In the wake of Forever Evil: Blight, there's been a change in leadership for Justice League Dark. Writer J.M. DeMatteis answered a few of our questions about the series and current events of the book to figure out what's going to happen with Justice League Dark in the upcoming months.

COMIC VINE: Constantine and the rest of the Justice League Dark are on the outs. Who’s going to step up to take a leadership role?

J.M. DEMATTEIS: Zatanna stepped forward at the end of the FOREVER EVIL: BLIGHT storyline. Given her history with the team, I think she’s the natural choice. And the House of Mystery seems to approve.

CV: How will this leadership change affect the team?

JD: Well, for one thing, we’ll have a leader who’s trustworthy, who means what she says and who isn’t juggling a dozen secret agendas. Constantine also has his own monthly book—written by the very talented Ray Fawkes—which limits how far we can, and should, take him in JLD. Zatanna, on the other hand, is all ours. We’re able to take her character anywhere we’d like without worrying about stepping on someone else’s continuity.

CV: Will fans get to see new members added to this team? And what do you look for in a character when putting them in a team book like this?

JD: The team is going to evolve in the coming months. For the immediate future our line-up is going to be Zatanna, Deadman (one of my favorite characters in the DCU), Swamp Thing (another all-time favorite) and Nightmare Nurse. (With Constantine continually turning up like a bad penny.)

By the time we get to the fall—and the events of our JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK ANNUAL—we’ll be bringing back some old favorites, including a character I created at the very beginning of my career.

As for how I choose: Honestly, I don’t. In the end, the characters choose. That happened with Zatanna at the end of the BLIGHT storyline. As soon as she stepped back into the book she naturally took command. In many ways, it was her decision to lead the team, not mine.

I’ve learned, over the years, that the more I get out of the way and let the characters lead, the better the stories will be.

CV: What is going on with Nightmare Nurse?

JD: That’s the question, right? And you’ll get answers in JLD #31 and #32. Nightmare Nurse is another character who’s all ours to develop. And the fact that she’s pretty much brand new—Dan Di​Dio and I introduced her in PHANTOM STRANGER—means there’s lots to explore, in both her psyche and her mythology.

CV: Every team needs a base, and the JLD has really made the House of Mystery their home. What makes this place the perfect home for this team?

JD: What I discovered early on—and, again, this is another example of the characters leading the way—is that the House is conscious in some way. It’s reflecting the psyches of the JLD, interacting with them in strange and subtle ways. In the end, the House of Mystery is a physical manifestation of the greater mystery of Creation. A perfect place for a team that continually tries to pierce those mysteries.

CV: The JLD draws pretty heavily from the Vertigo universe. What are some of your favorite reads from Vertigo?

JD: Karen Berger, the architect of Vertigo, is an old and dear friend and I was intimately involved with the imprint right from the launch, with my graphic novel, MERCY. After that I did THE LAST ONE, SEEKERS INTO THE MYSTERY and brought two of my Epic Comics projects—MOONSHADOW and BLOOD: A TALE—over to Vertigo. It’s a rich universe that allows creators to really develop, and express, a unique, individual voice.

There have been so many extraordinary projects over the years that I don’t think it’s fair for me to single out any one. I’d end up ignoring so many worthy projects.

CV: Any concepts or ideas from Vertigo you wanted to explore in this book that just didn’t work out?

JD: Nope.

CV: Without spoiling things, obviously, what can we expect from JLD in the upcoming months?

JD: Once the Nightmare Nurse storyline concludes, we’ll be shining a spotlight on Deadman, in a two-parter that explores his connection to Nanda Parbat. After that we’ll have our Annual, which will launch us into a massive six month storyline that I’m very excited about: a story that will span time and space and significantly expand the ranks of the team. I’m really looking forward to that one.

Thanks to J.M. DeMatteis for answering our questions and make sure to check out JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, issue #30 is in stores now!

