With DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns stepping
away from comics to fulfill a more comprehensive role for DC Entertainment’s
film and television franchises, the role of ‘World Builder’ for the Rebirth universe – DC’s soft-relaunched
‘classic’ universe that kicked off last June – has gone largely unfilled. While
it’s true that Johns himself designed Rebirth
and the mysteries surrounding the multiversal crisis, he’s yet to write a book
since it began. Even the first major crossover event, Justice League vs. Suicide Squad, was handled by The Flash writer Joshua Williamson.
Generally speaking, things have been going well – many
titles are enjoying an uptick in sales, some due to a twice-monthly publishing
schedule, and the DC Universe feels like it once did as creators bring more and
more elements from the past to the present.
There’s incredible talent at DC, and it’s to the publisher’s credit that
there are so many different voices contributing to Rebirth’s impressive output thus far. That said, this initiative
has felt like a ship without a captain onboard, a huge new sandbox filled with
awesome toys and no adult supervision.
Rebirth is great
in no small part to the engenderment of nostalgia; familiar names that seemed
alien or mischaracterized during the ‘New 52’ suddenly felt right again, like
DC finally grasped what made these
characters work and just let it happen instead of trying to control every
single detail. Unfortunately, the high quality of individual Rebirth series belies the absent
cohesion, mainly the aforementioned playground metaphor concerning the lack of
a ‘brand leader’ to direct the general flow of DC shared universe narrative.
I’m not advocating for a World Builder in the way Johns was
or Grant Morrison before him – mainly, there needs to be at least one or two
creators whose titles affect other titles outside crossover issues or events, a
writer helming a book that speaks to the wider DC shared superhero universe
while also telling a cogent story. Marvel’s toyed around the concept over the
decades, most recently with Brian Michael Bendis then Jonathan Hickman before the
directionless-ness the House of Ideas is currently experiencing (although an
argument could also be made for Al Ewing or Nick Spencer at the time of this
writing.)
There are a few good options for ‘universal affecter’.
Joshua Williamson is killing it on Flash
and wrote an exciting, interesting crossover event that didn’t get too big or
cave in on its own conceit. Scott Snyder is arguably DC’s most well-known
creator, but he’s almost too comfortable in the Batman corner to effectively
impact much outside Gotham’s shadow. Dan Abnett writes Aquaman and Titans, Peter
J. Tomasi has Superman and Super Sons, Ben Percy is on Teen Titans and Green Arrow – any of these three would be a good choice. But
honestly, it comes down to the Justice League, and I don’t say that lightly.
In the 1990s, Grant Morrison wrote JLA and directed the course of DC Comics for years. He followed
that up with a giant multiversal saga that spanned three events and a new
Superman origin story over a decade (Seven
Soldiers of Victory, Final Crisis, Action Comics: Superman at the End of Days,
The Multiversity). Similarly, Johns held the reins at DC with Justice League throughout the five years
of the ‘New 52’, even going so far as to blatantly ignore the status quo to
finish “The Darkseid War”. For the DCYou initiative (the death throes of the
‘New 52’ that started in Spring 2015), Bryan Hitch was also given the freedom to ignore continuity for Justice League of America (an expressed
‘side story’) before he scored the Rebirth
volume of the Justice League
eponymous title to all-around negative reception because it’s terrible.
A certain level of authority comes with writing the Justice
League, the power to change the direction of any one of these incredibly
important characters. Whether it’s the effects of a battle or the development
of interpersonal relationships, what happens in the League is significant across
DC titles and always has been.
With all this said, the clear decision for the ‘New Geoff
Johns’ is Steve Orlando.
Orlando began his career at DC Comics with Midnighter during the DCYou initiative,
celebrated for its engaging and well-characterized take on StormWatch’s
resident badass as well as his tactful representation of Midnighter’s
sexuality. He then scripted issues of Batman
and Robin Eternal and wrote the Justice
League – The Darkseid War: Shazam! one-shot. For Rebirth, Orlando hit the ground running with Midnighter and Apollo (the sequel series to Midnighter) and Supergirl,
then co-wrote “Night of the Monster Men” with Tom King through Batman, Nightwing, and Detective Comics in October 2016. What
seals the deal for Orlando as ‘DC Showrunner’ is his most recent project: Justice League of America.
