NRAMA: When you say that Dwayne is changing things up and bringing the cast down to a manageable size for him, you’ve probably got a few people thinking Justice League Unlimited style stories of discreet teams of heroes…are you talking about something towards that?

DD: No – we’re not going to be going that way at all – we really want to be going in a set way with a set team and tell the story from that way. Justice League Unlimited was an extension of a television show that came up after they had done everything they thought they could do with a set group of characters, and then they brought in other characters to refresh it. What we’re trying to do is play with the strengths of what the Justice League is.

NRAMA: How long are you looking at Dwayne sticking around? Is he on for a year like with Brad, or longer?

DD: Dwayne is the writer of Justice League now until he doesn’t want to write it anymore. [Emphasis mine.]

Then DC acquires the Milestone characters and DiDio says they’ve got big plans for them:

NRAMA: So let’s talk about the plan – it’s not just the return of the imprint as its own self-contained unit, correct? This is characters come back into the DC Universe, as you said…

DD: Right. They’re coming back, and are coming right into the forefront, and right into the big storylines in the DC Universe. The great thing is, we have Dwayne McDuffie who is one of the owners and creators of the Milestone characters working for us and also of course, writing Justice League of America, so he’s going to finding ways to incorporate the characters into the storylines that are going to be unfolding within Justice League.

We were also able to find a way with Dwayne to work other Milestone characters into other areas and series of the DCU.

NRAMA: Bigger picture – you speak of the hows, but why? Why bring the Milestone characters back, and specifically fold them into the DC Universe?

DD: There are so many wonderful characters in that world that really can help round out and help strengthen the entire DC Universe. [Emphasis mine.]

And he even promised a wrap-up of the old continuity:

NRAMA: You said that Dwayne is going to be starting this reintroduction in Justice League – what about the rest?

DD: You’ll be seeing other characters show up in other series. It’s going to be very organic and very natural in the way that we bring them in.

Also – we will be working on a couple of other levels with Dwayne on this. We will be collecting the old Milestone material, and reissuing that in trade paperback form over the course of next year, and also, we’ll be working with Dwayne to do a wrap-up for the original Milestone series for the way it was all presented. He had a concluding story that we want to work with him on, and that will be an out of DC continuity story, but completely within the original Milestone continuity. That way, the fans of Milestone from years back will be able to get that ending story that brings that original history and world to a close.

So a bunch of major Milestoners  – Icon, Donner & Blitzen, Hardware, etc. – are re-introduced in a story arc in McDuffie’s Justice League. Static, the crown jewel, appears in the Terror Titans mini and then the regular Teen Titans book. Plus, some individual Milestoners interact with the DCU in recent issues of The Brave and the Bold. Okay, fine. Nothing huge, but at least they’re out there.

Then McDuffie discusses on his message board the editorial problems he’s encountered while writing Justice League, including his inability to use the characters he wants because they’re being used in other stories – this after DiDio said he wanted a “set way with a set team”:

I’ve had virtually no input into the composition of JLA. It’s DC Comics’ flagship book. They tell me who to put on the team, based on their needs elsewhere in the universe, and I do it. I believe I had influence in getting rid of Red Tornado, but even there I was forced to put him back in his body about two years before I had planned to…

There are a large number of changes coming up, mostly due to members leaving in the aftermath of Final Crisis. Again, I had little to no influence on how the team is shaking out. Dan and Eddie are allowing me to frequently guest star several characters who by rights should be written out of the book because of what’s going on in their titles. They also acquiesced to my request for a member rejoining the team (as soon as another project is done with him in about eight months). That character will be my first addition to the team, roughly two years after taking over the book.

If it were up to me, JLA would be made up of roughly the six most popular DC characters plus a rotating seventh spot that would be used to balance the personalities, create new story opportunities and/or pump up an interesting, but so far less commercially successful character. [Emphasis mine.]

And the next thing you know McDuffie is fired from Justice League, although he does confirm that he’s still doing the Milestone wrap-up mini-series called Milestone Forever.

But now DiDio says it’s just gonna be Static for the time being:

5. kryptofan1 asked:
Do  you have plans for the Milestone characters (other than Static in the Teen Titans) after the Brave and Bold stories?

DiDio: At this particular time, we have Static in the Teen Titans, and we’re looking at a storyline that might be built around Static later in the run. But right now, no other plans. [Emphasis mine.]

Dan DiDio, the same guy who said, “To be able to explore these characters and tell new stories with these characters is something that I’ve wanted to do since I walked in the doors of DC Comics,” has suddenly made an about-face. The same guy who said Milestone had all these wonderful characters that can “strengthen the entire DC universe,” is content to only play with Static. I’ll concede the possibility that he may not have had Milestone Forever in mind when he said “no other plans,” but still..

And McDuffie reveals even more bad news on his boards:

Plans for a Static monthly were scrapped by DC last spring. Based on their actions, they never really wanted to publish the Milestone stuff, they wasted my time. We could have done a little deal for them to use Static without me having to spend so much money on lawyers. [Emphasis mine.]

I hate to say I told you so but I did tell you so. DC is content to have its black superheroes appear in team books and the occasional mini-series, but an ongoing series is – what? Beneath them? And Static, a character that has proved itself not just in comics, but on television as well, can’t get a series either? What does this say about DC’s level of commitment to its black audience? Maybe McDuffie shouldn’t have been as open as he was about his editorial hassles on Justice League, but to back down from using these characters that DiDio was salivating over for years makes one wonder why he coveted them to begin with.

The very first Milestone comic will finally be collected, 17 years after its original publication. HARDWARE: THE MAN IN THE MACHINE will reprint Hardware #1-8, featuring the character’s origin, and first adventure. The Direct Market (comic book store) release date hasn’t been announced yet, but it tends to be about a month earlier than in the general market.

That is awesome news! In the meantime, how about some mean-ass Walt Simonson wallpaper?!