GX: Is the plan to have the regular art team take over covers anytime soon, or is it going to be special guest artists like Maguire and Jurgens for the foreseeable future?
JMD: Youd have to check with Mike Carlin about that. I certainly have no objections!
GX: How would this story have proceeded if Estrogina chewed her food?
JMD: The entire timeline would have been totally screwed up. And grossed out.
GX: Is Skeets evolution tied to the fact that upcoming solicitations have Booster accepting that he cant bring Ted back? Trying to make sure you have the Abbott-and-Costello dynamic even without Beetle, maybe?
JMD: Not at all. Its just the characters evolving on their own, as they tend to do. The dynamic between Booster and Skeets has been happening very naturally in the dialogueand Ive been enjoying it tremendously.
GX: The time-travel element in this story is handled in a different, fun way the notion that even though he has no memory of it, Booster just assumes that hes already done all this and that it came out OK, so he can travel forward, see Beetle and ask how to win the day. Still, he had to work his ass off when he was there so that it wouldnt devolve into another of the many making things worse while trying to make them better stories weve seen so far.
JMD: I agree
and all the credit for that goes to Giffen. Hes incredibly clever for a surly, dangerous, anti-social malcontent. (Thats a joke, Keith: Please dont try to kill me again!)
GX: Estroginas pretty strong, and didnt dent Skeets while attempting to strangle him. That suggests to me hes made of some pretty strong stuffdo we know if hes still made of Waveriders skin, stripped off the bone by Mr. Mind in 52″?
JMD: Waveriderss skin, stripped off the bone by Mr. Mind? Thats the first Ive heard of it. Now thats really gross.
GX: More family-friendly fun from the creators of 52. Is there a current incarnation of The Conglomerate, by the way? I thought, when Ted mentioned them, that working with a group like that could be a perfect cover for Booster in his dumb, crass guy alter ego. And heyif readers liked it maybe it could get us a fourth monthly Booster Gold title and we could be oversaturating the market as much as Superman!
JMD: It hasnt come up, but bring back the Conglomerate is a terrific idea. Glad I thought of it!
GX: Its my secret hope that the Gold Exchange can subtly help guide storytelling. I cant remember the last time I saw the Zamaronswere they always yellow? And is Estrogina then a Zamaron? I ask only because Ive been re-reading Gerry Jones 90s GL run where the Zamarons are often referred to, but never seen. I think back to Millennium and feel like they were human-looking, then forward to Blackest Night and remember them as blue. Maybe theyre just prolific procreators.
JMD: All humans dont look alike or have the same skin colorand the same applies to Zamarons. I dont think Estrogina is a Zamaron, though. (And I have a sneaking suspicion her legal names not Estrogina, either.)
GX: All that being an aside, will we see Estrogina again in the present (this storylines future)?
JMD: Id love to bring her back: we only scratched the surface of the character and theres a lot of room for future development. Booster needs some recurring villains that are all his ownand weve got a few more coming up in the near future.
GX: Im glad to see theyre getting the book back from the Darkstars, after my earlier concern that it would vanish into oblivion or fall into the wrong hands when the Darkstars fell in the late 90s. Really too bad for Booster that he had no street cred with John Stewart or Donna Troy at this point in the characters history, it could totally go a lot faster!
JMD: You were concerned about the (kinda/sorta) Book of Destiny falling into the wrong hands? Its not real, Russ. We made it up! These are just stories! Guess this is what happens when the baby keeps you awake night after night after night
But seriously: the resolution with the Book probably wont be what you expect. I know it wasnt what I expected. (Im not kidding when I say that I often have no idea what the storys going to be about until i get Keiths plot. Which certainly keeps things fresh!)