The Gold Exchange - Booster Gold #8

DC's Booster Gold has consistently been one of the best comics in print since its relaunch last year. Rather than seeing it dominate the Hot Shot of the Week feature, The Gold Exchange will be a monthly column, released within about a week of the release of a new issue of Booster Gold, and featuring conversations with Jeff Katz and Dan Jurgens. Katz is the series's co-writer with Geoff Johns, and Jurgens pencils the title, and was the creator of the character. This will provide a more in-depth discussion and analysis than the standard ten questions in the Hot Shots column.

Comic Related: So, first of all let me say that the preview pages DC releases to sites like Newsarama and CBR do nothing at all to honor the art in this book; that first page looked just awful online, and this book has been consistently some of your strongest stuff in years.

Dan Jurgens: Thanks. I was very happy with the way this issue came out. It started with the first few pages. You can't go wrong with OMACS and walls made from skulls.

CR: I'm not a huge Hawkman guy--is this a version of the character we've seen before? The black reminds me of the version that came out of Zero Hour, although obviously part of that could just be your art tickling at the back of my brain.

DJ: Geoff and Jeff actually said I should base him a bit on the version I did for a four-part Doctor Destiny story I did when I was writing and drawing Justice League. Hawkman is actually a very interesting character, visually speaking, and I've always enjoyed drawing him. He makes a great counterpoint with Green Arrow.

Jeff Katz: This Hawkman was designed to be a bit of an amalgamation of Carter and Katar in terms of look, in order to show just how messed up time and history had become. My personal view is that it's Carter, but it was an intentional decision to mess with everyone.

CR: What are we supposed to understand about the idea that "everything in the past is set in stone," and yet to Booster, we would be the past? If the "solidified time" concept is to be carried to its logical conclusion, nothing Booster does in the past can possibly make any lasting, long-term difference to the universe he inhabited before he left.

DJ: I think Booster is inherently capable of messing up time but understands not doing so is priority one. He realizes everything in the past SHOULD be set in stone but doesn't HAVE to be set in stone, in my opinion. The real question is, if something is changed, what is the cost?

CR: Is this just one of those things where, like Earth being the center of the Multiverse, we just have to kind of take it on faith that the moments our characters are living in, are inherently "special?"

DJ: That's a good way of looking at it. On the other hand, I think it's fair to make it a bit more than that too.

CR: You know, you find The Simpsons references in the strangest places! Besides this issue, I recently found one uttered by Barry Allen in Marv Wolfman's Crisis on Infinite Earths novelization. Which was interesting because I'm reasonably sure that Barry died before The Simpsons ever premiered.

DJ: Just goes to show that time travel is real and that Marv Wolfman has mastered it!

JK: Barry caught old reruns during the brief period he lived in the future with Iris!

CR: Good call! I wonder if they were co-existing with Dr. Zoidberg, who appeared in Geoff's recent issue of Action Comics.

JK: We had Kent Brockman getting killed in Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash but had to cut him for space.

CR: Who's Booster talking to in these dialogue boxes? The first-person narration lends itself to "talking at the reader," but in Booster's case that can't really work as a device because he can't just be telling folks about all this without "blowing his cover," right?

DJ: Could be that it's Skeets, but I think it's more of an inner dialogue kind of thing. It's more "conversational" in tone to make it more interesting-- a fair writing device.

JK: He's talking to the voices in his head. Booster is clearly schizophrenic. Side effect of time travel. Quite sad really....

CR: The first thing I said to myself when I saw the Freedom Fighters was, "Will anyone tell Pantha that a world without Infinite Crisis is probably not so bad for her personally?" After what happened with Risk, though, I knew that Geoff is always up for a repeat performance...!

JK: You are correct, sir. I'm actually a big Pantha fan. Love Titans Hunt. We need Phantasm back in a big way!

DJ: Yeah... Geoff has a way of making life tough for some characters, doesn't he? I think I might have to buy him dinner to get him to leave Risk alone.

