Two Books Join the New 52 in February

Last month we reported that DC was canceling four of its lower selling titles in January - Frankenstein, Grifter, Blue Beetle, and Legion Lost. That means the company will need to launch four new books in February to keep the overall number of ongoing DC books at 52.

Geoff Johns and David Finch's Justice League of America has already announced. Today, two more of these new titles were revealed by MTV Geek - Katana and Justice League of America's Vibe.

Katana spins out of Duane Swiercynski's Birds of Prey series and features the assassin who wields a sword she believes houses her late husband's soul. The series will be written by Ann Nocenti (Catwoman) and drawn by Alex Sanchez (JSA Classified).

As the title suggests, Justice League of America's Vibe is tied to Johns' new team book and focuses on the former gang leader-turned-superhero. The series will be written by Andrew Kreisberg (creator of the TV series Arrow) and illustrated by Pete Woods (Legion Lost). Additionally, Johns will serve as co-plotter for the first issue.

"We've done a lot of great things with the 'New 52," co-publisher Dan DiDio told MTV Geek, "and now we're putting the focus back on Justice League, with the launch of Justice League of America. We want to make people realize that this is one of our key franchises, and we plan to build it out not just with the main Justice League titles, but other books that tie into them as well."

Speaking of Arrow, DC also revealed a new creative team for Green Arrow starting with February's issue #17. Jeff Lemire (Justice League Dark) will begin writing the series, while Andrea Sorrentino (I, Vampire) will be the new penciller. Presumably the series will begin incorporating elements from the TV series. No word yet on whether we'll see any issues devoted to a shirtless Ollie Queen doing pull-ups on a salmon ladder.

Those worried what this new assignment means for Lemire's other DC books can rest easy. Lemire tweeted today, "Thanks for all the kind words about Green Arrow. Still writing Animal Man and Justice League Dark for a long haul too!" It was revealed at NYCC last month that Ray Fawkes will be co-writing Justice League Dark with him.

Finally, DC revealed that they'll be publishing 52 variant covers for Justice League of America #1. Each will feature a background flag from a different US state or territory.

There's still (presumably) one new title left to be revealed for February. We'll update you when that news hits, as well as when we have more information on Vibe and Katana.

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

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