29 years ago, in “Superman” #75, Doomsday and Kal-El punched each other to death in the streets of Metropolis in the finale of ‘the Death of Superman.’ Come April, DC’s most famous superhero team will fall to a similar fate. “Justice League” #75 is both the final issue of the ongoing series (for now), as well as the ‘Death of the Justice League’ (again, for now. This is comics after all).
Joshua Williamson (“Batman,” “Infinite Frontier”) and Rafa Sandoval (“The Flash,” “Teen Titans Academy”) are taking over “Justice League” for the double-sized issue, which sees the Justice League – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Black Canary, Zatanna, and Green Arrow – travel to fight the ‘Dark Army,’ with only one hero returning with their life.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Williamson had this to see about the issue:
“I remember the experience of reading the build-up to ‘The Death of Superman’ and then waiting in the rain for my copy of issue #75. I think one reason that story was so powerful was that after the ‘Funeral for a Friend’ story, there were no Superman comics for three months. That’s part of what led us to make the decision that this is the last issue of Justice League. But then three months later, there’s still not gonna be a Justice League comic. It’s gonna be a while, and that’s gonna be a major part of what the DCU looks like after this story: There is no Justice League.”
Williamson also indicates that this story has been building for a year, and is part of the “Infinite Frontier” / “Justice League Incarnate” story that has been the backbone of the DC Universe since ‘Future State’ wrapped up in February 2021.
Not to be the continuity police, but it will be interesting to see how this ‘death’ is felt across many titles that it will affect. Right now, Superman (Kal-El) is on Warworld, and seemingly not dealing with League business. Aquaman will be just a few months into the new “Aquamen” series, and John Stewart appears to be rebuilding the Green Lantern Corps in “Green Lantern.” Plus, Wonder Woman just returned from the dead and Batman is in a lot of comics all the time.
The issue hits stores on April 19th, with a slew of variant covers, including the one below, by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund.
