Saturday, June 16, 2007

Do I Need to Start Worrying?

The new writer has been picked for Justice League of America after Brad Meltzer leaves this August: Dwayne McDuffie.

I'm not familiar with his writing, so I can't comment on that aspect of the book. I like Brad and what he set up, however, so the following gave me pause:
"Newsrama: With the continuation of the series, are you looking for Dwayne to take what Brad has established, both with the new set up as well as the team, and move it forward, or will he be rejiggering it to change things up a little?

Don DiDio: We’re going to shift the team a little, partly because the team that Brad set up is a huge cast, because Brad wanted to work with a lot of characters. So, we’re looking to bring things down to a more manageable size, we’re going to bring other members in also, and bring in that sense of high action and high adventure again – bring the big scale feel back in to the book. Brad did such a fabulous job on the book in telling a very personal story which established and reestablished the bonds between these characters, so we felt it was time for a little bit of a tonal shift and we’ve got someone who understands the workings of the DCU to do it, which will allow for the book to interact with a lot more titles now, because of Countdown and what we have planned for the year. "
So, who's out? I didn't think it was a huge cast. I always thought of JLA as a large group and this version seemed just the right size. Regular readers here know who I'm worried about: Roy "Red Arrow" Harper. Brad's got a thing for the Arrow family and he's shown an affinity for Roy that I've loved. I have no idea how the new guy feels about Roy and given his skill isn't exactly all that powerful and necessary to the group dynamic, I'm worried that Roy's elevation to the big group will end abruptly. And that will leave him without a home since he's off the Outsiders. I hope I'm worrying for nothing.



10 comments:

  1. Dwayne McDuffie was the head guy behind the writing on Justice League Unlimited. He most definately gets the League...

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  2. But does he get Roy? Or will he decide if there's an archer in the JLA, it should be Ollie? That's what worries me.

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  3. Anonymous3:36 AM EDT

    *Clings to Roy and worries with you.*

    Dwayne seemed to prefere Ollie on JLU, but Ollie's got his hands full with the whole wedding thing happening, so I'm hoping thats going to keep him busy for awhile and in other writers hands. (Though there is a JLA wedding special coming up as well...and I'm just making myself worry more...)

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  4. Ack, Anon, this isn't helping. ;)

    Maybe we need to form a Roy Support and Lobbying Group.

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  5. McDuffie is a VERY good writer, and capable of both wit and actual plots. His old "Damage Control" series from Marvel, waaaaay back when is an absolute hoot.

    I can't really see him dumping Roy. Roy is just too adorable. You know what would be cool though? Dumping Vixen(bleh) and bringing in Fire and Ice.

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  6. It's good to hear so many people like his writing, Sally. I actually like Vixen, tho. I don't know Fire and Ice that well.

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  7. Anonymous6:18 PM EDT

    A support/lobby group has some serious merit. According to McDuffie's forum--and from the man himself-- he's keeping Black Lightning, He's alread mentioned John Stewart, the solicits on Newsarama for Teen Titan's #51 shows a crossover with the JLA and the team members on the cover are WW, Batman, Superman, Flash, and Martian Manhunter. He's staed repeatedly that Hawkgirl is his favorite, and he mentioned in an interveiw yesterday that Firestorm will most likely be there as well.

    So we are looking at-
    Batman
    Superman
    Wonder Woman
    Hawkgirl
    Martian Manhunter
    Flash
    Firstorm
    Green Lanter (John Stewart)

    Thats eight members, and there's 11 at the moment (officially 10+ GeoForce), and they did say they were downsizing the team as well....

    So yeah, we Roy fans have every right to worry (and I'm sorry I'm not helping ease your fears.)

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  8. Okay, so what can we do? Is there a way to do a petition? Contact him individually? We need a plan, folks. I don't know what I'll do if I don't have a regular book where I can read about Roy.

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  9. Anonymous6:46 PM EDT

    Well, I guess we can try asking him on his forum first if he's gonna be lookin out for our boy. He mentioned that he is going to be looking afte Black Lighning whenanother poster asked, so maybe if he gets a ton of posts asking after Roy he may give us an answer.

    If he doesn't in the next week or so, then we can try a more direct approach?

    heres the link for his forum anyway.

    http://www.thevhive.com/forum/index.php?webtag=DWAYNEMCDUFFIE&msg=1624.1

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  10. Oooo, thanks for the link. I'm gonna try it. Here's hoping we get an answer we like.

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