If you think about it, we owe the longevity of our hero to the success of 1987's Justice League reboot which launched 30 years ago yesterday.

Although Dan Jurgens created a unique and endearing character in Michael "Booster" Carter, it was the character's inclusion in J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen's reboot of DC's flagship team (and specifically his relationship with Blue Beetle) that cemented Booster Gold's place in the DCU. Without the JLI, Booster Gold probably would have faded to the same sort of neverland as other lesser known DC characters like Geo-Force or Blue Devil.

In celebration of the anniversary, the Irredeemable Shag interviewed DeMatteis for a very special edition of the Justice League International: Bwah-Ha-Ha Podcast. The writer admitted that Booster Gold held a unique place in the series.

Shag: Favorite JLI members. Give me like two or three.

DeMatteis: Well, Beetle and Booster for sure. Because in so many ways, they're the heart and soul of the book. ... I love the banter, and I love that we continued to play with them.

We love it too!

You can find the whole podcast interview, which covers the JLI from their inception, through their name changes, and into the year 3000, at fireandwaterpodcast.com.

Something tells me we'll still be celebrating the JLI when it's 60th anniversary rolls around. In every medium, great entertainment endures.

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At Comic Con, Nerd Repository's Kyle Wilson interviewed Diedrich Bader about his upcoming take on Booster Gold for Justice League Action.

It's nice to hear Bader praising Tom Everett Scott for having fun with our favorite hero on Batman: Brave and the Bold. For many, Scott remains the ideal Booster Gold after his excellent performance in Justice League Unlimited's "The Greatest Story Never Told." Let's see if Bader can change some minds.

You'll find more information about Justice League Action at NerdRepository.com. (Thanks to Morgenstern for reminding me about this post.)

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Dick Giordano would have turned 84 years old today. If you don't know who he was, you should.

Giordano was the Managing/Executive Editor at DC Comics during the decade that saw Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Killing Joke, and Watchmen. Without him, there wouldn't have been a Booster Gold. Literally.

This is what Booster's creator, Dan Jurgens, had to say when I asked him about Booster's origin in 2010:

Boosterrific: You had not done a lot of work for DC prior to Booster Gold Volume 1. How was it that as a relatively inexperienced writer/artist, you were given such an opportunity as creating a new series for the mainstream DC Universe?

Dan Jurgens: Why was I allowed to do Booster? Well, I didn't make the decision but I do know this: When I first explained it to Dick Giordano and told him the basic idea of what the character could be and who he was, Dick saw him as someone who was entirely different than anyone else in the DCU. I think some of Dick's background as an editor, where he often handled somewhat offbeat characters, may have had something to do with that. But he was attracted to the book and as Managing Editor, gave me the thumbs up and approved the project. Sometimes younger, untested talent, will actually pay off with somewhat different ideas and concepts.

Giordano may have died in 2010, but his legacy lives on. Thank you, sir.

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Craig Byrne interviewed Arthur Darvill, television's Rip Hunter, about his take on the character. Naturally, Booster Gold came up.

Byrne: On the show, do we have a sense or any clues as to who Rip Hunter's parents are?

Darvill: I don't know how far they've planned. I've obviously read the comics and know the deal of who his parents are and all of that. As with all of these shows, I don't know how true they're going to stick to it or if they're gonna bring that in later on or anything. Hopefully we've got a long time to go on the show.

Byrne: A lot of actors we've talked to who are playing beloved comic book characters sometimes say, "Oh, I don't want to read the comic books because I want to put my own spin on it." But you're a fan of the comics. Do you think that's brought something special to the role?

Darvill: Oh, totally. I'm obviously going to put my own spin on it cause that's my job and that's what I enjoy doing. I get the idea of not looking at it, but I think for me, Rip's been depicted in such different ways through the history of the comics — and actually none of them are close to how I'm playing him.

My key into him was reading the Vanishing Point comic, which I like. It made me realize I can make him stronger than I thought he was. He has that kind of action-adventure thing and he can be a leader, which I'm really interested in. I like the way he's got Superman and Booster Gold there to contend with, yet he totally leads the way. I think that shows he can stand up for himself.

You can read the whole interview at ksitetv.com, and you can catch Davrill's take on Hunter DC's Legends of Tomorrow tomorrow on The CW.

(And if you're so inclined, you can leave your comments about what you think of the show in the Boosterrific Forum.)

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Batman: Bad Blood is the latest direct-to-video release by DC Animation. Eric Francisco interviewed Batman: Bad Blood director Jay Oliva for Inverse.com, and what he had to say might surprise you.

Francisco: What else can we expect in the future of DC Animation? What other books are you guys are looking to adapt?

Oliva: We do the Justice League continuity then Elseworlds, so there's a lot of things. I'd love to do Gotham by Gaslight. Even in this [Justice League] continuity, I'd love to do a Batwoman/Wonder Woman movie, based on that story. I thought it was a fantastic pair-up, you know? Or I'd love to go back and do a Flashpoint sequel or prequel.

Francisco: I'm going to shout out two random DC things and ask if there's going to be a movie: Constatine. Are we going to see an animated Constantine?

Oliva: Hopefully. I love Constantine, he's one of my favorite characters. I'd love to get [series lead Matt] Ryan back to do it, I thought he was great. [But] like I said, there's a whole list I'd love to do. I'd love to do Booster Gold, that would be a fun movie.

Damn right, that would be a fun movie.

So that's the director of a DC Animation movie saying on the record that he'd love to make an animated Booster Gold movie. That certainly doesn't mean it is happening, but so long as it remains a possibility, I'm not giving up hope.

You can read the whole interview on Inverse.com.

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