Who do you think is the character he created at the beginning of his career that he's bringing back? Maybe Doctor Mist? I bet the annual in the fall has a lot to do with the "Enter the Dark" Channel 52 image from a while ago.

Loving this series. Constantine is such a dbag.

Would so wish Raven would join this team.

@kilowog52: It's Andrew Bennett (given away in one of the other interviews).

This book has been so bad under DeMatties. Putting Swamp Thing on the team is a horrible idea. As is getting rid of Black Orchid. Calling this book terrible is an understatement.

@kilowog52: Its Andrew Bennett. He gave a clue about it in an interview either with comicosity or newsarama.

I will start reading this again now that Blight is over

I like to tell myself that this team is actually called the Shadowpact & that they use the name JLDark because it sells more.

But I wish we'd get a TV show for the MAGIC characters & not that Constantine Rumor, with Arrow an exception, I dont like shows that focus on ONE character, I'd rather a team emsamble, again Agents of SHIELD being an exception, so that the good written characters & actors rise to the top & the failures can be written out. Then we can have, hopefully , appearances by Zatana, Raven, etc.

I think lessening John Constantine's role on this book is a mistake. He's easily the most well-known character on the roster and was the main reason I was picking up JLD to begin with.

Now that the horribly bland Blight is over, I might pick this up again.

@cobramorph: It's not a rumor, it's in the middle of filming .

Zatanna is just as known as John and it was completely out of character for John to be on a team like this in the first place never mind leading it.

@outside_85:

She is going to be on New Teen Titans title. But she could join JLD for just one arc like others magical characters.

Not to mention, it was never his team to lead in the first place. They just shoved aside the fact that Madame Xanadu formed it. Completely swept it under the rug. Where is she now anyway?

@akindoodle: Yea that's a shame, she would make a good magic version of Oracle for the team.

@jonny_anonymous: WOULDN'T SHE JUST?! *sigh* The things DC throws away sometimes. Exoristos, Shining Knight, Horsewoman, effin' ETRIGAN for heaven's sake. The entire Demon Knights line-up! Andrew Bennett. Shade. The JLD book could be SOOO much better than it is and is currently about as "dark" as a box of Lego bricks. I miss Milligan... (and Zatanna's old costume)

@akindoodle: Yea I reeeeeealy miss Milligan, he wrote the book dark and creepy like it's meant to be.

@jonny_anonymous: Better off scrapping it and rebooting under Vertigo. Heaven knows they need more ongoings over there, especially once Fables ends. They should hand it off to Willingham, Cornell or Venditti if Milligan doesn't want to it. Any of those or similar will suffice in my opinion.

Would you mind sending me the link if you still have it for that interview? I was a huge fan of I, Vampire before it got cancelled.

I know, and I rather she didn't.

@sentryman555: Yeah sure, the link is : http://www.newsarama.com/21005-justice-league-dark-post-blight-character-character-character-a-new-member-with-bite.html

@outside_85:

ok why?

@akindoodle: I certainly hope Etrigan joins the team. And I would like to know what happened to the other various immortal Demon Knights characters, but I wouldn't want the JLD's roster to be the same as the team on that book, because that would completely change this book's identity to the Demon Knights- in the present. By the way, which one was Milligan? Was he the guy who wrote the very first arc in the series? I thought that was the weakest arc the series had had so far, primarily because of the whole revelation that Madame Xanadu purposefully created the threat they faced just to get the team together. At that, I seriously thought "WTF?"

@manwithoutshame: More well-known than Zatanna? Or Deadman? I beg to differ.

@cobramorph: I myself find this book very different from Shadowpact, probably primarily because the JLD characters are more well-known. Like some of the ones I just mentioned to another user.

@watsonian: Now hold on! DeMatteis hasn't written anything in it outside of the Blight crossover and that was awesome. I always really looked forward to the next chapter in that saga every week.

She's been a Titan exclusive since 1980, it's way past time she moves on.

