It’s not my fault this time!
Okay, so maybe I could have been a little more prepared for J.M. DeMatteis’ vacation, but only if I’d had access to my own time sphere so that I could find out about it before it happened. And if I had a time sphere, then none of my articles would ever be late, and I’d already know who the Black Beetle is!
Yeah, that’s right, I haven’t forgotten about that one.
Anyway, after returning to work refreshed and ready to razz the interviewer, DeMatteis caught up with me today about his and Keith Giffen’s most recent issue of Booster Gold, and talked about all manner of bwa-ha-happenings in Booster’s world. Join us, will you?
The Gold Exchange: So, what was the deal with the art this month? It’s all credited to Batista but a number of people pointed out that it looks like Batista finishing Keith’s layouts. The difference between the (presumably) Keith and non-(presumably) Keith pages was jarring. Is that going to be a frequent occurrence in the book?
J. M. DeMatteis: Keith did the framing sequence (at Rip’s HQ), Batista did the rest. I honestly didn’t find it jarring, but I can understand why some people might. I believe Keith’s participation was just a way to create some breathing room for Chris, deadline-wise.
I’m a huge fan of Keith’s art so, for me, the big news here is that he’s picking up the pencil again. We’re going to see lots more Giffen art in the months to come…but not in Booster Gold. That belongs to Chris!
GX: How long will the JLI adventures continue? I see that, as of the time of the solicitations just released for October, Booster is still wrestling with going back here to hang out with Ted every month…!
JMD: The JLI elements will weave in and out. We’re not turning this into “JLI Redux”…there will be other stories, set in other time periods, featuring other guest stars…but, at the same time, we want to be free to visit our old friends as much as we’d like.
GX: Speaking of which, what happened to your post-Formerly Known As the Justice League comments that you and Keith didn’t have anything left to say with these characters? Is it just the changes that the characters have undergone in the last few years that changed your mind or something else?
JMD: We meant those comments at the time, but we always reserve the right to change our minds!
A little while before Keith called me to ask if I’d like to work with him on Booster, I was experiencing some Justice League nostalgia-pangs, brought on by a couple of animated Brave and the Bold episodes I wrote, featuring some JLI characters. So the timing was perfect. Who knows? We may grow bored with the JLI era again; but, as far as Booster is concerned, he’s such a different character now than he was then that I think his potential is limitless. There are many stories yet to tell…with and without the JLI.
GX: The level of pressure that Rip (Booster’s son) Hunter is putting on Booster to play daddy with this kid from the future is unlike him in a lot of ways; is there a hint buried in there someplace that this girl is meant to play a role in Rip’s life?
JMD: Only time will tell! (You do realize we just make most of this stuff up as we go along, don’t you?)
GX: Is there any way besides “story contrivances” to explain how time is fixed—unless we need to go back and break something to set up a story…and you can’t take any items back to the future that have direct bearing on the past…unless of course someone wants to steal Blue Devil’s trident and change the history of DC’s magical heroes…?
JMD: Well, we’ve set up our own parameters for what works and what doesn’t re: time travel. I can’t speak for anybody else’s ideas on the subject.
GX: I actually think the “I Just can’t believe…how ugly you are” save is one of the better Booster saves during his traveling through the past. Particularly as you and Keith have been writing him these first couple of issues, it fits perfectly.
JMD: Bless you, my son.
GX: Is there a set timeline that DC has its writers working in? Being “Back in time for Cheers” puts this story pretty firmly in the timeframe of when you and Keith were actually writing the JLI book, but seems like it makes the characters older than DC is typically comfortable with.
JMD: Well, it could be a Cheers re-run. But you’re right…we’re keeping the JLI references clearly set in that era. I’m sure we’ll find out if anybody up the DC food chain has a problem with that!
GX: The absence of Skeets is one of the things that Booster fans often wonder about the JLI days (of course, thanks to Geoff Johns, we all now know that Max was scavenging the old boy for parts—but I digress…); was it really just that having a sarcastic, cybernetic sidekick (say THAT five times fast) was pretty much L-Ron’s territory and Skeets was redundant in that particular book?
