J.M. DeMatteis talks Justice League Dark!

[Drz]

Newsarama interview/promoting

Nrama: Are Frankenstein and Black Orchid out of the title? Or will you be checking back with them? Because it seems like you opened the door for more stories featuring them.

DeMatteis: They’re gone for now, but they’ll be back for the Justice League Dark Annual in the fall.

After that, we’ll be seeing more of them…as well as another former member: a certain vampire I created very early in my career.

DeMatteis: All I’ll say is that it’s a hand from Deadman’s past and it leads to a summer-long exploration of Boston Brand — and his mysterious connection to Nanda Parbat.

Deadman is one of my favorite characters in the supernatural corner of the DCU. Despite being a ghost, he’s the most down-to-Earth and human character in the book. Great sense of humor, very open and relatable. He’s the big, beating heart of the team.

Nrama: In September, Justice League Dark is one of the titles that's going five years into the future. How will that issue tie into what’s happening in the book?

DeMatteis: In many ways, it doesn’t. We’re going to jump five years and find ourselves with a status quo that’s very, very different from the current one. The characters have been through a terrible ordeal, they’re all changed. Some old members are still there, some new members are on board. The fun is creating this future storyline and then building bridges to it once we return to current continuity.


Nrama: Anything else you can tell us about the September issue?

DeMatteis: Yes. It’s got the Demon in it. I love the Demon!

Nrama: The Demon, the vampire — you've got a lot of fan-favorites coming. To finish up, how would you describe what’s coming in the comic over the next year or so?

DeMatteis: Three words: character, character, character. With the crossover done, we have a chance to really focus on the individual team members, explore their psyches, give them time to breathe and evolve.

So Andrew Bennet & possibly Etrigan the Demon join the roster, pretty nifty. I can understand why Frankenstein is gone for now, this team has too many physical fighters with swords, it needs balance and variety. I feel i can finally enjoy reading this title, i mean, it's always had the best potential but it's been on a roller coaster with Peter Milligan switching to Jeff Lemire to switching to DeMatteis to having him make a cross-over event for Forever Evil. Let the title be alone!

[LoneNecromancer]

Whoa whoa. Etrigan's back?

[Drz]

Atleast for the Five Years later issue lol. :3

[LoneNecromancer]

Was the Blight crossover any good, then? I pretty much stopped reading all three books around the time it was announced (not because I didn't like it, but because that was around the time I stopped reading a lot of things). Otherwise I'll just look up spoilers and jump on whenever after it was done.

Love me some Jason Blood & The Demon Etrigan all the same, so I'll be keeping an eye out.

[Joe Kalicki]

Was the Blight crossover any good, then? I pretty much stopped reading all three books around the time it was announced (not because I didn't like it, but because that was around the time I stopped reading a lot of things). Otherwise I'll just look up spoilers and jump on whenever after it was done.

Love me some Jason Blood & The Demon Etrigan all the same, so I'll be keeping an eye out.

Some of it was okay. It was really like two or three different stories kind of merged together under the Blight banner. If you weren't interested enough to get it before, I don't think it's worth investing in now. Maybe if you can get the trade for cheap.

[Rakzo]

After last issue I'm shipping Zatanna and Nightmare Nurse.

That's all I wanted to say kthxbye!

[Judge Dredd]

I dropped this book right at the start of the cross over I think it is time to hop back. Was really excited for J.M. DeMatteis writing the book but could not get into the Constantine book (Hellblazer needs to come back) and did not want to read about Pandora. Who is on the team now that the crossover is finished?

[Drz]

Zatanna, Constantine, Swamp Thing, Nightmare Nurse, Andrew Bennet is joining, the Demon is joining (at least for Future's End), Deadman.

Black Orchid and Frankenstein will return for the Annual, not sure if permamently again.

[Babylon23]

I'm happy to hear that Frankenstein is returning. Hopefully he'll hang around after the annual.

[Tula's boyfriend]

I would like to see Extrano on this team.

[Rakzo]

I would like to see Extrano on this team.

Me too, but not as the same old stereotypical gay guy.

Plus, he was Peruvian! I want more Peruvians in my comics!

[The_Greatest_Username]

Here's an interview from Comicvine with DeMatteis.
http://www.comicvine.com/articles/in...k/1100-148636/

Constantina is such an entertaining character, but I'm glad to see Zatanna taking charge of the team now.

[friendly-fire-press]

Andrew Bennett and Etrigan would work well in JLD ... they're definitely the types of characters that suit the flavour of the book ...

I wouldn't mind seeing Dr Fate make an appearance in JLD either (even if just for a one-off story) ... and JM DeMatteis has experience with that character ... it could possibly work