Kevin Maguire is a class act.

And most of the voters agreed with him.

Last week's poll question: Who is your favorite artist who has regularly drawn Booster Gold? (50 votes)

We're rapidly approaching the 30th anniversary of the release of Booster Gold #1. How are you celebrating?

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: artists dan jurgens kevin maguire polls

We first learned that Booster Gold had a twin sister in Booster Gold #6. It would be nearly a year before we actually met her in Booster Gold #15.

Michelle Carter would eventually join Booster and travel to the 1980s where she would assume the identity of the hero Goldstar. Yet despite appearing off and on in Booster Gold stories for 29 years, we still know very little about her.

Did she go to college or play a sport? What was her job in the 25th century? The few clues we have to her past was that the first time we saw her, she was driving a stolen school bus. Would I be reading too much into it to assume that she had once been a bus driver?

I put the question to her creator, Dan Jurgens.

Yeah, you would. That, in many ways, was Michelle's starting point. Eventually, I wanted to Goldstar to become much more her own character. I remember doing a sketch-- which I can't find anywhere-- of her wearing a cloak and hood, white, of course-- and becoming much more enigmatic. Much more the opposite of the more wide open Booster.

There has been a big push lately to develop more female-friendly comic book titles. Maybe it's time for DC to put Goldstar front and center so we can finally see what makes her tick.

Everyone say thank you to Dan Jurgens for answering questions about my far-fetched speculation about his characters.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: dan jurgens goldstar michelle carter origins true story

Hey, I'd vote for the guy.

Last week's poll question: How does Booster Gold compare to the current, oversized field of presidential candidates? (43 votes)

Two men are responsible for penciling nearly 25% of all of Booster Gold's appearances. Last week we learned that Dan Jurgens, the man who has drawn Booster the most often, is a big fan of Kevin Maguire, the man who has drawn Booster the second most often. Between the two, who's your favorite?

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: artists dan jurgens kevin maguire politics polls

Over the weekend, I listened to Dan Jurgens' interview with Keith Callbeck on Comicosity.com. (You did too, right?) A lot of great things were discussed, but it is incumbant on me, as the unofficial chronicler of all things Booster Gold to correct one error in the interview.

When asked who was his favorite Booster Gold artist (other than himself), Dan Jurgens said Kevin Maguire. That's not the error. Everyone loves Kevin Maguire's expressive work. But Jurgens also said he believed that Maguire was the first person (after himself) to draw Booster Gold. That's the error.

Booster Gold #1 debuted in November 1985. For the better part of a year, every appearance of the new character, including advertisements, was drawn by a young up-and-coming artist named Dan Jurgens. It wouldn't be until August of the following year that Booster would appear under someone else's pencil. That person wasn't Kevin Maguire, but legendary artist Carmine Infantino!

As you can see, Infantino included Booster (and Skeets!) in his entry for the Space Museum in Who's Who #21 released August 14, 1986. Even if you want to pick nits and say that Infantino was drawing Micheal Carter and not Booster Gold, Maguire still wasn't second. Several other amazing DC artists also got there before him.

George Perez included a panel of Booster in costume History of the DC Universe #2, November 27, 1986.

Eduardo Barreto drew Booster in his rarely seen cape for his first true DCU crossover action in New Teen Titans #29 and #30, beginning December 18, 1986.

Jim Aparo showed Booster Gold working crowd control in The Outsiders #17, January 2, 1987.

It wasn't until March 5, 1987, that Kevin Maguire would finally get his hands on Booster for Justice League #2. (The famous Action Comics #594, in which John Byrne drew Booster Gold beating Superman, wasn't released until August 25 of that year.)

So while Maguire wasn't second to the drafting table, he was in great company. And Maguire has since overcome his late start to become the artist who has draw Booster Gold in more comics than any other artist (except for Dan Jurgens). He clearly has an affinity for the character. Check out his Twitter header:

Jurgens may have had the timing wrong, but he had the artist right. That Kevin Maguire is pretty good.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: artists carmine infantino comicosity.com dan jurgens eduardo barreta george perez jim aparo john byrne keith callbeck kevin maguire

If you're looking for something to do this weekend between the hot dogs and fireworks, check out Keith Callbeck's "We Talk Comics" podcast interview with Dan Jurgens at Comicosity.com. Callbeck is a huge Booster Gold fan, so you know there's some good stuff in there!

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: comicosity.com dan jurgens interviews keith callbeck