A LEAGUE OF OUR OWN
Jeff Lemire puts a Canadian spin on Justice League United, including new hero Equinox,
They might not be calling themselves the Justice League of Canada and they might not all be Canadian citizens, but DC Comics’ latest superhero team-up is a wholly Canadian production.
Just ask Jeff Lemire, the book’s award-winning Toronto writer, who says that Justice League United’s unlikely inception was the direct result of his proud Canadian heritage.
“I was working on Justice League of America and I sent my pitch to Dan DiDio, the publisher of DC Comics, and in the subject heading of my email I put ‘Justice League of Canada’ as a joke because I’m always sneaking a bunch of Canadiana into my stuff,” said Lemire.
“He took it quite seriously and I ran with it.”
Hoping that a change of scenery would bring more attention to the monthly series, DiDio agreed to relocate the Justice League of America — a government-sanctioned superhero team — to Canada following the events of Forever Evil, a brand-wide crossover event in which the villains of the DC Universe take control of Earth.
While the series was initially announced as Justice League of Canada at last August’s Fan Expo, it was later renamed Justice League United to make it more inclusive to readers outside Canada.
“It’s kind of an offshoot of the Justice League of America team,” said Lemire. “They’ve recently disbanded in the DC Comics Universe and a couple of members find themselves north of the border and embroiled in a brand new adventure. Out of that they kind of form this Canadianbased Justice League.
“Most of their adventures are based in Canada, but they also spend a lot of time hopping around the galaxy and in space in these big cosmic adventures.”
Largely based in Toronto and the James Bay area, the new series will follow a team mostly made up of characters from the New 52’s existing Justice League of America series, which is not to be confused with DC’s similarly titled Justice League series featuring the likes of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
The DC characters making the move north include Stargirl, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman and Supergirl as well as Green Arrow and Animal Man, two characters whose monthly solo titles Lemire pens for DC.
Additionally, Adam Strange, a Silver Age space-travelling adventurer reimagined as a University of Toronto science professor, will join the team alongside Equinox, a brand new Canadian hero that Lemire spent months creating for the series.
“I’ve put so much work into creat- ing (Equinox) and so much passion into it and so much time researching and trying to get it right,” he said. “She’s clearly become my favourite on the team and I have high hopes for her to exist in the bigger DC universe beyond this story.”
The result of more than six months of research and trips to Moosonee and Moose Factory, Ont., Equinox is a 16-year-old Cree from Moose Factory.
During Lemire’s trips to the area, the 38-year-old writer spent a lot of time in local schools interacting with the town’s youth and talking to them about the importance of storytelling. Although Equinox’s powers and history are based on different Cree myths and legends, her age, appearance and personality were inspired by the schoolchildren he met and the feedback they gave him. Even Delores D. Echum Composite School, one of the high schools Lemire visited in Moose Factory, is prominently featured in the book as the school that Equinox’s alter-ego, Miiyahbin, attends. “One thing I really wanted to do was create a positive role model for First Nations kids because I feel like in the media First Nations are often overlooked,” he said. “When they are not overlooked what we do hear are negative stories or stories about hardships they are facing so I thought it would be great to create a character that represented all of the positives. That’s what I’ve tried to do with this character.” When he wasn’t spending time in classrooms, Lemire was exploring the local scene to learn more about the area’s distinct culture and landscape. Everything from the abandoned NATO radar base that serves as the new Justice League’s headquarters to the small towns that get obliterated by galactic villains are completely authentic. “Every region has its own identity and its own culture, and for me to try and capture all of that in one story would be pretty much impossible, so I instead decided I’d pick one and focus on that and try to capture it as best I could,“he said. “I’m going to try and capture as much of the country as I can over the course of the series.”
Released on April 23, Justice League United’s inaugural zero issue will establish exactly what brought these heroes north of the border.
“(Animal Man and Stargirl) are actually doing a celebrity superhero signing at a comic book convention in Toronto as the book opens and Adam Strange’s fiancée and graduate student have gone missing in Northern Ontario, and he comes to them seeking help and they get embroiled in this story that sort of snowballs from there.”
While Justice League United might not have the marquee characters that have dominated the box office in recent years, Lemire is adamant the series will be accessible to long-time fans and anyone looking for a fun adventure story.
“If you’ve never read comics before, or you’ve only marginally read a few here and there, you can pick up the first couple of issues and by the end of them you can fully understand who each of these characters is,” he said. “I think a lot of time superhero comics can take themselves too seriously, and get a little too grim and serious, and it’s good to remember that they are supposed to be these big fun stories and that’s what this is: big, over the top cinematic fun.”
Justice League United #0, the first issue in the series, comes out April 23.