If there’s one creator who is most synonymous with the Post-Crisis Era of Superman – even more than its initiator, John Byrne – it’s probably Dan Jurgens. Dan had the honor of drawing the actual death of Superman #75 and even though many creators from that era have participated in nostalgia-driven projects tied to this era, Dan is probably most frequently enlisted for projects that call back to DC in the 90s.
That’s why it’s ironic that in a way, Dan Jurgens wrote and drew the Post-Crisis Superman even before he was officially relaunched in THE MAN OF STEEL #1. In the wake of CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, Dan launched BOOSTER GOLD as the writer/penciller. Though it started in the interregnum while many of DC’s flagship titles had yet to launch, it’s fully recognized as a part of Post-Crisis continuity.
Superman made an appearance in a storyline that began in BOOSTER GOLD #6, which came out on April 19, 1986 – a full two months before THE MAN OF STEEL #1.
In the story, a teenage boy comes across a tiny alien seeking Superman. With Booster Gold being the more accessible Metropolis-based hero, the kid goes to him and soon Booster is challenging Superman to meet him. When the Man of Steel shows up, he looks cranky at being called out by the Corporate Crusader.
Most of the rest of the issue details Booster’s origins, as Superman (and we) learn he’s a disgrased football player from 500 years in the future who stole a time machine and a bunch of artifacts so he could come back in time and be a superhero. This does little to impress Superman that Booster Gold is out for anyone but himself.
But before anything more can happen, the heroes, the kid and the alien are all knocked unconscious and captured in a cliffhanger ending.
Issue 7 was released on May 17, 1986 and we pick up with our heroes now miniaturized and transported to the alien world. They and their alien friend Ranzee are going to face charges of treason and sedition against Lord Galeb, the alien leader.
While locked up together, Ranzee explains that Lord Galeb is a despot who tortured and executed his family after Ranzee and the other rebels attempted to over throw him.
Booster is ready to overthrow Lord Galeb, but both Superman and Booster’s robot companion Skeets think they need more information. Sounding like a Starfleet captain invoking the Prime Directive, Superman tells him “As on Earth, we must allow these people to govern themselves, to determine their own course.”
That’s not nearly good enough for Booster, who busts out of prison and finds himself battling Superman, insisting it’ll all be better if they overthrow Galeb and let the rebels start a new government. Superman responds, “You’ve been here less than a day… heard only one opinion of the situation… and you’re ready to set up a new government?”
Okay, when you put it like that…
Eventually the battle is brought to an end not by Superman, but Skeets, who exploits a vulnerability in Booster’s power suit to stop him. He confirms that Booster was duped. Ranzee lied about everything, even about having a family. Lord Galeb’s rule is actually benevolent.
Humbled, Booster agrees to go home, and with this adventure getting him and Superman off on the wrong foot, there’s tension between them for several subsequent appearances. Gradually Superman seems to gain more respect for Booster, but in the immediate future, he treats him as sort of an arrogant poser.
In the hardcover Volume 1 collection of BOOSTER GOLD, Dan Jurgens explains how Byrne’s forthcoming THE MAN OF STEEL miniseries impacted some of this issue. He’d originally intended for Booster’s 25th century job to be as security guard in a Superman museum, specifically. Thus, he would have stolen Superboy’s Legion flight ring, components of Lex Luthor’s armor and Brainiac’s forcefield to assemble his superhero costume.
By the time word reached Dan that MAN OF STEEL was going to make many of this impossible – especially by removing Superboy from continuity – it was too late to start over. He had to adapt already drawn pages. This also impacted the present day section of the story. Originally Booster was going to meet Superman in the Fortress of Solitude, adapted to a dam in the printed issue. Most of this involved redrawing the backgrounds, though some pages were redrawn more substantially.
Dan says that he’s been asked if any of this upset him and he said no. It’s part and parcel of working in comics that take place in a shared universe. And in return for the trouble he went to, John Byrne later did a crossover story with Dan that started in ACTION COMICS #594 and concluded in BOOSTER GOLD #23. More on that when we get there in about a year.
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