New JLA Roster

[fb1990]

SPOILERS! BEWARE!!!

Well, since Final Crisis, Batman RIP & New Krypton have ended, Rise of the Olympians & Rage of the Red Lanterns are at their climaxes and since the March issue of Justice League of America's solicitation reads:


JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #31
Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Art by Shane Davis & Sandra Hope
Cover by Ed Benes
Death, destruction and betrayal! The fallout from FINAL CRISIS leaves the Justice League of America on the brink of dissolution. Black Canary faces her greatest test as she tries to hold her devastated team together. Will those who remain be enough to save the world?

Its not a big leap to say a big shake-up is coming.

So who do you think will be on the team?

The current line-up (and their current status) is:

|Batman - currently in the past somewhere in the multiverse. Robin and Nightwing are leaving Teen Titans and Titans too respectively and no one else in the Bat-Family seems to have the stature to serve in the League so they'd be a no-show for the new roster
|Black Canary - survived and played a vital part in Final Crisis. Currently the Chairperson of the JLA
|Black Lightning - was a Justifier in Final Crisis but he survived
|Firestorm - survived Final Crisis
|Flash (Wally West) - he might be taking some time off as indicated in The Flash #247 & because Johns and van Sciver are going to give him a new role in Flash: Rebirth
|Green Lantern (Hal Jordan/John Stewart) - right now Hal Jordan is the bearer of a Red Lantern Corps. ring and John seems to becoming the focus of the Agent Orange arc. Its possible that Hal may not be in the new team as he is used in the Robinson JL book and takes further part in the War of Light. John will most likely be the GL in the next roster.
|Hawkgirl - dead as of FC #7 but she'll probably be back, just not that soon.
|Red Arrow - he wasn't infected by ALE and will probably be in the next incarnation of the team
|Superman - he is leaving Earth for New Krypton (and his two flagship books for Superman: World of New Krypton). He's shown on the cover of the March issue as walking away so he probably won't be a part of the new roster.
|Vixen - uninfected by ALE.
|Wonder Woman - she was possessed by one of the Female Furies in Final Crisis and is locking horns with Genocide (and not winning either) at the moment. I'd say, because of the cover image, that she won't be in the new roster either. Possibly a replacement such as Donna Troy?
|Zatanna - played a part in Checkmate's plan in Final Crisis and the showdown with the Kandorians in New Krypton and survived.

So I think that the new roster may look something like this:
Leader: Black Canary
Donna Troy
Zatanna
Green Lantern - John Stewart
Flash - Barry Allen
Black Lightning
Red Arrow
Aquaman (as glimpsed in Final Crisis #7)
Firestorm
Possibly: someone like Mon-El or the Kandorian Flamebird & Nightwing to fill in Superman's shoes.

[protege]

Well, Black Lightning is also on Outsiders- Red Arrow and the Wally west Flash are on both Titans and JLA- i wonder if that will continue..

[lepeos]

It's not impossible to think that there won't be a Batman on the team. If Dick really is taking the cowl I could see him joining, just because he's always been a team player.

[BYC]

If the big 3 aren't on the team, we'll see how fast sales drop. I was never a fan of Dinah being the chairperson/leader, but if the title is still written well, the character will gain status. Even if sales drop, and I expect them to.

[celticguy]

Well, Black Lightning is also on Outsiders- Red Arrow and the Wally west Flash are on both Titans and JLA- i wonder if that will continue..

black lighting is rejoining the outsiders?

I saw art of superman batman and wonder woman walking away from the JLA so for a few issues at least i expect those three to be gone.

From issue one they have been trying to beef up the team so it could opperate without them and I think they are almost there.

[Retro315]

Here's my guess at future JLA rosters ...

The "fractured roster" comes from these events, but also from Robinson's new JL book.

So you can count out Hal, Ollie, Supergirl, Freddy Freeman. (Plus you can count out the non-JLA Batwoman, Starman II, Congorilla, and others that'll be on that team).

Now ... in the past we've had characters in cohabitating JLA and Outsiders. You'd have Metamorpho running around in both books, etc ... hopefully the members who go to the Outsiders cut and run from the JLA as well. They stay allied, of course ... they're all still friends. But these guys feel the need to accept Batman's recommendations. Just like how Hal and Ollie feel the need to be more proactive in light of Bats an Martian Manhunter.

Many members of the core JLA will be the same, though. Still ... the cast shake-ups won't really affect the "core" of the current lineup.

Superman
Wonder Woman
Black Canary (shake-up for her involves Ollie going with Hal's "Team B")
Red Tornado
Red Arrow
Vixen
John Stewart
POSSIBLY Dick Grayson as Batman a few months down the road.

Then, some other heroes can step up and join the "core group".

[DCKar2nist]

Didn't we see the new lineup on a cover of Wizard? The one with Congorilla and the (if I'm remembering Robinsons run correctly) bisexual Starman (no offense meant).

