Geoff Johns has announced that he will be leaving Justice Society of America — a title that he has co-written even through a relaunch for nearly a decade — after the upcoming Justice Society of America #26.
At the center of his announcement is this:
The JSA to me represents everything good about life, work and superheroes. In life, generations past, present and future all provide different viewpoints. There can be something magical when it’s past from grandfather to father to son or from mother to daughter or son to grandfather. There’s nothing more important than family – and family means a lot more than just blood relatives. That’s what my very first book, STARS & S.T.R.I.P.E., was about and that’s what JSA, and life, is about.
So why am I leaving?
I have more stories to tell, and the characters are endless, but that’s also true for the DC Universe. I’m ready to move on to some other challenges like returning to THE FLASH and SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN. And I am also obsessed with making sure that GREEN LANTERN, BLACKEST NIGHT and everything around it is the absolute best it can possibly be.…and that’s only part of 2009. There are some new projects on the horizon.
It’s a shock to see him leave the book after so long, but as he says, the DC Universe is huge, and I can absolutely understand wanting to explore more facets of it.
Of course, this being a Flash blog, I’ll have to point out the phrasing, “returning to The Flash.” That may just be a reference to Flash: Rebirth, but it certainly sounds like he plans to stick around afterward.
And I thought there wouldn’t be any big Flash news to cover this week…
Update: Newsarama has an interview in which Geoff Johns clarifies what he’ll be working on next year:
With my runs on Action Comics and Justice Society of America coming to a close I’ll be focusing on Green Lantern, The Flash: Rebirth, Superman: Secret Origin and Blackest Night. Technically that gives me one monthly book and three mini-series, but by the time 2009 is over I’ll be back on three monthly books. So that’s what it’ll look like a year from now.
“Of course, this being a Flash blog, I’ll have to point out the phrasing, “returning to The Flash.” That may just be a reference to Flash: Rebirth, but it certainly sounds like he plans to stick around afterward.”
I got the same feeling. I think this is going to play out like Green Lantern: Rebirth, with Johns coming on to handle the regular series afterward.
.-= Luke’s latest blog post: What Looks Good? =-.
I’m thinking/hoping the same thing and that he’ll handle one of the two Flash-oriented ongoing titles.
Two ongoing titles? What’s the other one?
I just hope(as an Aquaman fan too) that he doesn’t decide to pick up Aquaman and “rebirth” him. I just don’t think he’s the right man for the job.
I’m still hoping there will be a second Flash series.
Some additional thoughts: It’s probably going to be good in the long run for him to move on to new things. Looking back on some of the really long runs I’ve read by the same writer, generally when someone stays on the same series for more than a decade (unless it’s their own book) things do seem to deteriorate. The later Cary Bates Flash issues, New Titans from “Titans Hunt” onward… I’m actually having a hard time thinking of more examples because there are so few. Lots of runs lasting 60-100 issues, but not a whole lot going past that.