#12 is not only the final issue of the series by writer Dan Jurgens and artist Aaron Lopresti, but the final issue of the series altogether, with nothing remaining but an oversized annual, shipping the last week of this month and put together by a guest creative team including co-writers Geoff Johns and Dan DiDio.As such, our monthly commentary track with Jurgens will come to a close–the second such ending we’ve had in the last year or so, following the conclusion of the Booster Gold series that he wrote and drew for most of its run.It’s a calm, quiet issue compared to most of the series, which has been pretty wall-to-wall action since the second or third issue; with so many characters who need screen time and, in the second arc a team of villains as well, it’s seemed as though Jurgens and Lopresti never really got a break to catch their breath and focus on the more character-driven moments that were a staple of many of Jurgens’ best issues on Booster Gold and even Superman. We talked to the writer about the series, what worked and what didn’t, and what he’d have liked to get to.We talked a little bit last issue about Lightweaver’s brother and how he might turn up as a problem here–and yet, it’s still a little jarring when it happens literally on the first page!Yeah, I wanted to get us into the action right away so we decided to launch the story with Malik.Good to see Batman back, though; was it important to get him back on the page for Rocket Red’s sendoff?I thought so. Not just Rocket Red’s sendoff, but the team as a whole. He was there at the start and had to be there at the end.“Our adventure together proved otherwise.” We get a little on-page indication by Batman of a little bit of the nature of his past with Booster. Was there a particular story you had in mind, or was it just a New 52 riff on the adventure they had together during Booster Gold vol. 2?No, there was a particular story we had in mind that was actually going to be our issue zero. Sadly, we didn’t get there.
Given the sudden additions of OMAC and Batwing and the Firestorm
story, it seems as though Booster’s speech–“I took the members they
detailed, built the team they asked for, but–” could be a little bit
of you making a commentary on the state of the book through Booster,
much like you did in the first issue. Is that fair?
One minor continuity quibble: When Batman first talks, he’s saying, “You’re related to Lightweaver?” Then in the flashback combat sequence, we see him create a GIANT FREAKING LIGHTWEAVER MADE OF LIGHTWEAVER POWERS. Was that just taking a little of creative license because in the beginning of the issue you needed that expository dialogue?
Guy just can’t help himself, huh? Just when Malik is starting to act sane, and August General is talking to him like a human being, Guy charges into the conversation on a rant.
So you really kind of set the whole series up as an arc for Booster, in a way. After everything, his role as leader is codified by Batman, something that the other members can respect more than the seemingly-arbitrary way he was appointed by the UN.
Is it safe to assume that we’ll get a relaunch of this title, in some
form or another, and that’s why we’re getting a new headquarters?
Generation
Lost, for Aaron to have to set up the end/beginning again.
The “financial arrangements” Batman alludes to–is it safe to assume Bruce is bankrolling the team?
That’s a bit interesting, since Ollie Queen was not only a booster (no
pun intended) of the JLI in previous issues of the series, but also
paid for the Justice League in previous iterations. Any particular
reason why Bruce is a better choice?
Just telling Malik to “beat it” seems odd, and like a missed opportunity. Is it safe toa ssume that he might have joined the team, had the book continued?
Was that just a matter of the guys working on the annual didn’t have the time, page count or interest to support the character?
So–at the end of the day, it looks like you’ve almost re-established
a classic JLI status quo: Batman is gone, but on-call.
You do realize that in a single panel, you’ve almost certainly let
loose upon the Internet a torrent of “Green and Gold” fan fiction,
right?
Was the Booster-Godiva relationship always in the cards, or is that
something that developed over time?
This’ll be the first time in a few years now that you haven’t been writing Booster Gold on a monthly basis.Obviously you’ve been around comics long enough to know that everything is impermanent, but this is a character you created, very early in your career, and you’ve shepherded a great many of his adventures since. Is it always a little harder to say good-bye to a character like that?
Certainly with a TV series in the offing, it would be nice to see Booster get his own ongoing again. You think there’s any chance of it?
You said earlier that the cancellation was sudden. With George Perez’s comments out there in the ether, it does seem to be that DC is being run from the top-down, with not a lot of necessary information trickling down until it’s too late. Do you think that’s a fair assessment?
With a sudden cancellation under your belt, though, one of the typical end-of-run questions becomes somewhat more urgent: Is there anything (besides maybe that Booster-Batman story) that you really wish you’d had the time to do?
What was the deal with putting half the team in a coma at the midpoint? Was there a longer game that you just didn’t get to pursue, or was it as simple as making some elbow room for OMAC and Batwing?
Justice League International
able to get into the pages of Justice League International?
With so many new villains, it felt a bit like you didn’t have the room to flex your muscles in terms of guest stars that previous iterations of the JLI have, or even your JLA back in the ’90s. Do you think it served what you were doing to focus on the core group?
All of that “turning the page” stuff in this issue–was that a bit of metatext? If Booster is moving on to the next stage in his evolution, is it time for fans to do the same and let go of our hopes and conspiracy theories that he might be a tether to the DC Universe of old?
If so, can you tell us who Rip’s mother was?
