Broken Frontier

DC has announced more changes to the creative line-up’s of their current 52, this time giving the “Dark” line a major reshuffle.

Following the Justice League Dark crossover with I,Vampire in #7 and 8, writer Peter Milligan will be handing over scripting duties over the supernatural team book to Jeff Lemire in time for May’s #9.

"This is my dream gig at DC Comics, no doubt about it," Lemire told DC’s The Source. "The characters in Justice League Dark are my absolute favorite in the DC Comics stable, and I can't believe I'm actually getting a chance to write John Constantine, Zatanna and Deadman (as well as a few new team members!)."

"It's a bit daunting to take over this title from someone who I revere as much as Peter, but at the same time I can't help but be inspired by the work he's already done with this book," he continued. “One of the things I’m anxious to explore is just why the name “Justice League” is in the title of this book? I want to explore and create new connections between this team of mystical misfits and Geoff and Jim’s big guns in The Justice League,” says Lemire before adding,

“On that note, Geoff [Johns] and I have had many discussions on how to link our two books and make the Justice League franchises connect in new and unexpected ways. More on that in the near future…”

With Lemire taking on JLD, as well as continuing his work on Animal Man and Vertigo’s Sweet Tooth, he will be handing Frankenstein: Agents of S.H.A.D.E over to Matt Kindt. A name you should recognize from the independent comics scene thanks to titles like Revolver and Super Spy, Kindt recently collaborated with Lemire for Men of War #10 and is very excited to make his debut as an ongoing series writer at DC.

“I’m so excited to be writing Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.!” says Kindt, speaking with The Source. “I’ve been good friends with Jeff Lemire since we both broke into comics years ago and I remember spending the weekend at his studio and kicking his ideas around for his take on Frank and Crew and just having a blast. Lemire was having so much fun putting these characters into action…and I think that fun really comes through.

“Working in the DC universe is liberating in a lot of ways. I’m getting a chance to hit more directly on a lot of genre stuff I haven’t gotten to yet – science fiction and horror with all of my past espionage experience mixed into it. It’s a crazy mix. I have to say that writing the scripts for Frankenstein has seriously been some of the most entertaining hours of my writing career,” adds Kindt, clearly very passionate about the project.

“I’ve had a pretty fortunate career to date by breaking into comics with my own original graphic novels. All I’ve known is creator-owned stuff. I’ve been spoiled – writing and drawing my own books. So in a lot of ways I feel like I’m the mirror image of a lot of writers that get the work-for-hire stuff straight away and then work to make the leap to creator-owned work. So for me, this is just a great big treat."

These aren’t the only changes though. DC also announced that outgoing JLD scribe Peter Milligan will be moving over to Stormwatch!

"It's a bit of a wrench leaving JL Dark, of course, and not working with the increasingly outstanding Mikel Janin. But the fact that Jeff Lemire is taking over makes me very sanguine," says Milligan before commenting on what excites him most about Stormwatch.

“Stormwatch has the craziness, the paranoia and the occasional bursts of odd humor that really grab me. This is my kind of book. In other words, when I re-read Paul Cornell’s excellent first series with a view to taking over the writing duties I was really excited.” He added before giving fans an idea of what to expect from his first arc.

“And I’m excited too by what I have planned, from Stormwatch facing a ferocious character from the Red Lantern Corps, to hidden secrets being revealed about the origin of Stormwatch, and some shocking revelations about the mysterious Shadow Lords. It’s going to be a very intense ride.”

Milligan will continue to write Red Lanterns for DC and Hellblazer over at Vertigo, and will debut on Stormwatch with #9 in May.

What do you think of the creative team changes? Be sure to let us know in the comments section below, on Twitter or Facebook!