Whether or not I'm a fan of CW's programming, I have to admit that Donald Faison's portrayal of Booster Gold on DC's Legends of Tomorrow season 7 finale has certainly raised the profile of the character and introduced him to a whole bunch of people who have never actually set their hands on a DC comic. That's an objectively good thing.

So it is a worthwhile experience to read how the show's executive producer Phil Klemmer finally got around to adding Booster to his long-running show.

Here he speaks to Chancellor Agard for ew.com:

EW: Arrowverse boss Greg Berlanti has reportedly been working on a Booster Gold movie for years. How did the character wind up on Legends?

Klemmer: As you might expect, through the side door you'd least expect it [to]. I just remember [co-showrunner Keto Shimizu] and I were on a call with Kim Roberto at DC, and we were just talking about fun characters. I think somebody threw it out there, of course never [imagining] in a million years would we get Booster Gold. And then it felt like 15 minutes later, DC called us back and was just like, "Hey, Booster's yours." And just you have a moment of being like, "Okay, this is clearly a prank of some sort, because..." We were all giddy and in disbelief and then it just became a quest of finding an actor who was worthy of the character.

EW: Why was Booster Gold on your mind to begin with? Were you just looking for a DC character to bring in at the end of the season? How did Booster end up fitting the needs of the story?

Klemmer: It's always the tonal fit and just knowing, I don't know, there's just something so lovable and unexpected. You just knew that he was going to work as kind of a bit of the merry prankster, a bit of a BS artist.

Klemmer was also quizzed by Joshua Lapin-Bertone at DCComics.com:

DC: How familiar were you with Booster before this?

Klemmer: I just knew about him from the early days of Legends, when I would hear of various projects, whether they were TV shows or movies, in the same halls where I was working. And obviously dealing with Rip Hunter in early seasons as well. I just assumed that he was going to have his own project. I never imagined that he would come into our world.

DC: For building this version of Booster, did you draw upon any particular stories? Or did you build him from the ground up?

Klemmer: The creation of a character really takes place over the course of that first season, and then seasons to come. It's going to really be a correspondence between us as writers and Donald as a performer. We definitely wanted someone who is a little off center, and like, a little bit mischievous. But we also just wanted a charisma bomb.

And we round out our media tour with Klemmer's conversation with Damian Holbrook of TVInsider.com:

TV: Is the plan to keep Donald on the board?

Klemmer: For sure. We're not gonna let Booster get away. I'm really excited to write him—he's the kind of character you wish you could be. You could get away with murder and be so charming that you never really have to suffer the consequences. He's the antithesis of a writer. Writers are deeply neurotic and self-loathing self-doubting, etcetera. I think that's why we writers are drawn to those characters—because those are our secret alter egos.

Season 8 has not yet been announced. Will there be another season of Legends of Tomorrow? If I were a betting man, I'd bet yes (especially if Michael "Booster" Carter is on the field). Legends of Tomorrow is one of the few CW shows that has improved its ratings season-over-season, so I think we should prepare to see more of Klemmer and Faison's Gold come fall.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: chancellor agard damian holbrook dccomics.com donald faison ew.com greg berlanti interviews joshua lapin-bertone legends of tomorrow phil klemmer tvinsider.com

As I type this, the #1 New Release on Amazon.com in the category of Comics & Graphic Novels Literary Criticism is

If you don't remember the original "Gold Exchange" columns, Russ explains their history in the introduction to the book:

It started at Comic Related, and moved to Blog@Newsarama when I did. Just as I was beginning my time at ComicBook.com, the site where I still work, Booster Gold vol. 2 ended, and with it, The Gold Exchange. There were occasional returns to the story of Booster Gold, and I usually took the opportunity to discuss them with Dan, but as a recurring feature, the column effectively ended with Flashpoint, like so many other things at DC.

With Comic Related now defunct and Blog@Newsarama several facelifts (and owners) on from my short time there, none of this material is online in its original form anymore. Back in 2008, I was assured by both outlets that I owned all the content I created there, so while the more recent content is owned by ViacomCBS (the parent company of ComicBook), the contents of this book represent an updated, formatted, and edited version of a PDF I put together in 2011, with the intent of offering it at the ComicBook booth when I tabled at New York Comic Con.

For that reason, while some introductions and notes reflect that this book is releasing in 2021, the "real-time" commentary element of the interviews is retained as much as possible. This is, to an extent, preserving a moment in Booster's history, and comics history, in amber. Appreciate it for what it is, and enjoy the many, many times I tried to get Dan to tell me a spoiler, only to have him say "Stay tuned."

