I was pretty psyched for the James Robinson Justice League project when they initially started hinting that he was doing something.
Then came WWLA.
Reported on Newsarama:
Robinson then announced that he's working on a new Justice League book called - wait for it - Justice League. "Hal Jordan decides that he wants a pro-active team," said Robinson. "They never go out and bring in people. This team will go after the equivalent of the FBI's most wanted list, sometimes in different countries, sometimes through time. It's a nice eclectic team of established teams and some oddball characters I've thrown in." Along with Hal Jordan, Robinson named Green Arrow as a member. When writing the two characters, Robinson said "I just imagine me and Geoff Johns talking to each other."
Robinson expanded on the lineup, naming Ray Palmer. "He's not The Atom, but he still has the costume, and he still shrinks," Robinson says. "That's not to say at some point he won't be The Atom but again, but for now, he's Ray Palmer."
Also on the team? Supergirl, Batwoman (DiDio: "Whoops, we weren't supposed to say that one. Just kidding!"), Freddy Freeman in "whatever name he's going to have" (which DiDio said was Shazam), and Starman. No, not the Jack Knight Starman that Robinson made famous in the '90s, but the blue, alien Mikaal Tomas Starman.
Robinson said the final member is an "old, 90-year-old man named Bill." "People are going to love this character by the time I'm done with him," Robinson said. The writer was about to name the artist, but no, DiDio cut him off and said they were going to hold off on that announcement.
"The difference is, the Justice League of America is all about the league, it's a family," said Robinson. "While this is about justice. It's all about bringing in the bad guys."
Yeah...OK...so much of that makes no sense. Forget about this "Bill" character...but Mikaal? Becoming a JL member after years of being nowhere, having no connection to anyone involved in the JL, and never really being established as much of a crime-fighter or justice seeker in the DCU?
Batwoman from virtually nowhere to the JL? It doesn't really seem to fit anything that has been done with the character thus far. Really...I don't get it.
Maybe Robinson will tell stories that are so good that you don't care that the initial conceit made absolutely no sense...but that's not a strong point to start from.
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Wait a second -- characters being picked out of nowhere, being put on a team that they don't belong on? Because the writer has an unusual preference fo these characters? This is outrageous! IT WILL NEVER SELL!!!
ReplyDelete**mops forehead with an issue of New Avengers**
;)
God forbid they try something new.
ReplyDeleteYeah...the thing is? New Avengers was a move at throwing their more marketable characters all together.
ReplyDeleteThe better comparison here is to the JLElite. That had Flash and Green Arrow to this groups Green Lantern and Green Arrow. The rest were basically the writer's whim in both instances (well, who knows if Supergirl and Batwoman are editorial edict or writer choice).
It is the fourth attempt at making a "proactive" team, which normally just seems to be used as an excuse for why yet another big team is popping up in the DCU, rather than a completely accurate motivation.
"God forbid they try something new."
ReplyDeleteJustice League Elite 2.0 is something new?
I likd this idea the first time around when it was called EXTREME JUSTICE.
ReplyDeleteYeah... the explanation is almost EXACTLY what the explanation for EJ was.
In fact, look at this... in Extreme Justice they took a legacy character who had no real connection to the original Justice League and placed him with Extreme Justice (Amazing Man) just like they are doing with this version of Starman.
And both Capt Atom and Hal Jordan have a number of things in common... including a military background of sorts and going from a respected hero to a fairly loopy villian who is going to end the world in order to "save" it and then kind of rule it also.
Hmmm....
In any case... I will certainly giev this title a shot.
It's Robinson, so I have a lot of faith that it'll be good, despite the odd lineup. Actually, he tends to thrive on sidelined characters, so I'm curious to see what he does with some of these folks.
ReplyDeleteParticularly Ray Palmer. I haven't been buying Countdown, but I miss that guy. And I'm sure he wouldn't put Mikaal into the book unless he had something cool planned.
Rocky, you definitely have a point with that EJ comparison.
ReplyDeleteRob S., I'm sure you're right that Robinson will do a good job. That's exactly why I said, "(m)aybe Robinson will tell stories that are so good that you don't care that the initial conceit made absolutely no sense...but that's not a strong point to start from."
Oh yeah, I know. I was just writing in to agree with you there. (Figured it'd be a nice thing to try.)
ReplyDeleteAnd did you see that "Bill" is actually Congorilla? Now there's an out-of-left-field choice.
Heh...yeah...I heard about that.
ReplyDeleteI know it doesn't make sense, but a goofy pick like Congorilla sits better with me than the Batwoman, Mikaal, and possibly Supergirl picks. Why?
Because Batwoman and Supergirl feel like they might just be there because editorial said they needed to be and less because the writer was motivated to use them.
Why Mikaal as a problem, then? Because it feels like a writer just bringing one of his darlings along with him, regardless of whether they fit the project. Like Mikaal is his security blanket in the issue.
Yeah...I know...not necessarily fair, but it is just the gut feeling I get.
Actually, the Newsarama story that revealed Bill says that he's something of an editorial edict:
ReplyDeleteMikaal Tomas – “The blue alien from Starman, because Dan asked for a ‘Starman’ in the book,” Robinson said. “If you remember in the final issues of Starman, Mikaal was becoming more and more militant and angry – the spirit of his alien blood was welling up into him. He’ll be the one who’s savage and warlike when he’s fighting, but when he’s not, he’s this languid, charming fellow.”
I guess for marketing reasons, they want a Starman connection. So Robinson threw a curveball to their pitch.
As for Supergirl & Batwoman -- yeah, it looks that way to me, too: (“to get the iconic emblems on the team,” Robinson said.) Sounds like Marketing.
Regardless, I'm sure he makes some tasty lemonade from whatever lemons he's supplied. And as little as I care about Supergirl, I really *do* want to see more of Batwoman -- even if it's only to decide whether or not I like her.
So Robinson threw a curveball to their pitch.
ReplyDeleteSlamming head against wall.
No one can fuck up a metaphor like I can. Now that I read it, I'm not even sure exactly what I was trying to say...
Congorilla?
ReplyDelete*sigh*
Ya know... I was kinda really into the line up (Hal, Ollie, Ray Palmer, Supergirl, Batwoman, even the Alien Starman....) but...
Congorilla?
Argh.
And hey Kevin, how about a link in your links section for your old Bucket-headed buddy here huh? Some love would be nice! :)
Ha...I think what you meant came across anyway, Rob. I hadn't read anything beyond the panel coverage, really. So I didn't see that Mikaal was a Didio request and some confirmation that the Supergirl/Batwoman deal wasn't out of a pure desire for those characters.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see more of this Batwoman, too...but it just seems so damn odd that, after waiting so long for supposedly the perfect situation, they're throwing her into a super team book. What little that has been established about her character would seem to contradict her being a member.