Adjust your bookmarks: Russ Burlingame's "International Exchange" column has a new permanent home on comicbook.com. Here's hoping that the new location is a good fit for Burlingame; we need "International Exchange" to last for years to come! Where else are we going to get great Q&A's with Booster's creator like this:

IX: After reading some comments by Morganstern [sic] over at the Boosterrific message boards, I was wondering: Was it a conscious parallel that Peraxxus is basically in this for the money, which in some ways evokes how most people perceive Booster at this early stage in his career?

DJ: I think that's stretching things a bit too far. I don't know that I'd say that Peraxxus is quite so interested in money. Think of this more as his purpose... this is what he does. He provides a service that people need and collects for it.

But it isn't always money. He's a trader.

No matter where you're doing it, Russ, keep up the good work!

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

The DC solicitation for today's Justice League International #4 hints that the team has recently been defeated by the Signalmen and will soon be defeated by Peraxxus, a new interstellar foe bent on the destruction of Earth who looks nothing like the old Mongul. That's a lot of failure at the four-month mark of the new series. Hopefully things will get better soon for our Booster Gold-led JLI!

For the record, Russ Burlingame already confirmed with writer Dan Jurgens that Peraxxus is not Mongul in the second edition of his "International Exchange" column at theouthousers.com. Thanks to Eyz from G33k Life for the Mongul panel above.

Buy this issue and make Skeets happy.

Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: blogspot.com eyz justice league international mongul new releases peraxxus

Russ Burlingame's latest "International Exchange" column with Dan Jurgens will soon be live at The Outhouse. A preview of the column is already posted at Comic Book.com. Jurgens seems to be everywhere right now -- in addition to last week's two linked interviews, Jurgens is also interviewed at Comic Book Movie -- but Burlingame still finds a way to get some good information from the typically tight-lipped Jurgens, even if it isn't strictly Booster Gold related.

ComicBook.com: Hey, whatever happened to thought balloons? You never really see them anymore, and I always kinda look at Guy's monologue at the end [of Justice League International #3] and think, "If only he'd been quieter...!".

DJ: Thought balloons have largely disappeared from comics, in general. There are circumstances where they work, others where they don't. My general approach is that if one member of the team has thought balloons, let's say Rocket Red, then they all should. And Batman never should, in my view.

I suspect that Booster's last thought balloons appeared in Extreme Justice, 16 years ago. These days internal dialogue is almost always replaced by first person narrative boxes. This isn't necessarily a narrative improvement as much as it is an artistic convention.

That said, it is awfully hard to image Batman showing thought balloons in a team setting in 2011, isn't it?

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: comicbook.com comicbookmovie.com dan jurgens international exchange justice league international russ burlingame style theouthousers.com thought balloons

Ambush Bug of Ain't It Cool News interviewed Dan Jurgens on Monday. There's not a lot of new information in the interview, but there is at least one key bit of awesomeness:

BUG: This is Ain't It Cool News. What can you tell us that you haven't told any of the other news sites about what's coming up for JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL?

DJ: The Booster Cave! We alluded to it in issue #2 and we'll reveal it in issue #7, if all goes as planned. And it's not what you think!

Looks like in March 2012 we'll be touring a cave! I've already got my official Cave Carson L'iL Spelunker's Hard Hatâ„¢ on!

Jurgens was also recently interviewed for the inaugural column in the "On the Five" series at It's A Dan's World:

IADW: As a defining creator for characters like Booster Gold, do you still find yourself maternal over what those characters do in the hands of others?

DJ: ...yes, I think any creator remains a bit paternal in regard to character's he's created. There's always going to be that sense of vested interest in a character that lasts over the years. Sometimes you'll see a later writer do something cool, other times one wonders what the hell they were thinking because it's so out of character.

Sure, we already knew it, but it's good to be reminded that Dan still cares about about the child of his imagination, Booster Gold. Note that Jurgens is specifically referring to "a character that lasts over the years." Does that mean that Jurgens no longer cares for Booster's long-forgotten first arch-nemesis, the Director? Abandoned by his father, no wonder he turned to evil!

Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: aintitcoolnews.com ambush bug blogspot.com booster cave dan jurgens itsadansworld justice league international

According to the solicitation, the Justice League splits up to combat the global menace of the Signalmen in this week's Justice League International #3. The more I read of this story goes, the more familiar it feels.

In the Silver Age origin of the Justice League (Justice League of America, Volume 1, #1), the team was united after combating similar but unique alien menaces across the globe. That origin was also the template for the origin of the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Justice League. Dan Jurgens is no stranger to DC continuity, and the similarity between these stories cannot be accidental as he develops a new Justice League for the DCnU generation.

Buy this week's contribution to the New DCU to find out if the Justice League International gets turned into trees. Your purchase will make Skeets happy.

Comments (1) | Add a Comment | Tags: dan jurgens justice league international new releases origins silver age