DC has just announced on their fancy new blog that the new creative team for Justice League of America is writer James Robinson and artist Mark Bagley!
This probably explains why Robinson’s second Justice League mini-series was changed from an on-going series to a mini-series.
Here’s some art:
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God i hate you vixen
yes i will buy this
It’s about friggin time. Now we’ll just have to see if Robinson can roll with the punches like Mcduffie tried to or if they will let him be a little more free.
Either way, having Bagley on art should be great.
I’m buying.
This doesn’t look to be the team that Robinson is using in the mini.
Hell yes! I have been riding out McDuffie’s run hoping something like this will happen 😛
I cant wait for this. Robinson’s work continues to blow me away on Superman and World of New Krypton. I think this should bring JLA back to the flagship status that it deserves.
Bagley is just an average artist… much appreciated for his rapidity but not hugely talented. Putting him on what should be the DC flagship is not going to help reversing the negative sales trend for JLA.
Hmmm, I’ll check out Robinson’s JLA mini. If I dig it, I might pick up this series. Either way, this is nothing but good news for the title.
I got excited when Meltzer came on and it was mediocre, I got excited when McDuffie came on, and it was down right awful. I’m interested here, but I definetly wait and see. DC has to do a lot of work to make this book matter. Honestly, they never should have cancelled JLA and just kept the numbering going. Wouldn’t have felt like such a letdown.
Bagley’s got a helluva Batman.
So is this picture a game of "which one of these things doesn’t belong"? Because if it is, I think I know the answer.
In all seriousness (as much as you can have with superhero comics anyway), Robinson is sort of a hit or miss guy with me, but I’ll definitely give it a shot. And at least you’ll know who’s fault it is if the book is ever late.
I’ll definitely be checking this out. Bagley’s not an all-star favorite, but I do like him. And he’ll definitely keep the book on time, which is a factor in a book that ties into lots of continuity.
:speculator hat on:
I wonder if Robinson will get hamstrung by all the various events, or if DC has come to a place where they can at least let Robinson have the people he wants on the team? With a foot firmly in the Superman universe, he does seem like he has a little more say in what happens in the larger picture of the DCU, as opposed to McDuffie who seemed to have to roll with whatever he was given.
Yay! I love Bagley’s art, but not enough to buy something just because he’s drawing it. I really hope Robinson’s JLA will be compelling enough for me to buy the book, unlike 52.
The Ultimate Spider-Man book that came out yesterday made me reminiscent of the days when I could count on reading a Bagely book every 3 weeks.
Well I’m not a fan of the guy, but having James Robinson on board is definitely some step in the right direction. He’s a much bigger name but more importantly he does have a huge fanbase. So I might not like him, but a lot of people will be picking this up. With Bagley on art, that’s a great decision. He wasnt that good on Trinity, but I think he’ll improve his talents on DC with this.
However, and I think this should be stressed. Just because you have a big name author on your book doesnt mean this is gonna sell like hotcakes (Mmmm..). Brad Meltzer, whether we liked the guy or not, was considered a big writer to start this book up again…..and he failed pretty miserably when he was on board. Just cause it’s Robinson doesnt mean this title will suddenly improve and be the best book out there.
@TNC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA sold tons under Meltzer.
@conor: On retrospect I phrased that a bit wrong.
Of course it SOLD well, but was it a GOOD comic? Not in my eyes. So I ment to say it might sell well, but just cause it’s Robinson on writing doesnt mean it’ll be a great book
Gotta feel a little pity for McDuffie. Did he even get a solid 6 issue run that was just him without some editorial level mandate? Maybe I am misunderstanding the situation, but I still think he had the potential to put together a solid run on the book.
At the very least, the first few issues will sell pretty well.
Hmm, I wonder if there’s going to be a big push to bring back the "Big Three" to the book. Looking at this artwork, it’s clearly a "portait" of WW, Superman, and Batman behind Vixen. And Vixen appears to be the last woman standing to face something/someone who has made short work of the various second-tier characters. Curious about that since Robinson isn’t using the Big Three in his JL mini-series. Maybe the mini sets the stage for them to return to the Justice League, post Trinity?
