You may recall that this time last week, I asked whether the "Linearverse" introduced in Generations Shattered and Generations Forged should count as continuity. That question got answered (in a roundabout way) when earlier this week Russ Burlingame took a break from writing books about movies to interview Generations writers Dan Jurgens, Robert Venditti, and Andy Schmidt in a spiritual successor to his old "Gold Exchange" column for ComicBook.com.

ComicBook: The idea that realities have always been there, just out of sight, rather than actually being destroyed, is a revelation to the characters here -- but is that how you view the worlds that are destroyed in each subsequent Crisis event? Certainly it's how The CW explicitly dealt with their post-Crisis multiverse.

Dan Jurgens: I hadn't thought about it that way, but I certainly see your point!

For me, on a personal level, I find it harder to accept the notion of entire planes of reality being destroyed, only to be recreated again. "Hiding" them or making them inaccessible actually seems much more believable. The amount of energy required to destroy and recreate universes is tremendous, after all.

Plus, we weren't going to change anything. The Linearverse was meant to stay much the way it had been, which is a place that is belt around DC's published history.

Robert Venditti: To steal from Dan a bit, I hadn't really thought of that. I don't know if it's important to me that definitive explanations are made. Mostly, I want to leave toys in the sandbox for other creative teams to play with. I think we've done that.

Andy Schmidt: One of the things that I generally want to shy away from as a creator is writing over someone else's work or saying that it never happened. Because it happened for the reader and for the creators who put those stories together. They're real and they're important to someone.

Most of the comics I grew up reading that got me into comics in the first place have been retconned so they never happened, but they're still what made me fans of those characters in the first place. So, for me, it's just kind of a respect thing for fans and creators both. If it's real to you — I should treat it as such. Generations Shattered and Forged gave us a platform to re-validate those "hidden" stories as you called them. To let readers and creators know we remember, and we still love those stories, while also crafting something new to introduce those takes on characters to new fans. It's challenging and it's fun and I think it's upbeat in the approach and hopefully in its execution.

I like the "it is what you want it to be" approach to the DC Universe — which in the past has made such titles as Formerly Known As The Justice League possible — so I'll choose to consider the story canon. Thanks, guys! I think I'm going to like this Linearverse.

Elsewhere in the interview, the creators also talk about why they chose the characters they chose to include in the story, as well as the long shadow Zero Hour cast on Generations. I recommend you read the whole article yourself at ComicBook.com.

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This past Friday, Kat Calamia interviewed writer Joshua Williamson for the ghost of Newsarama at GamesRadar.com. Williamson is the brains behind Infinite Frontier #0, the issue launching the post-Death Metal DCU.

There's actually a lot of useful information in the interview to those curious about where the DCU is headed, but the important part for Booster boosters is this exchange:

Newsarama: There are a ton of characters that appear on the main cover. Some characters that stand out, in particular, are President Superman, Alan Scott, Jade, Obsidian, and Blue Beetle. You mentioned James is writing an Alan Scott-centered chapter of Infinite Frontier #0. Do the others I mentioned have a role in Infinite Frontier, and/or the DCU going forward?

Williamson: Blue Beetle only has a very small scene in this, but that's partially because of him having a role in something else later on in the year. Like we wanted the cover to represent not just this one issue, but also some of the stuff that's coming in DC for 2021 and because of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold and some of their roles later is why we put them on the cover.

Be still my beating heart! DC has only been promising us a Blue and Gold team-up book since at least the letter column of Justice League International #25 in April 1989! Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me for 30 years... well, what's another year going to hurt?

Maybe 2021 is finally our lucky year!

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In the comments of my blog post about the single greatest Booster Gold comic ever written (Justice League #4), there was some discussion about when exactly Booster's comic book portrayals turned from fun-loving but competent crime fighter (as portrayed in his own original series) to bumbling moron (as portrayed in 52 and just about everywhere since).

The timing of that change can be narrowed to shortly after the dawn of the 21st-century. No so coincidentally, that's about the same time that Blue Beetle's character also got an overhaul before coming to a very gory end.

