The Gold Exchange at Futures End: Dan Jurgens On Booster Gold and the Multiverse

Last week's Booster Gold: Futures End one-shot gave fans a lot to talk about -- much of it somewhat head-scratching.

It was a game-changing issue not just for the time-traveling superhero himself but also for the DC multiverse at large, with the none-too-subtle implication that the pre-Flashpoint DC Universe might be out there somewhere...and that world's Brainiac may be working in tandem with his New 52 counterpart to spread mayhem throughout time and space by attempting to gain access to Vanishing Point.

Standing in his way -- or hoping to? Two different versions of Booster Gold: the one from the New 52 and an older one in a different costume who, at last from all appearances, comes from the future of the pre-Flashpoint DCU.

...But, wait. Didn't Booster Gold #47 (and the pre-Flashpoint era at DC) end with Booster Gold arriving back at his Vanishing Point Time Master base after a battle with Doomsday, his costume shredded, and losing his memories of Flashpoint, setting the stage so he could actually become his New 52 self?

Apparently not.

But what of all those fan theories that the pre-Flashpoint Booster could show up and throw things into chaos, casting doubt on whether the New 52 is really permanent?

Well, for that to be true, we would have to know that the Older Booster seen in this issue was really the same Older Booster who appeared in the old DC Universe.

Is he? Well, Booster Gold creator and Futures End co-writer Dan Jurgens joined us to explore that question and a few others.

There are spoilers ahead, of course. If you haven't read Booster Gold: Futures End #1 yet, go buy it and read along with us.

So, if you can say...how many Boosters are there in the DC Universe at the moment? I count two and maybe three, because New 52 Booster, Old Booster and the one that Giffen and DeMatteis are using. But obviously the Giffen/DeMatteis one could...theoretically...be the younger version of Old Booster but that seems unlikely.

As far as I'm concerned there are two.

The younger version from the New 52 and the older version from the pre-Flashpoint DC Universe.

On that note, is it possible that the end of Booster Gold #47 was a misdirection? In theory, New 52 Booster should be, based on what we've seen, the same Booster from the pre-relaunch DC Universe.

I had assumed because of the end of Booster Gold #47 that the Booster from pre- and post-Flashpoint were the same physical body. Does the existence of Older Booster mean I was wrong?

I think this story speaks for itself.

It's pretty clear the older Booster is not from the New 52 version of the DCU while the younger one is. When the older Booster appears in Metropolis with the previous Daily Planet building and recognizes it as "his", that kind of says it all.

Obviously, there's more to the story and I look forward to being able to tell it!

When Booster is in Gotham at the start of the issue, that's another universe altogether, right? And not something that's tied to his appearances in All-Star Western?

If you happen to pull out a copy of the classic Gotham By Gaslight by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola, you'll see a very obvious and direct connection.

Will we see more of these worlds down the line?

That'd be kind of fun, wouldn't it?

Is it weird to revisit the end of JLI, especially since after writing the story you handed the Annual off to Geoff for the finale?

Not overly so. It was kind of nice to take everything full circle.

Can you explain the A.R.G.U.S. connection on Older Booster or is that plot-sensitive?

That's a story that's waiting to be told.

Did you have a favorite bit of period art from this issue? I thought Frenz really acquitted himself well.

Normally, when you see a number of artists on a book, it's because there's a large deadline problem and the "All hands on deck!" alarm goes out.

In this case, we selected the guys for very particular reasons as we really wanted to capture the feeling and particular look of the environments Booster was visiting.

Ron Frenz was a natural for Kamandi and Steve Lightle was a natural for the Legion stuff. That's true of all the guys. They did great work and accomplished the exact feel we were looking for.

When will we see Booster again in Futures End?

There's certainly a story to be told, wouldn't you say?