(speculation is fun!)
There’s something else that will be interesting. Will Robinson be subjegated to many editoral pressures? Maybe not since he’s a bigger name. But considering the title has been nothing but a place for tie-in’s to big events and other random story arcs….I dont see DC changing that mindset for the title just cause another writer is on board.
Yeah, the problem isn’t the writer, it’s editorial mandates.
@daccampo – Interesting "framing" device Bagley uses. (Puntastic!)
Seriously though, I hope this doesn’t become too tightly focused on the Big Three. They can certainly be interesting, but the diversity the other players bring is very necessary. That diversity was one of the few things I enjoyed about Trinity (specifically how Hawkman was used early in that story).
Nice! One of my fav. writers with one of my fave artists..This news makes me happy
Wow so DC does listen to its fans.
@TNC and miyamotofreak – It’s all speculation of course, but I can see DC changing its attitude a bit. It’s not like it’s always been ONE way at DC. Meltzer got who he wanted on the book, for example. Also, DC doesn’t have any giant line-wide events looming. Trinity is over, and Robinson is tied into the Superman books. And he’s obviously aware of what’s up with GL, since he’s using him in his mini. So it may be the case that McDuffie was just on board during a time where he didn’t fit in with where DC was at that time. He ended up as the red-headed stepchild (from his accounts) where he wasn’t running the show with the flagship, but was instead at the whim of everyone else’s events. So, it may just be about timing for Robinson. Honestly, we’ll never know. We can only judge the final, published product. 😉 Here’s hopin’….
@daccampo: Well Blackest Night will be around during when Robinson/Bagley are starting. I do feel bad for McDuffie if it was all a matter of bad timing. But still, even with editorial down your throat you still try and make the best stories you can.
brilliant!
Bagley’s had a lot of practise with the DC universe in Trinity. I think he’ll do quite well in this book.
Excited for the new team.
One thing though, why do the JLA covers always have people lying all over the ground?? Seems to be a pretty popular theme with them. Anyway… heres hoping for a great run.
I’m curious about the transition between Cry for Justice and JLA. Is Hal going to fail in his attempts to shake things up? I just wonder whether or not the arguments Hal makes in those preview pages we’ve seen will have an impact on the way the League operates in the main book.
@TNC – Well, McDuffie was doing the best he could with what he had. He was fired off the book. When he was talking about the behind-the-scenes stuff, he was speaking very candidly about how that was just the way it was and he was changing things all the time. He spoke about having characters taken away from him and being forced to use others, all of which he did. So it’s not like he wasn’t making adjustments or doing the work.
With Robinson, Blackest Night may still be going, but it will be winding down, and it’s not a "Crisis" — in that it doesn’t appear (thus far) to lead into a giant new status quo or another giant event. Thus, I think Robinson may be in a better position to have a little more freedom.
Again, it’s all speculation. I know McDuffie’s a good writer, and I’ve liked him on other books (and in animation), but I felt like nearly every JLA story he started was somehow affected by external forces (and I felt like that *reading* it — before he started speaking out about it).
Was James Robinson’s "Batman: Face The Face" story good? I’ve seen the paperback and was interested in possibly getting it. Anyone?
@KickAss: I liked it a lot.
Cool. Haven’t read much Batman other than Morrison’s paperbacks, which I’ve liked. So I’ll probably get it soon.
I liked James Robinson’s 1 shot Cap America recently, so he’ll probably be good on Justice League.
McDuffie’s Fantastic Four & Beyond…WOW I can’t recommend it at all, so I can only imagine the "Bleh" he might be writing on Justice League, from the comments I’ve read by readers.
I’ve never understood the love affair with Bagley. After reading a long run of Ultimate Spider-man, I was so tired of the big eyes and pointy hair.
This makes me happy.
I like the new team but I think DC is full of shit on this. The place the limitations they did on McDuffie but the firdt thing you see with the announcement of the new team are three characters that McDuffie wasn’t permitted to use. Then they fire the guy for showing his fruatration, its bullshit.
