The Suicide Squad and Justice League Clash in a December Crossover

DC's Rebirth has only just begun, but already the two biggest teams in the DC Universe are headed for a confrontation. This December, the Suicide Squad and the Justice League won't just cross paths, they'll collide in Justice League vs Suicide Squad, a new six-issue mini-series written by Joshua Williamson and featuring art from Jason Fabok (at least for the first issue).

Announced by the Wall Street Journal, this marks the first event crossover in the new DCU, and it all comes about thanks to Batman's belief that a group like Task Force X is not necessary with the Justice League around. This isn't the first time the Dark Knight has clashed with Amanda Waller, but given the mass media success of both teams in the Rebirth era, it just might be the most high profile.

In addition to Batman getting into a heated debate with Waller over the Suicide Squad's existence, the crossover will feature a threat that both teams must come together to fight, because of course. Just who or what that threat is remains a mystery at the moment, but as you can see from Fabok's cover art above, both teams will be pushed to the edge.

The crossover is part of DC's new quarterly event strategy, designed to keep interest in Rebirth alive. Events to drum up sales for the line aren't a new practice --- just look at how Rebirth came about, and before it the New 52 --- but an approach using smaller crossovers rather than line-wide stories that halt momentum of individual comics sounds promising.

That's not to say the events in Justice League vs Suicide Squad won't have ramifications outside the two core books. The new Justice League of America series will spin-off out of the crossover in 2017, as will some other books that haven't yet been announced.

Suicide Squad and Justice League will have a few tie-in issues each, with all the January issues helping to tell the whole story. There's no word what the regular creative teams on either of those books will be elsewhere, but Suicide Squad will be adding a new member in the lead-up to the event in Killer Frost. She's got a bit of a history with the team, so her coming aboard isn't a huge surprise, and it's always nice to see some classic members return to the fold. That said, a new member being added could spell bad news for one of the current Squaddies.

Justice League vs Suicide Squad will kick off this December with two issues shipping before the end of the year, and the final four coming in January. Coupled with the four issues of Suicide Squad and Justice League, that's 10 issues of story in just six weeks. Say what you will about the DC Rebirth, there's no denying it's giving creative teams a grinding work out.

Update: The second issue of Justice League vs Suicide Squad will be drawn by Tony Daniel. Suicide Squad #9, 10 will be written by current creator Rob Williams, with Tim Seeley guest writing Justice League #12, 13. We've also included the logo for the event above.