Jeff Lemire takes over Justice League Dark

by Josh Starnes, CMRO Editor

Jeff Lemire takes over Justice League Dark

Jeff Lemire will be taking the reins on Justice League Dark beginning with June’s Issue #9.

Lemire will be ending his run on Frankenstein: Agent of Shade, to hop over to Justice League Dark, though Lemire hinted that characters and story arcs from Frankenstein were likely to appear in his Justice League Dark run.  “I don’t want to spoil the particulars but … there are definite plans for me to pick up some of the things I left in issue #9,” Lemire said in an interview with Newsarama.

Lemire’s core cast for Justice League Dark will focus on John Constantine, Zatanna and Deadman, with other characters rotating in and out as needed, he said.  Lemire has planned out the initial stories with Justice League writer Geoff Johns as part of a move towards a more cohesive Justice League franchise.

“It will be really strongly connected to the stuff Geoff and Jim are doing in Justice League … for me it’s the book that bridges the mainstream DCU and the ‘dark’ line,” he said.

Part of that cohesion is a result of a move towards the upcoming Justice League focused ‘Trinity War’ crossover hinted at in DC’s Free Comic Book day offering.  Lemire, who worked with Johns to populate the Black Room in that story, is already working on how those mysterious items will play out going forward.

“We have big plans for the Black Room for sure,” he said.  Before that, Justice League Dark will crossover with another Lemire-penned book: Animal Man.  Frankenstein: Agent of Shade will continue under the direction of writer-artist Matt Kindt.

Justice League Dark is one of the 52 launch books for DC’s New 52 initiative, one of three focused on part of the Justice League franchise. The other Justice League title, Justice League International, will be cancelled with issue #12 and restarted with a new #1.