The Brave and the Gold

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Newsarama is reporting that Magog, the character who co-starred with Booster Gold in The Brave and the Bold #23, will be featured in his own ongoing series starting in September from all-star creators Keith Giffen and Howard Porter.]

Tonally, the Brave & the Bold issue this week was actually much more in keeping with what we’ve come to expect from Booster Gold than…well, than Booster Gold was this month. With Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund drawing the frst-ever encounter of Booster Gold and Magog, the issue almost would have felt like business as usual…if it weren’t taking place in another title.

After a trip through time, Rip reappears in the lab (where, by the way, there’s a chalkboard covered mostly in Kingdom Come references), enmeshed in a

 skirmish with an unknown assailant from the future. Though Booster and Skeets manage to repel the intruder’s entry into the time lab, the result is that Booster becomes engaged in trying to prevent the catastrophic future depicted in the DC Elseworlds book Kingdom Come and its sequels, The Kingdom and Thy Kingdom Come.

Why, a lot of readers have asked, is this story taking place in The Brave & the Bold, rather than in Booster Gold? Here’s one possible answer: It’s incredibly good. The Booster Gold monthly has been one of, or the, best book that DC publishes since its launch two years ago, but Jurgens and Rapmund really went above and beyond with this chapter. Hopping from 52 to “52 Pick-Up” (available this week in paperback), to “Blue & Gold,” to the long and winding road that was “Reality Lost,” Booster has been in event mode (or at least mini-event mode) since Ted Kord died. And while we’re about to embark on another major arc, this month’s two standalone stories were a welcome break. Giffen and Olliffe’s one-off in last week’s Booster Gold #20 was good-but-not-great, but frankly the offering in The Brave & the Bold is arguably the best standalone Booster story in years. The notion of putting this story—with what most readers will know to be Booster’s regular monthly creative team—in front of a new audience is virtually guaranteed to draw a few of those eyes to the Booster Gold monthly—something that may be sorely needed if some fans break away as a result of next month’s cover price hike (granted, there’s a Blue Beetle co-feature being added to make it worth our while…but fans can be fickle).

The timing of this issue is interesting—Booster fights the future in this comic, while Cartoon Network’s Batman: The Brave & the Bold featured Booster’s second-ever TV appearance (and his first in over five years) as he teamed with Batman to combat a menace from the past in the person of Conqueror Caveman. The obvious “Batman & Booster: The Brave and the Gold” reference was made by Booster himself in the episode of the TV show, which really featured an ‘80s-style, smarmy, commercial Booster shilling for a toy licensing deal and having Skeets follow him around, trumpeting his achievements like he did in 52.

So what did Dan Jurgens—creator of the character—have to say about Booster’s brave, bold month? Blog@Newsarama sat down with him to find out.

Blog@Newsarama: First of all—do you know, relative to Booster Gold, how much The Brave and the Bold is selling in a given month? Is there a clear upside to putting such a strong Booster story in somebody else’s title, in terms of the potential to pick up some new eyes?
Dan Jurgens: I pay surprisingly little attention to that. When I sit down to do a story I don't concern myself with the question of whether a book is selling 5,000, 50,000 or 500,000. I simply try to conjure up an entertaining 22 pages.
A word on how this story came to be:  Joey Cavalieri gave me a call and asked about a Booster/Magog story. We talked about me writing it, me drawing it, me working with someone

 else who'd write it... it was pretty elusive. Pete Tomasi had just written a Magog story and we thought he might like to do this.
As things came together I ended up doing both story and art. At the time, we didn't even have a firm release date on the issue. We hoped it would be far enough down the line that it wouldn't interfere with Booster Gold. We hoped to complement whatever I was doing there.
The reality of comics publishing sometimes intrudes, however, and The Brave & the Bold got pushed up ahead of what I anticipated, necessitating the need for a helping hand on Booster Gold.
BLOG@: Also before we get too far into the issue—did you see the Booster Gold appearance on Batman: The Brave & the Bold on Friday? And if so, what’d you think?
DJ: I thought it was generally a lot of fun. It's always fun to see one's creation brought to the next level. It was also cool to get the credit at the end of the show. It carries a certain cache of validity.
BLOG@: I thought they did a pretty respectable job of showing Booster’s “shady” origin story without making too much of a thing of it, but other than that, Booster’s role wasn’t too specific to him.
DJ: They did a fine job at indicating Booster's origin without digging into it in depth. If, as a