Blue Beetle, who during the JLI years always played the fool in the original Blue and Gold dynamic, lost his sense of humor for his inclusion in the 1999 L.A.W. (Living Assault Weapons) mini-series reuniting the former Charlton Comics characters. For a few years following, he appeared much more prominently in DC Comics than his best friend, notably in issues of Birds of Prey, where he was diagnosed with a weak heart and semi-retired from heroics. This allowed his more serious demeanor a chance to take root with readers and editors alike.

I'd always assumed that was why, when Beetle and Booster were reunited in 2003's Formerly Known as the Justice League, the comedy roles of the two super buddies were swapped. However, when I put that question to JLI writer J.M. DeMatteis on Twitter last week, he revealed a different reason.

Whatever you think of the change, you have to admit that "just because" is as good a reason as Beetle and Booster ever had for any of their hijinx.

And now you know the rest of the story. (Thanks to Ariel for inspiring this topic.)

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It seems that in my glee over Bootser's cover appearances on Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #2, I missed a second Booster Gold appearance last week. Fortunately for us all, Booster booster J directed me to Harley Quinn #66 which included panels of Booster Gold and Harley hooking up in the Coney Island Wonder Wheel Ferris wheel.

words by Sam Humprhies, art by Sami Basri, Hi-Fi

Wow. Heroes in Crisis sure made some strange bedfellows. (Amusingly, earlier in the issue, Harley's mother tells her that she has "terrible taste in men.")

Given that the panel appears in a comic book within a comic book (and therefore isn't the "real" Booster or Harley), does this count as an example of in-universe 'shipping? Is such a thing possible? Maybe it's better if I don't find out.

Thanks to J for the spot.

If that's not enough Booster Gold for you this New Comic Book Day, consider taking a listen to Mike Avila's interview with Dan Jurgens for SyFy Wire's Behind the Panel podcast. As you might expect from the episode title, "Dan Jurgens on Booster Gold and the Death of Superman," about half of the 22-minute interview covers the creation of Booster Gold. Enjoy listening.

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I thought Booster Gold's appearance in a DCeased one-shot would be the biggest news of the week, especially as it looks like Booster was excluded from the comics spinning-off from Heroes in Crisis (per Hollywood Reporter). I was wrong.

Over on ComicBook.com, Russ Burlingame has interviewed writer Brian Michael Bendis about his plans for a new Millennium mini-series that will reintroduce readers to DC's future continuity on the way to launching new Legion of Super-Heroes stories. That news would be welcome enough without the bonus announcement that Space Museum security guard Michael Jon Carter will be playing a role in Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium issue 2.

Burlingame: It's funny, seeing Booster becoming part of a building block to the Legion, since he has sparred with them a few times about his stolen Legion ring!

Bendis: Speaking of which, the Booster Gold chapter is drawn by Nicola Scott, if you need another reason to buy this. I love Nicola's work so much, but she's one of my closest friend's closest collaborators. She works with Greg Rucka so closely that I never thought I'd get a chance to do something, and we did this thing together. It's just, on a personal level, one of my great moments as a comics creator that I got to do this with Nicola.

Burlingame: I won't lie: at either San Diego or New York last year, I spoke with her briefly and we ended up talking about how much she wanted to draw Booster.

Bendis: That happened a few times on this project. I don't want to speak for the other creators, but I had accidentally said, "Hey, I think you'd be perfect for (blank)." And they go, "That's my favorite thing, I can't believe you're asking!" It happened quite a few times on this project. I get excited, because I know for the few pages they're drawing, it's going to be among the best pages of their whole careers, because they think this might be the only chance they get to do it. Nicola's Booster pages reek with the feeling of, "Oh, my God, I finally got to draw Booster Gold."

DC has already released a few pages from the issue (visible at Newsarama.com). I'm in no position to judge whether they are the best of Scott's whole career, but they are pretty darn Boosterrific.

Judging from those panels, it sure looks like DC will be allowing Bendis to roll back Booster's New 52 origin and realigning his "past" with his pre-Flashpoint beginnings. Super sweet.

For more information about the upcoming series and to read the rest of the interview, visit ComicBook.com. Expect the book to arrive in your Local Comic Shop this September.

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