Disconcerting Vibrations: DC Announces Justice League of America at Fan Expo Canada

There is a convention going on in Toronto this weekend called Fan Expo Canada, which we were not able to attend since we are still paying off our attendance at San Diego Comic-Con, I have no valid passport, and because of that 1991 incident where the Montreal Police were forced to declare that particular location of Peel’s Pub “Unfit for human habitation” after five pitchers of Labatts and a plate of their poutine like it’s my fault that there was already a dude locked in the bathroom when the gravy and beer did what it does.

Anyhoo, there was a convention this weekend, and members of the DC Comics staff were there, and there was a pretty big announcement: writer Geoff Johns and current Batman: The Dark Knight artist David Finch will be collaborating on a new book: Justice League of America.

So looking at that Finch art, it seems we’re looking at not a new version of the currently-running Justice League, but another sister book with a different team, apparently along the lines of the recently-cancelled Justice League International, with a lineup including the new and still-to-be-introduced  Green Lantern, Stargirl, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Katana, Martian Manhunter, Steve Trevor, Catwoman, and Vibe.

Vibe?

Fucking Vibe?

“This is a very different kind of team book,” says Geoff Johns. “On first glance, people might think the heroes of the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA stand in the shadows of Superman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the JUSTICE LEAGUE, but Green Arrow, Katana, Martian Manhunter, the new Green Lantern, Stargirl, Vibe, Hawkman and Catwoman thrive in the shadows. They’re underdogs who have everything to prove and something to lose. They’re a team of unlikely heroes who will help one another discover they’re as A-List as anybody — yes, even Vibe. Though getting there won’t be easy. Why they’re formed, why each member joins, what they’re after and who the society of villains is they’re trying to take apart will all be clear in the first issue when it hits early 2013. David and I are really focused on delving deep into what it’s like to not be a member of the big seven and why, sometimes, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”

I am excited about this because Geoff Johns had a long and excellent run on Justice Society of America, which means that the man can write a team of alternate, non A-List heroes and make it compelling and interesting. But on the other hand: fucking Vibe? A member of Justice League Detroit? The only member of any Justice League so hated that he has been killed three Goddamned times? A hero whose first primary talent is breakdancing?

The stunt of adding Vibe to this book reeks of Johns trying to Bendis up a character like Luke Cage or Spider Woman… but to be fair, Johns is arguably as good a writer as Bendis, and Bendis really rehabilitated those characters in a way that seemed impossible in the late 1990s.

Ah well… at the very least, bearing witness to a DC Universe where Vibe comes back before Stephanie Brown means that we should see some interesting and uncomfortable spectacle from San Diego Batgirl at next year’s SDCC… and a DC Universe where Vibe comes back before Wally West means interesting and uncomfortable spectacle at SDCC from every other person at the convention.

Justice League of America debuts sometime in 2013.