In addition to his stellar work on Supergirl, Steve Orlando has everyone talking about his upcoming series, Justice League of America. Spinning directly out of the events of Justice League vs. Suicide Squad, it could be argued that it’s the most anticipated new book from DC to be released in the first quarter of 2017.
Uniting with possibly the best penciler-inker combination in the industry today in Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, Orlando brings together one of the most eclectic and interesting lineups to ever grace a team-up book from this publisher: Batman, Lobo, Black Canary, the Ray, the Atom, Vixen and Killer Frost. To be quite honest, you wouldn’t have to even tell me what the story entails and I would be sold on that knowledge alone.
Orlando recently spoke with Comicosity about assembling said lineup:
“It’s a combination of things. When I came to reading JLA, it was just after the launch of Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s classic Big 7 League — but it also right in the middle of ‘Rock of Ages,’ after which the roster jumped up to 14 members. The team for me has always been about the icons, but at the same time, the people who deserve to be icons, who should have had a bigger platform. Characters like Steel, Aztec, and Zauriel can grow and learn from other members of the team.
“Even though it’s one team, I always think of it in terms of a generational aspect. And for Justice League of America, it’s about finding the right balance of those characters. You have someone in the DC Universe that’s known by everyone in Batman. And then you have characters who I think are every bit as strong as Batman in Vixen and Black Canary, who have a lot of history and continuity.
“And then you have people who can learn from those relationships like the Ray, who are new to the scene. You have people who have been around for awhile like Ryan Choi, who’s been in the room being part of the Atom, but who is now just stepping into that role.”
He then added the following, hinting at why these characters need to come together:
“Ultimately, putting a JLA together is about finding people who can make each other better. Better than they can be on their own. And that goes for everyone. No character in the JLA is perfect and that’s a big part of it coming out of Justice League vs. Suicide Squad, with even Batman understanding that there are things he can’t do on his own. His way is a great way, but it’s not the only way. If they’re going to move forward as a community — which I’ve been saying from the beginning is what the JLA is about — other people need to come in and it needs mean more than what Batman can do alone. That’s why the JLA is there.”
Justice League of America: Rebirth #1 arrives in comic shops on Wednesday, February 8. In the meantime, you can sate your appetite with a special one-shot focusing on Vixen that hits stands tomorrow.