Since the day Booster Gold #7 was released and I wrote my first story for Comic Related, “The Gold Exchange” has been there every month, within a week (or so) of the release of a new issue of Booster Gold, without skipping a beat. We’ve talked to creator/writer/artist Dan Jurgens almost every month (excepting once or twice when he was neither writing nor drawing the issue) and had Jeff Katz join the roundtable a bunch of times back when it first launched. I’m happy to say that this month, Geoff Johns has finally had a chance to take time out of his insane schedule to sit down with us and talk Booster Gold and Blackest Night, two of the things he knows best.
And it was an issue where a LOT happened. Black Lantern Ted Kord attacked…Daniel Carter? Well, I guess with Booster Gold missing (actually, he wasn’t missing so much as he was taking a few hours to himself to go back and relive the agony of Ted’s funeral), one dead Carter is just as good as the next? Anyway, we got some Supernova action, plenty of Daniel and Rose, and guest art by Blue Beetle penciller Mike Norton in the pages that featured Jaime Reyes (but no contribution from writer Matt Sturges this month, as Jaime was part of an oversized Booster story, rather than headlining his own tale). What did it all mean? And what’s in store for next month, in part two of the story Geoff Johns calls his favorite Booster Gold adventure?
Blog@Newsarama: So first of all, how did the Black Lantern Ted Kord issues come about? Did you see what was going on in BN and say, “This has to happen?” Or did DC or Geoff or someone come to you and suggest it?
Dan Jurgens: Months ago the basic question came up as to whether or not we’d like to tie in with Blackest Night and if so, who would we like to use as a Black Lantern? Ted Kord was the obvious choice. In fact, we were first concerned it might have been too obvious. But we quickly discounted it, realizing that there was a strong story waiting to be told.
After that, it was a matter of Booster Gold editor Mike Siglain, Blackest Night editor Eddie Berganza, Geoff and myself getting together and talking about what we wanted to do in terms of the particulars of the story. It was during these conversations that we realized no funeral for Ted had ever been done and that became a natural for us.
Blog@: Geoff, My understanding was that Blackest Night started smaller and bled gradually out over the DCU as editors and the like came to understand what a hit it was shaping up to be. That said, how soon after the story left Green Lantern’s back porch, did you know there would be a Booster/Ted meetup?
Geoff Johns: There was always going to be a Booster/Ted confrontation in Blackest Night, but when it expanded beyond our series – thankfully, since we couldn’t do it justice in the space we had compared to what Dan is doing it moved over to Booster Gold. It truly is my favorite issue of Booster Gold yet. Dan really did a phenomenal job on it.
Blog@: …And what do you say to fans who have been speculating that, between Katz’s long-ago convention comments and DiDio’s vague promises of big things to come after Blackest Night, Ted may be rejoining the Blue and Gold fold for a while by the time all is said and done?
DJ: I think there is always room for people to speculate. That’s part of the fun of comics! Which is my sneaky way of not giving you anything concrete. Sorry!
Blog@: Geoff? Anything?
GJ: You’ll have to keep reading.
Blog@: I’ve always felt like Booster’s resurgence really started with the outpouring of love that the fans felt for Ted right after you pulled the trigger on him years ago. As a writer, I know you’ve talked a lot about your love for Booster, but do you feel a little need to bring resolution to Ted, too?
GJ: Ted’s death obviously was the “trigger” that pushed Booster Gold into the limelight from Infinite Crisis to 52 and then his own monthly book. In all honesty, though I loved them both since I grew up reading the JLI, I was always a bigger fan of Blue Beetle than Booster Gold. There were debates about the end of Countdown to Infinite Crisis. At one point, we BRIEFLY even discussed the idea of Booster dying instead of Ted, but that was quickly abandoned because Ted had more resonance and, quite frankly, at that point Ted was a much more capable hero than Booster. At the same time, there were discussions about the scarab and it eventually led to Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle. Then as Infinite Crisis progressed, I got more into Booster Gold, and with 52, I started to get ideas for his series. Obviously, from the importance put on Ted in the 12 issues I was on, and the continued importance in Dan’s upcoming Blackest Night crossover issues, he’ll forever be a part of Booster’s life.
