He helped kick off the DC New 52 with Justice League International and Fury of Firestorm.
Jurgens was kind enough to chat with us not once, but twice, so that complete this interview.
Dan Jurgens:My first favorite character was Batman.
I ended up buyingSuperman#189.
A little later I scored an 80 pageJustice League of Americagiant and I was officially hooked.
That wasnt actually my first work!
My first work for DC wasWarlord, which I started with #63.
I think Id been on that for about a year before doingSun Devils.
Gerry Conway and I then did a couple of Batman stories that crossed fromBatmanintoDetective Comics.
Gerry and I worked Marvel style with him plotting.
I jumped in and havent stopped since.
I owe Gerry quite a lot for giving me that opportunity.
From there, you went on to create Booster Gold.
Can you talk about how that happened?
Did you pitch the character?
He was ready to do it right then and there and all but gave it a green light.
When you arent writing Booster, did you follow his adventures?
What do you think were some of the characters highs and lows?
Nor will it, now that weve moved on to the New 52.
That was an opportunity lost.
Moving on toArmageddon 2001, there has always been conjecture that Hank Hall was not supposed to be Monarch?
Captain Atom was originally intended to be Monarch.
We talked quite a lot about whether we should stay the course or make a change.
What was it like working under Jeanette Kahn?
She generally brought a different point-of-view than me, which can always be beneficial.
There was some superb talent working on the Super books at the time.
Any stories to share regarding Louise Simonson, Jerry Ordway, or any of your other collaborators?
Its been well documented that the Death of Superman was not going to be as long as it was.
How and when did the decision take place to keep him dead?
What was your reaction?
I really cant say I agree with that.
When we made the decision to kill Superman, we knew he was going to be dead.
There would be no books.
We didnt know how or exactly when wed bring him back.
There was no determination of any kind that said, Hell be back in three months!
After the death, we all got together and discussed the idea of HOW Superman could come back.
But there hadnt been any pervious determination that we had to break.
Comic fans knew he wouldnt be dead for long, but the general public seemed to believe the hype.
Why do you suppose that was?
We certainly never said it was going to be permanent.
We were simply a group of storytellers trying to tell a good story.
How did your life change after the biggest comic event in history?
How was writing Superman different before and after Doomsday?
Something like that can certainly elevate a creators profile, no doubt.
Before The Deaath of…
I had to work a bit to do what I wanted.
Afterwards, I could pretty much do whatever I wanted just by picking up the phone.
Talk about the creation of Doomsday.
I thought Luthor and Brainiac were far too talky.
And Darkseid really wasnt a Superman villain.
I wanted something rawsomething that really was a complete opposite to what Superman was.
Something capable of random carnage.
Doomsday is certainly a powerful visual design.
What inspired his look, both the hooded version and the full reveal?
As I said, I envisioned something totally raw.
Something far different than Supermans other foes and it worked.
Doomsday was actually great fun to draw.
Jon Bogdanove really got into him in a fun wayI loved what he did.
As I said earlier, we hadnt resolved the idea of how to bring Superman back.
We were all gathered in a room, often pitching our own ideas.
Seems to me we had four basic ideas on the table.
Louise Simonson said something like, Why dont we do all four?
Things sort of fell into place after that and those different ideas became four different Supermen.
Can you give us an idea what inspired the creation of Cyborg Superman?
Id written the Cyborg into a couple of Superman stories earlier as a living tech villain for Superman.
That presents a tremendous moment for a great unmasking and betrayal.
Was it a challenge writing a book where the protagonist was secretly the villain of the whole arc?
Playing it straight so you know it will all make sense later.
The motivation has to work as does every previous story.
In this case, turning earth into a giant engine seemed to fit.
And having Coast City get destroyed gave birth to years of stories for Green Lantern.
Can you talk about your approach in making Doomsday a better conceived, and tragic threat for Superman?
The most interesting villains, to me, always have a tragic sense to them.
Psychotic villains dont interest me at all because they lack any sense of motivation.
Its the easiest thing to write in the world.
A few years later you did the Superman/Fantastic Four tabloid size crossover with Art Thibert.
How did that experience differ than the first crossover?
Which book, if either, are you more proud of?
We had to get down on our knees and beg, but it was well worth it.
Id also done aSuperman/Aliensteam-up that was a tremendous amount of fun.
Im very happy with the way that turned out.
How involved was 20th Century Fox in that series?
How were you approached to do the series?
Mike Richardson, Mike Carlin and I were at a convention in Australia in early 1992.
Eventually, once we got past the Death of Superman, we were able to do so.
The answer to that would be BOTH.
Yes, she was a wink to the fans.
And, yes, I had a few thoughts on how I might get her to show up again.
Sadly, we never got that done.
You killed Superman and then you took part in marrying him.
Which was a better idea?
Did you like the idea of a married Man of Steel?
I would probably have preferred to write a single Superman, though one who was totally committed to Lois.
For the most part, yes.
I would have been a bit more drastic in what we did.
However, we accomplished most of what we wanted and a month of zero issues was a great idea.
Some writers really missed the mark and the opportunity there but, overall, it worked.
5 issues ofZero Hour, which was weekly, as well asSuperman#0.
What were your hopes for the Tangent Universe?
Were there any further plans for those characters behind the initial push of books?
Unfortunately, that just didnt happen.
Too bad, because I think there are still some outstanding concepts there.
You had a criminally underrated run onTeen Titans.
How do you reflect on that series?
I fully endorse a teenage Ray Palmer.
I actually enjoyed doing theTeen Titansquite a bit.
It was great fun and it was also a kick to work with George Perez.