I’ll wait and see the reviews. Really depends on the line-up. I also would consider buying it, if it’s more relevant to the DCU. I always thought JLA should be the center of the universe and it’s affects ripple out, similar to the Avenger books. In DC, it works the other way around, the individual books, have the meat of the story and the JLA is left with throw away stories. Some times really good despite that.
is this even gonna have a Big Three? Superman is off on New Krypton and Bruce Wayne is "dead" with Dick Grayson filling in which another book is supposed to come out later this year featuring the new Superman and Batman status quo.
i’m really excited to see what happens
so is that Dick Batman?
So does this mean there will be two justice leagues, sorta like mighty and new avengers?
@edward: It’s a painting, so I imagine it’s Bruce.
@k5blazer – what lineup? You’ve got Vixen standing in front of a painting of the Big Three. We have no idea what the lineup is. Personally, yeah, the picture suggests to me that the current league is being demolished to bring back some big guns, but… that’s a huge assumption, I’ll admit. That said, I’d bet that at least SOME of Robinson’s team will include people he’s got in his mini-series. If they’re treating this like a soft "relaunch" of the series, I’m guessing we’ll get Green Arrow, Green Lantern, the Atom, and maybe even the Flash in this book.
@edward – I have to admit, I kinda like the idea of the Grayson Batman in the league. Could be a fun dynamic… here’s this guy that some of them knew and liked when he was a kid, and now he’s trying to be gruff like his old mentor? It’s a reminder of Bruce and a weird shift for Dick. Could be a lot of fun.
ugh, I dunno. I will check it out, but for whatever reason, I just am not a huge Bagley fan.
Has Plastic Man been in JLA lately? Zatanna?
@Paul – from that pic — Red Tornado, Zatanna and Vixen have all been there recently/currently. I don’t think Plastic Man has.
Heres to hoping this is a $2.99 book
The first issue of the Cry for Justice was but the issue in the Sept solicits was $3.99
@mrmister
that issue is oversized.
It seems DC isn’t doing 22 pages for $4 just yet (they tried it with Cacophony though).
Oh, cool. Thanks!
Bitching about price aside, I’m really excited for this.
I think McDuffie did well enough with the situations he had to deal with and I quite like his use of the Milestone characters (Still waiting for somebody to point me in the right direction on what was good from the Milestone imprint) but there was something off about this whole run/Volume of JLA comics… Meltzer included. Can’t quite put my finger on it… they weren’t awful but they weren’t great.
I have many line-ups in my head at what make a great JLA team… Vixen isn’t on any single one of them.
im not a bagley fan at all but i will pick it up just to see DICK GRAYSON BATMAN in JLA!
i cant wait!!
Sigh. I’m in. Like I needed another book. Hopefully this’ll rock.
I haven’t missed an issue of JLA since the relaunch. I know a lot of people didn’t like Meltzer on the book, but I actually really liked his run. McDuffie’s wasn’t as good, but al things considered, I don’t think it was anywhere near as bad as people say it was. It was far from my favorite team book, but I stuck with it. But this new team looks like a can’t miss. I’m excited for this.
I’ll probably end up droppin Detective so I’ll get this if I have room for another $3.99 book.
@Conor: ah, i see. It would be cool to see dick on the league though
@edward: Dick was on the League of a minute there in the Joe Kelly run of JLA. It’s collected in the trades "The Obsidian Age" books 1 and 2. Bruce and the other Leagers were lost in the past so, Bruce being Bruce, he had a back-up bunch of Leagers set up to take their place. Dick, as Nightwing, was the guy that Bruce left in charge. Good stuff.
it could be quite funny. the league is used to being abused by Batman. Dick would show up and just hang out with the fellas
@JeffR: You speak the truth! I loved Joe Kelly’s JLA run, it was the perfect mix of Morrison and Giffen/DeMatteis JLA. It doesn’t seem to get much love, though.
