Today we have part 2 of our 3-part interview with comics legend Dan Jurgens. Our first part yesterday gave Booster Gold the spotlight.
Today we focus on his current work on Time Masters: Vanishing Point and even talk about the role of editorial in bridging events like Final Crisis, the return of Batman/Bruce Wayne, and next year’s Flashpoint through his mini-series. That also happens to be how this mini-series is now being advertised in DC house ads that many probably saw recently in their Wednesday DC offerings.
Superman, Green Lantern, Batman and likely Flash… all the big guns are here for Rip Hunter and Booster Gold!
Ok, onto Dan Jurgens. :)
Nexus: You’ve moved on to the Time Masters: Vanishing Point mini-series which features Booster Gold, Rip Hunter and some DC big guns in Superman and Green Lantern. 
What was the genesis of this project? Why is a mini-series the best place to tell this story rather than in Booster’s own title?
Jurgens: A couple of reasons, not the least of which is that it centers on Rip Hunter, rather than Booster. Add the overall nature of the mission, which is to find Batman, and it becomes more of a stand alone project.
Nexus: How much of the genesis of Time Masters was it being the next logical step in the journey of Rip and Booster flowing from ideas you seeded in your recent Booster Gold run? It seems to be heavily influenced by Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne (B:TROBW). When Keith Giffen talked about Generation Lost, I recall him indicating he had his idea and then voila the JLI were added by the nudging of DC editorial. It wasn’t planned that way by Keith from the start, but it all worked. Is that the same way the Time Masters mini-series came about? B:TROBW just fit for the story, but wasn’t the driving force for it? How did the Time Masters mini-series come about?
Jurgens: Dan DiDio asked if there was a way to work Rip Hunter in with B:TROBW. We talked a bit about where the characters were in terms of development and before you know it, we had the basic concept of the project. It was fairly simple. As you said, it’s the next logical step.
Nexus: Time Masters: Vanishing Point is a companion book to the B:TROBW and also sets up next year’s Flashpoint event. How much latitude do you have creatively on Time Masters? It would seem to be heavily influenced by editorial mandates. How organic do you find these Batman and Flash tie-ins into your overall Time Masters story?
Jurgens: I have a great deal of latitude to tell the story I want to tell. However, it’s fair to say that we’re going to have to fit into a particular parameter to work with B:TROBW and then get into position to help set things up for FLASHPOINT. That isn’t at all as difficult as it sounds.
Nexus: Time travel is a tough storyline element to make accessible and entertaining. Yet, you seem to excel at making the complex interesting. Is there some kind of rule or tips you’ve learned over the years that ensure your time travel stories don’t give readers migraines and in fact have them hooked for the ride?
Jurgens: Yeah! Try to keep in linear and keep detailed notes as you work so you don’t contradict yourself!
I also try to avoid the inherent paradoxes that seem to come into play in most any time travel story. If you let yourself get lost in all of that then you’ll drag the story down into a swamp.
Nexus: How did you choose the eras to visit in Time Masters? Are they same as the ones Bruce Wayne is visiting or will we see other parts of the timeline and characters therein through the course of the mini-series?
Jurgens: We’re visiting different eras. Batman is moving through time and generally not staying planted so our cast and crew will be on the move as well. It’ll give us a chance to visit some different eras and fun characters we haven’t seen for awhile.
Nexus: You’ve stated publicly that you plan to return to Booster Gold after Time Masters. Are you referring to the Booster Gold solo title or another book like a Time Masters book or another book entirely that features Booster Gold?
Jurgens: Time will tell! We’ll see how it shapes up. And that doesn’t mean that I’ll be doing Booster right after Time Masters.
Tune in tomorrow for Part 3 of our 3-part interview with Dan Jurgens. Tomorrow we talk Superman, Thor, Doctor Solar and more. For more on Dan, check out his new website: www.danjurgens.com
