Booster Gold #23 With Dan Jurgens
While Booster Gold and Rip Hunter both walked away from last issue's explosions pretty much unscathed, all the classic Teen Titans except Raven-a powerful empathy and the daughter of the villain Trigon-were killed, creating a time derailment that, among other things, caused Dick Grayson never to become Batman following Bruce Wayne's apparent death. As the two join forces in the past with Raven (late to the party for her teammates' battle with Jericho, Deathstroke and the Black Beetle), Hunter determines that the only way to keep it all from happening is to go into the future, and see what it is that the Black Beetle wants.
When they get there, of course, it's the future of a world in which the Teen Titans' deaths paved the way for Raven's father Trigon to take over the world, killing the Justice League and leaving them without successors to protect the next generation. While Kyle Rayner and Zatanna appear to be leading a fledgling resistance movement against the cosmic dictator, it doesn't appear to be much more effective than the revolt Green Arrow and Hakwman were leading against Max Lord in the "Blue and Gold" storyline. It's an issue full of a lot of talking and stage-setting, which promises to deliver with a LOT of punching and explosions in next month's conclusion to the "Day of Death" story. Still, Booster's upcoming Blackest Night tie-ins don't start until #26, so what's in store for the landmark 25th issue of the book? We talked to Dan Jurgens for some commentary on this month's issue and some clues as to what's next for the world's most commercially-viable superhero.
Comic Related: Just to clarify: The story says "Part III of IV." Is this like the Reality Lost arc, where the fighting part was over but there was a little PS after the fact where Booster had to clean up the time-mess?
Dan Jurgens: Yes. 25 will be something of an epilogue, and perhaps a bit more. Any #25 should have some crucial info, right?
CR: "Crucial info," hmm? Any chance we'll see either a chalkboard or a "This year in Booster" teaser that issue?
DJ: Chalkboards aplenty!
CR: We've talked about this before, but just for those who may have missed it: Why Blair Butler on the cover this month?
DJ: Why not? She's a fan who has fans and that's a good combo that makes for a great and unique cover!
CR: Fair enough-so why Trigon? Is he a part of the villains' ultimate plan or just the beneficiary of what they're trying to do?
DJ: I think it's safe to say he is benefiting from Black Beetle's overall master plan. That will all become more clear over the next two issues.
CR: Are "our" villains even TRYING to take over something for themselves or is killing the good guys reward enough?
DJ: Assuming you're speaking of Black Beetle and our mystery man, it's possible they even have different agendas.
The Black Beetle has a definite goal he wants out of this new future. Again, you'll see more on that over 24 and 25!
CR: Solicitations originally had Black Beetle getting revealed for the end of this arc...is that still the plan?
DJ: To partially quote a certain president who knew how to have a good time, "That depends on what your definition of 'revealed' is."
Yes. More regarding Black Beetle will be there. Time travel, however, is a tricky matter that leaves all sorts of roads and questions open.
CR: Will we see who it is he's working with? You know--the guy in the lab coat and the snazzy visi-helmet?
DJ: Yes. That much will absolutely be revealed.
CR: I can't remember--did we discuss last issue where Raven was when all the action was happening?
DJ: Raven was not present in the original Teen Titans story, from which these moments are taken. At the time it was presumed she was off dealing with Trigon. I wouldn't say anything changed in that regard!
CR: While I realize that each step back just pushes the timeline back a little and back a little, why didn't Booster attempt at least once to just take Raven and Rip back twenty minutes and use a couple extra sets of hands to keep things under control?
DJ: That becomes somewhat the eternal question of time travel. If it doesn't work once, why not try, try again?
When we did the Barbara Gordon story during our first year, we dealt with that topic and the nature of solidified time. What happened, happened, and can't normally be changed.
This will also be covered in Booster Gold #24 and #25. One explanation is that it's all variable, that the minute you insert yourself in the past you become a huge variable, meaning not everything will play out as assumed.
Again... stay tuned! It's coming in the next two issues!
CR: Is there something keeping Black Beetle's partner in his little time lab or whatever it is? The dialogue seems to suggest he's...fragile or something.
DJ: Fragile? Or simply without powers?
CR: I think Rip needs to get himself some heavier-duty clothes. Between trigger-happy butlers and supervillain bombs, this poor dude has ended up on his time-traveling ass a lot lately. Can't he go get some of that microcircuitry fiber like Booster has, or maybe a Mother Box or something, so that he's not always replacing those white t-shirts?
DJ: Hey... he went with a black one now!
He also has his time travel uniform that he uses for travel through the time stream itself. However, I like the historical look of Rip in a t-shirt and jeans.
CR: I like the cover story--will Raven be the kind of character whose particular abilities make her harder to dazzle with the temporal-mindwipe-gizmo?
DJ: Yeah, I would think so.
CR: If they were to actually make all that stuff, what would your favorite product be? The Boosteros or the Pez dispenser or (like George Perez's friends at Sachs and Violens) the cologne?
DJ: To date, I don't think any of the Booster Gold action figures have pegged the character. The gold portion of the costume should be metallic and the blue should be darker than what we've seen in either the "52" figure or more recent versions. And along with Skeets, why not put in a box of Boosteros and some other cool things?
CR: You know, with all the merchandising and the "paper trail" that's left by it, will it make it easier for the Legion to track Booster's time period down? I mean...he's wearing one of their rings on a cereal box.
DJ: Of course! Which is a story that will one day be told!
CR: What, besides the baddie being Trigon, made you want to use Raven as the "Last Titan?"
DJ: First of all, it fits with Marv and George's original story. We know that all the Teen Titans except Raven died. Furthermore, she has some specific talents that will fit this well.
CR: Who are the characters being blasted by that giant energy beam on the page where our mystery villain is saying "One in which the Justice League will finally meet their deaths?" I see Superman, Hawkman, Green Lantern...and then some fourth person with a helmet or something? Maybe a cape? Is that a hint for a plot point or am I just reading too much into it?
DJ: That's Dr. Fate. The general idea here is that Trigon gets EVERYONE.
CR: With a villain like Trigon, who's powerful on a cosmic level, is there ever any fear that Booster's battles with him even in an alternate timeline might be something he becomes vaguely aware of, endangering the whole Time Cop mission?
DJ: I think that could be a threat with some villains with power on that level though probably not Trigon. I think you need, to steal a phrase, cosmic awareness to go along with cosmic level power.
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. Russell also takes point on the Hot Shot of the Week feature.
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