Blog@: What do you feel differentiates a story like Blackest Night from the old line of crossover events from the ‘90s? It seems to me that the tie-ins are much more organic these days, and I have to wonder if that’s the impact of guys like you and Morrison having a more hands-on approach with the other creators when crafting crossovers or if it’s an editorial change, or all in my head.
GJ: Well, Blackest Night did develop organically. Like I said above, after planning the story, Dan DiDio and I would talk about something like Booster and Ted and quickly realize that it needed more than a 3-page scene in Blackest Night. There were so many great confrontations ripe with potential that it became clear the story could get bigger, as long as it made sense. And with Eddie Berganza and Adam Schlagman working in conjunction with everyone else in editorial, it’s been a lot of late nights and early mornings, but it’s been incredibly rewarding to see it all come together. Working with Peter Tomasi, Greg Rucka, James Robinson, Gail Simone, Tony Bedard and everyone else, it feels organic because it is.
Blog@: Did you have to run the changes to the Beetle costume past an editor, or was that just kinda “come up with something cool that incorporates these design elements?” From the cover solicitations, it just looked like the black suit he was wearing in one of the Giffen/DeMatteis miniseries!
DJ: The Beetle/Black Lantern costume was designed before we actually started production, though I’m not sure who actually did it.
Blog@: What happened to the backup feature this issue? I mean, you have Mike Norton here, but Jaime just joins Booster and there’s no Sturges to be seen!
DJ: Nothing against Matt at all, but it is generally a more seamless story when done by one writer.
Blog@: With his new responsibilities re: the Justice Society of America, will Sturges be remaining on as the Blue Beetle guy?
DJ: Yes, I believe so.
Blog@: Okay, back to the issue at hand. Is it something that you’ve got in your head that now that he’s enormously successful and important and all that, Booster has to visit this horrible day once in a while to ground himself and keep himself from becoming the Booster of old?
DJ: There is some truth to that. Look, it’s important to realize that Booster wasn’t “born” due to the actions of others like Superman or Batman were. Booster Gold exists because of his own mistakes– the faults and failings of Michael Carter.
He hasn’t totally gotten past all that. Booster Gold is a guy who is still learning his profession, so to speak. He wants to do the right thing but often gets there by a more twisted path than most.
So, yeah. Revisiting those things ground him a bit and help keep his ego in check.
Blog@: I like that Rip is actually WRITING on the board as Skeets enters the room, but am at a loss to remember what’s new from last month. Are any of these clues going to pay off soon?
DJ: That depends on what the meaning of the word “soon” is. Are we talking soon? Or time traveler soon?
Heh-heh.
Blog@: So we finally get to see Rose and Daniel again–and immediately, his house is crushed. Again. Are his neighbors going to start getting suspicious that everytime Supernova appears, there’s a huge hole in the third house on the left?
DJ: Zombies are running wild all over earth! Who’s going to worry about the house down the block when there are weird happenings everywhere?
Blog@: Of course, in most zombie stories the way to kill them is to “cut off the head or destroy the brain,” as the newscaster says in Shaun of the Dead. Between Ted and Pantha, you’ve created ghouls who rise from the grave with their heads and brains already compromised. Combine that with Dr. Light and I have to wonder: Was there ever a guideline in your brain that said, “This much damage to the corpse is too much damage to come back from?” Or could we potentially see a character like Savitar, who has no body to speak of, resurrected? [Note I’m not asking if Savitar will be back, just using his death as a touchstone because I have an idea you’re familiar with the disposition of his body in that Flash: Rebirth thing someone wrote]
GJ: As long as there is anything left, even a single cell, a black ring can regrow the body. All it needs is the DNA. But Blackest Night is about to take another turn, and it’ll be more than just the threat of the Black Lanterns. Should be a lot of fun. I’m especially excited about what we’re doing in January. Stay tuned!
Blog@: Are we ever going to see a Daniel-and-Rose-centric issue/story? It seems like they’ve gotten very serious, very fast. Does SHE know that they’re destined to make Booster-babies?
DJ: I think Rose has picked up on some of that based on the conversations she’s been around. Still, even if someone told you your future, chances are you’d think that by knowing about it, you’d be able to change it or at least have some say in whether or not you get to see it come true.