CR: The second thing I thought was, "Seriously? Wild Dog?" I remember ads for his series saturating the pages of the first Booster Gold monthly back in the '80s, but I don't know anything else about him since. What made you guys decide he would have survived Max's onslaught?

DJ: You gotta go to Geoff and Jeff for that one. I kind of enjoyed it. Took me back to those Action Comics Weekly days!

JK: Simple answer: We love Wild Dog. I think he was one of the first characters Geoff and I made a point to bring back. We knew we wanted to do it but were waiting for the right moment. Even though we mess with him here, we both have a lot of love for that character. I think he'd be really interesting to explore in the DCU proper, especially in a post 9/11 world.

CR: I'd love to see that. I would see him fitting in (or actually NOT fitting in, but you know what I mean) with the SHADE crowd in Palmiotti and Gray's Freedom Fighters, or the folks over at Checkmate.

JK: That could make sense. I'd actually love to see him take on Checkmate. Like he finds them un-American or something. Play him as "The Man Who Knew Too Much." I think there's something to be said for a character that lives outside the lines of polite society in the DCU. Do "Three Days of the Condor" in the DCU with him as the lead. Regardless, I'd love to play with the character again in a serious way.

CR: And Anthro! There's been a lot of speculation online that those characters were being made fun of in Booster Gold because they had made fun of Geoff and 52 in their little mini. What IS the cave boy doing here, and will we ever learn how he got into that room?

DJ: Once again, I'm going to refer you to the writers. They appear to have a level of interest in Anthro that would seem to dwarf mine... and many others' as well.

JK: Anthro's just continuing his lifelong ambition for fame and glory. Plus, the Freedom Fighters offered him a limitless supply of those jackets if he joined.

CR: Jeff said last month that Rik Sunn was a secret Time Stealer. Is a character like Anthro potentially "out of time" because he's working for one side or the other?

DJ: Not necessarily. When we get into an "adjusted time" situation things can get a lot more elastic, which means they aren't necessarily out of place.

JK: Jeff was JOKING!

CR: So, here Max is voicing his frustration and desire to get even with people who refused his invitations to join the JLI? I thought he was supposed to have kept it ineffectual on purpose. Is this a hint, a gaffe or is Max just so nutty that his perception of the world is shifting to rationalize his own behavior?

DJ: I've always theorized that Max had to go through quite a change in order to get to the place he did. Yeah, he might have been ineffectual on purpose, but he went much farther in that direction as the years rolled by, perhaps frustrated by his own act. So he may be a bit nutty.

CR: Most readers I know think that the conclusion here is obvious, and some of the way Booster talks in the beginning of #8 makes me feel like even he's come to the conclusion that saving Ted wasn't right. "Breaking his own rule," or something. But then--can Rip be fully trusted either? It seems like what he's telling Rose can't be good for the timestream!

JK: We'll just have to wait and see, won't we? I'm not ruining the end but I'm hoping people will feel strong emotion and surprise.

DJ: Eventually, Booster is going to have to ask himself if trusting Rip is the right thing. How can you trust anyone when it comes to the time travel stuff? Is Rip really the authority he claims to be? (Though it's worth noting their friendship goes back a LONG way.)

CR: So Vanishing Point is at the end of time now? Didn't it used to be outside the timestream? Are we going to see aspects of Zero Hour revisited again?

JK: No comment.

DJ: No plans for Zero Hour at present. The terminology "outside the timestream" has always bugged some people. Kind of one of those, "what the hell does that mean?" types of problems.

CR: Rip looks different in just about every series he appears in. Do you guys have a mental timeline from blonde Rip to cyborg Rip to this one? Or is that part of his mystery even to the creators?

JK: No comment.

DJ: That was a switch we decide to make because Rip, Booster and Daniel looked so much like. So we decided to darken Rip's hair a bit. We probably made it a bit too abrupt.

CR: On that note, do you guys have a solid idea of who Rip "really" is? Or are message board pundits wasting their time combing over Booster Gold and JSA issues for clues?

