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“Justice League of America” Completes Its Lineup with Batman, Black Canary, and Lobo

By | October 28th, 2016
Posted in News | % Comments

Earlier this month, DC announced the first four members of Steve Orlando and Ivan Reis’ “Justice League of America” team: Killer Frost, the Atom, the Ray, and Vixen. Today, IGN revealed the final three members of the team: Batman, Black Canary, and Lobo.

Batman was almost always a lock for the team, as books with Batman fare considerably better in the marketplace than books that don’t, and he has started now, oh jeez, four thousand splinter teams? Black Canary, too, has a long history with the Justice League, even being retconned into a founding member at one point. Lobo, though having some loose, tangential connections to the Justice League, is the wildcard here, especially because setting him on a team in the United States seems odd; he has always been a space-traveling hero. How will those skills translate to an inner city or a rural setting? I honestly have no idea.

Orlando spoke to IGN about the team, and had this, among a lot more, to say about each team member:

Batman: “Batman is someone who thinks that he always has everything under his thumb and under control but he has a moment where he realizes he has to rebuild, he has to change, he has to redefine heroism. The callout is that he’s not the only one. There’s maybe people that he can help do it, and even more importantly, there’s people he can surround himself that can help him do that for himself”

Black Canary: “She doesn’t lord above people with a mask. She’s in Seattle, she’s seen by people, she talks to people, she listens to people. She’s there, as Batman says, to keep him honest, to keep him in line. He knows what he wants to do, but it’s a bit out of his comfort zone. Honestly, she’s there because of the immense amount of respect he has for her and what she does.”

Lobo: “He’s the Lobo we all love, causing mayhem. He’ll be giving people what they want but at the same time he does have a code. The main man’s word is his bond, man. I think that’s important. That’s one of the things that guides him through life. We find out a little bit what’s behind this character. Not to soften him, but to give him more depth because he’s still the hard partying, bullshit calling, bullshit calling especially, it’s what I love about him, but if anyone is there to remind them that they’re taking themselves too seriously to remind people that they’re hypocrites, it’s him.”

Orlando also confirmed that Batman will still be a member of the Justice League proper, in the Bryan Hitch/Tony Daniel “Justice League” series. What this means for the Black Canary co-ed “Batgirl and the Birds of Prey” series remains to be seen. On one hand, many characters appears in three books regularly, but on the other, most of those characters are more popular than Black Canary.

I’m most interested to see what Orlando does with Lobo, as he is a character that isn’t exactly revered in most circles. The fact that this Lobo appears to be less of the weirdly sexualized, svelt Lobo of the Cullen Bunn New 52 series, and more of the ‘Main Man,” bastiche calling, cigar chomping anti-hero from the most glorious of decades (the 90’s) means that Orlando is getting some serious leeway in his characterization. Let’s hope that Orlando is able to tap into what makes the character unique, but can eliminate what makes the character obnoxious.

So, essentially, I want pacifist, spiritual, fish god worshipping Lobo from “52.” Hit me up if you need some help crafting that Lobo, Steve.

One final bit of information that seems interesting is the revelation that this book will be following up on some of the mysteries from “DC Universe Rebirth” #1, though with the recent promise that “Batman” #9 would do the same, and then was a three panel tease, the level of delving will probably be a low one.

Below is the cover for “Justice League of America” #1. Stay tuned for more details as they emerge.


Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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