Blog@: What kind of input did Geoff give you on this issue? I mean, clearly it ties pretty directly into the most recent issue of Blackest Night with Flash’s message and all…but other than that, was there a Blackest Night Bible or something circulated before the event so that you guys would know how to characterize the dead, was that Geoff or just your gut?
DJ: It was initially based on the conversations I detailed earlier and then Geoff and I trading notes and bouncing comments back and forth. After that Geoff and Eddie provided all the writers with more detail so we could really pull it together.
Blog@: Lots of people in this issue reminding Jaime that he’s NOT the Blue Beetle they want to see! Will Booster stand up for his dignity the way he feels he should have stood up for Ted’s at the funeral?
DJ: Hmm… good question! Stay tuned!
Blog@: Did the Black Lantern ring materialize the decayed bug and the light gun that shoots real projectiles? Or did have have them already? It’s been hard to gather exactly WHAT the Black Lantern rings allow the bearer to do so far in Blackest Night.
DJ: The Black Lantern rings are capable of creating the weapons of the “host”. In this case, a decayed bug and light gun.
Blog@: It seems like Booster has had a little bit of a backslide here–he’s dwelling on Ted, and rebelling a little (even if only in his mind) against Rip’s authority. Is this indicative of a direction you guys had in mind for him back before all the fill-in issues or am I just reading too much into the stability and contentedness that he showed during and immediately before “Day of Death?”
DJ: A little of both. I wouldn’t call it a step back as much as I’d point out that he is continually feeling a bit more used by Rip who he can’t quite figure out. Rip is always telling him what to do and what not to do while acting as an authority on time. If this is the case, wouldn’t Rip then know what happens to Booster tomorrow? Next week? Next year and beyond?
It’s safe to say that Booster is beginning to wonder just how much actual freedom he really has.
Blog@: That asked, would some of that discontent possibly have to do with the fact that when he failed to save Ted, Rip gave him Michelle as a kind of consolation prize and now, she’s just kinda…gone?
DJ: My take on this and I’ve tried to convey this in the stories, is that no matter how much Booster says he accepts Ted’s death and his inability to go back and save him, that it simply isn’t the case. Booster knows he is a time traveler. He’s been told he can’t save Ted. Yet Rip saved Michelle.
There’s an inherent conflict there. Booster can make an intellectual rationalization that it’s wrong to go back and save Ted, but accepting it emotionally is a different thing.
Booster isn’t the kind of guy who’s going to say all that. He’s not even the kind of guy to realize how conflicted he is. But conflicted he is and the conflicts of time travel, of what you can and can’t do, who you can and can’t save are only going to escalate.
November 12th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
I just wish they’d address the ending of the Blue and Gold storyline in Booster Gold, where it APPEARED that the Blue Beetle was still alive. Now, Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz both intended for it to obviously be Ted, but editorial decided to black him out, so as to leave it a bit of a “mystery.”
Sadly, it looks like they’re just sweeping that under the rug and pretending it didn’t happen.
November 12th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Oh, and they also, very obviously, hinted who the Black Beetle actually is in this issue.
I mean, honestly, it’s super-obvious.
November 12th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
As tantalizing as it is, as frustrating as it is, leaving Ted dead (or at least under question) has allowed for more interesting stories to be told. They’re all stories I enjoyed.
BELIEVE me I’m a long time Ted fan, and I want to see him hale and hearty again like nobody’s business. But if they don’t have any ideas for the next step, why bother?
Tell me he’s coming back and joining the Bat-Books so he can help Babs again. Tell me he’s going to lead Checkmate, the one guy who you can be DAMN sure isn’t going to let the organizationexceed its authority. Don’t say “He’s back, happy?” and never use him again.
November 12th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Vinnie – This is the line they’ve been dancing around with Ice, I feel! Her return had such potential, and I felt like they squandered it a bit by relegating her to “Guy Gardner’s girlfriend.” Then, there were some strong stories told with her in the GL titles and I thought maybe they knew what they were doing. We’ll have to see how her role in BLACKEST NIGHT plays out. It may be a question worth asking Geoff if he’ll sit in with us again next month.
November 12th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Another great interview Russ!