 reader, you're aware of it, great. The story works on another level. If not, if this was your first exposure to Booster, you didn't really miss anything in the story. That can be tough to pull off and I always salute people who are able to do so. 
BLOG@: Do you think that a show like that—where mainstream, non-comics people are seeing guys like Kamandi and Booster Gold all the time—is a boon to DC in general?
DJ: I don't know if boon is quite the right word, but it sure adds something. I think it helps create the impression that DC is about more than just Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. People seem to better recognize Marvel's wide array of characters and this helps DC in that same way. 
BLOG@: Alright, back to the comic—I think the obvious first question is whether you’ve already got a follow-up for this story planned in the next year or so of Booster Gold. Anything with Magog on the docket?
DJ: We have a couple of general ideas that can be used in the event the opportunity presents itself. Some of that depends on DC's other plans for Magog. 
BLOG@: Is this something that you discussed with Geoff, either before he left or once you got this assignment? Between the Kingdom Come references and the random dismemberment, it seems like his kind of story!
DJ: Geoff and I didn't discuss this at all. It was a bit of a natural in terms of who Booster is, what his access to the future is, Rip's presence and what we think Magog is destined to become. Beyond that, I think Geoff and have similar sensibilities as writers.  BLOG@: The message boards over at Newsarama were already buzzing when they saw your preview pages—Proty and Ivo? Will the Legion of Super-Pets be somehow involved with the much-ballyhooed story of Brainiac 5 coming after Booster’s ring?
DJ: Could be! There is a definite plan for the Legion story, what we will deal with, etc. We're simply waiting for the right time to plug it in.  
BLOG@: What “aspect of time travel” has Rip decided Booster isn’t ready for yet? Changing a “fairly set” future? How do you see the future in terms of the “fixed time, flexible time” perspective introduced in the first year or so of the book?
DJ: There are a couple of points to address in that question.
The general theory Rip is dealing with is that the future is somewhat flexible. The past is fixed. That's all based on today being the present.
At the same time, as Booster's son, he obviously knows that Booster has a specific personal future. In some ways, Rip has to ensure Booster lives that future out. He also feels Booster isn't ready to learn the specifics of that future-- that he has to live it and experience it-- not just "look in" on it from the time stream. 
That would include the question of what happens to DC's heroes. 
BLOG@: Rip’s PUNCHING Magog? That dude is a heavy hitter! Is Rip a little more badass than we give him credit for?
DJ: It's fair to say there is a lot about Rip we don't know, though in the case I'd say they were grappling more than fighting. 
BLOG@: Hah! “Buster Gold.” It’s been a while since we heard that one. I love the fact that Keith did a pretty straightforward Booster story this month, and you’re pulling “Buster” out of the mothballs.
DJ: That came from comments I got wayyy back when I first created Booster. Before the book came out people would ask questions like, "Who's Buster Gold?" It was a natural to work into the title.  
BLOG@: Do you feel like making sure to get a little humor into his The Brave and the Bold appearance is important in terms of giving potential new readers a sense of how the monthly comic “feels?”
DJ: Yeah. We don't hide who we are. It's part of the Booster Gold Experience! 
BLOG@: Do you see the Magog moral quandary (“extreme” characters versus more “morally superior” ones like Superman) as being fairly black and white? You wrote Superman for a very long time, and I don’t remember him killing very much of anybody during your tenure, with exceptions being notable and causing him distress.
DJ: Yeah. There aren't many shades of gray there. 
It would be easy to build some in, I suppose. I liken it to being a police officer, though. Either you carry a gun and use it responsibly, following the dictates of the law, or you don't. 
I see Magog as being somewhat on the fence, who can go either way. I also see it being pretty clear in terms of which way he's going to go.  