** SPOILERS FOR JUSTICE LEAGUE vs. SUICIDE SQUAD AHEAD! **
** SPOILERS FOR JUSTICE LEAGUE vs. SUICIDE SQUAD AHEAD! **
Justice League vs.
Suicide Squad changed how ordinary citizens see superheroes after Maxwell
Lord uses his Eclipso powers to possess the League (except Batman) and turns
them into soldiers to take control of the entire planet in less than fifteen
minutes. More often than not the ends don’t justify the means, and no manner of
excuse can shake the distrust and fear ordinary civilians begin to feel in the
wake of their protectors turning on them. With Hitch’s Justice League floundering out of the gate, Orlando’s quirky JLA
roster is the superhero team we need, and also the one we totally deserve after
having to read “The Extinction Machine” (Justice
League #1-5.) Batman understands that powerless need to feel empowered,
that living in a world with gods watching over them doesn’t mean they can’t
themselves be heroes. This is the reason for Bruce’s Justice League of America, a purposely named team with
purposely chosen individuals to carry out a purposely designed mission
statement.
Mari McCabe (Vixen) brings a level of celebrity to the team,
a model and animal activist turned heroine whose take-no-crap attitude is
necessary to keep conflicting personalities in line and ready to act. Ryan Choi
takes up the mantle of the Atom when Ray Palmer goes missing in the Microverse
and Batman comes knocking with an offer to be in the…a Justice League. After she saves the world in JL vs. SS, all Caitlin Snow (Killer Frost) wants is a chance for
redemption, so that’s what Batman offers; he secures her release from the
Suicide Squad and vouches for her membership. Ray Terrill (The Ray) thought he
was allergic to light and lived inside until he couldn’t take it anymore and
discovered he was living light – after four years of learning how to become and
manipulate light, Ray’s first instinct is to help those in need with his
abilities. Dinah Drake (Black Canary) is there to keep the team in check and be
the moral center that stays their hand when it harms instead of helps, a role
Batman insists any team needs. And then there’s Lobo, a galactic bounty hunter
who would probably love Donald Trump, can’t die, and happens to owe Batman a
debt.
Each of these individuals brings something different to the
table in terms of power sets, personalities, and culture. Orlando recognizes
the necessity for relatable characters with diverse backgrounds working
together for the greater good, less manifest destiny like the world’s most
powerful heroes banding together as planetary defense force and more a
collective of people with powers trying to be better. And this is exactly why Orlando’s writing is
engaging – he tells stories about heroes striving to improve themselves and
find closure in a world where the impossible happens every day. All of Orlando’s
work exhibits this theme on some level, and it’s the tone DC needs right now
even as it enjoys the financial success of Rebirth,
et al.
Allowing Orlando to bring his cunning, organic,
character-driven style to Justice League
of America shows DC has faith in the man’s ability. The astonishing lead-up
to the series included four character-specific one-shot Rebirth issues – Vixen, The
Ray, Killer Frost, The Atom – and a collective Justice League of America: Rebirth one-shot all before the first
proper #1 issue; this points to DC’s investment in Orlando and this series in
general.
With DC Entertainment’s film universe in flux and Bryan
Hitch’s Justice League in the toilet,
Justice League of America is poised
as the publisher’s new flagship title that reflects a more comprehensive theme
for Rebirth moving forward, one that
focuses on characters and finds common ground through relatable situations.
Geoff Johns did an admirable job directing the ‘New 52’
despite its many and varied flaws. His parting gift to DC Comics was the Rebirth initiative that fused the old
with the new by bringing elements from the classic DC universe into the
standardized ‘New 52’ timeline, a move that could have been disastrous but as
proven to be exactly what the company needed. This healthy balance of new ideas
and tradition is a perfect landscape for Steve Orlando to helm a new era of DC
Comics that values diversity and inclusion and honors the past while working
for a better future.