Here’s my question………WHy can’t it be McDuffie and Bagley??? Isn’t James all involved in the Superman universe(yes I know Superman and JLA go hand -in-hand)??? Nothing against James, just want to see McDuffie turned loose without restrictions.
@Joshua – I’d like to see what McDuffie would do without restrictions as well, but he was fired. So, it’s not an option.
@JamesH: I was wondering about that too. This has got to be like the sixth or seventh Justice League cover (assuming of course that this is a cover) with a bunch of characters laying around all beated up and broken. It’s almost like some kind of metaphor for the series itself.
@kenkneisel: That does tend to happen a lot.
I think this is worth a shot. Robinson has proved time and again how great he is with DC characters, he’s also someone that will give us something familiar and iconic, but at the same time mix it with some new ideas. Together with BAgley, maybe he can give the book some stability as well, which is what it really needs. No crossovers, just classic characters allowed to shine.
I wonder if Robinson is gonna put the big guns into his team, or go the Giffen route and put mostly unknowns on the team
And once again, poor Red Tornado ends up in pieces…
Well the creative team is right but I won’t buy it unless the change the cast. Oh and I’m shocked at that Batman. If thats suppose to be Dick then why does he look like broad shouldered Bruce. First time ever I’ve questioned Bagley art.
But you don’t know who the cast is. No one knows anything except what this picture has on it, which is sort of vague.
@lantern4life: Look at the art again, that’s a big painting of SUperman, Batman and Wonder Woman. That’s Bruce.
I don’t like bagley
I’d be more excited with a different artist… Jamal Igle or ChrisCross would knock my socks off.
But I’ll still probably pick up the first couple of issues, to see what Robinson does. Hopefully DC lets him write his own story…. Robinson doesn’t seem like the sort of guy who would put up with a lot of what McDuffie had to put up with, for long.
Sounds pretty good. I’m in, at least for the first few issues.
Oh look, Red Tornado’s dead again. Not as jazzed for this as I thought I would be. Then again, maybe I just don’t like the JLA? Maybe I’ll give it a whirl. Also, why does Bagley’s Batman look kind of like Jim Lee’s art? It stands out as being ever so slightly visually different than the other characters.
Updated with color image.
Vixen must have some dirt on Didio. She’s forever in this book.
I love that scene. The JLA has the best crappy knocked out look. Everyone always look as if they went to sleep next to each other.
I’m hoping that Tim Drake Wayne’s Red Robin will be a member.
Always with the Plasticman! Hooray!
Oh that Batman makes more sense. Actually after reading the Robinson article over at CBR this is sounding better. He said its going to wrap together with JL Cry for Justice and some of that team will end up coming over but all that will happen after Blackest Night.
Hopefully I won’t have to wait a year after the announcement to actually read it like I did with JL: Cry For Justice.
Can…not…wait!
Finally a real writer on the Justice League!!! It’s been such a painful book to read for so long!
And having Bagley on the book is definitely a plus 🙂
CURSE! Just as I drop this book…CURSE
Oh thank god. I was just about to drop this title.
i met dwayne mcduffie at the motor city comic con and he seemed misirable and i cant say i liked his jla, but i met mark bagley at the same con like 17yrs ago and he was a strait up dickface! so i have a hard time pickin up his books .
@gideon – I had a similar experience with Bagley at a con way back when he was artist on Amazing Spider-Man. The con was in Lexington, KY and I was attending the University of Kentucky at that time. Bagley was basically insulting the city with a crowd of people waiting in line for him. He asked Bart Sears and this lady standing next to him, "what’s there to do in this one-horse town"? (He wasn’t bright enough to catch the irony of his statement.) Then he proceeded to bemoan "fake comic book anatomy" for this SM sketch he was drawing someone.
I wanted to tell him, "the NCAA basketball tournament is literally going on one mile down the street, you dork," but I was afraid that he wouldn’t sign my ASM 361.
I for one LOVED Ed Bene’s art—story be DAMNED
@ultimatehoratio- haha yeah he refused to sign a new warriors card for me, i was like 11yrs old so my aunt went up and made him sign it! he got punked out by my aunt!