Letters to Justice League #74

I was almost tempted to introduce some iteration of Planetary into this story but thought better of it. I was leaning into my Wildstorm instincts in a big way (I’ll get to that later) and I was happy for this story to come together how it did, but I think I could have used a bit more breathing room to deliver what I wanted. Alas, it was victim to the #75 deadline, which mean I had to wrap the story up sooner rather than alter.

Another frame of reference, because I’m a big ol’ Grant Morrison nerd, was The Invisibles, namely the black train that was used to kidnap homeless people who wouldn’t be missed… the idea of a secret railway that no one knew the truth about, and the secrets therein that was very attractive to me. And the great thing is, we’re going to see some follow up on the academics and the train in #81-83, before we go on hiatus for a few months! Diana did say she recognised some of the names of the academics, and we’re going to see how that impacts the present day shortly.


I’ve said it before, but one of the things I’m always factoring in is that Justice League is the spine book of the site, because it features the most characters and it gives the biggest insight into the ongoing events of our Earth-1. Does that mean I target the content at a specific level? Do I go PG-13 or Rated R? Where do I level the stories at?

Imperator’s actions were meant to be horrific and visceral, but then again, if it didn’t click with you then I didn’t walk the line as finely as I intended. Apologies! The reactions of the gathered Leaguers was intended to be muted shock… but perhaps Majestros should have been louder, angrier… with hindsight and more room to work with, I could have done more!

Then again, I think the biggest problem I’ll have is a lack of space to cover all the bases of a story. Every nuance. We’re going to see the residents of New Khera appearing in the next arc and they’ll have a larger role to play on the site as we proceed, but they could use their own miniseries, as could have the threads that unfold in these stories!


Thanks! I wish we were in a position where we could have artists illustrate scenes from our books, but that’s a reality from five years ago, and not one we have in the present day.

In addition, I think it almost goes back to the idea that each of the story threads—New Khera, Temho-Metya and the Nevada Garden—could have held their own, story-wise, to be the main feature of any story arc. I could have written three individual arcs focusing on each of these threads, and maybe they suffered for the lack of focus. The problem, as ever, is the size of the team, and the fact that for the most part, if you had all 12+ members (ish) of the team facing off against any one of these threats, then probably it would have been resolved a lot faster!


I really put him through the wringer, but I wanted to get him to this place sooner rather than later. If I had time, we could have used a bit more story space to show him in his fully mechanised form! In fact, I had plans for Robotman (Cliff Steele, although Robert Crane is kicking about in JSA…) to make an appearance and talk through his experiences as a brain in a metal body with him, but I didn’t have the time or space in the series to do that.

Really, I wanted to power up Angie to where she was in The Authority, and it didn’t seem fair to leave Vic behind—I really enjoyed it when he could switch between his human self and what we’re going to be calling his “tank” form, back around the time Geoff Johns was writing The Flash. I was also tempted to have his body be gold, but one of my big things is making sure that characters appear physically in whatever their most famous form is, because that makes it easier to have accurate art on the covers, if we’re sourcing it from pre-existing pieces.


Thanks! Xotar appeared back in Don’s run on the book, and it only seemed fair to have him make a reappearance in the present day! This is yet another thread that will be tied up after the hiatus ends and we return with #84 (next summer, probably). He was a fun little addition, and I had the multiple Amazos in mind for ages… and it became especially attractive when it was clear that they were going to go up against some of the more “powerless” members of the team.


I promise we will find out the identity of Pathfinder in Justice League #81-83. You're on the right track with referring back to Green Lantern Corps. That's all I'll say!