The International Exchange: Dan Jurgens on JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #6 (And BEFORE WATCHMEN, Of Course)

As members of the Justice League International settled in for a quiet, character driven issue in this month’s Justice League International #6, hoping to recover from the bombastic action of the last few months, that’s more or less what the readers got as well, except that every so often there would be a big, loud bang or an ominous plot beat that clearly is writer Dan Jurgens settings things up for the future. What are his plans? Well, we sat down with Jurgens (as usual) to talk about what’s going on in this month’s installment.As an added bonus, Jurgens has exclusively shared with us his breakdowns for the first three pages of the issue. With regular series artist Aaron Lopresti taking this month off to finish his arc in My Greatest Adventure, Jurgens oversaw the page breakdowns for guest artist Marco Castiello and shares the Booster-Batman sequence from the beginning of the issue with International Exchange readers.The International Exchange: So–first thing’s first, here – Guy looks pretty content with himself on that cover, whereas everyone else is just kind of pensive. What does he know that we don’t?!Dan Jurgens: That’s simply a case of Guy being Guy. If there’s one thing he is, it’s confident. He’s always successful andprepared for whatever comes. Just ask him. He’ll tell you.IX: Batman’s reply to Booster’s question about operating without sanction is, I think, a more pointed one than it first seems. It’s not an absence of an answer, but rather telling Booster that he can’t count on Bats or the “big guns” to make that decision for him. Am I reading that right?DJ: Yes, you are. Even in issue #1, I think we made it clear that Booster was looking for official sponsorship. I don’t think it ever would have occurred to him to start a team and use the Justice League name.I think it’s also clear that Batman is preparing Booster for a larger role.IX: I see you’re credited with doing breakdowns on this issue (as well as writing it, co-writing and drawing GA and getting a start on Superman). Do you and Keith ever actually sleep or are the two of you hopped up on Miraclo, like, ALL the time?DJ: Ha! Sometimes, I wonder that myself.