Dan Jurgens at Awesome Con 2018

Dan Jurgens was a major guest at Awesome Con 2018. In addition to the usual signings and appearances, Jurgens was also a guest of honor at the Library of Congress to celebrate the 1000th issue of flagship DC title Action Comics. Youdontreadcomics.com had the pleasure of sitting down with Jurgens to discuss the anniversary of the title, his work on the Superman franchise, and when fans might see his beloved character Booster Gold.

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YDRC: Mr. Jurgens, thank you so much for this interview! How has your AwesomeCon been so far?

DJ: Quite good! It’s a fun con, good show.

YDRC: Great, great. So Action Comics #1000. Huge landmark issue in the series, huge for the history of Superman, there was actually a big event at the Library of Congress this past Thursday that I believe you attended-

DJ: Yup, yup.

YDRC: How was that event? What were your feelings on the event and your general feelings about Action Comics?

DJ: The event at the Library of Congress was fantastic. Not only were they fantastic hosts, and we had a great audience, but I also think that it is really important to note that if you go back, 30 years, for example, we probably couldn’t conceive that they would be interested in having something like that. And I think the fact that they did, just shows how pervasive comics are to pop culture right now. And at the same time, it really helps show that Action Comics #1, which came out in 1938, isn’t just about Superman. It’s about the industry. Because without that, I really don’t know that we’d have an industry today.

YDRC: Certainly not the industry as we understand today.

DJ: Right, exactly.

Superman: The Death of Superman (2016 Edition)

YDRC: Another very big Superman related story you are connected to is Death of Superman. Co-creator of Doomsday, mind behind a lot of what made that event. With the impending release of the new animated movie, what is your take on it all these years later having stood the test of time, been adapted into not only that animated movie but another animated movie, the live action films, and so on?

DJ: Yeah, I think whenever you look at something that you’ve done, and get to the point 25 years later that not only do people still remember it, but it has been translated into a prose novel, it has been translated into audiobooks, it has been done as you said now two animated films, and the live-action one, that that is absolutely astounding and I am proud to have been a part of it. And I think all the people who worked on it, whether they were just in the office, or whether they were other writers and artists on the books, we had a great team of people working on it, and we really did something special.

YDRC: Follow up on that note regarding the creative development. When you were creating the story was there any trepidation or fear that you were maybe doing something off-limits? Ultimately Superman comes back obviously, but it was still the decision to kill Superman.

DJ: I don’t remember that there was. I think at some point what we knew is, if we were going to do it, that it had to mean something. But a lot of that was taken care of when we came up with the story to follow up on which was Funeral for a Friend. Which was all about a world without Superman, and how does the world pay tribute to him? That is what we got interested in as writers, and we were almost more interested in that, and the poignancy and the sadness that we would deal with there. As well as what we could say about Superman, in his absence. And I think because we had such faith in this story, I seem to remember us all feeling really good about it, and moving forward. So I don’t remember us being afraid.

Action Comics #993

YDRC: The other character that you tend to get associated with is the loveable, goofball time-traveler, Booster Gold. He’s been a little absent until recently, I think he’s now in a Batman story, but still very much beloved by fans. What do you think about Booster’s lasting popularity with fans and, if possible, would you consider returning to the character in some way, shape, or form?

DJ: Well, I sort of have. I mean, I come back to Booster every now and then, and I just had him in a six issue arc of Action Comics. So I think even from that point on, we’ve done a pretty good job of setting things up to see more Booster in the DCU. And I know of a couple of other stories coming up that Booster is going to be appearing in that I’m not doing, so I do think we did a pretty good of keeping Booster around and we are going to do more of that. Yes.

YDRC: So Booster Gold fans are going to be happy?

DJ: I hope so!

YDRC: Alright, Dan thank you so much for your time.

DJ: My pleasure.