“It sounds like a joke and something like this would never happen, but it is actually happening, and I couldn’t be happier,” says Toronto native Jeff Lemire to the Toronto Star about writing Justice League of Canada come next spring with artist Mike McKone. Apparently, the events of Forever Evil will result in the disbanding of the Justice League of America, but it will reform somewhere in Ontario with a new headquarters (“And it’s not a hockey rink, I promise. Although, of course, it did cross my mind,” Lemire says) and a brand new Canadian character to boot – not to mention bringing Adam Strange into the New 52 as a Canadian.
Before you laugh about it, keep in mind that Wolverine is Canadian and he’s a pretty big deal, and Alpha Flight is a regularly recurring Canadian team over at Marvel as well. Canada’s big and it’s got cool people and socialized health care and everything. However, Lemire doesn’t suggest you think of Puck, Sasquatch and Snowbird when you think of the JLC.
“It’s not really like Alpha Flight, as we’re not creating a bunch of very Canadian characters,” Lemire says. “Like those characters are all almost clichéd Canadian archetypes. This is still very much set in the regular Justice League universe and the team will still have some of the bigger named superheroes, but they will actually be located in Canada now, and there will be a couple of new members who are Canadian. So obviously as a Canadian, and as a Canadian storyteller, it’s something I’m very proud of.”
The fallout from the Trinity War and Forever Evil will necessitate this change, as apparently the bad guys are taking over and driving good folks out of America. “As a result of that, without spoiling any of that story, there will be major changes in the Justice Leagues,” Lemire said, “and in the spring, the current Justice League of America team goes through a dramatic change and some of the pieces that are left behind will evolve into this new Justice League Canada team.”
The new character he’s working on is supposed to be a less clichéd take, and someone more like a real Canadian teenager. And the new Adam Strange is described as “a swashbuckling archaeologist who is transported to the far-off planet of Rann,” but whether that’s the new take or a newspaper trying to parse the pre-New 52 character remains in question.
So… this actually seems legit and pretty cool, especially with Lemire at the helm, and he’s promising a mix of A-listers and obscure oddballs. What’s not to like? Not everything has to center around America, you know.
