As Manga Continues To Dominate Comic Sales, DC Comics’ Latest Gimmick Is To Kill Off Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, And The Justice League
John F. Trent
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DC Comics revealed their latest gimmick to gin up comic book sales as the company and western comics in general get lampooned on a monthly basis by Japanese manga when it comes to sales numbers.
Source: Justice League #75
The latest numbers from NPD BookScan for their Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels chart in December 2021 reveal there are absolutely zero DC Comics on the list.
Source: NPD BookScan via ICv2
With their sales seemingly declining and DC Comics Publisher Jim Lee even admitting in 2020 that around a quarter of their entire comics line wasn’t breaking even, DC Comics’ new gimmick is to honor the 30th anniversary of the Death of Superman story by killing off the Justice League.
The official description from DC Comics states, “A new Dark Army made up of the DCU’s greatest villains has formed on the edges of the Multiverse and the best and most powerful heroes are pulled together in an epic war to push the darkness back. In the end, the Justice League are killed by the Dark Army with only one survivor to warn the remaining heroes of Earth about what is coming for them!”
Source: Justice League #75
DC Comics writer Joshua Williamson told Entertainment Weekly that he and DC Comics’ editorial team are “very serious” about killing off the team.
Williamson first detailed the connection to Death of Superman, “It’s an interesting opportunity to do this on the 30th anniversary of ‘The Death of Superman,’ which happened in Superman #75. We get to take Justice League #75 and do ‘Death of the Justice League.’
“We want people to understand, this is serious and this is gonna have a major impact in the DCU moving forward,” he stated.
Source: Justice League #75
Williamson then attempted to appeal to nostalgia to hype up this new gimmick, “I remember the experience of reading the build-up to ‘The Death of Superman’ and then waiting in the rain for my copy of issue #75.”
“I think one reason that story was so powerful was that after the ‘Funeral for a Friend’ story, there were no Superman comics for three months,” Williamson continued. “That’s part of what led us to make the decision that this is the last issue of Justice League.”
He then declared, “But then three months later, there’s still not gonna be a Justice League comic. It’s gonna be a while, and that’s gonna be a major part of what the DCU looks like after this story: There is no Justice League.”
Source: Justice League #75
“Ever since Infinite Frontier #0, we’ve been building to this story,” Williamson explained to EW. “Last year was a lot of fun and games, but when this story starts, it’s the beginning of the third act.”
The Justice League writer elaborated, “We’re going to see things get darkest before the dawn. The Justice League gets called in to fight this Dark Army that’s been building on the edge of the multiverse. They go up against this Dark Army and they lose.”
“We’ll get to see what the ramifications are of losing the Justice League,” he continued. “You’ll get to see how the new heroes react, how some of the heroes that have been around for a while react, you’ll see how people on the ground react to this idea of the Justice League dying, and then you’ll get to see how all the villains react. What happens when they know the Justice League is gone?”
Source: Justice League #75
As for how much of the Justice League will obliterated EW reveals, “Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Zatanna will embark on this mission — and only one will return to tell the rest of the universe what has happened.”
Justice League #75 artist Rafa Sandoval would confirm that the characters die, “Drawing such a painful death for these characters after they fought so hard was tough. As an artist, though, drawing such epic and emotional moments was a big challenge, and I love these challenges!”
Given one of the covers released for the book shows coffins marked for Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Aquaman it’s likely they will all die. That leaves Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, and Zatanna might survive.
Source: Justice League #75
Williamson would add on Twitter, “DEATH OF THE JUSTICE LEAGUE. Not a dream. Not an imaginary story. DC’s greatest heroes are pulled to an epic war and lose. Welcome to a World without a Justice League.”
Source: Joshua Williamson Twitter
Fans did not take the announcement of the death of the Justice League seriously. Instead a number pointed out how common the killing of the Justice League is.
Zackfig wrote, “I hope no one has tried this before in recent memory. Oh wait, Snyder did during the lead to Death Metal.”
Source: Zackfig Twitter
Dglsantana tweeted, “Oh my, the death of a super hero. How original.”
Source: Dglsantana Twitter
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Others mocked the sales figures of the book under Brian Michael Bendis.
ChubbyTeddyMon2 wrote, “We already did when ‘Bendis is Coming’ took place.”
Source: ChubbyTeddyMon2 Twitter
WeAreDualism tweeted, “I thought Bendis already killed the Justice League. Surely the sales show that, no?”
Source: WeAreDualism Twitter
Justice League #75 will feature a special acetate cover featuring artwork by Daniel Sampere and Alejandro Sanchez.
They also note there will be numerous variant covers from Alex Maleev, Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund, Mikel Janin, Tony Harris, and others.
Source: Justice League #75
What do you make of DC Comics’ latest gimmick about killing the Justice League?
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