DJ: We know exactly who he is. The answer is coming soon.

CR: Is that Kyle getting his ring on the monitors while the Time Stealers talk? Apparently on New Earth, Ganthet didn't get his hippie hair until after Emerald Twilight had already happened?

DJ: Yes, that's Kyle. Whether I forgot to draw it or Norm forgot to ink it, I can't say.

CR: "We don't do that by ending his life" is an interesting and informative line. Can we assume, then, that Booster's not generally in mortal harm, because for the most part if he's killed, his "influence" will still be felt and ultimately someone will sneak back through time to save him at the last second?

JK: I think it's safe to say that breaking Booster's spirit and resolve is more important than breaking Booster physically. Keep reading for the answers.

DJ: On the surface, yes. But Booster's presence will have longer-lasting implications than are currently known.

CR: Beetle's plan to take down Max makes sense--maybe too much sense. How is it possible that nobody on this earth ever thought of, "Let's take Superman off the board" before? Apparently every villain Grant Morrison ever wrote in JLA was killed really early on?

DJ: Well... maybe it's the advantage of hindsight? It's kinda like Popeye always had to get the crap kicked out of him for a few minutes BEFORE he ate his spinach, right?

CR: Does Booster now have some kind of connection to the time sphere and/or the timestream? His headache is interesting...the beginnings of powers? Or maybe he's going to have a "connection" to his home time, a la what Wally West has with his wife? Or am I overanalyzing?

DJ: I think Booster will always need the time sphere or some device. Could it be that he's actually more "connected" to the timestream as it SHOULD be?

CR: Regardless of the situation on earth, shouldn't the Guardians of the Universe be able to recover those Green Lantern rings floating in the armory? I would think they'd be eager to get those away from Max.

DJ: Who says the Guardians are still able to do so?

CR: Where have the JLI members been, that they were alive but not already working with the Freedom Fighters?

DJ: Stay tuned! Much will be revealed in the next issue!

JK: Man you're itching for spoilers. Keep reading!!!


