Review:
Ever since he was first introduced to the world in Booster Gold #1 in early 1986, Booster Gold has been a fan favorite. His real-world fame can't approach that of legends like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, of course. But those of us who fell in love with this colorful, imaginative character devour every new appearance, no matter which series gives him some space.
Mega-fans and other boosters of Booster have shown their passion with fan-sites like Boosterific.com which have been around for years and are still active, tracking and discussing every new appearance of Booster. The count, as I write this, is well over 800 appearances and climbing.
Super-fan Russ Burlingame took a different approach. He used his regular writing gig over the course of several years to beat the drum of his love for Booster Gold. In his position in media covering pop culture and comics, he was able to turn his fandom into a chance to interview the creative teams involved with books containing Booster appearances.
Dan Jurgens, creator of Booster Gold and artist of dozens of the issues in his two solo series, was Burlingame's most frequent interviewee. He also picked the brains of J. M. DeMatteis, Rick Remender and Geoff Johns about their vision for and involvement with the second Booster Gold solo series.
The interviews became entries in his ongoing online blog / reporting and lasted throughout the run of that series and the parallel Time Masters series too. It's an impressive level of ongoing access!
This book collects those interviews previously published online. As such, it has a small number of gaps, acknowledged in the text itself, when an article was not recoverable a decade later - the internet is not as permanent as we sometimes assume!
It gives us a fascinating behind-the-curtain peek into the creative process and the publication side of Comics, and there are a few gems revealed about Booster the character and the affection all of these creators have for him. Unfortunately, the book could use a pass by an editor with a sharp red pencil, to correct the many errors, typos and missing words. And the interviews themselves tend toward softball questions and get side-tracked into the nerdy side of the passion.
But us big Booster fans will brush aside those concerns and criticisms, and geek-out on this Booster Gold deep-dive.
Description:
In a series of interviews conducted between 2006 and 2011, entertainment journalist Russ Burlingame collects the definitive companion to Booster Gold, the time-traveling superhero who has to hide his nobility and his capability from villains and become the Greatest Hero You've Never Heard Of.
This volume features "commentary track"-style interviews with Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens as well as comic book writers and artists like Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz, J.M. DeMatteis, and more.
Originally released online at the time of Booster Gold vol. 2's publication, these columns have been out of circulation for a while now, and this is their first time released in any collected form.
Collects: NA
Authors: Russ Burlingame with foreword by Troy Brownfield
Artists: NA
Published By: Independently published
Published When: Jan. 20 2022
Parental Rating: General
ISBN: 979-8405755908
Pages: 364 pages
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