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Newsarama said:JLA RELAUNCHING, BRAD MELTZER NAMED AS WRITER
With this week’s issue #172 of Wizard, the cat, or as writer Brad Meltzer calls it, “one of the worst kept secrets in comics” is officially out of the bag – that is, Meltzer will come aboard as the writer for at least a year of DC’s JLA.
The current series, which ends with issue #125 in February, originally began in 1997 as a Grant Morrison-helmed relaunch of the DC franchise, and replaced an often second-tier lineup of characters with DC’s “big seven” – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter. Ultimately, following on elements Meltzer introduced in Identity Crisis, the League officially disbanded in the “Crisis of Conscious” arc, and now features heroes struggling to maintain the League’s legacy in light of Infinite Crisis.
Former Birds of Prey and Superman artist Ed Benes will join Meltzer on the new Justice League of America #1 in June.
Meltzer, as regular Newsarama readers will recall, signed an exclusive contract with DC in November.
As to why he signed on to a regular monthly comic, Meltzer told Newsarama: “It’s the simplest, most overused answer in comics – they asked. The reason why they asked me to do Identity Crisis was that they knew of my love for the JLA. Even when I did Green Arrow, it was done with an eye to maybe one day I could write JLA. Someone said to me recently that there are only two dreams of a fifteen year old boy – to date a Playboy Playmate, and to write a comic book, and only one of those is worthwhile. This one is my fantasy – sad but true.”
As to who will be in Meltzer’s League following the events of Infinite Crisis…Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are looking good, the writer said, but after that? “I’m not saying anything about anyone,” Meltzer told Newsarama. “But it’s certainly not going to be just the ‘big seven.’”
In speaking to Wizard, Meltzer described his job with the series, team, and characters as: “to show you in those characters that you love something that you didn't even realize was there. That 's when it feels the most real, when you look at that moment and ask, 'How come nobody else ever thought of that?'"
Wizard #172 is in stores this Wednesday. Check back with Newsarama on Thursday for our interview with Meltzer on all things JLA.
From http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=53008&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