Dan Radice: I’m wondering if we’re being steered into the “super-obvious” because (assuming we’re thinking of the same person) it doesn’t make any sense to me. There’s a definite emphases on Rip but why would Black Beetle try to kill himself? Why would he need Morrows’ help to get the red scarab to ensure he can time travel better when Rips’ more than capable of doing so himself? Although if Skeets did think they were one and the same after scanning Black Beetle that means that he knows Rips’ DNA. I’d think that would be something he would have confronted first.
I’ve been waiting to see how Booster handles the hurdles of time travel, seeing him make the hard choices. And hopefully meet some other time travelers. Walker Gabriel would be a perfect person to team up with Booster. He’s the only Chronos yet to make an appearance in this book.
November 13th, 2009 at 12:22 am
Erin: That’s the thing; despite the fact that it doesn’t make sense, it’s where they quite obviously went in this issue. Either that, or it’ll be a poorly-resolved red herring.
November 13th, 2009 at 6:29 am
Let’s not forget the Black Beetle’s recent little “who art thou, Rip Hunter” monologue, which is pretty damning. Only way it could be Rip now is if it’s the pre-Crisis Rip, wondering who this whippersnapper is running around using his name.
November 13th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Russ – I think Ice’s return was almost exactly what I’m talking about. Gail brought Ice back (for which I should be baking her pies for the rest of her life), but after that reappearance, pfft, nothing. I was expecting a followup story where she’s a norse goddess, an alien, SOMETHING, but no. Personally, I get the impression Gail had a followup story, but might have been told not to use it. I’m guessing on that, no facts at all.
Indeed, it wasn’t UNTIL they brought her back as Guy’s Girl that she served any purpose at all. And it’s exactly because they had put her back in that spot that I fear for her life again. I’m still not sure she won’t be the catalyst that’ll take Guy to where he’s going in Blackest Night, as the solicits have revealed.
November 13th, 2009 at 9:27 am
I’d really like to see Ted back in his full glory. I nearly stopped reading comics when he was killed off. But after reading it he was treated with great respect in the writing.
Ted was the character that truly got me hooked on comics back in the 80s…
November 13th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Great interview. Great issue. Great premise.
@Vinnie, I KNEW I liked you for a reason! Those ideas of yours for a resurrected Ted were brilliant! ESPECIALLY Ted Kord, head of CHECKMATE! He’d be perfect for the job and it makes SO much sense! Definitely makes more sense than the JSA members running it!
And Dan Didio had told me at megacon that he doesn’t want Ted back if nobody has a plan for him, otherwise he just becomes fodder again. THIS is a legitimate plan! It’d sell! And think of the assists Ted/Checkmate could provide Booster with his secret mission to preserve the multiverse’s timeline!
Someone forward that idea to Johns, Rucka, and Didio!
November 13th, 2009 at 10:35 am
One thought is that Ted WAS alive and well and “Bwa-ha-ha”ing at the end of that story, as Dan Jurgens said he was. Perhaps that’s a BIG clue to how Blackest Night will play out. Look at all the dead silver age JLAers! You KNOW at the end they won’t all stay dead. And if somehow the defeat of Nekron and his lanterns brings some heroes back, maybe Ted is among them. Then Ted is back, stories go by, he and Booster have a falling out, and Rip brings Ted back in time to show him “Look! Booster went through hell to try to bring you back himself. He really IS a good friend.”
It all fits… Hmmm…
November 13th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Will say more later but just wanted to say great interview.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
This issue failed in only one way from what I can tell and I hope is adressed. They made it seem like the public doesn’t know Ted kord is Blue Beetle which the world does know posthumously as shown in Blue Beetle (Jaime googled up ted’s info) and in Manhunter in which everyone (including the public) was asking how Ted kord could’ve come back to life after seeing Blue Beetle/Everyman.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Vinnie said “I’m still not sure she won’t be the catalyst that’ll take Guy to where he’s going in Blackest Night, as the solicits have revealed.”