@kilowog52: In my opinion, it was one of the strongest because it actually lived up to the expectations of its title - magical, more adult themed as in Vertigo-esque, team based (not John Constantine wanking and everyone else jobbing) and most importantly "dark"

Then again, I haven't read much past Jeff Lemire. But I'm getting tired of DC in general so my apathy is starting to outweigh my interest and concern

@outside_85:

Sure but probably werent lot of team that she can join specially now.

@vitalius said:

Only if you put limits on where you think she could join.

J.M. DeMatteis good days are long gone

@outside_85:

There is

Outlaws

Teen Titans

JLD

JLU

The others team she doesnt seems to fit

BOP is more about fighters and street level characters

JL Probably the main big 7

SS she isnt a criminal

@vitalius: It all depends on which angel you take her on and how you explain her presence. She could have ended on SS if Lobdell had managed to take her siding with Trigon to a point where the Titans had to take her down and hand her off to Waller (who'd probably be delighted to have the travel arrangements). BOP... well the previous team hand nearly everything from street level'ers to New Gods... plus she'd probably be a more welcome addition than Condor. I agree that she's not really fit for the All Star team of the main JL (but then again, it has Cyborg atm). Even Stormwatch could actually be an option if this version of her was ruthless enough. Early in the New 52 I had even hoped she'd somehow manage to sneak into Demon Knights :)

@outside_85:

Well i just was talking on going titles. I dont think she would be SS material but a good member of Outlaws like Magik on Uncanny X-men. Gail Simone´s BOP had different members but now you can have powers but need to be a streel level and decent fightning skills plus Condor is reverse Wonder Woman. How she would be on Demon Knight aside from using powers to time travel ?

@kilowog52: Last I checked it was Constantine, not Zatanna who had a film gross over 200 million dollars. Also, Hellblazer ran for 300 issues, which is 284 more than any series bearing her name. He's more popular. And a TV show.

@akindoodle: "not his team to lead", that's funny considering Constantine is featured most prominently on every trade, and almost every issue of the series to date. If you'd actually read the series, you'd know he was the leader the entire time. Xanadu brought them together under false pretenses but never had any level of control.

@vitalius: At the time Phantom Stranger hadn't been launched yet, so Raven had not appeared anywhere. I thought it might be cool if DC really changed her from eternally hovering between teen an adulthood, to a grown adult that's would be thousands of years old and in my mind it made some sense that there would be more than one demon on a team called Demon Knights. (And we almost got a glimpse of something like that when TT was bouncing around time).

As for SS and BOP, well Lobdell main idea for Raven was that she was on Trigon's side, so essentially a villain. And during her 're-education' in Trigons realms, he made sure Raven could handle a sword (but I do get that BOP is more street than superpower).

@outside_85: I agree, I think Raven should move to JLD in the future once TT dies out.

Anyone else get a kick out of the fact that Nightmare Nurse aka Asa/Alice is apparently bi and came onto Zatanna? lol That part had me laughing.

P.S. Nightmare Nurse is hot, if she were real I'd do her lol.

@outside_85:

Raven has potencial like Starfire which she been slowing deveploment on N52. I dont mind Dark Raven being a villian but Raven should be hero or maybe Dark hero. My only problem with JLD is that if she joins because they all magical wizards, she couldnt shine with other characters. Yeah maybe another take of Raven would cool and good for the character, i wonder if she is going to date Beast Boy.

@vitalius: TBH I dont think being on Teen Titans is doing her any favors at all. I believe she is most powerful member the Titans have ever had, and because the threats they face have to be equal to everyone, you often see her getting low balled so others can shine (very much like how the Martian Manhunter is to the JLA). Putting her on JLD however, she would get exposed to the rest of the magical corner of the DCU instead of just being limited to Trigon (also it could pull Trigon out of the pocket world he appears to exists in).

@outside_85: Her on TT would be a big fish on small lake but JLD she would grow and develop into better sorceress? I agree, i also would to see what happen with Zatanna and Raven´s relationship.

@anandak47: Awesome thanks! It sounds like I'm going to have to start picking up JLD again!