JMD: Can I be honest? Back when we were writing the original JLI series, I knew absolutely nothing about Booster’s history (a brief pause while Russ faints). I’d never even heard of Skeets, so I didn’t know his not being there was even an issue!
GX: Do you have plans for Michelle? She and Daniel Jon Carter are currently appearing in Time Masters: Vanishing Point (by Jurgens & Rapmund) as Goldstar and Supernova, so the reference to having outgrown the Goldstar suit suggests to me that in the monthly there’s a plan afoot.
JMD: Let’s just say that Michelle’s costume—if not Michelle herself—will be playing a major part in an upcoming storyline!
GX: Next: The Darkstars! What version of The Darkstars? Because the name referred to something very different in the ‘90s (when this story is taking place) than it does now (a story that Keith had something to do with).
JMD: Well, the story doesn’t take place in the Now, it takes place in the Then. So it’s the Darkstars of that era. Not that I know anything about the Darkstars of this era! (Yes, it’s true: when it comes to DC continuity, I’m a total ignoramus. I depend on Keith and the editors to keep me up on things.)
August 8th, 2010 at 7:23 am
Good interview, but someone should tell J.M. that when he jokes the way it does, it makes him sound completely serious and makes those of us that are leery at times of this story line (and how it seems to contradict both Time Masters and even Keith and Judd’s Generation Lost portrayal of Booster) even more afraid that he and Keith are running it into the ground.
I mean, I like the issues, I find them fun, but compared to GL and Time Masters, they aren’t as connected to the man Booster has become. And with J.M. even joking about not really caring about the history of the characters (Never read about Booster before writing booster in JLI…yeah, great, now Booster has his own Adam Beechan. Where is Casstoons when you need them?) it makes it harder for me and others who loved Dan and Geoff and even Judd’s takes on Booster to feel safe with Booster being in the hands of J.M. and Keith for a long time. I mean, right now I am willing for them to have about a year on the series, but then I expect them to be booted off and Dan or Geoff or Judd to be put on full time. They are going to have to work really hard to convince me and other hardcore fans to give them more time now.
Again, he could just be joking around…but all jokes have to have grains of truth, and alot of his “Jokes” are coming up as more truthful than humorous.
But I ramble on. Wonderful interview Russ. And we don’t fault you for the lateness when it even is your fault…you are training a tiny time master at the moment, so some things must slip through the cracks.
August 8th, 2010 at 10:48 am
I think there’s an interesting element to JM writing in-universe superhero stuff which is not often discussed. That being, JM has never struck me as a stickler for continuity (having gone so far as to suggest at times that his and Keith’s JLI work exists in a kinda-sorta-but-not-really-continuity corner of the DCU) and so putting him on Booster Gold, which has become kind of a haven for continuity porn, is a stranger choice than it first seems when you say “Giffen, DeMatteis, Booster.” I don’t think he means any disrespect when he says that stuff, it’s just that he’s more of a casual fan who doesn’t read the things he’s not personally engaged in, and so when later he’s called upon to use those characters and he’s honest about his reading habits (like saying when he took over this series that he hadn’t read any of Dan and Geoff’s run), it frustrates the core audience of this title.
August 8th, 2010 at 11:45 am
I really want to know what’s happening with Black Beetle.. will we find out during the time frame of Brightest Day? Is he collecting different colour scarabs like the different coloured lantern corps? I need more!!!
August 8th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
These guys have lost their mojo. I dropped this book. I’ll come back when Jurgens (or someone who’s not living off what they did 25 years ago)takes over the book.
August 8th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
I wouldn’t blame DeMatteis for being “a total ignoramus” of current DC continuity since it’s the same company that turned Maxwell Lord into a psycho cape-hater.
August 8th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
I am enjoying this current run on Booster Gold without reading Generation Lost and I don’t feel like it’s just a JLI re-hash. DeMatteis is a great writer who always seems to take his writing seriously, even when it’s funny as hell. He’s not a fanboy but neither does he look his nose down upon comics. I feel Booster is still being presented as the current Booster and if the Black Beetle plotline is not part of what Giffen & DeMatteis want to do then they shouldn’t do it. But who knows what’s in store. All I know is that I’m anticipating some thoroughly entertaining comics.
