The Debacle That Is JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000

Friday was a busy day for DC Comics.  Along with Geoff Johns announcing who the true villains will be in Forever Evil, there was a change with the creative team of Justice League 3000.  Kevin Maguire, who was set to provide the interior art, was replaced with Howard Porter, who did the character designs below.

What has become the norm with DC creative changes is editorial didn’t do a good job communicating this change to Maguire.  His exact tweet was “I think I was just fired”.  This makes me wonder did Maguire learn of his “firing” through the media instead of from DC?  Also, instead of JL3K coming out in October, the release date has been moved to December.

Maguire made an official public statement on the Bleeding Cool Forums, which you can read below.

“Well, I don’t want to make any big deal about it but I suppose I should say something,” Maguire said via the Bleeding Cool message boards. “This is, as I tweeted, very humiliating. Obviously, I was looking forward to working on a fairly high profile book. I haven’t had a top ten book since the ’80s and I thought this would finally be my shot at doing one. But it’s DC’s book, it’s their property, they can do whatever they want with it. They don’t owe me anything. I’ve been told they wanted a book that was “dark and gritty”, so I’m perplexed as to why they chose us for that. We did exactly the kind of book you would expect from us. Lots of action and humor. And I turned down a [Brian] Bendis X-Men project to do ‘JL3K.’

“As for my doing other projects with DC, they offered me a four page story and a 10 page digital first story,” he continued. “They’re paychecks, so I’m grateful for that, but they’re no ‘Justice League’ #1. I really don’t want to do back ups and fill-ins for my career. So, right now, I’ll do the four pager and then I think that’ll be it for me and DC for a while. I’ve received some interesting offers from other companies. Marvel generously offered me an issue of a cool book, so I’m going to do that for now, then see what happens. I was supposed to do Baltimore Comic Con next month with [Keith] Giffen and [J.M.] DeMatteis, but I’ll be canceling that for obvious reason. Apart from the fact that I no longer have a project to promote with them, Giffen’s Newsarama quote, which I’m certain had no intended malice, still kinda stung. That’s it. That covers all I have to say about this. It’ll be forgotten news by next week and we all move on with our lives.”

There’s a couple of things to point out.  The first is DC deciding they want a “dark and gritty” book.  When the creative team of JM DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, and Kevin Maguire was chosen, it seemed DC wanted to recapture the old magic from the three’s previous Justice League work of the 80’s.  That series was known more for its hilarity than being “dark and gritty”.  That was why fans were super excited about Justice League 3000 to begin with.  Three of their favorite creators back together again to bring their brand of entertainment to a monthly book.

I wonder if the change in tone is something new, or if that was DC’s idea at the very beginning?  Also, were DeMatteis and Giffen cool with it?  I feel bad for Maguire, who was really excited to do Justice League 3000.  He even turned down an X-Men book with Brian Michael Bendis to do JL3K!  Hopefully Maguire bounces back with a steady ongoing comic.

So will you still be checking out Justice League 3000 in December?  What are your thoughts on this whole fiasco?  Make sure to let your voice be heard in the comments section below.

Timdogg

#ComicBookChronicles @CBChron founder. Editor-in-Chief of @thekliqnation. Comic book reviewer, podcaster #RABBLERABBLE