Russ Burlingame questions All-Star Western #20 co-writer Justin Gray in his latest "Gold Exchange" column at ComicBook.com.

ComicBook.com: Is a real explanation for what the heck is up with Booster forthcoming? It seems weird to me that he remembers Blazing Saddles and yoga pants, but not how his force field and flight ring work. Almost like the missing information was strategic...

Gray: I'd imagine based on his return that there will be an explanation, however that's not our story to tell. For me on a creative level and as a fan it is fun to me that there exists a universe where there can be random or seemingly random events contained within the very clear machinations of larger storytelling. With All-Star there's this sense of, I guess the random insanity of the first Hangover movie. Instead of a bunch of guys getting sucked into the world of Las Vegas, they get sucked into the world of Jonah Hex's and the ride is often more important and exciting than the destination.

...

ComicBook.com: Since you guys have made it no secret Booster is going to take Jonah to the present/Jonah's future, setting these guys up as a threat in the third part of the story kind of begs the question: What implications does that have?

Gray: In an attempt to channel Matt Smith's Doctor Who I give you the following and playfully snarky response: I see you're anticipating possible plot courses. I'd advise against that. That's the funny thing about time travel. Nothing ever truly happens in a straight line. Straight lines are boring. I'll take a nice wavy line or some loopty loops any day.

Gray sounds like someone who is enjoying playing with the sandbox of the DC Universe. As always, you'll find more in the full interview at ComicBook.com

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: comicbook.com gold exchange justin gray russ burlingame

Justin Gray must feel pretty loved right now. He was interviewed by both Russ Burlingame at ComicBook.com and Newsarama.com last week about All-Star Western #19.

Vanetta Rogers interviewed both Gray and his co-writer, Jimmy Palmiotti, for Newsarama.com. The focus of the interview is very much on Palmiotti and Gray's plans for the future of the series (which has been losing more than 500 readers each month for some time now, currently down to under 17,000 per month and fast approaching cancellation). But there was still some room for some Booster news.

Newsarama: How did All-Star Western end up being the spot where Booster Gold would return to DC Comics?

Justin Gray: We needed to shake things up. Booster is the only time traveler operating currently in the New 52, and his story is that of a man hurtling through time for reasons unknown. He's not fully aware of the reasons behind this and so it felt like a great opportunity to pair him with Jonah Hex in a way that would get people talking about All-Star Western.

Palmiotti: We constantly like to keep All-Star Western on the cutting edge story-wise and loaded with ideas that we think really challenge the characters. Getting to be the book that reintroduces Booster again was even cooler for us. Once again we get a chance to turn more people onto the book, and that is a win-win situation for us on all counts. The crew at DC and our editors have been working long and hard on making this happen for us and we think we have a story that lives up to any hype we might have out there.

Meanwhile, at the New Look ComicBook.com Russ Burlingame resurrected his "Gold Exchange" column to put some questions to Gray, who genuinely appears to be a big Booster Gold fan.

ComicBook.com: There are few characters more entwined with the DC Universe than Booster, at least as he's been depicted in the recent past. His future is totally dependent on the "history" that unfolds in our titles every month. Hex is at the other end of the spectrum; his life would be only minimally impacted if Superman never had his coming-out party. Do you think that makes an exploration through time with these two particular characters even more interesting than the average mismatched duo?

Gray: Hex takes everything as it comes with an angry scowl and hand on his gun approach. I think any time you put characters together that are dissimilar, with very pronounced view points, methods and ideologies that you're going to have a good time.

A lot of times you have such similarities in characters that they become swappable costumes. I believe Booster being around Hex actually makes him more heroic in ways that would be overlooked and sometimes overshadowed by standing in a crowd with other heroes. He is essentially the only pure hero in the book at this time.

In both interviews, Gray sidesteps questions of how Booster got to the past and where he will be going next. It looks like readers will have to pick up All-Star Western #20 next month for more answers!

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: comicbook.com gold exchange jimmy palmiotti justin gray newsarama.com russ burlingame vaneta rogers

If you want news about Dan Jurgens, Russ Burlingame is the journalist to get it for you. Last week, he posted Jurgens' immediate reaction to the news that Booster Gold may be headed to SyFy on ComicBook.com:

ComicBook.com: The description given to The Hollywood Reporter feels a bit more like the original Booster Gold run, playing down the time travel aspect outside of just the origin story and playing up the "saving today to ensure a better tomorrow" part. You've been pretty heavily invested in both volumes; what take would you run with if you had to submit a pilot script to Syfy?

DJ: For a general audience, the pattern of Booster Gold Volume One probably fits best. The book that Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz and I did was a little more "inside baseball", if you will, keying on cool moments in DC's history. Plus, when you look at Booster's original concept, which is being both hero and fame whore, well, I think that seems even more tuned in with our world today than it did when I first created him. I think that tanslates quite well to TV.

Geoff picked up on much of that with his script to Smallville— dancing girls in every episode!

Seems to me there's a great deal there to work with.

If it's good enough for Booster's creator, it should be good enough for the rest of us!

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

With the cancellation of Booster Gold comes the cancellation of Russ Burligame's monthly "Gold Exchange" column at Comic Related interviewing the series creators. Fortunately, like the phoenix rising from the ashes of the DCU, Burlingame now presents us with the "International Exchange" column at The Outhouse. New site, new name, new series; same old Dan Jurgens. Isn't it nice to know that some things don't change?

IX: The comment about the basement-dwellers is kind of begging for a response, isn't it? I know some people on the Internet seem to have gotten their nose bent out of shape over the comment, but I read it as Briggs being the devil's advocate and Booster speaking your position for you. Did I misunderstand?

J: You didn't misunderstand at all. I wrote that line right around the time that DC's plans had become public. I'm always fascinated by a response from people who claim to despise product before they've seen it or really know anything about it.

Do I understand fans having a tremendous allegiance to a previous universe and timeline? Of course. Hell, I wrote a lot of that so I have a fondness for it as well.

However, I think it's still fair to ask them to be a bit openminded and receptive about what we're trying to do.

So Briggs' comment address a very, very small group that reacted in that way. Frankly, it's good to have a sense of humor about some of this and read it with that in mind.

So Jurgens was talking to me! There's plenty in the full interview to indicate that so far as Jurgens is concerned, little has changed for Booster Gold in the DCnU.

You can find the full article here. You might want to bookmark it, as Justice League International and therefore the "International Exchange" will be around for years to come.

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: dan jurgens gold exchange international exchange justice league international russ burlingame theouthousers.com

At ComicBook.com, Russ Burlingame has a new interview with J.M. DeMatteis over DC Retroactive: Justice League America - The '90s. Burlingame doesn't disappoint, asking several Booster-centric questions of the former Booster Gold scribe.

ComicBook.com: You seemed—and this is listeners talking, and me too—a little put off by the way things went on Booster Gold. You were a good soldier about it, didn't say anything, but that's the general vibe that came through in that last interview a bit. After finding out what was going on, in terms of the relaunch, did it make you feel any better about the conditions of being bounced suddenly and surprisingly from Booster Gold? The idea that it was happening to everybody?

J.M. DeMatteis: Honestly, I thought we were yanked from the book very suddenly and—for me at least—unexpectedly. That said, it was really no big deal in the scheme of things. The real loss was that I no longer had a monthly sandbox to play in with Keith Giffen.

Among the questions that Burlingame doesn't ask is why the new Retroactive book has such a long title. If this DC reboot accomplishes anything, maybe it will get us some shorter titles. DC Retroactive: Justice League America - The 1990s is a mouth full.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: comicbook.com gold exchange j.m. dematteis justice league russ burlingame