Jeff Lemire Unites The Justice League In Canada
Jeff Lemire
announced his new Justice League
title with Mike McKone, which was
previously dubbed Justice League of Canada, through USA Today. Justice League of America ends in
April in the wake of Forever Evil current Justice
League of America and Forever Evil writer Geoff
Johns creates a new paradigm for the Justice League, Justice League
Dark and the new Justice League United to Canada
and launches it with a #0 issue later in the month.
Lemire’s original name for the book was Justice League Canada to
show that his native country is more than just hockey, poutine, and maple
syrup. The title of the series changes as he worked out the series with DC
co-publisher Dan DiDio and others.
"We decided it was a good idea to expand the scope of the series."
– Jeff Lemire
Justice League United will be a diverse team that will split
its time between Northern Ontario and cosmic locales.
"It keeps the book fresh when you have those two very different settings or landscapes to go between. It's very much a swashbuckling, world-jumping space adventure."
– Jeff Lemire
Justice League United will include celebrity superheroes
Animal Man and Stargirl who starts the series off signing autographs at a
convention in Toronto , but duty
calls the two north in Moose Factory and Moosonee, near the James
Bay coast, just below the Arctic. That is where the team’s first
adventure starts as well as where they will be based after the first arc. Stargirl
is joined by her fellow former Justice League of America
members Martian Manhunter, Hawkman, and Green Arrow along with new members
Animal Man, Supergirl, and Adam Strange who will be reintroduced in the series.
Adam Strange is a sci-fi character who was first introduces
in 1958, Strange gets a costume redesign and a new background. In Justice
League United, Adam Strange and his wife/teammate Alanna are Canadian. Even
though they're still bouncing between Earth and the rest of the galaxy via the
Zeta Beam there’s a different dynamic between them than in previous DC
incarnations.
"One thing I wanted to do with the book was really touch on every corner of the DC Universe in one team. Thus the United title. Maybe the swashbuckling space hero we're used to from Adam Strange would probably describe Alanna a bit more. Adam's a bit more of a nerdy science guy. He's not so much the swashbuckling one."
– Jeff Lemire
Lemire didn’t want to make the mistake that a lot of
“cosmic” comics make by being too disconnected from “what's happening on
Earth,” so Justice League United will act as a bridge between worlds. Lemire
plans to use planets like Rann and Thanagar to act in contrast to the League’s,
"very stark, rural Northern Ontario location."
Lemire sends the League to Thanagar for the second arc for a storyline that
delves into Hawkman’s past.
"The character is going to continue to evolve, pretty dramatically actually."
– Jeff Lemire
The scribe, who has written the solo books for both Animal
Man and Green Arrow, and now in Justice League United, says he's "creating
this unique friendship and love/hate relationship between the two of
them."
The writer also plans on introducing an all-new character to the
DC Universe as a member of the League, a super-powered Cree teenager from the
Canadian area where the team is setting up their headquarters.
Lemire is keeping who she is and her name a secret for now,
but does say, she’s of First Nations lineage — a reference to the indigenous
people of Canada
— and her creation was influenced by Cree legends and folklore.
To ensure that he capture the authenticity, Lemire spent the
past six months traveling up to Northern Ontario , doing
research and working with kids in schools to get their input.
"It was really important for me to try to reflect different aspects of our country. I thought it'd be great to create someone who represented that aspect of the culture. I've gotta say I've put more work into this book than I have for anything I've ever done for DC. It's been really fulfilling, and hopefully on top of all that it's a big fun action-adventure superhero comic that people will enjoy."
– Jeff Lemire
All images images are courtesy of DC Entertainment
Sounds good to me. Jeff Lemire's work on Green Arrow has been great so I'll definitely pick JLU up and give it a go.
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