Justice League will die in April

As revealed by Entertainment Weekly, the upcoming 75th issue of ‘Justice League’ in April will mark the end of the current Justice League series, and there doesn’t seem to be a replacement planned anytime soon. The comic will supposedly see the death of the League’s founding members, such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Aquaman, as they attempt to stop a group of villains called the Dark Army. The move coincides with the 30-year anniversary of the infamous ‘The Death of Superman’ crossover and seemingly hopes to draw much of the same reaction from readers, as well as lay a foundation for a new DC universe in which the legendary heroes are no more.

DC comics writer Joshua Williamson said he and the DC Comics editorial team were very serious about killing off the team. “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.’” he stated. “We want people to understand, this is serious and this is gonna have a major impact in the DCU moving forward.” 

While the writers seem to be doing their utmost to portray this event as something special and unique, many fans don’t seem to be all that impressed, with some pointing out just how common the killing of the Justice League and superheroes is. Others also highlighted the diminishing sales of the publisher, saying they thought the Justice League was already dead in terms of readership.

According to the latest numbers from NPD BookScan, DC doesn't have a single comic represented in the top 20 Adult Graphic Novels chart for December, which is – as has become usual – completely dominated by manga. Western comics have been experiencing a record decline in readership, and in 2020 DC Comics artist Jim Lee even admitted that around a quarter of their entire comics line wasn’t breaking even.