Now that Justice League International has come to an end, Russ Burlingame and Dan Jurgens have their final monthly wrap-up with "Justice League International #12: The End of the Road" at ComicBook.com. The series was bittersweet, to say the least. As good as it was to have Booster Gold included somewhere in the New 52, the stories always tasted half-baked. Even this final conversation between Burlingame and Jurgens feels a little uncomfortable, as though Jurgens is unwilling or unable to directly answer some of Burlingame's more pointed questions about the activities behind-the-scenes at DC that led to the cancellation of this book despite what appear to have been positive sales.

Burlingame: "Our adventure together proved otherwise." We get a little on-page indication by Batman of a little bit of the nature of his past with Booster. Was there a particular story you had in mind, or was it just a New 52 riff on the adventure they had together during Booster Gold vol. 2?

Jurgens: No, there was a particular story we had in mind that was actually going to be our issue zero. Sadly, we didn't get there.

Burlingame: It almost seems like a weird kind of mirror of the end of Generation Lost, for Aaron to have to set up the end/beginning again.

Jurgens: I hadn't quite thought of that, but you're right. I was just trying to do something fitting. The cancellation was something of a last minute decision so we didn't have a lot of room or time to do things differently.

Burlingame: All of that "turning the page" stuff in this issue —- was that a bit of metatext? If Booster is moving on to the next stage in his evolution, is it time for fans to do the same and let go of our hopes and conspiracy theories that he might be a tether to the DC Universe of old?

Jurgens: My feeling has always been, that, regardless of the character, if there's something about him/her that fans want to hold onto, they should do so.

Here at Boosterrific.com, we'll be holding on to Booster Gold, all right, high collar and all.

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Three things overheard this weekend at Comic-Con International 2012:

1. Screenwriter Andrew Kreiseberg on the progress of the Booster Gold television show being developed by SyFy (as interviewed by IGN.com):

"[I'm] handing in the script next month. It was actually pretty cool because I got to meet Dan Jurgens who created the comic book last night, and I spent about a half an hour convincing him that I wasn't just some gun for hire, that I was actually a huge fan of Booster as a kid. I wrote a couple of episodes of the Justice League animated series and when they asked me who I wanted to write, I said 'Booster'. So I've been a life-long Booster fan."

2. DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns discussing the Justice League International Annual at the "DC Comics: Justice League and Green Lantern" panel (according to Newsarma.com):

"It's really a Booster Gold story."

3. DC Co-Publisher Dan DiDio elaborating on what to expect in the Justice League International Annual at the "DC Comics: Meet the Publishers" panel (according to Comicbook.com):

We wrapped up some stories, especially Booster Gold's, where we see some strange things happen to Booster, Blue Beetle, and the August General."

Thanks to MetalWoman and Russ Burlingame for the tips.

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Russ Burlingame and Dan Jurgens have their monthly Justice League International debriefing in the article "Dan Jurgens and Guy Gardner Prepare for the End in Justice League International #11" at ComicBook.com. I found Jurgens' answers to Burlingame's questions to be particularly un-enlightening this month, but even I will be quick to blame that on my own dissatisfaction at the issue and DC Editorial's obvious interference in the story.

Burlingame: It seems here that you're setting up the idea of Godiva and Booster as an official couple. Is that something you had hoped to pay off down the line, or just kind of beginning to wrap up your plot threads before you move onto your next project?

Jurgens: It was something I hoped to develop down the road.

Burlingame: For old times' sake, I just have to ask: Is Godiva Rip Hunter's mother?

Jurgens: Oh, c'mon. It's not like we've ever seen Rip with Elasti-hair.

I'm very frustrated by the cancellation of this series. I guess if there is an upside here, it's that Dan Jurgens still considers Booster Gold to be Rip Hunter's father, for whatever that's worth. It seems unlikely that Dan Jurgens will be investigating the Time Master when he takes over his new role as writer/penciller of The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men this October.

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Russ Burlingame's latest no-longer-titled-"International Exchange" column with Dan Jurgens is already posted at ComicBook.com. As usual, it's a good place to go for creator commentary.

Burlingame: Godiva, meanwhile, is advocating for we Booster fans a little, suggesting that she needs to get a look at Skeets. Was that tossed in after you realized you probably wouldn't have time to write him in to a future issue?

Jurgens: No. At the time that issue was written I was unaware of that, and plans for Skeets were pretty much planned out.

Don't toy with my heart like that! I for one am still holding out hope that we'll get to see Skeets before this series ends. Don't take that hope away from me!

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Over the holiday weekend, CDN took me to task for not reporting something here on the Boosterrific Blog back in April. Specifically, I failed to forward the news that so far as Geoff Johns is concerned, Booster Gold is "always a Time Master."

As I explained in my apology to CDN, that bit of news came out the same weekend as the announcement that SyFy got their hands on a Booster Gold pilot script. As a result, what Geoff Johns said at the 2012 Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (aka "C2E2") managed to fall off the front page of the blog. Readers of Russ Burlingame's reporting at Comicbook.com were aware of this news, but I failed to pass it along here at Boosterrific.com.

Good news like that shouldn't fall through the cracks. Sorry, CDN.

And while I'm on the subject of old news, perhaps I should pass along a link to Adam WarRock and Mikal kHill performing the song "Booster Gold" that has been posted on YouTube. (Beware, the song contains "explicit lyrics" and is not work safe, which is why I don't embed it here directly.) WarRock released the song and its album, You Dare Call That Thing Human?!?, a few months back, and both are still very much available for download from adamwarrock.bandcamp.com. (The song costs just for just $1 to download!) We shouldn't stop supporting songs about Booster Gold just because they're a few months old. Thanks to Moregenstern for that link.

Where would I be without you Booster-philes?

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