's demolition, of course.

GX: That first panel of Booster flying looks really cool—is that just an example of space constraints providing a cool image, or is it more like your finding a "flying position" you're comfortable with for Booster?

DJ: I don't think it's a question of finding a flying position I'm comfortable with as much as it's a case of finding different ways of drawing a cool Booster. I've opened things up a bit more over the last couple of issues.

GX: There are tiny differences in the way Henshaw is depicted—is that something where it just wasn't worth going back to replicate every line, or were you just kind of improving on your old design? (It might not even be that—it might just be the difference between Breeding and Norm.)

DJ: It's a combination of the above. Yes, I made some slight stylistic adjustments in his look. Nothing too over the top. And it's quite accurate to say that there are also differences between the approaches of Brett and Norm.

GX: Michelle's got guts, I'll give her that—did it not occur to her that telling Henshaw to his face that she knows he's not the real Superman might illicit a violent response?

DJ: Not quite. I played that as somewhat common for the time. Remember, there were four individuals claiming to be Superman and we played them all as having their own true believers. That would also indicate a healthy number of skeptics for each of the four.

GX: Is there a particular rhyme or reason to how Michelle is conducting herself? She won't tell her boyfriend how she knows about Coast City, but she's GOT a boyfriend. I mean—what if he was destined to be doing something else at that time?

DJ: I think it's fair to say that Michelle was where she was supposed to be, just as Booster is.

As for how she's conducting herself, well, I never really thought of her as a pure "hero" She did that more of a way as tagging along with Booster and had plenty of self doubts every step of the way. She's quite relectant in that regard.

GX: For the purposes of evacuating the city (which WAS, after all, her backup plan), wouldn't her bosses have given Sondra some kind of 20th Century US codeword, so that the government didn't just hang up on her?

DJ: I think you're giving them too much credit. At best, they were the Model T of time travel. On top of that, they were a government run organization. Anyone who ever walked into the DMV to get a license generally knows what you're dealing with at that point.

GX: The name "Agent Traverse" is pretty familiar. Am I just making that up, or is it a character who I've forgotten?

DJ: I think you're making it up. I plucked the name out of thin air.

GX: Having seen our mysterious stranger in the ball cap twice now, I'm guessing we'll find out who it is by the end of the story. Any hints? Is it someone we know?

DJ: You will find out in issue 30.

GX: It seems odd that Booster gets won over so easily by Crain's logic—but obviously we know that he's not always 100% on board with Rip's plans. Will that relationship be a little more solidified by the end of the arc?

DJ: Booster's doubts over Rip's tactics have been growing for quite some time. I think it's one thing to accept it on an intellectual level, but quite another on an emotional level, particularly when it means seven million will die.

GX: So...we know Michelle is heading back to the future at some point...or at least leaving. What's the odds that Crain, timelost anyway, will end up the new Goldstar?

DJ: I dunno! I'll have to call my bookie to find out. He's still recovering from the shellacking he took covering the Super Bowl bets so it might be a while before I can get back to you.

GX: Some questions from the DC Message Boards to round out the month: Brik-El asks, will you ever go back to Superman?

DJ: At some point, I'd love to do a Superman story. For now however, there are no plans to do so. My schedule is packed to the max.

GX: Booster_Deadshot wants to know: Could Sondra be Rip's mom? He also asks about characters like Trixie Collins and Jack Soo from the original Booster Gold series.

DJ: Perhaps, along with about three million other women. Keep in mind that Rip's mom could be in the present. Or the past. Or the future. We have a wide range to play with here. As for Trixie and Jack, there are no plans at present. I think we need to spend more time with Michelle and Rip.

GX: Boosterlantern wonders if you'll be appearing at this year's New York Comic Con.

DJ: No plans at present.

GX: Brik-el also wants to know, if given enough time on Booster Gold, would you have taken Booster back in time to the Time and Time Again storyline? You had Rip hunting Booster all those years ago, I would love to see Booster's reaction to this today.

DJ: That was one of my favorite stories. I have a note pad-- not unlike Rip's blackboard-- with some specific times to visit and that is definitely on the list.

GX: DCfan4ever wonders: When are you expected to return to Booster Gold, and in what capacity?

DJ: We don't have an exact issue number in mind but we do have a rather general idea. Some of it depends on some external factors and other plans. Soon to be released.

Russell Burlingame is a journalist and columnist living and working in New York City. In high school, Russell interviewed Elliot S. Maggin for a review of the Kingdom Come novelization, and since then has worked consistently in and around the comics industry. He interned for Wizard magazine, and has freelanced for Wizard and Newsarama, in addition to a number of non-comics publications, Russell is currently working on a graphic novel based on Cap'n Internet, the comic strip that ran in his college newspaper; and a graphic biography of folk singer Phil Ochs with artist Marion Vitus.

Currently, in addition to his freelance work and his comics projects, Russell writes a number of columns for ComicRelated, including Conscientious Sequentials, The Gold Exchange, What's Perhappenin', Closing Statements, Reflecting 'Pool and To See or Not To See.



blog comments powered by Disqus