Bruce Wayne is lost in time, and one man is charged with leading the mission to find him. In July, time traveller Rip Hunter and his super-powered allies go on a journey to find the missing Dark Knight in Time Masters: Vanishing Point, a 6-issue miniseries that ties in with Grant Morrison's Return of Bruce Wayne storyline. I spoke with writer and artist Dan Jurgens to learn more about the role of Rip and company in returning one of DC's legends to his proper place and time.
Matt Adler: Can you tell us a bit about where the idea for a new Time Masters miniseries came from?
Dan Jurgens: I think Dan DiDio is the one who first saw an opportunity to get Rip Hunter involved to a greater degree. He asked if we could build greater depth and a story for Rip around The Return of Bruce Wayne and we said, "sure!"
MA: Would this series have worked as an arc of your Booster Gold run, or is it substantially different?
DJ: This will be much more centered on Rip Hunter than what I would have done with a Booster arc. While some of the concepts are there, it certainly represents different character exploration.
MA: The story has Rip on a journey to find Batman, who is lost in time. Why is a master of time so concerned with finding this one man?
DJ: If you've read Grant's series to date you'll realize that it isn't so much about one man as it is about the overall effect of what could happen in the time stream. Add to that the notion that someone is intentionally trying to create havoc by throwing Bruce into the past anyway.
MA: Booster Gold, Superman, and Green Lantern are also along for the ride. Obviously Booster has been Rip's partner for some time, but why choose Superman and GL in particular to be on this team?
DJ: Superman is a natural because of his friendship with Bruce. GL is something of a more obvious choice because of his more cosmic nature. Rip also takes them because, as he says, "If I don't, they'll find a way to do it on their own and I can't have that."
MA: Any clues you can provide as to other characters who may be making an appearance?
DJ: I could… but won't! I'll hold off for just a bit but I think you'll see some fun characters from DC's past emerge.
MA: The subtitle for this series is "Vanishing Point". For those who don't know, what is Vanishing Point?
DJ: Vanishing Point is Rip Hunter's outpost at the end of time. From there, all events from history can generally be monitored. I first created it while writing and drawing Superman.
MA: Have you had any communication or feedback from Grant Morrison on the crossover? Do you know if your work on these characters and concepts (Rip Hunter, Vanishing Point, etc) had an influence on his plans?
DJ: Influence? Grant's used them to the story's advantage so I wouldn't say influence is quite the right word. He's using them to help take Batman where he needs to be, which is absolutely fine.
MA: Are you pleased that your creations are playing such a central role in such a major DCU event?
DJ: Yeah. It's fun to see that any concept you create happens to have a level of thematic value.
MA: Is it just happy coincidence that you're able to use this story to plant seeds for the upcoming event Flashpoint, or is this part of a larger focus on time-travel in the DCU?
DJ: Yes, though it's a very natural progression and evolution of where we're going. It will work out great and I also think Flashpoint will be a lot of fun for fans.
MA: What makes time-travel stories appealing for you?
DJ: Flexibility. Time travel stories really give way to some interesting concepts that aren't normally available to writers. There's great potential in that.
Plus, it's even as simple as delving into some fun moments of DC history. Fans seem to enjoy seeing that.
MA: What other projects do you have in the works at the moment?
DJ: Lots of stuff, though right now, it's a bit too early to get into it!
Matt Adler doesn't buy this "lost in time" stuff. Bruce has obviously run off to join a troupe of historical reenactors.
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I dropped Booster Gold when Jurgens left.
This will be my replacement. It should be fun.
Thanks for this Matt, I look forward to some old-school Despero (apparently).
@ScorpionMasada, have you tried the new Booster Gold, I’m finding it as enjoyable as Dan’s run, in a slightly different way. It’s very respectful of his work.
Tried the first issue and didn’t like the tone and had major problems with the story. The last couple pages introducing Maxwell Lord as a threat were good, but I was dropping books and it was not good enough to keep going.
I really dig Dan Jurgens’ art style and his time stuff. Some of my first comics I bought were in the era when Jurgens was writing/penciling SUPERMAN so I grew up with the Linear Men and Waverider. Here’s hoping they show up in this series.
Thanks for the interview, Matt!
I’m looking forward to this title.
Good interview