Film Fad gets an exclusive interview with Dan Jurgens, the creator of the “Death of Superman” story arc as well as DC’s beloved self-appreciating show boat from the future, Booster Gold.
FilmFad spent the past weekend at the 2014 Baltimore Comic Convention, where the halls were riddled with Cos Play and enough comic memorabilia to make any fan, new or old, giddy with excitement. Booth after booth donned the big names in comic artistry, but one booth in particular caught our attention. That booth belonged to Dan “THE MAN” Jurgens.
We witnessed the saintly Jurgens sign autograph after autograph, for his extensive cue of adoring fans, with the patience of the Dalai Lama. Let us tell you, not all special guests to the BCC 2014 exuded the same friendly demeanor, but we will play nice and not mention who. So, without further ado, prepare to be enlightened with wisdom from the man behind iconic comic characters and moments, Dan Jurgens.
Film Fad:
It’s a great pleasure to talk to you.
Dan Jurgens:
Thank You.
Film Fad:
(Cue Pooya giddily pandering to Jurgens.)
I grew up reading a lot of your comic books, so it’s kinda like a dream come true.
Dan Jurgens:
(Likely wondering when Pooya will cease pandering and proceed with the interview.)
Uh huh, Okay.
Film Fad:
You created one of my personal favorite comic characters, which is Booster Gold.
Dan Jurgens:
Oh, Thank You.
Film Fad:
With his [Booster Gold’s] success in the 52, original 52 series and Infinite Crisis story-lines, I was wondering if you had ever been approached for him to transition to the big screen?
Dan Jurgens:
In terms of Movies, no. Booster obviously showed up in an episode of “Smallville,” entitled, I think, Booster. At one point here a couple of years ago the Syfy network had optioned the character to take a look at doing a series. Andrew Kreisberg, who is also, you know, working on Green “Arrow” and one of the creators on that series, was heading it up and wrote a fantastic pilot script for it. So, if it ever sees the light of day I think people would absolutely get blown away because it’s really really good. So, all we can do is cross our fingers and hope.
Film Fad:
What inspired you to make a character like Booster? He’s so different than the other super heros.
Dan Jurgens:
We’re talking like 1984 at this point and I wanted to do something different. The celebrity culture that we recognize now, I think, was just starting to emerge and a lot of that had to do with the growth in paparazzi and shows like “Entertainment Tonight” and all that other stuff. It was just starting to kinda become something a little different, I think. We had People magazine; we just had this greater awareness of it. And at the same time, I was watching the Olympics one evening and they were talking about an Olympic athlete who had an endorsement contract even though they hadn’t won a medal. And that was new for them even to be able to do because they had changed amateur status rankings and everything like that. They said yeah, you can make money selling yourself and that’s part of what gave me the idea. It’s just all of a sudden as we were seeing, you know, TV networks be created like even ESPN and stuff like that it just meant more and more people wanted to get on TV. So, that’s sorta where it came from.
Film Fad:
How do you feel about the evolution of the character [Superman] since your original inception of him?
Dan Jurgens:
Of Superman?
Film Fad:
Yeah. He’s evolved quite a bit I know, but…
Dan Jurgens:
He has, but even when I got the character he had evolved a long way from his creation in 1938. So, I think part of a good strong character is that they can change and kinda go with the times a little bit and we are seeing that with Superman now. Yeah it’s not my Superman, but nor should it be. I mean “Death of Superman” was more than 20 years ago and things have to move on from there.
Film Fad:
Out of all the Superman films that have been out, which one do you think falls closely in line with your vision of what Superman should be?
Dan Jurgens:
Probably the first Christopher Reeve movie. There came a point where the Smallville scenes were so beautiful. I think the minute Otis [Lex Luthor’s incompetent henchman] comes on screen it kinda goes Dun Duh Dun Duh Duh, you know, becomes comedy unfortunately. But still, that maybe was closest. But at the same time if I look back at the most recent attempt, with “Man of Steel,” I mean the casting on that is so, I think, perfect that I have every hope that that will become the franchise for a whole new set of fans. As well it should be, because I think every actor in that is just perfect for the role and they will have the chance to create that thing that everybody says, Yes, that is my Superman.
Film Fad:
Did you want to tell us a little bit about your charity, the Hero Initiative?
Dan Jurgens:
Hero Initiative is an organization that exists to help lot of the creators who came long before us, who maybe didn’t get any equity in the characters they created. Maybe they didn’t get any royalties or anything like that. They’re older now; they’re fallen on hard times. And what we as creators recognize is that those guys need help. We owe a tremendous amount to them. Without them we would not have the industry that we now have today. So as we sit here and sign, we all hope that people will donate to the Hero Initiative so that we can help the folks who need it that we owe so much to.
Film Fad:
Definitely. Well hey, Thank you so much.
Dan Jurgens:
My pleasure
Film Fad:
We don’t want to take up any more of your time, we appreciate it.
Dan Jurgens:
Fabulous. Thank you guys.
Film Fad:
Thank You
To learn more about how you can help the forefathers of comics, go to www.heroinitiative.org, donate and spread the word. Oh, and if you are not up to speed on the iconic work of Dan Jurgens, I would highly suggest you take a gander.