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The Gold Exchange is very late this time around; my conversation with Dan Jurgens on Time Masters: Vanishing Point took precedence over the monthly column, but also happened halfway through our e-mail interaction about this month's issue of Booster Gold . The result is that there are some questions asked here, which have already been answered in part or indirectly. I'm going to leave the questions as they appeared when asked and answered, so as the column progresses you may notice that I seem shockingly ignorant in the asking of a few questions. Let it go and enjoy the conversation.

The Gold Exchange: So last things first... Time Masters #1? Rip Hunter starring in The Return of Bruce Wayne ? I suppose the latter makes sense, but I didn't see it coming. The former—where'd that one come from? Has this been announced or solicited and I just missed it?

Dan Jurgens: As you have probably seen by now, we just made the official announcement this morning. Given the fate of Bruce Wayne, it's something that makes a lot of sense.

GX: Booster laments having too many time-travel missions lately; while you and Norm take over his and Rip's adventures in Time Masters: Vanishing Point , do you hear that the plan is for Keith and Marc to do less chronal, more traditional superhero stuff?

DJ: I think it's best to let Keith and Marc talk about their intentions. I know what they have in mind, but it's their book now!

GX: That said, on the eve of their arrival, you did away with one of the few things Keith and JM ever did that the fans generally complained about on DC's Booster boards: Booster's marriage to Gladys. Can you explain for the readers why Booster would have told Ted a lie like that?

DJ: "Lie" would be too strong. Booster simply "punked" Ted. I think that's perfectly consistent with their relationship. Way better than hanging a "kick me" sign on the Martian Manhunter's cape. Actually, my take on it is that it was a line of BS Booster was shoveling because he really had gotten a JOB. He was a working stiff and that would be the worst way to explain himself. So he came up with something sort of "in character" to cover himself, while still being something he wouldn't do.

GX: There were an awful lot of messages on Rip's board this month. Are these things that you've been setting up for the next creative team, or seeds that you're planting for when you can come back to the book?

DJ: It's a mix. Between Booster's future, the Time Masters book and a few other things, there's plenty to jumpstart interest.

GX: In particular, I can't help noticing that "Mxyzptlk's dimension has the key." This "key" metaphor is something we've seen with Rip a few times...but in this case, does it mean we'll see a Mxyzptlk soon? The last time I remember him was when he was being tortured by Superboy Prime.

DJ: I have some thoughts of a good Mxy story down the road. We'll see if we get to it!

GX: Again: Was the "mysterious tech thefts" headline something that was just a placeholder or was it meant to tie into something—either something upcoming in the book or maybe something in Time Masters?

DJ: More of a point that tied into the immediate story. While we never spelled out the fact that Booster was fighting SKULL, it was pretty clear it was them. Their taste for technology is fairly well known.

GX: It's funny because not only is Booster so pensive in this series, but he usually uses time travel as a means to run off somewhere when he's down. You think that's the natural extension, in part, of not having Ted to run to and talk?

DJ: I think it's more of a natural expression of what I'd do if I could travel freely through time. Some guys go have a drink in a bar. Booster takes a trip into the past. Sort of like when he and Michelle went to see the construction of the Eiffel Tower in Jeff and Geoff's last issue.

GX: Is there another reason besides the one used here as to why Booster and Rip were already in the past? I mean, you can see the trench-coated figures moving around in the background of the first scene, but if the entire rationale is "we can get away with this because we were already here," can it really be as simple as "go back to make sure we were there and then do it, knowing that we were there?"

DJ: It isn't as simple as that. It's Rip building a bit of an escape clause for himself, just as he did with rescuing Michelle. Interesting how he can do that when he wants, isn't it?

GX: Will it be nice to take a break from the headaches of time travel for a while?

DJ: Ha! Wait'll you see what we have coming in Time Masters!

GX: How many times have writers milked the "Buster Gold" joke since the first time you used it, do you think?

DJ: A lot. It's one of the thing that kind of works. It really goes back to a conversation that took place before the book came out. I was making a convention appearance and the book had been announced but not yet published. A fan came up to me and asked about "Buster Gold", which I thought was great. I eventually plugged it into the book.

GX: If you had a little more time on the title, would you have dealt with Michelle differently?

DJ: Not sure what you mean by that, but I wouldn't have had her leave. I brought her back with the intention of making her a strong part of the book. If she's going to be alive, she should absolutely have a strong role.

GX: Was Michelle's return something that you were very involved in, or was it more Geoff's idea? It seems like she got less screen time after her return than one would have expected.