BLOG@: Your Magog looks a lot more like Alex Ross’ than Dale Eaglesham’s does. Is that just reflective of the fact that he’s moving more into the “bad guy” territory that he inhabited during Kingdom Come?
DJ: I have a general theory in doing comics which says it's best to go back to the original source material when possible. Alex's Magog was visually compelling and I decided to play on that. And, yes, it helps convey the aura of a particular future.  
BLOG@: Did DC editorial give you direction on how to write Magog—or did Geoff—or were you basing the interplay of the characters mostly on his previous appearances?
DJ: Everything I did was pulled entirely from his previous appearances, up to and including stuff not-yet-printed that Geoff was doing. 
BLOG@: He says something about “you people” not being able to make the “hard decisions.” Are we implying there that he willfully ignored the grenadiers to pursue what he considered the greater threat? If so, it seems like at least that one soldier we saw getting evaporated is on Magog’s head!
DJ: Absolutely. 
BLOG@: If you want to read between the lines and interpret his past as an American soldier who might have considered the local forces as not being his equal, you are free to do so. His clear attitude that Booster is a lightweight should add to that. 
BLOG@: Are you a little worried about bumping up against stereotypes regarding how soldiers talk and act? It’s been a long time since we had a superhero soldier, and Magog is obviously much more soldier than hero here.
DJ: Not particularly. I tried to write him as being consistent with his previous appearances. 
If you want to think "outside the box" with a solider in theater, make him a National Guardsman who happens to be 35-years-old with a wife and three kids back home who are no longer able to pay the mortgage. 
I'll give you plenty of ways of building an incredibly honorable soldier who trumps the easy, cookie cutter "hondo" type when it's obviously there.  
BLOG@: The one-handed handling of the bad guys kind of reminds me of the early stages of the Doomsday fight—which of course again raises the spectre of Magog-as-danger-to-all. But at one point he lets go to motion for the kids, and nothing explodes. Is that a simple slip-up on your part or more indicative of a cowardly villain who’s only PLAYING at being a suicide bomber? If the latter, what’s that mean for Magog’s giddily dismembering him?
DJ: Magog never lets go of him. The only place we don't see them both is on page 14, panel two. Magog has him with his left hand and has pushed him through the door ahead of him. We pick up on them again on page 16. Trust me! I was really careful with all that.  
BLOG@: Speaking as a reader, though, that arm-pull is about as family-friendly as dismemberment is going to get. Thanks for that! There’s nothing quite like having a kid flip through the pages of their favorite funnybook and having Risk’s blood explode in a cloud around Superboy-Prime.
DJ: I think underplaying something like that makes it a bit more dramatic. Seriously, the concept of Magog tying on a tourniquet first, thus prolonging the moment and emphasizing his clear intent, is far more dramatic than just tearing it off. It gives Dvorcek a moment to beg for compassion and Magog to clearly ignore him. 
BLOG@: Speaking of which—can you give Risk this guy’s arm? He can use one, and I’d love to see him in Booster Gold.
DJ: I'll have to do a story one day in which Risk is rehabilitated. Eddie Berganza seems to be out to butcher the poor guy! 
BLOG@: Has Khandaq supplanted Qrac as the “crazy bastard capital of the world” in the DCU?
DJ: Seems that way to me. I offered to place the story elsewhere but Khandaq was the clear winner. 
BLOG@: “Guys like you” still bothers me. Wasn’t Magog part of the JSA like four minutes ago?
DJ: Yeah, but he's addressing Booster more specifically than that. Remember, he just ripped Booster for being in a perfume ad. He's not addressing all heroes in general. Not yet, anyway.  
BLOG@: I love the fact that Booster was willing to brawl with the cretin, though; it speaks really well for the character, I think, given that he knows Magog’s power level. What went into the decision to let him say, “Fine, you jerk!”?
DJ: I think it's pretty clear that Booster has a line he won't cross. Magog doesn't. Based on the events of the previous twenty minutes, Booster was right. Without him being there, innocent kids would have died. Booster sees Magog as being almost as bad as the terrorists.