Wed been asked to do new characters and thats what we tried to do.
On part of theTitansseries, you were inked by Mr. Titan himself, George Perez.
What was the collaboration like?
Did you feel pressure to be working with a man synonymous with the book?
I always enjoy working with George.
He is an incredible talent with amazing attention to detail.
You wrote Spider-Man at the most turbulent time in the characters rich history.
Were you aware of the extreme backlash against Ben Reilly?
How did you write a character that was considered an ill-conceived idea not of your own making?
To be clear on a couple of things…
When I signed on to do Spidey I was aware of the presence of Ben Reilly.
What complicated everything was having themboth.
At that point, there was no reason to have Ben around.
You never got to write Peter.
What would a Dan Jurgens Spider-Man story be like?
Fun, footloose and fancy-free, though burdened with the weight of responsibility.
Nevertheless, he enjoys being Spider-Man.
You wrote Aquaman for a while.
What were some of the challenges that character presented?
The biggest challenge was overcoming what was, by then, a fairly bad taste in everyones mouth.
But we had fun.
Can you give us your thoughts on theMetamorpho: Year Onemini?
Either that, or not enough.
Did you see the whole event differently in hindsight?
What was it like working on such a popular license?
Tomb Raiderwas a real kick.
That got a bit lost in the market place because it didnt come out until 2004 or so.
What was it like returning to Booster Gold with Geoff Johns?
How much narrative input did you have this time around?
Was it tough to see someone else guiding the destiny of your creation?
It should also be noted that he had a co-writerJeff Katz.
Both of them were fans of Booster and brought great energy, talent and caring to the book.
It doesnt get much better than that.
How were you brought aboard the New 52?
Did you pitchJustice League Internationalor did DC approach you?
They approached me with the idea of writingJLIand drawingGreen Arrow.
Both were just fine with me.
Did you pitch anything else that didnt make the cut?
Not in an official sense.
Writers really do have a lot of conversations that never pan out or end up taking different directions.
Can you give us insight to what was to come?
I think they wanted to remold the JLA franchise a bit overall.
BecauseJLIwas a standalone book, I think they felt that the only real connection was the name.
We kicked around the idea of a title change a bit, but they decided to cancel it.
Ive always felt that was a bit short sighted.
The New 52Green Arrowseries which you penciled had a very rocky start through no fault of your own.
Can you take us through the project from inception to premier?
It was a weird situation.
Somehow we just never got everything in sync.
Your New 52 Firestorm seemed like a classic approach to a new character.
It was unique in that you embraced the new changes but gave it a classic feel.
What were your hopes for the character?
I wanted to get him more involved with the DCU and have him target JLA membership as a goal.
Others feel that corporate super-heroes have sucked the soul from the classic characters.
What side of the argument, if either, do you fall on?
There are a tremendous number of really good books coming from a variety of places these days.
Image has obviously made tremendous strides over the past couple of years, as have other independents.
But I dont think Id agree that corporate superheroes have had their lives sucked out of them.
I continue to read plenty of good superhero books.
What Im tired of, however, is the tremendous repetition of villains and stories.
Writers seem to be going out of their way NOT to create new villains.
Do we really need to read the 355th story of a 50 year-old villain?
Id also extend that to new heroes within the respective universes.
Id love to see them commit to new characters within their universe.
New characters and new villains would create new story dynamics and a fresh feel.
What comics are you reading these days?
Great time to be a reader.
And the million dollar question, what did you think ofMan of Steel?
I didnt object to Superman killing Zod because I thought it was set up well.
Zod had made it clear that only one of them was going to walk out alive.
On top of that, it was quite clear that Zod was about ready to kill some innocent civilians.
The movie was actually more pardonable because Zod was about ready to kill innocent people.
In the comic, Superman flat-out executed Zod and company.
I liked the movie.
My only real complaint was the amount of destruction and death in Metropolis.
Overall, however, I enjoyed the film a great deal.
The cast was great and its easy to see them playing those parts going forward.
What went into the decision to have the new future Batman be Tim Drake?
How did that come about?
Was that your choice or DCs?
We also wanted to elevate Tim Drake and make him a stronger part of the DCU.
Eventually, their stories would cross over, Terry would die and Tim would replace him.
All of that was set in place.
Talk about this new version of Tim Drake.
There are a couple of important elements that add to all of this.
First of all, Tim Drake is a great character in his own right.
Secondly, he was the leader of the Titans.
He put on the Batman costume to defeat Brother Eye.
He succeeded in partstopping the Earth 2 invasion.
Tim Drake is a hero and man of true honor.
He intends to honor Terrys sacrifice by carrying on in his place.
What are some of the major differences between Terry and Tim as Batman?
Terry was a little more rash and headstrong.
Tim is more of a tactician.
More likely to consider different courses of action.
Batman Beyondhas a tremendous rogues gallery.
If youve seen the cover to issue 2, youve already seen Inque.
Beyond that, I find Shriek, Spellbinder, Blight, and even Mr.
I also like Rewire quite a lot.
Lots of story opportunities there.
Whats it like working with Bernard Chang?
His style blends quite well with some of the design concepts at the core of Batman Beyond.
On top of that, he has a tremendous design sense of his own.
I truly believe that.
How deeply will the events ofBatman Beyondtie into the present day DC Universe?
Are you coordinating anything with the other Bat books?
I think the strongest aspect ofBatman Beyondwould be what it did to extrapolate and build the legend of Batman.
What were some of your favoriteBatman Beyondepisodes?
A great way to hook a generation or two of viewers!
Weve absolutely indicated we intend to do that by virtue of the cover on issue #1.
Dan Jurgens, thank you very much!