DJ: The idea certainly originated with Jeff and Geoff but I was totally in favor of it. For one, it makes Booster a little less isolated. In addition, there simply aren't enough good female characters in the DCU and I'd like to think there's a lot to build on with Michelle.

GX: With art for DCU: Legacies and the Sony Online/DC Universe weekly both on your plate, when do you think you might get back to writing?

DJ: I'll be writing and drawing the Time Masters mini, writing and drawing a story for Superman # 700 and writing the Sony/DCU book with Tony Bedard. So that's actually quite a lot.

GX: I'm guessing that Rip is back in his green-and-red number to accomodate his appearance in Time Masters: Vanishing Point. Whose idea was it to put him back in costume for that story?

DJ: It was a matter of general consensus. We did alter the colors a bit to make it a little less garish.

GX: What brings this particular group to be called Time Masters? We've seen that Booster's family has more or less taken over the title in the future of our stories.

DJ: Let's just say that it is an accurate reflection of the cast that is out hunting for Bruce Wayne.

GX: And why wouldn't Tim Drake or Cassie Cain or any of the other neglected Bat-characters find a home in a story looking for Bruce?

DJ: I think when you start to deal with the concept of who really works for time travel that changes things. Obviously I think what you've seen already is the awareness by looking at the paintings and everything that Bruce Wayne could very well have been lost in time or thrown back into the timestream. When you then carry it to the next extension of putting together a group of people who are actually going to go back into the timestream looking for him, I think that's where you get characters like Superman, Green Lantern and Booster Gold who are more suited to it [than Batman and Robin].

GX: Was there any thought to how Booster can do something this high-profile-I mean, Superman, Batman and Green Lantern!-and not compromise his cover as a bumbling fool or are you just figuring that Keith and JM will take care of that over in the bwa-ha-hah monthly?

DJ: I don't think it does [compromise him] but let's also remember that Bruce certainly knows even moreso than Dick what Booster is all about, but I think as GL and Superman go one of the things you'll see is that this is theoretically a case of when they went to Rip and Booster is more along for the ride than necessarily leading the mission and I think what'll see is a lot of conversations between Booster and Rip that don't necessarily take place in front of GL and Superman.

GX: You've been telling me for a while that there was another project besides the Sony book coming on the horizon to get excited about; I thought maybe you meant the pencils you were doing on DC: Legacies. How long has this one been in the pipeline?

DJ: I knew that I was going to be doing something to tie in a couple of months ago; the idea was going to be to set things up that would transition into the Time Masters project which I think we did successfully with what happened on the last page of Booster Gold #31—the return of Bruce Wayne comes out in June and then we come out in July. We have kind of a two-part function here: one is we are a reflection and tie-in of what's happening with Bruce Wayne and the second is to set up things that are happening next year in the DCU.

GX: Again, though: Superman. Batman. Green Lantern. Are we going to see a huge rise in Booster's stock as a result of playing a role here?

DJ: Certainly as we start to deal with some setup stuff for next year and what's happening in the Dcu, there's going to be room for Booster & Rip to be players.

GX: How did Booster and Rip (and you and Norm) come to be involved in this pretty massive project of rescuring Bruce?

DJ: It gets to be a sort of remarkably simple explanation, which we don't always get with comics. If you have Superman go to Gotham, he's going to run into Batman. When you run into the concept of a major DCU character lost in the timestream, who becomes a natural to go to? It's Booster and Rip Hunter.

GX: So have we known since the cave paintings started that this was going to be a universe-wide story where Rip and Booster played a role, or was this more like Blackest Night, where it started out centered in one family of books and just grew?

DJ: I don't think that it would be accurate to say it was always planned like this but I don't think it's a retro-makeover either. What happens sometimes is that you have a general plan where you say, "He disappears, someday people will go out looking for him," and as you get closer to publication you start to shape up and put everything in a more firm arrangement. I don't think this is necessarily an alteration or a reaction to what was there. Obviously the question of why didn't we just stop it can resonate in our series—did Rip know he was lost in time or did he think he was dead too? That's an important question when it comes to defining what is a Time Master.

GX: So can you tease a little content, and let the readers know what's going to differentiate this book from the other "Return of Bruce Wayne" titles?

DJ: I think this was even hinted at a little bit in what DC announced. The title is Time Masters: Vanishing Point, right? I created Vanishing Point years ago in an issue of Superman and part of what you're going to see is that we will reset the table a little bit in how we deal with time travel characters in the DCU, too. I think we have some fun surprises that are going to take place throughout the series and you're going to see further development in the relationship between Booster and Rip. I've been going down a specific road, mostly from Booster's perspective. This is a chance to flip that a little bit so we see this through Rip's eyes a little bit more.