Dan Jurgens Interview!
Taken from this interview with Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens.
DAN JURGENS: Well, I think with Booster, it’s important to know that, first of all, let’s roll it back just a little bit. When we talk about some of the hard luck that came his way, I think it would be important to know that he would be responsible for some of that as well. For example, let’s say that we had a situation where there was a tremendous fire that had broken out in a brownstone, somewhere in the city. So, you know, most guys, if we’re talking about superheroes, most guys would just charge off, and perform the rescue mission, and, theoretically put out the fire, and everything would be taken care of. Booster would be more likely to, on the way there, place that call to a couple of media sources to say, you know, “Booster Gold is on the way, you might want to come film it, “ and that kind of thing, but that delay might have cost him the ability to save much of the building from fire as any other hero would have. So, I think that we do have to recognize that he got in his own sometimes. In terms of what kept him interesting is that what often isn’t recognized is that, yeah on the surface, we all know, Booster likes the fame, and the money, and the glory, that could come with doing the job the way he did it. He would just be one to say, “So, I take a few bucks from a corporate sponsor, so what? I’ll still do the job,” but he liked the fame and the money that went with it. But, deep down, he also wanted to do the right thing. You know, Booster was never a totally crass individual who would walk past the opportunity to do the right thing. He would just be the type of individual who was incredibly opportunistic, and would like to capitalize on it. So, yes, he wants to do the right thing. In terms what keeps Booster, I think, fun for us, is that it’s a bit of a different breed. And as things get increasingly darker, the idea of reading a book that has a sort of a sense of fun to it, while at the same time tells a kind of a rollicking, high adventure, type story, especially one that can go back in time and show you some of your favorite DC moments, makes it a little bit different from anything else on the stands.
SEB: So, He [Booster] has always been right up there as a favorite of mine, and the sense that I…well, I won’t so always got, because I doubt I thought of it on this level as a kid, but in retrospect, I guess, I always felt that he..you know, he always talks about kidding. There’s always that scene where he throws the flight ring down, you know, he’s constantly taking of goggles and throwing and giving up, “That’s it, I’ve had it. Everyone thinks I’m a joke! I’m sick of this, ba-ba-ba…,” and normally with the end of that speech, or at least by the end of whatever issue he’s quitting in, something happens and he’s right back in there. And, I always got this sense that even he has fooled himself, like he thinks that he IS the shallow fortune and glory seeker pretending to be a hero, but it’s more that, and even more so now, after 52 and everything, that he’s more the hero pretending even to himself, that he’s a shallow fortune and glory seeker.*
DAN: Well, actually, that’s very true. I know that, for example, I think that one of the things we can see is that if we take all of us, let’s say we each were take a group of six friends that you have, and if you hang out with them individually they’re one thing, but as soon as you put them in a group, some personality traits become magnified, and they become something…everybody starts to put on more of a face in terms of how they want to be perceived. And I think, it’s safe to say, especially within the context of the Justice League and the other heroes hanging around, that Booster kind of puts on a bit of a face. Or, we could even say he lives down to expectations, and that’s where I thought that Geoff and Jeff did a really, really nice job handling the sequence with Batman, where he essentially figures out exactly what Booster is up to. He kind of says, “I know I’m not Ted Kord, but, you know, if you need somebody to talk to, I’m here.” Which, I thought, was really nice.
From part 2
DAN: No, I think I always know what Booster would do or would not do in a given situation, and how he might approach the solution to a problem that’s out there. What’s gonna be different with Booster is the way he arrives at the solution or the solution itself. More than any other hero, in the DCU anyway, Booster is going to find a different path to get to the solution that he needs to make something work. That’s the way he thinks, and that’s the way he is. It’s one of the things that I think is what helps make the book a little more fresh. For example, I think if we think of most characters in the Justice League, especially if we use Batman as the prime example, batman never does anything without a plan. And Superman probably doesn’t either, and I think that’s true of most of them. There’s a bad guy on the east end of town, Batman knows exactly how to get there, and what his ETA is going to be, and this is a very simplistic explanation, I realize, but he knows exactly how he’s going to get there, and because we know that Batman is so tremendously competent, the readers sort of know how he’s going to do it. Booster is probably the most spontaneous character in the DCU, and his most likely thing to do the wrong thing, he’s the most likely guy to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. If the queen had the Justice League in for a visit and they’re going through the whole line, Booster’s going to be the one guy, who at the end of the line, when he shakes the queen’s hand -not that that’s what you do when you greet the queen - but he’s gonna say something STUPID. And he’ll just cause a little bit of trouble because he is just spontaneous. So, yeah, I certainly know how Booster is going to react in any given situation, at least I think I do anyway, and whether his decision is going to be to do the right thing, but he’ll certainly do it in a more entertaining fashion. Like let’s say he went to meet the President. Everyone else going to just shake his hand and meet the first lady. Booster’s the one who’d say, especially if the it was back when the President was Bill Clinton, and say “First Lady? Where are the second and third?”
Part 3
SEB: [Laughs] So after 52, and the first year of the series, what’s different about Booster Gold from the last times that you’ve written him, be it the 80s, or in Superman, or on your run on Justice League, and what’s the same? We talked about his motivation, and he’s obviously gone through a lot and come a long way from who he was in the beginning, so what is about the character that’s changed and what has been forged in steel, now that he’s gone through the fire?
DAN: Well, I think he’s less crass. And I think now he has a much bigger vision of what his role is in terms of superhero universe and attitude. When you would pick up a Booster Gold comic book back in the 80’s, I think it would be safe to say that at that time Booster Gold was all about himself. Yeah, he would go out and do the hero thing. He wanted to be in the Justice League, but it wasn’t just that he wanted to be in the Justice League to do the right thing. There was a good portion of him that said, you know, from a commercial stand point, “it’s really good for me to be in the Justice League, I get instant credibility when I stand next to Superman.” And he might say that…no, I take that back…he WOULD still say that now. He would say it out LOUD, but in a way he’s just sort of playing that role now. He would really see it as yes, I have to do this because this is what I have to do. But, when he said it in the book before, Look, I’m standing next to Superman, you talk about instant cred? This is it! An you know he meant it 100%, now it’s more of that face that he would put on to be around the Justice League. So, there is a big difference there.
The interview itself is kind of bad (the interviewer fumbles around and talks half the time) but the info is so sweet! And totally totally reaffirms how I feel about Booster and my thoughts on him, etc. And basically, this is the kind of character I want to play Booster as, so if something feels amiss, don't be afraid to talk to me about it!
*This is like...one of the most important things about Booster to me. And someone else gets it!!