		www.comicrelated.com
	DC's Booster Gold has consistently been one of the best comics in print since its relaunch last year. Rather than seeing it dominate the Hot Shot of the Week feature, The Gold Exchange will be a monthly column, released within about a week of the release of a new issue of Booster Gold, and featuring conversations with Jeff Katz and Dan Jurgens. Katz is the series's co-writer with Geoff Johns, and Jurgens pencils the title, and was the creator of the character. This will provide a more in-depth discussion and analysis than the standard ten questions in the Hot Shots column. Comic Related: So, first of all let me say that the preview pages DC releases to sites like Newsarama and CBR do nothing at all to honor the art in this book; that first page looked just awful online, and this book has been consistently some of your strongest stuff in years. Dan Jurgens: Thanks. I was very happy with the way this issue came out. It started with the first few pages. You can't go wrong with OMACS and walls made from skulls. CR: I'm not a huge Hawkman guy--is this a version of the character we've seen before? The black reminds me of the version that came out of Zero Hour, although obviously part of that could just be your art tickling at the back of my brain. DJ: Geoff and Jeff actually said I should base him a bit on the version I did for a four-part Doctor Destiny story I did when I was writing and drawing Justice League. Hawkman is actually a very interesting character, visually speaking, and I've always enjoyed drawing him. He makes a great counterpoint with Green Arrow. Jeff Katz: This Hawkman was designed to be a bit of an amalgamation of Carter and Katar in terms of look, in order to show just how messed up time and history had become. My personal view is that it's Carter, but it was an intentional decision to mess with everyone. CR: What are we supposed to understand about the idea that "everything in the past is set in stone," and yet to Booster, we would be the past? If the "solidified time" concept is to be carried to its logical conclusion, nothing Booster does in the past can possibly make any lasting, long-term difference to the universe he inhabited before he left. DJ: I think Booster is inherently capable of messing up time but understands not doing so is priority one. He realizes everything in the past SHOULD be set in stone but doesn't HAVE to be set in stone, in my opinion. The real question is, if something is changed, what is the cost? CR: Is this just one of those things where, like Earth being the center of the Multiverse, we just have to kind of take it on faith that the moments our characters are living in, are inherently "special?" DJ: That's a good way of looking at it. On the other hand, I think it's fair to make it a bit more than that too. CR: You know, you find The Simpsons references in the strangest places! Besides this issue, I recently found one uttered by Barry Allen in Marv Wolfman's Crisis on Infinite Earths novelization. Which was interesting because I'm reasonably sure that Barry died before The Simpsons ever premiered. DJ: Just goes to show that time travel is real and that Marv Wolfman has mastered it! JK: Barry caught old reruns during the brief period he lived in the future with Iris! CR: Good call! I wonder if they were co-existing with Dr. Zoidberg, who appeared in Geoff's recent issue of Action Comics. JK: We had Kent Brockman getting killed in Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash but had to cut him for space. CR: Who's Booster talking to in these dialogue boxes? The first-person narration lends itself to "talking at the reader," but in Booster's case that can't really work as a device because he can't just be telling folks about all this without "blowing his cover," right? DJ: Could be that it's Skeets, but I think it's more of an inner dialogue kind of thing. It's more "conversational" in tone to make it more interesting-- a fair writing device. JK: He's talking to the voices in his head. Booster is clearly schizophrenic. Side effect of time travel. Quite sad really.... CR: The first thing I said to myself when I saw the Freedom Fighters was, "Will anyone tell Pantha that a world without Infinite Crisis is probably not so bad for her personally?" After what happened with Risk, though, I knew that Geoff is always up for a repeat performance...! JK: You are correct, sir. I'm actually a big Pantha fan. Love Titans Hunt. We need Phantasm back in a big way! DJ: Yeah... Geoff has a way of making life tough for some characters, doesn't he? I think I might have to buy him dinner to get him to leave Risk alone. CR: The second thing I thought was, "Seriously? Wild Dog?" I remember ads for his series saturating the pages of the first Booster Gold monthly back in the '80s, but I don't know anything else about him since. What made you guys decide he would have survived Max's onslaught? DJ: You gotta go to Geoff and Jeff for that one. I kind of enjoyed it. Took me back to those Action Comics Weekly days! JK: Simple answer: We love Wild Dog. I think he was one of the first characters Geoff and I made a point to bring back. We knew we wanted to do it but were waiting for the right moment. Even though we mess with him here, we both have a lot of love for that character. I think he'd be really interesting to explore in the DCU proper, especially in a post 9/11 world. CR: I'd love to see that. I would see him fitting in (or actually NOT fitting in, but you know what I mean) with the SHADE crowd in Palmiotti and Gray's Freedom Fighters, or the folks over at Checkmate. JK: That could make sense. I'd actually love to see him take on Checkmate. Like he finds them un-American or something. Play him as "The Man