Current “Deathstroke” writer Christopher Priest and artist Pete Woods will be taking the reigns from Bryan Hitch on “Justice League” starting with December’s issue #34 which begins a new storyline called “Lost” where “the Justice League is left reeling after a sleep-deprived Batman makes an error that proves costly.” Priest’s run will ask the questions: “Is the Justice League still relevant?” “What are their goals and how do we define them? In the ‘real’ world, how would various societies around the globe view this pantheon of godlike beings?”
Priest has been writing “Deathstroke” since ‘Rebirth’ began, and for which he was nominated for an Eisner award. It has been one of the stand-out books of the relaunch. This is not his first time tackling the Justice League as he’s previously written “Justice League Task Force,” “Justice League America,” and “Justice League International.” Woods has worked for DC on titles like “Action Comics” and “Robin” and recently finished a stint on the relaunched “Archie” title.
Priest stated however that the run he will be pulling from the most in preparation for “Justice League” is his recent “Deathstroke” run saying,
“In my initial Deathstroke conversation with Geoff, I suggested that, since we were reimagining Slade Wilson’s adventures, why not shape the new book more like what a Deathstroke feature or TV series might look like?” explains Priest. “It is my intent to bring that same sensibility to Justice League, taking a hard “what if these characters actually existed in the real world?” look and working in an area of the series premise that is less frequently tapped.”
Priest went on to talk about how the new series will be like a workplace drama, a big 180 degree turnaround from the big world, Armageddon-like threats Bryan Hitch has put the team through for the last 31 issues. Woods went on to add “I’m going to be bringing everything I have to this book,” saying “It’s gonna be a fun ride! I love these characters.”
Also in December, Sam Humphries and Bernard Chang will be taking over “Nightwing” from Tim Seeley, Javier Fernandez, Marcus To, and co. Humprhies, who is currently writing “Green Lanterns,” said that the first arc will be called “Untouchable.” Chang is the current artist on “Batman Beyond,” a book that has been rumored to be on the cancellation bubble.
Humphries said that his general approach won’t be too different from what Seeley was doing, as Dick is staying in Blüdhaven, and giving him some new rogues to play with. It is interesting that Seeley and Humphries essentially switched books, with Seeley taking over “Green Lanterns” with #32.