I read those columns in their native locations, and I'm still tuned. (When will we get to find out who the Black Beetle is, Dan?!)

Russ was kind enough to share a preview copy of the book with me, and I can heartily recommend it to any Booster Gold (or comic book) fan who wants to know a little more about how the sausage is made, so to speak.

Support comics journalism and get your own Kindle copy (paperback coming soon, maybe even by the end of the week!) at amazon.com.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: amazon.com dan jurgens gold exchange interviews russ burlingame

Last Sunday, the Fire and Water Podcast Network's JLI Podcast released a new episode in which the Irredeemable Shag interviewed Dan Jurgens and discussed Blue and Gold.

I... haven't listened to all of it yet. I mean, I did hear the part about the sponsor, InStockTrades.com, having the Booster Gold volume 1 hardcover collections on sale for 45% off. (Just in time for Christmas!) That part was pretty good.

But I seriously do have the utmost faith in both Shag and Dan, and I don't think you should have to wait for me to find the time to finish it before I inevitably recommend the episode to Booster boosters everywhere.

If you are better at managing your time than I am, you can listen to the podcast at fireandwaterpodcast.com.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: dan jurgens fire and water instocktrades.com interviews podcasts shag

Up front, let me say that I bought two copies of the first issue of Human Target, one by Greg Smallwood — showing Booster Gold's fist! — and one by Hairsine, Miki and Beredo — showing Booster Gold's leg! (I like to think of them as parts of a "Build-A-Figure" cover.) Having read the issue, I do not regret that decision.

However, that should not mean that I'm ready to endorse the story based on the first issue alone. I am on record as no fan of Tom King's storytelling, especially in reference to the way he handles Booster Gold. It is very clear that King and I have very different interpretations of the character (and most of the other inhabitants of the DC Universe).

Earlier this week, King was interviewed by Jenna Anderson for comicbook.com, and he explained why he chose the Justice League International for his story:

"What Giffen and DeMatteis put into these characters, they all feel very fleshed out," King added. "They all feel very real. When you picture them in your head, you just see that Kevin Maguire face looking up at you. They're very easy and very fun to write. The thing I most love to do in comics is to take silly ideas seriously and find the depths in them, and that concept was all over this — the idea that these little silly flaws that are implanted in these characters actually show real heart and real depth. Like I wrote this thing for Booster, why Booster's good. And the idea is, Human Target expressed my opinion on Booster as 'Booster is a joke. He makes mistakes all the time, but he doesn't hide them. He shows himself. He is himself. Booster is Booster. Yeah, he's a joke, but everyone is. At least Booster's funny.' That kind of stuff is incredibly fun to do. These characters have such potential — each one of them could launch their own series."

Ahem. Almost all of them have launched a series. Or two. Or more.

I have to admit, I can kind of see where King is coming from calling Booster "a joke." Yes, he has some terrible ideas, and yes, he takes advantage of his friends, and he even occasionally misjudges his own abilities. But those traits could just as easily describe Batman.

Maybe it's my incredible dissatisfaction with the way King depicted Booster Gold during his run on Batman or my anger at the horrible handling of the promotion and resolution of Heroes in Crisis that make me suspicious that Booster will be treated badly by Human Target. But at least I can rest assured that this will be the last time King will use Booster in a story, right?

King continued. "Booster Gold [is] my favorite character to write in all of fiction — who is always trying to do good, and always slipping on the banana peel."

Grr. You can't always get what you want. Sometimes, you can't even get what you need.

Comments (6) | Add a Comment | Tags: comicbook.com human target interviews jenna anderson justice league international tom king

Those of you who had pre-ordered a Kindle version of Russ Burlingame's "Gold Exchange" columns from Amazon.com may have gotten some unpleasant news earlier this week when the listing was withdrawn and pre-order payments were refunded.

I reached out to Burlingame, and he explained that he was still working on completing the book but unexpected delays had been caused by family health issues.

I tried to push the release date to November 17, but Amazon never processed that and I received word that preorders had been cancelled when I missed my prepub date on Sunday. Unless something else happens I should still have it ready for readers between now and 11/17, but unfortunately because I missed my initial deadline they will not reinstate the preorders, and it won't be available to buy until I have uploaded the files.

While that is a setback, it is good to know the book is still in the works. I've worked with Amazon a bit myself (plug, plug), and I know how it can be.

We can be patient, Russ. If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: amazon.com gold exchange interviews rob snow russ burlingame