Who Knew Too Much." I think there's something to be said for a character that lives outside the lines of polite society in the DCU. Do "Three Days of the Condor" in the DCU with him as the lead. Regardless, I'd love to play with the character again in a serious way. CR: And Anthro! There's been a lot of speculation online that those characters were being made fun of in Booster Gold because they had made fun of Geoff and 52 in their little mini. What IS the cave boy doing here, and will we ever learn how he got into that room? DJ: Once again, I'm going to refer you to the writers. They appear to have a level of interest in Anthro that would seem to dwarf mine... and many others' as well. JK: Anthro's just continuing his lifelong ambition for fame and glory. Plus, the Freedom Fighters offered him a limitless supply of those jackets if he joined. CR: Jeff said last month that Rik Sunn was a secret Time Stealer. Is a character like Anthro potentially "out of time" because he's working for one side or the other? DJ: Not necessarily. When we get into an "adjusted time" situation things can get a lot more elastic, which means they aren't necessarily out of place. JK: Jeff was JOKING! CR: So, here Max is voicing his frustration and desire to get even with people who refused his invitations to join the JLI? I thought he was supposed to have kept it ineffectual on purpose. Is this a hint, a gaffe or is Max just so nutty that his perception of the world is shifting to rationalize his own behavior? DJ: I've always theorized that Max had to go through quite a change in order to get to the place he did. Yeah, he might have been ineffectual on purpose, but he went much farther in that direction as the years rolled by, perhaps frustrated by his own act. So he may be a bit nutty. CR: Most readers I know think that the conclusion here is obvious, and some of the way Booster talks in the beginning of #8 makes me feel like even he's come to the conclusion that saving Ted wasn't right. "Breaking his own rule," or something. But then--can Rip be fully trusted either? It seems like what he's telling Rose can't be good for the timestream! JK: We'll just have to wait and see, won't we? I'm not ruining the end but I'm hoping people will feel strong emotion and surprise. DJ: Eventually, Booster is going to have to ask himself if trusting Rip is the right thing. How can you trust anyone when it comes to the time travel stuff? Is Rip really the authority he claims to be? (Though it's worth noting their friendship goes back a LONG way.) CR: So Vanishing Point is at the end of time now? Didn't it used to be outside the timestream? Are we going to see aspects of Zero Hour revisited again? JK: No comment. DJ: No plans for Zero Hour at present. The terminology "outside the timestream" has always bugged some people. Kind of one of those, "what the hell does that mean?" types of problems. CR: Rip looks different in just about every series he appears in. Do you guys have a mental timeline from blonde Rip to cyborg Rip to this one? Or is that part of his mystery even to the creators? JK: No comment. DJ: That was a switch we decide to make because Rip, Booster and Daniel looked so much like. So we decided to darken Rip's hair a bit. We probably made it a bit too abrupt. CR: On that note, do you guys have a solid idea of who Rip "really" is? Or are message board pundits wasting their time combing over Booster Gold and JSA issues for clues? DJ: We know exactly who he is. The answer is coming soon. CR: Is that Kyle getting his ring on the monitors while the Time Stealers talk? Apparently on New Earth, Ganthet didn't get his hippie hair until after Emerald Twilight had already happened? DJ: Yes, that's Kyle. Whether I forgot to draw it or Norm forgot to ink it, I can't say. CR: "We don't do that by ending his life" is an interesting and informative line. Can we assume, then, that Booster's not generally in mortal harm, because for the most part if he's killed, his "influence" will still be felt and ultimately someone will sneak back through time to save him at the last second? JK: I think it's safe to say that breaking Booster's spirit and resolve is more important than breaking Booster physically. Keep reading for the answers. DJ: On the surface, yes. But Booster's presence will have longer-lasting implications than are currently known. CR: Beetle's plan to take down Max makes sense--maybe too much sense. How is it possible that nobody on this earth ever thought of, "Let's take Superman off the board" before? Apparently every villain Grant Morrison ever wrote in JLA was killed really early on? DJ: Well... maybe it's the advantage of hindsight? It's kinda like Popeye always had to get the crap kicked out of him for a few minutes BEFORE he ate his spinach, right? CR: Does Booster now have some kind of connection to the time sphere and/or the timestream? His headache is interesting...the beginnings of powers? Or maybe he's going to have a "connection" to his home time, a la what Wally West has with his wife? Or am I overanalyzing? DJ: I think Booster will always need the time sphere or some device. Could it be that he's actually more "connected" to the timestream as it SHOULD be? CR: Regardless of the situation on earth, shouldn't the Guardians of the Universe be able to recover those Green Lantern rings floating in the armory? I would think they'd be eager to get those away from Max. DJ: Who says the Guardians are still able to do so? CR: Where have the JLI members been, that they were alive but not already working with the Freedom Fighters? DJ: Stay tuned! Much will be revealed in the next issue! JK: Man you're itching for spoilers. Keep reading!!!
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