[DCKar2nist]

Oh and I agree taking the big three off the title is obvisouly a terrible idea from a sales standpoint.

[Sean Whitmore]

Didn't we see the new lineup on a cover of Wizard? The one with Congorilla and the (if I'm remembering Robinsons run correctly) bisexual Starman (no offense meant).

Different Justice League series. It's a second team led by Hal (or at least it was last time I heard anything about it).


SEAN

[Retro315]

I did some thinking about this, and I finally settled on this. If the Justice League is splitting into basically an offense and a defense, then we get a good opportunity for some more female voices. Hal Jordan is putting his own group together, but John Stewart will no doubt stay on with the JLA and make sure the "defense" team has a Green Lantern.

Green Arrow is going off with Hal ... just in time for Barry Allen to come back and replace him. Martian Manhunter is dead ... somebody with some expert communication skills will have to step up to become the new team organizer ... and who better than Oracle? And with Black Lightning leaving for the Outsiders, there's room for another voice to jump into JLA, and that could easily be Doctor Light, who deserves more play time.

So my theoretical line-up is this:

Superman
Wonder Woman
Flash (Barry Allen)
Black Canary
Red Arrow
Vixen
Doctor Light
Oracle
Green Lantern (John Stewart)
Red Tornado


Ultimately, if Bruce Wayne comes back, I imagine he'll balance his sense of justice by NOT joining the team that's led by Hal Jordan, since it already has Bat-Family member Batwoman).

However in the meantime ... I think there's a pretty damn fair chance that Dick Grayson, if he's Batman, joins Hal's "offensive" team. He might stick with Bruce's old choice to form the trinity ... or we might see more of his damned-to-failure crush on Batwoman ... but then on the JLA, we'd see him back with Barbara possibly ... plenty of story opportunities both ways, and I'd say the new Batman, whoever he is is very up in the air.

And I also think that Aquaman, whatever the hell is the case with him ... whether he's back, or he's not quite back, or his soul and the new kid's body have fused and he's "reborn" or "respawned" or whatever ... I think Aquaman will go for Hal and Ollie's team as well. Aquaman's always been a proactive kind of guy, and after his son was killed he went on the offensive permanently.

[Retro315]

Double Post ... sorry about that.

[Retro315]

Triple ... damn.

[Retro315]

Apparently I was going for the coveted "Quad-Post" award ...

[BYC]

When will people learn when a post doesn't show up, it's already been posted?

[comicstar100]

My predictions

Captain Marvel
Nightwing
Black Canary
Oracle
Green Lantern (John Stewart)
Red Tornado
Red Arrow
Vixen
Doctor Light
Flash (Barry Allen)

[HaroldAllnut]

My guess is this, at least for the first few post-Final Crisis issues:

Black Canary
Firestorm
Flash (Barry Allen? Wally West?)
Hawkgirl
Red Arrow
Vixen
Wonder Woman
Zatanna

But here's my question. Does anyone think that any of McDuffie's Milestone characters (i.e. Hardware, Donner, Blitzen, Icon, etc.) might join the Justice League of America? After all, Static is signing up with the Teen Titans in the near future. Maybe Icon will step up to take Superman's place, since Superman will be busy over in Superman: World of New Krypton.

[Thnikkaman]

...wait, Hawkgirl died? I don't remember that happening at all.

[HaroldAllnut]

...wait, Hawkgirl died? I don't remember that happening at all.

Yes, I'm a tad confused about that as well. I remember a gold-tinged light engulfing Hawkman and Hawkgirl as something exploded, but I'm not sure that either of them actually died as a result of said explosion.

[Hawkman]

Yes, I'm a tad confused about that as well. I remember a gold-tinged light engulfing Hawkman and Hawkgirl as something exploded, but I'm not sure that either of them actually died as a result of said explosion.
The thing that clinches it for me--a die-hard Hawkman fan who's probably more likely than anyone to be in denial--is the panel with two feathers at the end. It's pictured next to Batman's cowl and Martian Manhunter's tomb on Mars. As I posted on another board, yeah, Batman didn't really die, but if his cowl weren't pictured, it may have given away that surprise final page.

So I think those three panels are supposed to signify the losses of Final Crisis, with one actually being a purposeful case of misdirection. As I've also said elsewhere, though, I think Hawkman will return shortly as Katar, as alluded to in the Hawkman Special from a few months ago, and Kendra will be back with a ring for Blackest Night.

[Jaded Devil]

My guess:

Black Canary
Green Lantern (John Stewart)
Red Arrow
Vixen
Firestorm
Zatanna
Dr. Light
Icon
Flash (Barry Allen or Wally West)

I'd love to see the (seemingly revived) Aquaman back on the team, as well as a few others from various points in League history (Fire, Ice, Plastic Man, Major Disaster) and a few new surprises (Bwana Beast, dammit! And, yes, I know there's a Freedom Beast out there but I want Bwana Beast!).