Blue Beetle is about to make history in more than one way. Not only is the forthcoming issue #7 (out March 5th) a tribute to the late great Keith Giffen, but it’s also got Booster Gold and Blue Beetle zipping across time itself! There’s a certifiable chance these heroes change history/canon across the DC universe!
It’s an exciting chapter in an overall great series, and the issue is made even greater with guest artists Natacha Bustos, Howard Porter, Cully Hamner, and Scott Kolins joining series artist Adrián Gutiérrez. What better way to pay tribute to a comic legend like Giffen than with some of the best comic artists in the business?
With so many unique and exciting elements at work, I just had to chat with series writer Josh Trujillo about the buzz surrounding Blue Beetle #7. Read on for insights into how they celebrated Giffen, catering scripts to individual artists, and much more!
Blue Beetle #7 is due out on March 5 from DC Comics.
AIPT: Blue Beetle #7 features Booster Gold. On a scale of one to 10, how fun is it to write Booster?!
Josh Trujillo: Umm, like a 12 on that scale? Booster is one of the most ridiculous and perfect good boys in comics. He has such an incredible hook and SO MANY good stories! A huge ego and also a huge heart for his friends! I really can’t get enough of him.
It took a lot of restraint not to let him completely take over the book, but this story is about Jaime’s journey in helping save his mentor and friend, our beloved Ted Kord. And Booster is there helping him every step of the way.
Courtesy DC Comics
AIPT: This is a tribute issue to Keith Giffen. What goes into making a tribute issue special?
JT: My big goal was to honor the characters that Keith either created or left an indelible impact on. Our Blue Beetle book is at its core about legacy and family, so having a chance to pay tribute to one one of our own means a lot to me personally. And to the whole team!
We also shine a light on some of the iconic storylines he helped create. The time travel conceit is my way to get us to the far reaches of continuity and show just how large his influence is. Honestly you can’t walk around the DC Multiverse without tripping over his iconic works. Whether it’s the Legion of Superheroes, Justice League International, 52, or oddball creations like Ambush Bug, Keith Giffen proved time and time again why he’s one of the all-time greats.
I can’t thank the editors at DC enough, specifically Andrew Marino and Katie Kubert, for helping organize this ambitious tribute in the first place. Never in a million years did I think my crazy pitch would actually happen. It’s a real testament to DC; they saw the opportunity to do something unique for Keith, who had such a unique creative voice. I just hope we did right by him.
Courtesy DC Comics
AIPT: This is a time travel issue. How hard is it to avoid retcons?
JT: I’ll leave that for the wiki editors to answer!
In all seriousness, I pored over so many comics to find openings/moments that wouldn’t directly conflict with the work Keith and his collaborators did. But the simple fact is that this is a time travel story, so try not to get too stuck in the details and just enjoy the ride. Let the continuity cops deal with the mess Booster and Jaime are making (and they will!)
AIPT: I put together the previews at AIPT each week and I really love that DC is putting out Spanish versions of this series. Do you write two different scripts in English and Spanish? How does that work?
JT: First of all, thank you for including the Spanish language previews alongside the English ones! I know we have readers who only read the Spanish version, and it’s important for people to realize that it’s not a gimmick. It’s a real commitment from DC to reach new audiences and share stories with everyone.
So originally I was writing the smaller Spanish bits myself, with help from my family/friends (and my own middling Spanish vocabulary.) That worked well enough, but it definitely slowed my process down. For the full translations, DC has an amazing team in place to make sure the language and dialect are just right. It also helps that our superstar letterer, Lucas Gattoni, letters the book in both languages. I’m pretty sure he’s the only letterer who does that in the US, if not the whole world!
Check out the page above go from unlettered, to English, to Spanish.
AIPT: With guest artists Natacha Bustos, Howard Porter, Cully Hamner and Scott Kolins joining in on issue #7, not to mention the always great Adrián Gutiérrez. Did you approach scripting any differently given the different styles?
JT: Yeah! That was definitely something I wanted to do for the different artists. I tried to write to their strengths, and also capture the pacing/storytelling of the different comic book eras we’re visiting. For example, Natacha Bustos gets to draw some classic Kevin Maguire-esque facial expressions, and Howard Porter leans heavily on the 9 panel grid that defined so much of Keith Giffen’s Legion run. Keith was such a versatile writer and always knew how to make the art and storytelling shine.
AIPT: Lucas Gattoni’s lettering is out of this world good in issue #7. Do you give prompts on how to emphasize, say using a logo in dialogue, or is that all Gattoni?
JT: Lucas is our secret weapon, to be honest. He doesn’t bat an eye if I ask him to recreate a logo from the 60’s, and he makes incredibly smart choices in his work. For an issue like this, his letters thread all of these different art styles together into one cohesive package. That’s not easy to do when you’re working with such a diverse group of artists, but he makes it look easy.
Eisner judges, if you’re listening, it’s time to give Lucas Gattoni his flowers!
AIPT: Since this is a Keith Giffen tribute, I wanted to ask you a question I asked Keith in an interview back in 2016. What do you wish someone had told you about the comic business when you first started?
JT: I tell creators to be patient, kind, and persistent in comics. Long before the Round Robin competition that led to Blue Beetle: Graduation Day, DC and I were talking about me maybe, maaaaaybe writing Jaime someday. That was six years ago, which means it took about three years before I got to write a single word. That got very discouraging at times but I never gave up, and neither did my editors.
Until those opportunities come, make your own. A finished comic is better than a masterpiece that only exists in your head. Just do the damn thing and people will notice!
AIPT: If Blue Beetle #7 was a song, what would it be and why?
JT: Given what Jaime Reyes is going through after our Scarab War arc, I’m gonna say “Show Me The Way” by Peter Frampton. He’s looking for a life raft right now, and that life raft is Ted Kord. But what he finds in getting there, that’s what the whole issue is about.
And along the way, things get weird and hilarious and a little sentimental. Keith Giffen’s work will live on forever. We just wanted to pay our respects, and show what made him so special to us.
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