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 and prepared 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.

In this case, since Aaron took the the issue off, for the sake of continuity, we thought it best that I break down the story. I did so printed size, somewhat in the vein of what Keith did on 52 and such. Though I probably got more detailed than he typically did. IX: That asked, that double-page splash of Booster and Batman is a nice image. We haven't really had a big, epic shot like that that wasn't full of half a dozen characters or more, by the nature of the book. Did you want to give our two stars here--the leader and the moneymaker--a chance to shine? DJ: Yes! Exactly! One of the tougher aspects of a group book is finding the page space to break them down into smaller, more character-driven units. It worked perfectly in this case, moving the plot along while also giving the two of them a few moments' play. Booster and Batman just seem to click, mostly because they are different from one another. DJ: Yep! IX: And is it funny that when you say "the leader and the moneymaker," you're talking about Booster and Bats in that order? IX: Batman--the master strategist--has the immediate reaction that they need to get out when the bomb is armed. Is that just field-captain thinking or does his apparent lack of knowledge about Booster's force field just reflect the younger, less experienced pair working together in the New 52? DJ: It's more a case of Batman thinking their odds are better by being out of there. He's seen enough of Booster to know he has a force field, though may not know if it's strong enough to contain the blast.

Marco does a great job of putting his footprint on this issue, but that panel at the bottom of the page where Booster is bracing against the explosion looks a lot like the Rip Hunter/Darkseid on the monitors cover from Time Masters: Vanishing Point. Definitely a Jurgens pose, but was that an intentional parallel or am I just seeing it because I'm Booster-obsessed? DJ: Not an intentional parallel. More of a stylistic element indicative of my work, I suppose. IX: It's funny--Batman's comments about people feeling angry and pushed to the brink by governments they no longer trust is as true in a world without aliens and superheroes and madmen with atomic backpacks as it is in-continuity. Was that an intentional observation or just the way life and art play together? DJ: Very intentional. I've made it clear from the start that there are elements of this book that are supposed to reflect the world we live in. Consensus has become an impossibility. Any topic or situation seems divided with one party on one side, the other party on the other. MSNBC take an unreasonable stance to one extreme, FOX News the other. And the minute one party actually does achieve supremacy and do something, like in Wisconsin, the opposite side goes so far as to try to throw a governor out of office. It's not a question of, "I want government to get moving again." It's more, "I want government to do what I want it to do." There's a big difference. So, yeah, people are angry. If the DCU is to reflect our own world, there's no way everyone would embrace heroes because there's no way it could happen in our reality. With that in mind, Batman's commentary extends to both worlds. IX: "The Justice League will be watching" seems ominous. In addition to the idea that the UN is watching, and that as a public organization the whole world is watching, now Booster's got that going on in his head, too? DJ: I think we'd be a bit naive to think the JLA wasn't monitoring these guys. Batman stated as much in the first issue. IX: Is the cleanup portion of the issue something that we'll see more of? Again, as a publicly-known, accountable, government-sponsored organization I suppose it's hard to justify the JLI leaving things a shambles everywhere they go! DJ: It would have to be either them, or a follow-up crew from the UN. IX: That comment about Guys' attitude standing in the way of their relationship is really the first we've seen out of Ice in terms of a discussion of the pair. Will we see more of that in the future? DJ: More hints that get to the idea of their relationship and background? Absolutely. And that goes for the rest of the team as well. IX: It seems clear tht something happened to Gavril inside the wreckage--but wht made him even think that downloading advanced software from a sophisticated mechanism used by bad guys was a good idea?! DJ: Because he thought it was "dead". Inactive. As to whether or not that was a mistake, time will tell. IX: I like the fact that August General's civvies look a lot like what The Thing used to wear in the Silver Age. Was that scripted or something Marco slipped in? DJ: The trenchoat and hat were described in the script. IX: Obviously in the old DCU, there was never really a chance to look into Zhifu's past. Will we see more of that? i mean, just the description he gives of his "origin story" sounds like it's begging for a dangerous and powerful threat coming back for more. DJ: The origin he described is very much the same as the one we saw in "The Great Ten", though without mentioning the Durlans by name. IX: That said, is it a balancing act--especially in a world where aliens are so much less common than they used to be--to come up with earthbound threats to offset the feeling that extraterrestrials are the "real villains"? DJ: No, not at all. In fact, I think it opens up the larger scale potential because we're not as bound by some of what's appeared throughout historical continuity. IX: An aside, here, but on a team where there are no mutants allowed and nobody whose identity isn't publicly known--will that be problematic in terms of members like Congorilla, OMAC and the like eventually wanting in? DJ: Congorilla? Did you really ask me about Congorilla? This team will have a number of problems thrown at it, not the least of which is the question of whether or not any new members conform to whatever standards might exist. IX: The way Godiva gets bent out of shape when she's asked about Booster--after she's just been open and honest about everything else--that's a little off-putting. Should we read anything into that? DJ: Yes. You should. IX: Assuming that any of Booster Gold, Volume II is still canon, Booster certainly has some secrets he'd rather keep and some people who would go to extraordinary lengths to find them out...! DJ: That's quite an assumption. But if it were canon, you'd be right. More or less. IX: It's interesting--the speech Booster delivers at the UN is really an inversion of the way we usually see him functioning. Generally it's the "I'm from the future, so things will be OK as long as you trust me" line. Here, he's basically telling them that he's scared for his own history because he sees them mishandling his past. DJ: Yes. And that switch is very much a part of who he is now. If we're portraying the DC in somewhat different light, Booster has to look at the present and think, "What the hell is this?" IX: The red-curtain ceremony in front of the UN is the first real callback we've seen to the Giffen-DeMatteis JLI run of the '80s. Did you intend to have that moment be something of a touchstone even though up until now things had been pretty markedly different? DJ: Both a bit of a touchstone, as well as a departure. All wrapped up in one. IX: And another apparent callback--this is the second time (the first being 52) that Booster has expected great things from a Justice League "unveiling" ceremony only to have it all fall apart. Just how much different is his future these days? DJ: Not sure I follow you on the "future" question, but there's no question that we're going into some uncharted territory. IX: The explosion is a pretty surprising ending, given that it was largely a character piece of an issue without a ton of action. And while most of the time, superheroes are pretty immune to such things, we haven't seen almost anyone on the next couple of solicited covers to know that they're safe. Want to tease anything in that vein? DJ: I'd like to think that Page 20 is all the teasing readers will need to come back! IX: I also have to tag on today's obligatory, "Any thoughts on Before Watchmen?" question. DJ: This is a group of very, very talented creators, some of them friends, whose work I like and respect. With that in mind, I look forward to reading the books! I would imagine that each of them will feel comfortable letting their work speak for itself.