Nah, man. I’m PRETTY sure THAT catalyst was revealed at the end of GLC # 42! ICE may be the cure that brings him back.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Nice interview! I have to say, I love the idea of Ted running Checkmate. Fire is already there and Ice can’t be far behind. My only issue would be the timing… No way DC is going to try another Checkmate book out so soon.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Geez, I could write Blue Beetle stories until I die. I know more about Ted Kord than any person on the planet. He’s Batman with Spidey’s attitude, and they don’t know what to do with him. It makes me sick, honestly, and it’s the reason I gave up on DC 4 years ago. Dan DieDie-o and all the rest can take a long walk off a short pier as far as I’m concerned.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Dan Radice/Spooky: At this juncture I’m still not convinced. Jason gave his own “are you really a time master” speech too. I think there has to be more of a solid connection to why he would use the Beetle persona. He knows how he’s going to die so it stands to reason that he’d know a lot of his own future and getting Skeets to scan when BB was most vulnerable suggests that he doesn’t know. Unless the writers were flat out lying in other interviews it can’t be Rip.
BLOG@: I’ll admit to having been an intermittent reader of the old Blue Beetle series, especially its second half. Had this character ever appeared as a Blue Beetle villain before, or had Jaime only dealt with him in Booster Gold?
MS: No, he’s an entirely new character the Geoff Johns created for Booster Gold, so he has no legacy. He’s very much about the future, and what’s GOING to happen. That’s something I really like about him. So much of the Blue Beetle ethos is anchored in the past, it’s nice to see a new piece of it evolving from the other direction.
If this is true that means that the real mystery isn’t who Black Beetle is but how he fits into the puzzle with the other Beetles.
November 13th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
I am still convinced that Rip is Booster’s son. Rip is trying to make his “father” the man that he knows Booster will be at some point in the future.
November 13th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
“Unless the writers were flat out lying in other interviews”
Please. I’m begging you all. Stop calling it lying.
Lying carries the connotation of malice, an active desire to defraud for some personal benefit. When a writer says they don’t have something planned, or says character x is fine, or gone forever, or actually a woman, they are not “lying”. They are keeping a secret, they are keeping you guessing, they are making you keep guessing, in the desire to keep you reading. Or maybe they just friggin’ changed their mind, or came up with a better idea.
Calling it lying makes one sound like a petulant child who accuses his parents of “lying” about some holiday or dental hygene-related character. If they tell you “Oh don’t worry, we’re bringing him back in issue 24″ you’re not gonna buy it, because your next damn feeling of entitlement question is gonna be “How will you do it?”
November 13th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
I called it lying for lack of better term. Mislead if you will. No malice was intended I assure you. I was merely stating that it seemed that more than one writer seemed was hinting at something else in interviews and I felt disbelief that it would go in a particular direction. I was explaining to two other posters why I didn’t share their view. Sorry if the term offends and no, I’m not the sort that thinks the writers need to personally cater to me if I’m miffed at something. I also have not stated that I’m going to drop the title if they did change their minds. And to be honest without trying to start any war you do sound a little too angry yourself in this post when only the first paragraph or so was needed to get your point across.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
@JeffBearCo – It’s been established in continuity and reiterated numerous times by Jurgens that, yes, Rip is Booster’s son.
@Erin – I think that the question of who the Black Beetle is, is only important insofar as DC has made it a question. Dan and Geoff both had a hand in the Book of the Black or whatever they were called teaser that had Booster looking shocked as Black Beetle took off the mask.
@Johnny Blaze DCU – It was Katz, not Jurgens, who had said it was Ted at the end of the “Blue and Gold” story. Jurgens explained that bwa-ha-hah-ing character in a completely different way in-continuity, revealing him to be Jason Goldstein, AKA Rex Hunter, in the “Reality Lost” arc that came right after the fill-ins. Dan, however, has cunningly avoided saying that Ted is definitively dead, opting instead to just no-comment the thing into oblivion so as to avoid the accusations of lying that Vbart is so worked up about.
@Matthew – Sales indicate that you’re the only one. So good luck with that.
November 16th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Russ said “Jurgens explained that bwa-ha-hah-ing character in a completely different way in-continuity, revealing him to be Jason Goldstein, AKA Rex Hunter, in the “Reality Lost” arc that came right after the fill-ins.”
No he hasn’t. Jurgens hasn’t said that the one at the end of Geoff and Jeff’s run was Rex Hunter. He said Rex Hunter was the man in the shadows but the shadow he was referring to was in the issue with Ralph Dibny. We still don’t know who was doing the BWA-HA-HAing.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
I want the Blue and Gold and I want it well written.
November 26th, 2009 at 2:04 am
Yeah, well, doubt we will be getting him back as long as Dan Didio is around.