August 8th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Thanks for the interview. I dropped the book, too, and so far when I page through it at the stores it seems pretty clear to me J.M. and Keith have returned to the wise-cracky and ridiculous villains. Which is really too bad; it really doesn’t do Booster justice.
I’ll keep looking for a little while yet before I give up for good. I never paid attention to BG before 52, and admittedly I think the plot was starting to go in circles a bit, but I think there are some really interesting stories to be told (and challenges to be made to Rip’s time travel rules), if the characters and world are taken seriously. So far it’s not clear J.M. and Keith are really that interested in doing that, though clearly they are capable.
August 8th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
if im honest the reason i pick this book up every month is that i am hoping for something that really resembles the bwa ha ha era of the jla and jle, and when generation lost is over i would like to see a jli ongoing title as opposed to just cropping up every once in a while in boosters title, but in the interim GNORT…need i say more
P.S there has not been a better title at D.C since k.g and JMD’s justice league
August 8th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
I gave this new creative team three issues then dropped the book. Not sure wha the powers-that-be were thinking with this. Why take a solid, well-selling action/adventure book and suddenly make it a gag book? Unless I’m really off base and the sales were not as good as it appeared (I thought it was in the top 100 of Diamond’s charts for some time).
I’ll come back when the book returns to the action/adventure title it was. If it can survive this. Probably Booster’s biggest challenge yet.
August 8th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Thomas Wayne, did you happen to read Jurgens first Booster series? Or the Blue Beetle series. I loved Griffen’s Legion but Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle, and Booster Gold WERE DESTROYED BY JLI. It took years before they were look at anything as other a joke (and it took Blue Beetles death to fix that). So lets see JLI was around 1985, Ifinite Crisis was around 2005. Hmmmm, that(minus the approximately five yrs of JLI) and that means about 15 yrs or so of being broken with only DeMatteis and Griffen doing them justice?
And you complain that they make Max Lord who manlipulated and killed people in JLI a cape hater?
August 8th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Great interview Russ, glad to see you keeping up with this and Time Masters.
Although I did enjoy the first two issues of their BG run even that had moments I cringed at. While I don’t think Booster (the character not the book) is written as moronic as some claim I do find myself audibly sighing out loud every time a character insults his intelligence or the other odd bits of humor that don’t seem to fit this title. This issue was the most jarring read and not just because of Giffins’ pencils. Trying to bend the previous books’ tone with the JLI tone is a pretty big shift. I wasn’t sure why Michelle was forcing the Rani issue before she even meets the girl or why Barda was being so mean to Booster and basically ignoring Teds’ involvement. I found it more annoying than funny. I haven’t given up on the book yet but I’m hoping to get back to the more serious business of Boosters’ present than his past.
August 8th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
The only apart of the interview that made me take notice was the part about Giffen doing art somewhere, Just tell me where and I am there.
August 9th, 2010 at 7:21 am
I love the new creative team. I had just dropped it and then picked it back up when the new team came aboard.
I’m confused over the “confusion” on the art. I thought on the title page they pretty much made it clear that Keith helped out. I would love to see Keith do a whole issue or two. Also would love to see them use Jaime in the book.
August 9th, 2010 at 8:45 am
I loved Jurgens run and was tempted to drop the book when the creative team changed but I’m so glad I didn’t. It’s been packed full of story and some great art. For those who quit… get back on the horse you won’t be sorry!
August 9th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
i’m about ready to drop BOOSTER GOLD. I love the character. I lover his first series in the ’80s. I loved the Johns/Jurgens revival, and I loved Jurgens solo. But I am not enjoying the Giffen/DeMatteis run at all thus far.
I’ve probably got one more issue in me…and if it doesn’t snag me at that point, it’s a goner. I miss Jurgens on this book.
August 9th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
I love what DeMatteis is doing with Booster