Earlier today we told you about Geoff Johns & David Finch’s upcoming series Justice League of America getting 52 variant covers(one for each state and D.C. and PR) and two spin off titles to go with it in February. Now, MTV let Geoff Johns speak his mind on whats to come in the series, how Green Lantern Simon Baz and Green Arrow will interact, David Finch’s art and more. Read what he had to say below.

 

 

I’ve always loved working with the less known or less popular DC characters, the ones that haven’t been in the spotlight perpetually for all the 70-plus years of DC’s publishing.

 

There’s a real opportunity to unlock the potential in every hero — no matter how obscure they are — in fact, it’s a challenge that I always find compelling. Anyone can be A-List and that’s what the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA is about. That’s what makes working with an artist as amazing as David Finch on this book really work – he elevates them with his art. To see David pour his talent into this team shows they’re worth something. And they are.

If the JUSTICE LEAGUE is about the world’s greatest super heroes the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA is about the world’s most dangerous — and that’s because they’re underrated, unpredictable and, before this, unwanted.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA is the backbone of the New 52 in 2013 alongside JUSTICE LEAGUE, repositioning some characters like GREEN ARROW — who there are big plans for — HAWKMAN, CATWOMAN and KATANA. In the case of the last two, you’re right to question why they would ever join a team like the JLA. STEVE TREVOR, who leads the team — at least, that’s what everyone believes – has specifically recruited and offered things to some of these unlikely candidates for reasons that will become clear in issue #1.

 

Catwoman will become central to the team in a way she’d never expect, and Katana will perhaps become the second most dangerous member of the team — next to MARTIAN MANHUNTER, who along with the others is going to be heading into a new direction as he once again becomes a central hero to the DC Universe — and a figure whose reach is far greater than any other being on the planet.

 

The NEW GREEN LANTERN, SIMON BAZ, will also soon be recruited into the ranks and we’ll see a new twist on the GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW relationship so often at the core of the Justice League.

 

Along with resetting those members, David and I will be re-introducing STARGIRL and VIBE to the New 52 — two young heroes who couldn’t be more different. Stargirl, who we’ll see has just come on the scene on the West Coast, is considered by many to be one of the most vibrant and hopeful heroes on the rise, while Vibe, who almost mistakenly emerges in Detroit, finds a lot of people — including himself — questioning why the League would ever need him. But things in the JLA are never going to be what they appear. Stargirl’s role isn’t what she expects, and Vibe’s will end up personifying the idea of finding potential in the most unlikely of places.

 

I want to push this book and these characters in a direction that doesn’t only focus on upping their abilities or re-defining their powers, but opens them each up to find out what’s holding them back. What’s keeping them from becoming the world’s greatest heroes? Is it the world’s problem or is it theirs? Some of them have nothing to lose, some of them have everything, some of them already lost it all, and some of them are burying their past and their problems so deep, confronting them could end up threatening everything the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA has helped them grow to become.

 

Specifically for the first arc, David and I will be introducing a secret society of super-villains that’s going to redefine what it means to be a super villain — and like these heroes, even unlikely villains can become A-List — look at Black Adam, Sinestro or the Rogues — the villains have just as much potential as the heroes…and that’s another story to come…?