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Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, the longtime writers of Justice League International and its spinoff miniseries Formerly Known as the Justice League and I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, returned to one of the characters that most defined their runs on those titles in last week's Booster Gold #32. With covers by former Justice League International penciler Kevin Maguire and interior art by Chris Batista ( 52, Infinity Inc.), DeMatteis told The Gold Exchange this month that while the writers are trying to keep a balance of the goofy, over-the-top feel of the Giffen-DeMatteis Justice League with the more serious, traditional superhero tone of the relaunch written by Johns, Katz and Jurgens, they'll be bringing the bwa-ha-hah soon enough. DeMatteis joined us for a few questions about Booster Gold #32 and the future of the series.

The Gold Exchange: Manoman, this book really *is* a throwback! There's a recycled joke on the first page! Did you guys decide the "Come with me if you want to live" line had to be there once the time-travel element was such a big part of Booster's new status quo?

J.M. DeMatteis: The line just came out of Booster's mouth as I started to type. I hope James Cameron doesn't sue!

GX: Is there a significance to dropping Booster in the middle of the Great Darkness War?

JMD: Nothing beyond the fact that Keith has a connection to that old Legion of Super-Heroes story line.

GX: Is Rani goign to be a fixture for a while? Without Michelle, Booster is kind of lacking in a non-superhero supporting cast member.

JMD: Rani will be around for the foreseeable future. But, don't despair, we'll be seeing Michelle, too.

GX: Is Booster going to be using his tagline as he goes about his day-to-day business, or is that just kind of isolated to when he's in the future and it can't hurt anything for people to hear it?

JMD: I think that gag was beaten to death in the first issue. It's time to retire it. Unless we come across a situation where it's just perfect, in which case we reserve the right to beat it some more.

GX: I'm intrigued by the idea that very important moments in LoSH history and the like can be solidified time, kind of retroactively. Is that something that was vetted with DC Editorial or did it just require an in-story explanation as to why Booster couldn't intervene and save the day?

JMD: To be honest, we kind of made it up as we went along, but I think it worked.

GX: What-no jokes about the Emerald Empress's preposterous "eye, me, mine" pattern of speech? I kept expecting it and it never came!

JMD: One more balloon on those pages and the letterer's head would have exploded.

GX: Was "PUNT" a scripted sound effect or the work of a particularly ingenious letterer?

JMD: "PUNT" was right there in the script. It might have even been in Keith's plot.

GX: It's interesting that, in spite of a major change in tone, Booster's overall personality has been kept here. His mini-breakdown is actually quite reminiscent of some of the moments of serious self-doubt he had during Dan's most recent issues. Did you guys plan that?

JMD: We're trying very hard to find the balance between the Booster of our Justice League International era and the man he's become in recent years. That's one of the things that makes this incarnation of Booster interesting: he IS the old Booster and he's NOT. Booster will be discovering that, yes you CAN go home again, but it can never be exactly as it was before. We all keep growing and evolving and trying to be the person you were last year - let alone a decade ago - doesn't really work.

GX: That said, is he going to get a little break sometime soon? Visiting Coast City and then the Daxamite attack back-to-back had to be a little harrowing.

JMD: He'll get a break by "bwah-ha-ha"-ing up back in time with his old JLI buddies. There'll be plenty of patented Giffen-DeMatteis goofiness. But he can never laugh too hard, because the reason he's back there is a dead serious one.

GX: You know-outside of holiday stories or something, most creators of mainstream superhero books tend to avoid pinning a story down to a specific date, because of the rolling nature of the characters' timelines. Somehow, though, Im' doubting that'll be an issue with the April 5 (or date!

JMD: Well, if that date rolls around and we find out we're wrong, well... Hey, wait a minute. We'll all be dead by then. And reincarnated. And dead again. And reincarnated again. And...

GX: Given that Keith was writing it, and you guys' history with the Justice League International, I kinda figured that it would tie into "Generation Lost" a little. How much is that going to play into the monthly action here and how much will Booster have his own thing going on?

JMD: The general idea behind Generation Lost - Max is back and he's got to be stopped - will have a major impact on Booster's book. The details of Generation Lost will have less of an impact. It's not going to be one of those: "You must read Generation Lost before you read this month's Booster Gold" kind of things. I'm not a big fan of that way of doing things.

GX: As a continuity note-will Rip continue to be aware of Max's existence even after everyone except the JLI has forgotten about him?

JMD: Max who?